Throw away your television

Everything changes. This is a rule of life that can often times be a bitter pill to swallow. The UFC is no different. With stars like Ronda Rousey and Conor Mcgregor changing the game MMA has gone from a niche sport to being mainstream enough to be endorsed by major media juggernauts like FOX. While many people hold to the eastern philosophy that change is neither bad nor good, just different, as an MMA purist I’m going to have to respectfully disagree. Maybe not in the grand scheme of things, but there’s definitely a right and wrong direction for the “sport”, and this is the issue we want to address. Now for the casual fans you’re not going to understand the big “fuss” of the UFC 200 main event. It’s fun, it’s what we want to see, what’s the big deal? So I’m going to give you an analogy. Imagine you’re at a stip club, a lovely young lady has taken the stage, she’s removing what’s left of her bikini. You and your friends get rowdy, you throw a couple dollars, you buy some drinks. Now imagine the dancer turns around, and it’s your daughter. While nobody else at the club gives damn because they’re just there for “A.N.T.”, you’re emotionally invested. You’ve given this thing you’re time and love, you’ve seen this thing grow up. As long time mma fans, we’re not in love with the “looks” of mma but the substance. We come for the art, to see the best compete against the best, to admire the skill and hardwork of human potential. We know where we were when Stephan Bonnar fought Forest Griffin, we’ve seen the sport grow up. We will watch a seemingly “boring” jiu jitsu match between Damian Maia and Gunnar Nelson in awe. This is why watching the sport go in the route it’s currently going in is particularly painful. This is why if you are a lover of true sport in any capacity, you should boycott UFC 200. Reason #1: It’s all about dollars and cents. I’ve never seen a sport whore it’s self out in such capacity simply to get as many viewers as possible. The main event between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz is simply a money grab, giving true fans and the sport the big finger. Frankie Edgar has been deservedly calling for a title shot at the 145 lb weight class for eons now after his first round KO of Chad Mendes. But simply because media darling Conor McGregor wanted to be Icarus and fly too close to the sun, the UFC and Dana White let him fight essentially an exhibition match with Nate Diaz. Fine. He fought, and he lost, next up right? Wrong. Because they want Conor McGregor to also fight at the first NY card with something to lose, they give him an IMMEDIATE REMATCH with the guy who just made him tap in the second round. Most TITLE fights don’t get immediate rematches but because Conor gets his feelings hurt, he gets to run that back in essentially another exhibition match, holding up the title in the process? This reeks of favoritism.  

Reason #2 Fans have the power. This one hit me in the face the other day. On his show “The MMA Hour” last week, Ariel Helwani said he wished UFC would just make the announcement that Diaz and McGregor would headline the main card already so we could all move on and “accept it.” Well wait a minute; we’re the ones that buy the tickets, we’re the ones that buy the PPV’s, we’re the ones that support the UFC with our dollars and cents. If we don’t like something we have ALL the power to change it. We vote with our dollars right? It’s not like Lorenzo Fertitta controls our water source, it’s a luxury to watch the UFC. Let him know we don’t like what he’s doing with the sport and that if he keeps shoving crap down our throats we can always eat elsewhere. If it’s all about dollars and cents then hit them where it hurts…the bank account. Reason #3 You really aren’t missing much… By all measures UFC 200 is a good card. Cain Velasquez vs. Travis Browne, Edgar vs. Aldo, Sage Northcutt comes back – pretty solid event. But UFC 200 worthy? I think not. This isn’t exactly a blockbuster card and while all the fights are more than decent, there really isn’t much here I couldn’t stand missing. Sure I want to see all these fights but it’s not exactly a burning desire in my heart. I’m way more excited about the UFC 198 and 199 cards to be honest. With the added incentive of potentially sticking it to Dana White, and letting him realize he answers to us and not the other way around, then this fight is all but missed in my book. Whether you agree or disagree with the main event match up I think we can all agree this isn’t the way a sport is suppose to be run. If I wanted “sports entertainment” I’d watch WWE. But I don’t watch sports for the theatrics, I watch it for the sport, and though they’ll always be charismatic personalities that shouldn’t effect the match making. Jeff Wagenheim of “The MMA Beat” said it best, if the fighters are like kids, then the UFC are the parents. They’re not there to let them have their way, but to do what’s best for everyone involved. Let us know what you think of the article in the comments section below.