Why the Visceral Reaction to the lack of WEC Logo?
by Zak Woods on Apr 27, 2010 3:22 PM EDT
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The WEC logo disappeared on Saturday night but for MMA fans who know the difference between 'extreme cagefighting' and 'ultimate fighting' the absence of a logo created this odd pubescent feeling of awkwardness.
Part of it was listening to Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg awkwardly trip over code words for WEC like a movie from the 50's doing everything in it's power not to say S-E-X.
Replacing WEC 48 with Aldo vs. Faber felt taboo, like the MMA equivalent of Lolita.
But why? Why in the world did we collectively feel abashed by the lack of a logo?
To be honest, it's because Zuffa told us branding is important.
For years MMA fans have heard that branding is vital for MMA; that it creates a collective whole, a concentration of fighters and talent that makes the sport viable while simultaneously preventing a fractured, disparate landscape of boxing (something that is blamed for the "sweet science's" waning popularity). In other words, branding is the Constitution to the Articles of Confederation.
The consumer market place bought the message in spades
On a personal note, I do believe in a central promotion but checks and balances are required. Feel free to call me James Madison in the future.
That's why Aldo vs. Faber felt like an 8th grade dance and the fighters were just as tall -- zing!
In the end, it didn't matter that there wasn't a logo as the fighters put on a great show in fights that the fans want to see. Thankfully we got just that.
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IDK, but it seems like WKR is the only site that continues to point back to the logoless organization. It’s really not that big of a deal. To most new fans, the sport is referred to as the UFC anyway not MMA, or WEC for that matter. It was actually kind of rereshing to have MMA treated just as MMA, not the UFC or WEC per se.
Not to nitnip, but I think you guys were under the impression the octagon girls had WEC logos, but I am pretty sure that’s not correct. I recall the tops having the Aldo vs. Faber logo instead.
I was pondering why soooo many people were like “no WEC logo WTF?” and I thought that would be the big story for our audience. Perhaps I was wrong….
Thanks for pointing out that the girls uniforms didn’t even have the logos. Could’ve sworn I saw them…
watchkalibrun.com
Not to totally disregard the issue, people definitely noticed, but it was more in a “dog being shown a card trick” kind of way. Once the explanation came out, it was pretty understandable and people/sites mostly dropped the topic.
I thought the effect resulted in more of an official sport “look”….it was nicely spartan and I wouldn’t mind seeing it again.
I guess I’m a little confused why it’s ok by Spike for the UFC to go to Versus, but not the other way around. ARe Versus and Spike owned by rival cable companies at this point? Maybe Viacon vs. Universal or Comcast?
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