I wrote before the event that was a very important card in the history of the WEC. They needed to put up a strong number to show that there was interest in the pay-per-view that they are putting on next month.
Yea…not so much. According to MMAJunkie, this was the second-worst rating that the promotion has done on Versus in nearly two full years.
WEC 47 (Bowles vs. Cruz): 373,000 viewers
WEC 46 (Varner vs. Henderson): 640,000
WEC 45 (Cerrone vs. Ratciff): 330,000
WEC 44 (Brown vs. Aldo): 414,000
WEC 43 (Cerrone vs. Henderson): 419,000 (first event after loss of DirecTV viewers)
Why did this happen? Well, the event did certainly lack some pop. The only real star on the card was Miguel Torres, and he was coming off a pretty embarrassing knockout loss. The main event was between two bantamweights that only the real MMA fan would know. Bowles was coming off a win, but hadn’t fought in more than six months. Cruz has only one loss, but doesn’t have a resume that screams superstar.
However, I bring you another possibility. This card was on a Saturday night. While me and you may block some prime weekend time for the WEC, Joe Average is out at the bar getting crunk at that time. He might stop for a UFC, but not for it’s awkward little brother.
Well, can the WEC draw on a PPV if they can’t draw on cable on a Saturday night? We’ll see. This next card coming up has a TON of star power on it. The featherweight triumvirate of Urijah Faber, Mike Brown and Jose Aldo are all in action. Donald Cerrone and Ben “Pootie Tang” Henderson go at it in a repeat of WEC’s 2009 fight of the year. Not to mention the possible inclusion of hot prospect Chan Sung Jung, who is best known as “The Korean Zombie. Mmmm…Brains.
Should we assume that the WEC is screwed next month? No, not quite. However, this can’t be good news for Reed Harris and the boys.
Do you love the WEC? Do you think that watching two 145 pound guys go for five rounds is better than watching Kimbo and Houston gassing after three? Do you love the fast paced action of cards that are great top to bottom? Do you love Miguel Torres’ mullet?
Well, so do we. Perhaps more importantly, so do the people at TapouT. That’s why they put out this shirt for the little brother of the UFC.
The WEC is facing an important moment in their history. With the move to pay-per-view coming, it’s important for them to get as much pub as possible. That’s why it’s not a bad idea for a few walking billboards to suddenly appear. Capiche?
After each major Mixed Martial Arts event, our very own matchmaker, Jason Comack, does his best Joe Silva and breaks down all the possibilities for the fighters who waged war last night in a little feature we like to call: What’s Next?
Chris Lytle: Lytle is a much better fighter then he shows in the ring. He’s content with banging out KO’s, fights and submissions of the night and banking the extra cash. Lytle is a much crisper boxer then we’ve seen as of late but the truth is his giant hay-maker of doom punches have put money in his wallet so he’s unlikely to stop them. Against Brian Foster we were reminded that Lytle does in fact have a submission game as he won with a devastating knee bar.
Lytle has settled nicely into the gate keeper role. He’s a guy you can put either on the under-card or a Spike TV Prelim/Fight Night and know your going to get a solid fight. His role is taking on young guys who are ready to move up in competition and while there’s a bunch of fights that make sense a lot of the young welterweights are already booked in fights.
Rory MacDonald; The 20 year old Canadian welterweight is an exciting prospect. However he’s been rumored to be fighting Carlos Condit at UFC 115. Rick Story and Nick Osipczak are fighting each other at UFC 112. Amir Sadollah and Dong Hyun Kim are fighting each other at UFC 114. T.J Grant and Johny Hendricks are fighting at UFC 113.
So due to timing issues most of those guys are out of the equation. So whose left?
Paulo Thiago: Thiago has been fighting top guys non-stop. This fight would give him a chance to hone his skills, he’s still very raw, and give him a win against a solid welterweight. Let’s not kid ourselves though Thiago isn’t going to take such a drastic step down in competition.
Matt Serra: That already happened and my wallet still is hurting.
Rob Kimmons and Mike Pierce: Pierce and Kimmons are fighting on UFC Live: Vera/Jones on March 21rst so the timing works out nicely. Pierce, 10-3 (1-1 UFC), took out Brock Larson is his UFC debut and then lost to Jon Fitch. Obviously there’s no shame in losing to Jon Fitch and in fact he looked very good in that fight. Kimmons hasn’t enjoyed much UFC success, 2-2, but is moving down to welterweight for the first time.
Ben Saunders and Jake Ellenberger: Saunders was originally set to take out Martin Kampman before a horrifying gash knocked hm out of the fight. Ellenberger is 1-1 in the UFC and much like Pierce has looked good even when he’s lost. He lost to Carlos Condit in his UFC debut but lost a close split decision, he followed that up by beating Mike Pyle.
