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MMA Memories sets the stage for the UFC's debut on Versus:

History says the Versus brand isn't strong enough to help UFC out and that the UFC brand may not be strong enough to help Versus out. So far, nothing on Versus has pulled big ratings except for Urijah Faber fights. WEC shows without Faber on Versus pull lousy ratings. The NHL does not draw very good ratings anywhere, even on Versus. Bull riding and hunting shows populate Versus all the time. The network really doesn't have a true identity. Can UFC help bring an identity to the station?

WKR is certainly interested to see how the UFC performs on Versus compared to the other Zuffa promotion, World Extreme Cagefighting.

Previously we pointed out how Versus being back on DirecTV ruins the real life laboratory conditions that would have existed for our UFC to WEC comparison. While we will be able to compare later data it is still frustrating that there won't be able to make immediate conclusions (since when has the Internet ever been patient).

MMA Memories also taps into the branding struggles of Versus. The sports network has been unable to find its footing in the crowded sports landscape. The network has gone out and grabbed the rights to the NHL, WEC, some college football and basketball and the UFL. Yet, the presence of hunting shows and bull riding have created a comical narrative when the general sports media. But this programming is no different than what ESPN used to use and what ESPN 2 still utilizes to fill time . Why the difference in perception? WKR has a hypothesis.

SBN coverage of UFC on Versus: Vera vs. Jones

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There is one downside to Roger Huerta signing with Bellator--high expectations. 

Truth be told WKR is nitpicking but it is Alvarez or bust for Huerta. That isn't necessarily a bad thing as it is indicative of the overall positive perception within the MMA community of Roger's skills. But if Huerta stumbles into a strong wrestler who is willing to go Gray Maynard 2.0 on "El Matador" then Roger may see an early exit. Such an eventuality would see what is left of Huerta's stock completely plummet.

Basically, if Huerta loses, what's left of that UFC shine may be permanently stained to the point where he is no longer a "name". That's one of the reason's why WKR would've like to see Roger in Strikeforce immediately fighting a top-ten lightweight like Josh Thomson.

On the flip side  there is no guarantee that if Huerta had signed with Strikeforce that he would've gotten a fight in this decade. Also, if Roger does make it to Alvarez then the signing will be hailed as genius at Huerta would've gone from not fighting to facing off against the #4 Consensus lightweight. Not too shabby. 

Since Zak and Zach attended the event live and I watched it at home, I wanted to share a couple of quick WEC 47 thoughts in regards to some of the production elements; specifically, Stephan Bonnar's commentary and the confusion that occured at the end of the Bowles-Cruz title fight:

• Stephan Bonnar handled color commentary duties smoothly, but his on-camera performance was a bit wooden. When he was on-camera he strangely resembled a ventriloquist's dummy as someone aparently forgot to tell him that smiling every once in a while is a good thing to do to put the audience at ease.
• I was relieved that Bonnar mostly refrained from the incessant fawning over Miguel Torres that has earned Frank Mir a healthy amount of scorn from MMA fans.
• One thing I found surprising was that while Bonnar gave Javier Vasquez credit for his leg sweep of Jens Pulver during their fight, he failed to acknowledge the mistake that Pulver made by kicking at the legs of the downed Vasquez instead of simply letting him get back up to his feet. That tactical error marked the beginning of the end for "Lil' Evil".
• Overall, Bonnar did a good job and may have moved up a spot or two on the depth-chart in regards to replacement color commentator duty.
• While WEC 47 excelled from a production standpoint there was a giant WTF moment during the Bowles-Cruz title fight that marred what was otherwise a very polished broadcast. As they came back from the commercial break to begin the third round, the action had come to a halt and it took several minutes before the home viewers were informed as to exactly why the bout had been stopped. Both Todd Harris and Stephan Bonnar were confused as well, with Bonnar believing that perhaps a severe case of cramps, excessive blood, or even a broken nose led to the doctor stoppage. In the future, there needs to be quicker and clearer communication between the officials and broadcasters so that viewers at home won't be left scratching their heads.  
• Seeing as how the end to the main event came so abruptly, I would like to make the case for uninterrupted title fights when they are broadcast on either Spike or Versus from now on. Getting one of the card's advertisers to agree to this shouldn't be an overly tough proposition and who doesn't believe that title fights should be broadcast in full anyway. Something along the lines of: "This title fight is being brought to you commercial-free from (insert advertiser here)" would work out very well. Besides, it's always interesting to hear what advice corner-men are offering in-between rounds, especially during title fights. Hearing Brian Bowles in-between rounds one and two telling his corner that he thinks he broke his hand would have gone a long way in explaining why he looked so off his game.

