That’s the way any sport that revolves around individuals works apart from perhaps golf. I mean, really, the best players in the world play each other with the best fighting the champ. And as you have one top contender fight the champion you prepare his next challenge. That doesn’t require tournaments and frankly I think that making official tournaments is just a waste of time. I don’t need Carlos Condit/GSP to know that GSP is the next top contender for the 170lb title and should be given a crack at it.

But think about what makes a tournament exciting — and I’m not talking about a one-night tournament here but a multi-event tournament. There is a buildup, an excitement that just isn’t there with regular events. In the same way that in football and baseball and basketball and hockey, there are great regular season games, but something about the playoffs heightens the tension and fun.

I Genki Sudo really retired btw? (I think that the Brawl was his first UFC event).

In any case, Cage Rage seems to be doing fine, even if they’re not capable of holding a head to head event.

When the UFC did their first event in England, Cage Rage had a show that same day. The UFC obliterated them. I think the UFC is going to have no problems whatsoever with doing a show in Australia. With Pride gone, the UFC became the sole apex predator.

I dunno. You can do those fights without the auspices of a tournament pretty easily.

Oh, absolutely, and you’re point is well taken about not having mismatches. Just from the way Dana speaks about matchups and their resulting impact on the future title picture shows that he’s really in a way just simulating a tournament in his head for the current #1 contender for each belt.

But think about what makes a tournament exciting — and I’m not talking about a one-night tournament here but a multi-event tournament. There is a buildup, an excitement that just isn’t there with regular events. In the same way that in football and baseball and basketball and hockey, there are great regular season games, but something about the playoffs heightens the tension and fun.

Most regular people don’t want college basketball, but tons of people pay attention to March Madness every year. And not just for the betting pools…:)

The US Open is a terrible comparison for multiple reasons.

First, as 45 Huddle said, the recovery time between US Open matches is much longer than for MMA tournament fights. That doesn’t just apply to energy levels, that applies to any minor injuries incurred.

Second, there is inherently a set amount of time any US Open match must last, so at the very worst, one US open competitor will have spent a quarter of the amount of time in his last match as his opponent. Santiago spent what, 1/20th the time against Salmon that Prangley spent against Vitale.

Third, in a US Open tournament, when the level of competitors is similar, the time each spent in his previous match tends to be similar, because they faced similar competition. MMA fights don’t have any such tendency, because any fight can end in the first two minutes as easily as drag to decision, regardless of the quality of competitors.

This is the MMA equivalent of Vietnam during the cold war. UFC is moving in in force, and meanwhile, ProElite has substantial support on the ground already, via their connections to Australian MMA events through their new wholly owned King of the Cage subsidiary.

I wonder whether UFC has the muscle to totally beat down the local Australian MMA events, or whether any of them is strong enough to be the equivalent of Cage Rage. UFC has good event distribution on DVD in Region 4, even though the production quality is sketchy at best (IMHO).

For him never fighting again, that is two serious concussions in a year. The mind is a funny thing, some guys can handle more blows then others. Still, the evidence against Sean Salmon is pretty staggering on where exactly his mind is at right now, that being a very bad place.

This is pure speculation, but has his torrid pace of fighting non-stop since the UFC dropped him played into what occurred?

I could be wrong because I haven’t seen all of Cro Cop’s losses between his careers in K-1, Pride & the UFC, but don’t recall him ever being carted off on a stretcher, with a neck brace on after any of them. Same with Couture.

Aside from a brief moment following the Gonzaga KO loss, I don’t recall ever seriously fearing for either man’s health in the immediate aftermath of Filipovic’s or Randy’s defeats. And even then, I think the concern was more for the way that Cro Cop’s leg collapsed beneath him rather than fearing any sort of a possible life threatening head injury.

While last night, while Salmon lay in a complete state of unconsciousness with his arms sticking up rigidly, there was definitely a long, worrisome “Oh Shit” moment. Agree? Especially since we had just seen him suffer a very similar fate just a ( relatively ) short while before.

Perhaps last night’s brutal KO loss wouldn’t be as amplified as it is in significance had the KO loss to Rashad Evans taken place a couple-three years or so ago, but that’s not the case. I’m no neurologist nor a medical professional of any kind, but I’ve been around the fight game long enough to know that that suffering that sort of a total knock out on the heels of another one not long before it is bad news.

Very bad news if the victim of said knock outs plans on continuing to fight in their aftermath. Very, VERY bad news if that individual should attempt to climb back into the ring or cage any time even remotely soon after suffering them.