Comments on: Friday fight notes

By: dedal

dedal — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 04:12:54 +0000

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116822054840969789.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries

Adress for WSJ article (FULL).

By: JOSH

JOSH — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 01:48:29 +0000

Argh as well, I was looking forward to the GFC as it was a stacked card! Oh well, Im just praying that UFC doesnt do the stupid thing and try to cram 2+ hrs worth of fuckin commercials and promos EVEN with the ability to tape delay and edit the show. Ugh I sometimes loath the free shows.

By: JThue

JThue — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 01:33:00 +0000

Yikes, GFC postponed seven days out? That’s not good at all. Was actually looking forward to that one. WEC isn’t on TV either, so from being packed a few weeks ago, next weekend now has zero televised MMA, although WEC are running and IFL have a taping. Grrrrrr.

By: The MMA Critic

The MMA Critic — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 00:39:21 +0000

Sorry for another post, but I just read that the Gracie Fighting Championships event is being rescheduled. Another UFC competitor not being able to handle the tough MMA market.

By: The MMA Critic

The MMA Critic — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 00:30:03 +0000

I meant to say above that if Franklin wins, they probably want to have him fight at least one more time before getting a title shot.

By: Jordan Breen

Jordan Breen — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 00:29:55 +0000

It may not be the worst idea to run those three fights live, and leave Marquardt/Lister off.

First of all, Herring vs. O’Brien may degenerate into an inept sloppy wrestlefest and go to a lackluster JD. Secondly, Sean Salmon ain’t much, but he’s a very good wrestler, and while Evans positively blew Lambert’s brains out, there’s no telling what may set him off to revert into just positional wrestling. So that’s another decision they’re looking at.

Given Marquardt’s laissez faire approach to generating offense in an MMA fight as well as his solid ground skills, as well as Lister’s lack of a discernable stand up arsenal, this could be an ugly 15 minute affair also.

Having three live fights, plus Marquardt/Lister off air, could allow them to slip Marquardt/Lister into the broadcast edited, i.e. without intros, without waiting for a judges decision, and things of that nature. Could save them some valuable time in the telecast, while still getting the fight in there.

Is this actually Zuffa’s plan? Who fucking knows. But that fight has potential to get real ugly, so having some way to plan around it would be a good idea.

By: The MMA Critic

The MMA Critic — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 00:22:03 +0000

The Franklin/MacDonald fight is an interesting one. If MacDonald wins, I would say he is one of the next in line for a title shot. If Franklin wins, they probably still want to give him a title shot.

As mentioned above, maybe they will take the best prelim and put it on the show. That way, the show has a better chance of being exciting.

I’m not sure if Marquardt going to the WEC would be such a bad thing. I have been a big fan of his throughout his career (since 2000). And I think he is getting lost in the shuffle of the UFC. Going to the WEC would actually be better for his career.

By: JThue

JThue — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 00:17:34 +0000

“Anyone else notice on the UFC page they took down the advertisement of Marquardt/Lister and put up Hermes/Fisher instead? I wonder whats up with that? DO they know somethimg we dont?”

- I was asking this myself here a couple of days ago when Lister -Marquardt was rebranded to dark fight on UFC.com, but no one took it seriously. Yes, I had to bring this back up Anyway:

- One of them could be in doubt
- UFC might fear a boring fight
- UFC might want to have it on tape(it being likely to go 15) and only air it if they KNOW there’s time. The last FN was rushed because of four long fights, remember.

Another factor is that this was basically originally set to be a contender-fight, but with MacDonald vs. Franklin basically having taken over that spot, this fight now means less and doesn’t have to be on tv.

By: JOSH

JOSH — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 00:17:32 +0000

Yea I didnt think about puttingMarquardt down to WEC but that is an intresting thought… I wnder if thats going to be like a demotion OR maybe they want to give him free reign over the WEC middleweight division? BUT 3 fights for a UFN show? More and more Im thinkign Dana is getting stingy with the free shows.

By: The MMA Critic

The MMA Critic — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 00:10:14 +0000

I didn’t think much of the Lister/Marquardt fight have the “May Not Be Broadcast”. I thought it was an error a few days ago. However, with the graphic change, it means it was intentional. Right now, only 3 fights are scheduled for TV. And Marquardt/Lister should be on the big show.

UNLESS….. The UFC doesn’t want to give Marquardt anymore exposure…. And they either plan to get rid of him (unlikely), or perhaps put him in the WEC.

It should be interesting to see how this pans out.