Be sure to also check out the latest edition of Cage Cast as Zak and Zach share their live experience thoughts on all the action from this past Saturday night. 

SBN coverage of WEC 47: Bowles vs. Cruz

photo via FIGHT! Magazine

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WEC 47's salaries are now public.

• Dominick Cruz $18,000 ($9,000 to show, $9,000 to win) def. Brian Bowles $12,000
• Joseph Benavidez $29,000* ($14,500 to show, $14,500 to win) def. Miguel Torres $26,000
• Javier Vazquez $12,000 ($6,000 to show, $6,000 to win) def. Jens Pulver $14,000
• L.C. Davis $18,000 ($9,000 to show, $9,000 to win) def. Deividas Taurosevicius $9,000
• Bart Palaszewski $12,000 ($6,000 to show, $6,000 to win) def. Karen Darabedyan $4,000
• Scott Jorgensen $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win def. Chad George $3,000
• Chad Mendes $8,000 ($4,000 to show, $4,000 to win) def. Erik Koch $3,000
• Anthony Pettis $6,000* ($3,000 to show, $3,000 to win) def. Danny Castillo $9,500
• Leonard Garcia $14,000* vs. George Roop $3,000* (split draw)
  
• Fredson Paixao $4,000 ($2,000 to show, $2,000 to win) def. Courtney Buck $3,000
• Ricardo Lamas $10,000 ($5,000 to show, $5,000 to win) def. Bendy Casimir $3,000

*- Fighters were awarded $10,000 "Fight Night" bonuses.

Total salary (without "Fight Night" bonuses) $236,500. Base salary $170,000. Total money paid out $276,500.

Total bonus money was $106,500. Without "Fight Night" bonuses, bonus money was $66,500.

Miguel Torres received 15.2% of the base salary. Jens Pulver received 8.2% of base salary.Together Torres and Pulver received 23.2% of the base salary.

Joseph Benavidez received 14.1% of total money.

SBN coverage of WEC 47: Bowles vs. Cruz

After the jump WKR continues our new feature where we rank the fighters based upon their perceived value to the WEC (based on "to show" money). Followed by our own rankings.

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The rarely seen "hemoglobin waterfall".

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Watching Miguel Torres lose to Joseph Benavidez was like visiting a chocolate factory expecting Willy Wonka only to be disappointed by plastic hair nets and giant machinery.

Seriously, what in the world happened to Miguel Torres? That question has been asked by many fans in Internet forums, social networking sites and even in conversations between people residing in the same room. Shocking, I know. Fans who watched WEC 47 witnessed a former champion look timid and uncertain from the first bell before being submitted by Benavidez in the second round. 

Did Torres simply have a bad night where the sudden gush of gore lead to defeat or was it just bad tactics that need fixing? The former seems quite practical as Torres' was split to the bone with a torrent of blood oozing over his face, a reality that would have caused 99% humans to turn in their papers and find a new job. If it was just poor tactics then Torres' move to alter his camp and spend more time with Mark DellaGrotte was surely an error.

But due to the quality, or rather, the lack of quality, in Torres' performance, a sudden reactionary discussion has sprung up: was Miguel really that good, was he overrated, was this a changing of the guard or is all well in mullet-land?

SBN coverage of WEC 47: Bowles vs. Cruz

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(Monty Burns has a plan...yes...Excellent!...)

WKR already detailed how WEC 47 blew up the top of the WEC's bantamweight division. That's usually what happens when the #1 and #2 ranked fighters in a division are trampled over like grass in an elephant stampede. Well, in this case, the elephants were probably of the pygmy variety.

Even though we are less than twenty-four hours removed from the 135lbs. hierarchy collapsing let's dive in and play matchmaker.

First, you may have noticed that the skinny and less crazy version of Antnon Chigurh, otherwise known as Brian Bowles, is absent from the picture. As the former champion broke his hand he will most likely be out for an extended period of time. As a result he won't figure in to the immediate plans of the WEC. That leaves four fighters a top the bantamweight heap in the WEC: Champ Dominick Cruz, Joseph Benavidez, Miguel Torres and Scott Jorgensen.

At the moment it appears that Dominick Cruz and Joseph Benavidez are destined for a rematch and the obvious slot would be as the main event at the WEC event in Calgary this June. Where does that leave Scott Jorgensen and Miguel Torres?

One could argue that these two should fight each other but WKR would argue for different opponents. In Torres's case something odd is afoot as the former champion looked tentative and cautious in his fight with Benavidez. Miguel needs some cage time in order to build up his confidence and make his WEC star shine bright again. With Torres fighting a different opponent that leaves an open slot for Jorgensen who appears to be in the awkward "on deck" position. The WEC could place Scott against a beatable opponent in June or see if Jorgensen could avenge one of his previous losses to Damacio Page or Antonio Banuelos as a precursor to a title shot. The other option is to sit on the Idaho native for a future title shot.