Saunders is 4-1 in the UFC and a win over Ellenberger would probably put him in line to fight bigger fish then Lytle. If Ellenberger does win however Lytle would probably be a fight in his range.
Ricardo Almeida and Matt Brown: Almeida is moving down from middleweight, where he had sucess and draws Matt Brown as his first opponent. Brown is riding a fight win streak and is 4-1 in the UFC. Almedia would probably draw a bigger name if he wins considering his original opponent before injury was Jon Fitch. Brown already fought and lost to Lytle although it was outside of the UFC.
Nate Diaz and Rory Markham: The less sane Diaz brother is moving up in weight because well in his own words “I don’t make enough money to cut to 155.” Diaz is 6-3 in the UFC and a marketable fighter because of his personality. Markham had success in the IFL but has struggled as of late. He lost is UFC debut to Dan Hardy and has struggled with injuries since.
If Diaz can beat Markham I can’t think of a more perfect fight then Diaz/Lylte. Your bound to get a fight of the night with both guys winning wild hay-makers at each other. Unlike Gray Maynard Lytle actually has the boxing acumen to make Diaz pay for his goofy striking style. Also unlike Gray Maynard if he gets KO’d he really doesn’t care. Lytle and Diaz would also be a wildly entertaining scrap if it hit the ground.
Diaz has to get by Markham first but, Lytle Vs. Diaz would be awesome as a Spike TV Prelim or Fight Night fight.
We now know that the WEC is going to Pay-Per-View. You may or may not agree with it, but on April 24th, Reed Harris and the boys take the jump into the big boy pool.
However, When I saw the poster, I noticed something interesting on it. Let’s play I spy:
Notice anything? Well, I spy a logo at the top that says: UFC Presents. It’s official, The UFC has finally admitted publicly to having something to do with the WEC.
Okay, that’s being a little harsh. However, we’ve heard so much about keeping the two companies seperate and that being a reason why Urijah Faber is being paid 25,000 dollars and not much, much more. Now, it appears as Pay-Per-View rolls around, the UFC is throwing it’s weight behind it’s little brother.
Of course, this is an excellent business move. While you and I know that the WEC is owned by ZUFFA, most normal everyday people don’t. People are a lot more likely to buy this card, despite the fact that it’s loaded with great talent, if the UFC puts their little logoized blessing behind it.
That is if Strikeforce doesn’t declare war by putting Fedor on the same date. If they do, look for Dana White to destroy Scott Coker within a couple of years, or sooner.
I can’t even explain how many things Nick Diaz says in this video that are completely insane. From saying that he wants to fight GSP, to saying that his brother Nate beat Gray Maynard. It’s twelve minutes of complete insanity. Thanks to MMAFighting.com, and Ariel Helwani for the video.
There’s been a lot written about Nick Diaz over the last few months. Unfortunately, not a lot of it has been very good.
Since August, when Diaz pulled out of a fight due to refusing to take a drug test he knew he would fail, he’s become kind of a joke in the MMA world. People have focused mainly on him as a marijuana user rather than a elite level mixed martial artist.
Diaz has an opportunity to make everyone forget that on January 30th when he takes on Marius Zaromskis for the vacant Strikeforce welterweight title. He has a chance to remind everyone that he is one of the best fighters in the world at 170, or he could simply be known as the guy who has to fight in Florida, because they don’t care that he smokes pot.
Crossroads: Thy name is Diaz.
Let’s look at the positives. Diaz is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu under Cesar Gracie. I don’t care who you are or what’ve you done, if you have a black belt from anyone named Gracie, you are kind of a big deal. However, we all know that every fight starts standing and Demian Maia can tell you what happens if you can’t achieve a takedown quickly as a BJJ specialist.
What makes Diaz special is his ability to box. Well, it’s not that he is the most technical boxer in the world, it’s that he has naturally heavy hands. While the equation for power in MMA is not exactly science, Diaz natural talent seems to make up for the fact that he is a bit sloppy on the feet. Add that to a long reach that allows him to keep opponents at bay with a jab and his standup game is more than just good enough to get him to the ground, it’s good enough for 11 T/KO victories.
The problem with Diaz has never been his skill level or his physical traits. The problem is in his head. The problem is that he has long had this attitude where he beleives that it’s him (and in some cases his brother) against the world. It’s been his tendency to fail drug tests. It been things like fighting Joe Riggs in the hospital after his fight. It’s making anti-UFC and getting himself unceremoniously banned from the biggest, richest MMA company in the world.
If Diaz could only get out of his own way, he could be great. On January 30th, he’ll face “The Whitemare”, but he’ll also be facing himself. If he shows up in shape, and at the top of his game, we could see Nick Diaz as the first dominant Strikeforce champ.
If he doesn’t, then we could be seeing the beginning of the end of his relevancy.
March 10, 2010, at 4:20 pm
Tags: 
