#1 Pound-For-Pound: The Fighters and the Sport

There has been an immense amount of publicity dedicated to the explosion of mixed martial arts in recent months and the addition of a title fight featuring two of the top light heavyweights (186-205 lbs.) in the world has only added to the hype. On July 5th at the Mandalay Bay Event Center in Las Vegas, Nevada the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, who many experts believe is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, will defend his title against the extremely talented and hard working The Ultimate Fighter season 1 winner Forrest Griffin. Though this fight is highly anticipated and will draw a lot of attention from the mixed martial arts world it will share the spotlight with the first of four free events presented by EliteXC on CBS. Because of the growing anticipation of these two events and other major events set to take place in late April and early May, this week I decided to explore the blogosphere in order to gain an understanding of what exactly is at stake for mixed martial arts and the fighters competing in the events. The first post I found, "the risk and rewards of 'Saturday Night Fights'", is published by Denny Burholder at CBS Sports: Community. In this post Burkholder examines the risks and rewards of the Saturday Night Fights presented by CBS and ProElite, Inc. and he discusses the factors that could be modified to appeal to more viewers. The second post I came across, "Silva asserts himself atop Sherdog pound-for-pound rankings", is published by ESPN: Mixed Martial Arts in association with Sherdog. The post ranks the ten best pound-for-pound fighters in the world with facts and opinions defending the given rank of each of the ten fighters. For your convenience I have left my comments on the two posts below, but they also can be found directly on the author's blogs.

"The risks and rewards of "Saturday Night Fights'"
Comment:
To begin, I would like to thank you for your well written and insightful arguments discussing the importance of a successful event on May 31st. I could not agree more with your ideas concerning the magnitude of the event and have expressed many similar ideas in my previous posts. As you said, "if EliteXC makes a lackluster showing before a bunch of first-time viewers, they could turn those people off to ever watching MMA again" therefore, I believe we will be able to determine the success of the event based on the ratings of the next three events. The first event may not receive the sought after ratings but, if the following three events have higher ratings than the first, we will know that a positive message was delivered to the viewers and that the message was spread to those that were not able to see the first event by those that viewed. This idea can work both ways. If the first event has the highest ratings we can assume that the viewers did not respond well to the fights and/or the dancers, DJ, and commentators as you mentioned and elected to pass on the opportunity to watch the next three events. You also stated that the success of the event will be evident in the recognition of EliteXC fighters, an increase in ad sales, the fighters' incomes, and the willingness of fighters to leave the UFC and join EliteXC. I completely agree with all of these arguments. If the first event is considered a success, the fighters that competed in the event will receive instant recognition from the new mixed martial arts fans because they could very well be the only fighters those fans have seen in competition. Due to that recognition many fighters in the UFC may be more willing to leave the organization, if they will be paid a similar salary, in search of national exposure, thus forcing the UFC to raise the salaries of its fighters to prevent them from venturing off to EliteXC. Also, with high ratings we could see many companies invest in EliteXC in order to have their services and products advertised in remaining three events.

"Silva asserts himself atop Sherdog pound-for-pound rankings"
Comment:
First I would like to thank you for your well researched and informative opinions on the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world. It is evident in your work that a lot of time and effort were put in to the development of this list that serves as a useful source for mixed martial arts fans and bloggers. I agree with a majority of the list and appreciate your ability to refrain from a bias in favor of any one mixed martial arts company when ranking the fighters, but I do have a few concerns. The main concern is the placement of Fedor Emelianenko (pictured above) as the third best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. I agree that he possesses fighting abilities that can be considered second to none and that with two decisive victories over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira he has earned a position on this list, but if you chose to exclude Randy Couture from this list for not fighting you must give Emelianenko a lower ranking for not fighting qualified fighters. If you look at Emelianenko's previous two fights you will see victories over Matt Lindland, who has competed as a middleweight or light heavyweight for a large part of his career, and the inexperienced Hong-Man Choi that took place seven long month apart. Meanwhile, Randy couture has only been retired for several months and has posted wins over former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia and the very explosive and dangerous Gabriel Gonzaga. Therefore, because of the size and talent level of Emelianenko's last two opponents and the fact that Couture was emitted from the rankings, I would have ranked Emelianenko no higher than fourth on the list and given Georges St. Pierre (picture on the left) the third spot having defeated Josh Koscheck and the greatest welterweight of all time Matt Hughes in his last two bouts. That being said, I would like to know where you would place Georges St. Pierre on this list if he is able to avenge his loss to Matt Serra on April 19th. If he can dominate the fight, as he did in the third Matt Hughes fight, and leave no doubt in the minds of the viewers that he is the number one welterweight in the world, I believe he deserves at least the second spot on the list, making a possible, but unlikely, match up with the best middleweight and pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Anderson Silva, even more appealing.

