UFC's Finest

Ok, this column is about a week late, but now that Strikeforce’s detrimental weekend may have rendered imminent extinction, we’ve come to the following realization once again: The UFC is, and always will be, the prominent mixed martial arts promotion of the world. And from what transpired this past month, three specific people within the promotion can be labeled as the integral faces of its success.

Since the UFC’s record-breaking showcase at UFC 100 last July and subsequent scintillating card at UFC 101 in August, the promotion entered a lull in compelling fight cards due to stacked cards containing elite fighters in the summer of 2009. In that span, ticket sales haven’t been a problem. The UFC never has a problem with that. But here’s a breakdown of pay-per-view sales from UFC 100-110:

UFC 100: 1,600,000
UFC 101: 850,000
UFC 102: 435,000
UFC 103: 375,000
UFC 104: 500,000
UFC 106: 375,000
UFC 107: 620,000
UFC 108: 300,000
UFC 109: 275,000
UFC 110: 240,000

From August 2009 to March 2010, the UFC put on only three title fights; had to deal with injured fighters and fill-ins; put on some so-so cable televised Fight Night cards; and suffered a controversial judge’s decision between Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in October, as Machida retained the belt in what could still be classified as the UFC’s most popular weight class: the light heavyweight division. The only favorable situations for the UFC in that seven-month span were the expectation of a Shogun/Dragon rematch and the always-popular Randy Couture appearance.

And now we’re here, at what could be the cusp of the UFC’s most captivating era. Last July, we found ourselves witnessing a tale of two champions. Now, we find ourselves reading the script of a similar tale containing unprecedented possible outcomes.

At UFC 111 in Newark, NJ on March 27, Georges “Rush” St. Pierre dominated the main event in every form and fashion to retain his welterweight title and continued his reign as one of the top pound-for-pound MMA fighters in the world. As always, he did it in mesmerizing fashion, controlling the fight for a solid five rounds and never once found himself in a vulnerable position.

St. Pierre didn’t finish the fight on his own terms as most perennial MMA fighters do, but it was still a performance to remember. He attempted multiple brutal submission attempts, but failed to capitalize due to the immeasurable ruthlessness of his opponent, Dan Hardy. That’s what happens when the fighter you face states after the bout that he “doesn’t believe in the word ‘tap’”.

Because of this, St. Pierre felt obligated to apologize to the fans subsequent the fight. UFC president Dana White pushes his fighters to end fights before they can be put in the judge’s hands, and St. Pierre obviously takes pride obeying his boss’s wishes and entertaining the fans. St. Pierre apologized profusely after the fight, felt he made some key mistakes in his submission attempts, and said that he is intending to polish his submission game in the future.

What’s most astonishing about all of this is that St. Pierre had nothing to apologize for. He won the fight, remained champion, and got the approval of the fans in the arena in the process. Yet he still felt like he needed to apologize to fans such as myself. I still have this fight saved on my DVR three weeks later and won’t delete it until I get tired of watching it. Every facet of mixed martial arts was showcased by St. Pierre in that fight alone (besides striking, which GSP does do as good as anyone in the UFC, but didn’t need it for this particular fight). It was unquestionably the greatest five-round performance I have ever seen from a single fighter in the octagon, and George St. Pierre apologized to me for it. That’s how great of a fighter and competitor he is, and it makes me shudder thinking of how his career can potentially unfold.

Conversely, UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi generated an entirely divergent set of circumstances. The night should’ve been headlined by Frankie Edgar’s historical upset over BJ Penn to obtain the UFC lightweight championship, but quickly became a perplexing night filled with disappointment. Anderson “The Spider” Silva entered the ring on April 10 as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world in most viewers’ eyes, and did virtually everything contradictory of what an athlete with those entitlements should carry out.

He showed complete apathy, toying with the challenger, Demian Maia, begging him to come forward and fight out of his comfort zone. Silva fought with no intensity; did nothing to finish the fight in the early rounds when he clearly had an all-around advantage; portrayed a level of indifference throughout the fight that caused fans to commence chants of “GSP! GSP! GSP!” for Georges St. Pierre, who was attending the event; ran around the cage like a child in the final round until the referee forced him to engage the fighter or a point would be taken away, and eventually won the fight by unanimous decision as the boos came raining down.

Anderson Silva altered his image of one of the most entertaining, talented and popular fighters the sport has ever seen to a polarizing figure who feels his talents supercede the interests of the fans and the sport itself. After all of the one-sided victories, historic performances and everything else that has come along with his immaculate 11-fight winning streak (longest in UFC history), Silva’s reputation as the “bad guy” has begun. Silva received a small dose of this at UFC 112, but knowing the great fans of the UFC, this performance won’t be forgotten the next time Silva’s title defense comes around.