WEC 47 may have created a lot of uncertainty in the bantamweight division but that means that the next few events will be packed with intrigue as we look for the division to either solidify a new hierarchy or turn everything into a jumbled mess of awesomeness.

SBN coverage of WEC 47: Bowles vs. Cruz

What a night of upsets!

Don't worry, there will be more on that tomorrow but at the moment WKR is shocked to see the bantamweight division undergo an earth shattering change in just one night. While it will take several more cards to solidify the unexpected fluidity of the 135lbs. division there is no question that the division is completely different now then what it looked like just a few hours ago. 

First, here are the SBN Consensus Rankings for the top-five WEC bantamweights prior to WEC 47.

1. Brian Bowles 
2. Miguel Torres
3. Dominick Cruz
4. Joseph Benavidez
5. Scott Jorgensen

Now, after tonight's round of upsets here is how WKR ranks the top-five bantamweights in the WEC. 

1. Dominick Cruz
2. Brian Bowles
3. Joseph Benavidez
4. Scott Jorgensen 
5. Miguel Torres

To a degree this instinctual reaction rather than careful deliberation but here us out. Cruz is a no-brainer at #1 and WKR would be okay with Bowles at #3 but we will give him the benefit of the doubt due to the injury and place him at #2. The three spot clearly goes to Benavidez though we wouldn't object if someone put him at #2. Our fourth ranked WEC bantamweight will surely turn heads but as of right now Scott Jorgensen belongs at #4. Hear us out before you throw internet fire. Miguel Torres' last victory was over Takeya Mizugaki and Torres lost two rounds to Mizugaki who was a coming in on short notice. Where as Jorgensen was far more dominant against Takeya in the early rounds and was never in the trouble that Miguel found himself early on against the Japanese batanweight. Plus Torres looked simply dreadful against Benavidez and Bowles demolished the former champion. 

Now there are two big questions facing the WEC: what to do with Torress and who should fight Cruz?

To the former WKR isn't ready to speculate on just yet but the ladder title shot clearly goes to either Benavidez or Jorgensen. Will the WEC schedule a Dominick-Joseph rematch or will they go for some new blood instead?

WKR doesn't really mind either way as the top-five in the WEC needs some serious sorting out.  

SBN coverage of WEC 47: Bowles vs. Cruz

THQ executive vice president, Don Gold, talked to Gamespot and fired a verbal broadside at Electronic Arts and their upcoming MMA game:

"EA, which is a very well known company and who makes big sports games, they couldn’t get our license. They were not fans of the UFC, they were not fans of mixed-martial arts–and they decided to change their business plan and became a "me-too" company and create a "me too" fighter. They couldn’t get what they really wanted, so they tried to create a game that would compete with us. We have a lot of respect for them, but there’s nothing in that game that would entice me or anyone I know that’s an MMA fan to buy it. If you want stars, the best organization, the best graphics, you’re going to stick with what you bought last year because this year’s game is even better. And the fact that we didn’t cheat or cut corners in 2010, I think our fans are going to be very happy."

Gold's "Dana Whitesq" comments received a fair amount of play for their incendiary nature but there is more to it than just "our game is better than yours" gusto.

First it is important to understand that video games are essentially built on three pillars: gameplay, brand and software. A game might have great core gameplay but its framerate or graphics might be below average making the game unplayable. On the other hand a game might have a great brand, say the Terminator license, but if it fails to deliver compelling gameplay it might not matter how many T-888's you can kill. Or a game could come from a great franchise and have superb graphics yet have the gameplay equivalent of watching paint dry. It is upon this tripod of elements that game developers and studios constantly attempt to balance.

It is through this prism that we truly understand what Don Gold is saying; that branding is the end all be all to MMA video games. It won't matter if the EA license has better graphics, frame rate or gameplay because they won't have the fighters or the brand to get people to buy it.

It is possible that Gold is one hundred percent correct and that there aren't enough MMA fans in the market who will sacrifice branding for gameplay or graphics to make EA's foray worthwhile. That is, assuming that EA will be able to make technical advances above THQ's product, which Gold also doesn't believe.

WKR can't help but feel troubled about these statements. For the sake of argument let's assume that the EA title is a really good game. Then it stands to reason that it should do well in the market. But if it ends up being a flop then what does that say about the health of the MMA community when not tied to the UFC brand? That is a question that WKR doesn't really want to know the answer to.