Repercussions: CBS and ProElite, Inc. Initiate Action

On February 28th, 2008 a deal was made between the CBS Television network and ProElite, Inc. in which the two companies agreed to a multiyear contract that would bring mixed martial arts to a major broadcast television network for the first time in the sports short existence. CBS and ProElite, Inc. decided to air four two-hour live primetime EliteXC events within the upcoming year (the first of which will take place on May 31st) and, if the events are successful, all those involved in the sport will enjoy the benefits that include an increase in the number of mixed martial arts fans, a destruction of the Ultimate Fighting Championship's (UFC) monopoly, negotiation leverage for fighters, and future contracts made between other mixed martial arts companies and broadcasting networks. This agreement was finalized just over a month ago yet many repercussions in response to its development are already evident in the mixed martial arts world. In this short amount of time several popular fighters have left their previous employers and agreed to more favorable contracts with other mixed martial arts companies, the popularity of fighters competing in organizations other than the UFC has increased, and discussions between mixed martial arts corporations and mainstream television networks regarding future commitments have occurred, all of which are examples of the recent positive effects this deal has had on the sport.

On March 28th the former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia (pictured on the right) and former International Fight League heavyweight contender Ben Rothwell elected to leave their previous employers (the UFC and IFL) and sign contracts with Adrenaline MMA. Adrenaline MMA is a unique organization that allows its fighters to compete in events promoted by other groups, presenting marquis fighters with the opportunities to experience financial success and compete against the best fighters in the world. These two advantages brought forth by Adrenaline MMA would entice many fighters to join and, as a result, the fighters are gaining some negotiation leverage with mixed martial arts companies, especially the UFC, when discussing future contracts. Because two popular fighters have decided to fight for different associations in 2008 all employers are forced to listen to the demands of the fighters in order to prevent them from joining their competitors, resulting in propitious contracts, higher salaries, and improved fighter treatment and accommodations.

Since February 28th the popularity of fighters that do not compete in the UFC has grown and been recognized by many fans and followers of mixed martial arts. On March 29th Frank Shamrock, mixed martial arts pioneer and legend, fought Cung Le in San Jose, California for the StrikeForce (owned by ProElite, Inc.) middleweight championship. At the conclusion of the epic night Shamrock lost his title as StikeForce champion to Le as the underdog was able to score a technical knock out over the favored champion after the three captivating rounds, but more surprising were the numbers processed after all the fans and fighters had returned to their homes. When all was said and done the event made ProElite, Inc. over $1.1 million in ticket sales from the 16,326 fans that were in attendance, numbers that provide a valuable representation of the growth in popularity the EliteXC and StrikeForce companies and their fighters are undergoing. Those that watched the event were also able to see a center cage interview of the emerging mixed martial arts superstar Kevin Fergusen (pictured on the left), better known as "Kimbo Slice", who will be featured in the free EliteXC event on May 31st. Slice was made famous by his paid, winner take all street fights (found on youtube) and is known for his vicious knock out power and strong chin (meaning it is difficult to knock him out), but the street fighting legend chose to try his hand in mixed martial arts, with the help of coach Bas Rutten, in hope of gaining popularity, competing against the best fighters in the world, and increasing his profits. The decision has led to personal success for Slice (he earned $175,000 for his last fight), but the addition of a household name to the EliteXC heavyweight division to go along with the stellar fights with intriguing background stories like Shamrock vs. Le has developed a great interest in the both ProElite, Inc. companies. The popularity of these fighters, the entertaining and exciting events, and the growing interest in EliteXC and StrikeForce could result in tremendous ratings for the CBS events, which would solidify the organization as a legitimate contender to the UFC.

Perhaps the greatest repercussion of the deal made between CBS and ProElie, Inc. would be the discussions occurring between mixed martial arts companies and major broadcast television networks concerning deals that will bring the sport to mainstream television. It was rumored that National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and StrikeForce were discussing an agreement that involved airing mixed martial arts events in 2007 and early 2008. The rumors were put to rest on March 27th when both companies announced that, beginning on April 12th, NBC will air a weekly 30 minute show from 2:00-2:30 A.M. E.T. on Saturday nights featuring previously recorded fights and fighter profiles. Though these fights will not be live, the exposure the sport will receive and the recognition the SrikeForce fighters will experience will no doubt be positive and aid StrikeForce as an organization and mixed martial arts as a sport, because the more popular and familiar fans become with StrikeForce and its fighters, the more the mixed martial arts will grow as a sport and as a business.