Dana White showed his disgust immediately after the event in Abu Dhabi, and was so infuriated with Silva that he left the arena before the event was over and refused to put the belt on him. Before this bout, Silva made virtually every decision for his MMA path -- now White has already set up Silva’s next middleweight title defense against Chael Sonnen. It’s safe to say Silva will eradicate the face of apathy in his bout with Sonnen, but only because of Sonnen’s aggressive style. Anderson Silva loves this attribute in his challengers because of his flawless ability to capitalize on the mistakes of assertive opponents. However, the fact that Silva needs these types of challengers to bring out the best in him is egregious. It may be too late for him to regain the universal respect he once had, and it may be time to finally reach a universal agreement that the pound-for-pound title is as ambiguous as ever.

I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: the pound-for-pound best fighter in mixed martial arts in this current era is nowhere near solidified. First of all, with elite fighters in various weight classes, this debate should never come to a clear conclusion.

Second of all, a fighter like Anderson Silva should be nowhere near worthy of the pound-for-pound crown if he chooses not to fight to his greatest extent in a title match. Period. If LeBron James ever decided, “Hmm, I guess I’ll just take today off and just play around, not take any shots, and show everybody how good I am by proving how bad we would lose if I never existed,” he would be ridiculed in pure vitriol and considered a disgrace to the game. That’s what Anderson Silva has done. It wasn’t the first time he showed indifference towards a challenger, but was the first time he ever took a fight off. We talk of players in other sports taking days off, but a fighter has no excuse when he only fights three times a year.

On the other hand, Georges St. Pierre may be deserving of the pound-for-pound crown on more levels than any other fighter in the world. He’s prepared for every bout; dominates the opposition; apologizes when he wins; doesn’t need specific circumstances to win a fight; dictates fights in unparalleled fashion; is one of the most dominant wrestlers in UFC history and never wrestled in high school or college; can win fights in every form possible; is a class-act and is widely loved by the fans; hit the mainstream with sponsorships and Under Armor commercials; comes out to “Juicy” decked out in a full karate suit (no wonder Americans love him so much, albeit he’s French-Canadian and can’t speak fluent English); doesn’t jump around from weight class to weight class because of the pride he takes in having a long career; is 20-2 and showing no signs of vulnerability or slowing down; and says the following time and time again, words that you will never hear from the mouth of Anderson Silva: “I want to be the greatest.” In other words, he’s the quintessential mixed martial artist.

Silva doesn’t take pride in having a long career. In fact, Silva hardly takes pride in being in the UFC. He’s pondered boxing matches and other miscellaneous activities for the pleasure of Anderson Silva. Because of this, he’s lost his privilege to do whatever he wishes within the UFC -- no more jumping around to different weight classes, running amok and picking off contenders for pure enjoyment. Silva said he would move down to the welterweight division and fight St. Pierre if he defeated Maia; that it was a done deal and the “Superfight” was going to happen. Well, Silva is just like the rest of the crop in the UFC now, and Dana White is making the decisions for him.

Which leads us to the third party in this three-headed UFC monster: Dana White. He’s running the promotion at an impeccable level, and although the cards he stacked in ’09 resulted in some disappointment to start ’10, the UFC is thriving and is showing no signs of slowing down. White knows what to do with his fighters, knows how to promote them, knows how to set up premier fight cards and compete with rival promotions.

Between Strikeforce’s contract disputes with Fedor Emelianenko and Saturday night’s disaster (three title fights; three decisions; Dan Henderson’s disappointing debut with the promotion resulting in the loss of a commercial superstar; multiple lifeless moments until an embarrassing and uncontained brawl broke out after the main event), the UFC is now in prime position to remain at the top of the MMA world with no apparent competitor.

With White running the show with gusto at a commendable level, Silva perfecting his role as the adversary, and Georges St. Pierre winning fights in admirable fashion, the UFC has a cast of characters similar to the WWE in its heyday. Except this is real, and the UFC is for real. Although the highly anticipated “Superfight” won’t be coming soon and isn’t inevitable, the build-up in hype until that point will be tremendous, and the fight itself would be one for the ages.

The following prospect is nothing short of fascinating: the loveable, mesmerizing fighter who dictates fights in unprecedented fashion versus the freakishly talented, explosive, most exciting fighter in the world who let down his fans in apathetic fashion. Talk about a storyline. Whether it happens or not, we can marvel at the thought of such a fight. A fight that would be the greatest in mixed martial arts history on a plethora of levels.