Why do people get angry when I'm right? Gracie vs. Hughes edition

I took a lot of flak this week for some remarks I made about the Renzo Gracie Matt Hughes fight.

For the record, I thought those were internal emails for the staff writers, and didn’t realize they would be on the site until Zak told me on the podcast.  I may have come off a bit brazen, but that was really how I felt.  You’re not always going to agree with me, and I’m not always right, but I promise I will give you guys my honest appraisal of everything I write about.

That being said, at what point is name recognition more important than putting on an exciting fight?  This ‘battle of legends’ proved to be anything but, as UFC fans were treated to an uninspiring display of what looked more like a charity boxing event.  The first round was spent feeling each other out, each fighter looking pretty tentative.  In the second round, Hughes came alive a bit throwing some kicks to Gracie’s lead leg, who for whatever reason didn’t seem interested in checking them.

SBN coverage of UFC 112: Invincible

The utter absence of a killer instinct shown by either man was apparent throughout the entire fight, with smiles, chit chat, and high-fiving galore.  At 3:35 in round three, Hughes clips Gracie with a right hand, immediately breaking off the attack and stepping out of range to the center of the octagon.  At one point, Hughes even helps pull Gracie up off the canvas after landing another kick.  Gracie, who was dropped three times in the third round alone (twice from leg kicks), looked completely out of his comfort zone.

Renzo Gracie is one of the good guys in this sport ... We all get old, man. It's a bitch ... Renzo looked old tonight. -Dana White

Is this what the UFC wants to be known for?  I’m not trying to be mean and nasty about Matt and Renzo, I’m upset about what we did not get the chance to see.  I just paid $44.99 for these fights, and didn’t get to see DaMarques Johnson TKO Brad Blackburn or Paul Kelly choke out Matt Veach with a guillotine.  I know these aren’t big names, but shouldn’t a company that claims to understand its fans be showing us these finishes instead? 

If two UFC newcomers came in and put on that kind of performance, would they still be employed by Zuffa by Monday morning?  Not likely.  What do you guys think? Would you rather see two relatively unknowns trying to make a name for themselves? Or two guys with their best days behind them?

By the sounds of these interviews with Ariel Helwani, it doesn't seem like either of these fighters are going anywhere. Ariel Helwani's YouTube