The UFC, WEC 51 and the Fickleness of MMA Media

via www.fighters.com

When someone breaks your heart - or, alternately, chains it to a car bumper and fills up the tank - you really only have two options.  You can't go back in time and choose your match differently, you can't retroactively change the venue, and you sure as hell can't control anything beyond your own actions.  So, you can cry in your milk and dwell on the past, or you can get out there and start looking for your next distraction.

I wasn't as disappointed by UFC 119 as it seems most other MMA writers were.  I enjoy competitive fights in which the winner is yet to be determined.  I don't consider the fighters puppets that I pay to see dance in a way that pleases me.  I understand that this is truly the oldest of sports, and that whereas previous generations had to get off their asses and trek to an arena to witness it, all I have to do is click a few buttons on my remote or look up from the bar after paying a cover.  And I'm happy - thrilled - to do it.  We all should be.  That doesn't mean MMA, or Zuffa, is perfect, optimal or beyond improvement.  I'm just sick and tired of the negativity that saturates the coverage of this sport.

A fighter that is in the conversation for best pound-for-pound fighter on Earth is fighting tomorrow.  A rematch of the fight of the year (according to multiple critics) will happen tomorrow.  A fighter formerly in the pound-for-pound debate will be attempting to rebound.  The two participants in the front runner for this year's fight of the year will be competing.  Damacio Page, Antonio Banuelos and, potentially, the most meaningful international fighter in America today are on the fucking undercard tomorrow.  Me?  I have a ticket, a group of people to go with and a personal stake in the success of one of the fighters on the card.  I've been waiting for this card since it was announced, since it's an hour away from me.  But what about you?  How would you guys, even those of you that reliably check up on the scene, be aware of this amazing card?

The WEC just doesn't fail to deliver.  While I accept that not every fight/card can be a barnburner and that, sometimes, statistical anomalies can and do occur, every single WEC card has multiple redeeming qualities.  It's uncanny.  But the focus hasn't been there - it's been on Mir/Cro Cop stinking, "I disagree with a closely contested decision!" and, yes, the possibility that there's just too much gosh darn MMA these days.  I am so sad to see the single worst argument put forth by Josh Gross earlier this year making a comeback.  I missed the Dark Ages, but does no one remember them?  Isn't that a more frightful possibility than "oversaturation" (also known as "growth")?

As a reader, I'm more interested in fight breakdowns, hypothetical match making, behind-the-scenes news and Gabriel Gonzaga's YouTube page.  As a writer, it's both tempting and exhausting to simply run around and put out fires, refuting bad argument after bad argument.  I vow to try to do better, and I'm going to do my best to give you guys a killer write up of the event.  The fighters competing in Broomfield tomorrow deserve it.

SBN coverage of WEC 51: Aldo vs. Gamburyan (this is an unacceptably light link)