My UFC 100

Cammo101 · Post #1 » by **Cammo101** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 5:28 am

UFC 100 is rapidly approaching. As it stands now it would be in July. Here is what I think the card should look like...

Location: Madison Square Garden

Georges St. Pierre vs. Anderson Silva (for the Middleweight title)
BJ Penn vs. Kenny Florian (for the Lightweight title)
Chuck Liddell vs.Wanderlei Silva
Forest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonner
Randy Couture vs. Tito Ortiz
Matt Hughes vs. Frank Trigg
Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock

Matt Hughes, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, and BJ Penn inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Jim Brown announces the card with Rogan and Goldy.

What would your UFC 100 look like?

cowboyronnie · Post #2 » by **cowboyronnie** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 6:22 am

I'd like to see Wanderlei at UFC 100 in the stands chewing on vitamin B complexes. He's a wreck. It's gross.

Winner of BJ vs GSP faces Silva, yeah. BJ might be going after THREE belts.

Cammo101 · Post #3 » by **Cammo101** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:16 am

cowboyronnie wrote:I'd like to see Wanderlei at UFC 100 in the stands chewing on vitamin B complexes. He's a wreck. It's gross.

Winner of BJ vs GSP faces Silva, yeah. BJ might be going after THREE belts.

Obviously my plan works better if GSP beats Penn. Penn is probably too small to really challenge Silva. I couldn't find a fight for Chuck that had significance outside of Wand.

Post #4 » by **CPT** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 11:39 am

Honestly, I think it's going to look a lot like any other UFC.

I'd like to think they do something special (a 4 hour broadcast; their debut at Madison Square Garden), but any kind of super stacked card would leave them a bit thin for the months leading up to and following the event. There's no way they are going to handicap themselves for a 4-6 month stretch when putting on 5 huge fights won't really bring them any more business than 2 or 3.

Your card is actually a lot more realistic than many I've seen, but I don't see them putting on fights like Shamrock vs. Gracie and Hughes vs. Trigg if they may not be broadcast.

That being said, I wouldn't be surprised to see two of the following three fights:

A. Silva vs. GSP (if GSP peats Penn....though that's kinda **** for Alves)
Lesnar vs. Mir
Rashad vs. Rampage

I could see Chuck vs. Wandy I guess.

Maybe they would throw another fight like Hughes vs. Serra on there or something, but I think it will just look like a better than average UFC card. 3 big fights, and that's about it.

Affliction will probably be done by then, and it would be nice to see Fedor make his debut at UFC 100, but I won't hold my breath on that one.

RockTHECasbah · Post #5 » by **RockTHECasbah** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 2:55 am

what about Rashad and Rampage?

Post #6 » by **Chach** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 3:11 am

I think GSP versus Alves is a more likely situation.

Lesnar vs Mir
Rashad vs Rampage
Penn versus Florian
GSP vs Alves

Four of the major belts would be on a general time-line for it. Silva is the only one fighting reasonably close to the date and would be out. This could definitely water down the talent pool for the next month or two but if you put that card on display at Madison Square Garden, with all the titles but one on the line then you have the makings of some insane money. You could even line up some old timer fights like Chuck-Randy IV but Liddell has a fight coming up in the next few months so he's probably out. I really dislike doing that, or bringing back Shamrock vs Gracie when both are so far past their peaks. Hughes vs Serra might be a good match-up for a non-title belt. mahalo
~Chach~

Cammo101 · Post #7 » by **Cammo101** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 4:24 am

You can't put all those belts on the line, it would screw up the cards before and after it. The way to go is to make it more of a celebration of the past, than a bunch of big fights in the present. That is what will make it stand out.

cowboyronnie · Post #8 » by **cowboyronnie** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:38 am

Cammo's got a point.

There are plenty of stacked divisions, though, where a lot of non-title matches would make for great pairings. Maybe make a couple of them 5 rounders. Dana spoke about this a year or so ago - making all matches for 5, titles for 7.

Cammo101 · Post #9 » by **Cammo101** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:40 am

cowboyronnie wrote:Cammo's got a point.

There are plenty of stacked divisions, though, where a lot of non-title matches would make for great pairings. Maybe make a couple of them 5 rounders. Dana spoke about this a year or so ago - making all matches for 5, titles for 7.

The amount of rounds is not a UFC decision, it is up to the commisions I believe. Dana was trying to push it as a rule change I think.

Post #10 » by **Chach** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:46 am

Potentially seeing four belts handed over in one night is going to go a long way in terms of making this night stand out over seeing washed up Ken Shamrock or Tito Ortiz fight. It definitely presents some problems for future and lead up cards but you can work your way around this with international fights. TUF is going to run until June so you could have the Bisping- Henderson/Franklin match in England in 101 to satisfy the main event status. You can have the first shows in Germany and the Philippines just before or after 100 to help even things out. You can have the Serra-Hughes fight as a headline fight leading up to 100. Forrest Griffin is one of the most popular fighters so you can set him up as a main event and he can still draw a fair amount of PPV shares on his own. Depending on how Jardine does in his next match, maybe having a re-match in UFC 101 or 102 would be a lackluster main event but with a solid card could do respectable. Machida versus whoever else will be the #1 contender for the LHW title could be a co-main event after 102 to see who faces the winner of Rampage/Rashad. Liddell and Couture can still pull good numbers. There are ways around this. The UFC was on life support a few years ago and now it is the NASCAR of the 21st century, slowly creeping into the American Consciousness and becoming a mainstream sport. A blockbuster card where nearly every title is on the line, when eight of the best fighters in the world compete on one night; that has the potential to be the Tipping Point. It might not be a logistic reality but to rope people in with that tremendous card and then maybe make the next few UFC's available for free on Spike then you can get away with having a few decent but not amazing headliners. The UFC's roster is deep enough and considering the fact that they are cramming so many events into such a small period between now and UFC 100, slowing down after 100 and doing a show a month might be a smart plan, especially in this economy.

94- GSP vs Penn II
95- Sanchez vs. Stevenson (admittedly a weak main event but the card looks solid and this has already been announced)
96- Liddell vs. TBA
97- Silva vs Leites
98- Germany show
99- Hughes vs. Serra
100- Mega Show
101- Bisping vs Henderson/Franklin
102-Philippines show
103- Silva vs. TBA, either division

There are your next 10 UFCs.
There you go. Not perfect but with good undercards and enough spacing to provide the public a chance to afford these. Maybe some of the shows are on Spike to save PPV money. Throw in Randy vs Nog and Forrest vs #1 contender fights somewhere and you've doing OK. There are rumors that Mir and Lesnar might be fighting at 97, which they are projecting for April. But Lesnar is a PPV giant so I think it makes it a smart move to have him fight at 100. That brings in massive amounts of the general public and with an insane card, you might hook the rest of the nation. mahalo
~Chach~

Cammo101 · Post #11 » by **Cammo101** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 6:51 am

Sanchez vs. Stevenson and Hughes vs. Serra were not/are not main events. They were just the first big fight on their card. Those 2 shows would tank. Potentially so would the Liddell fight depending on opponent.

UFC 100 needs to be more than just a good card. It needs to be a celebration of the UFC and of MMA. It needs to be a spectical. The hardcore MMA fans would love to see Shamrock vs. Gracie, the rematch of the first big UFC fight ever. Couture and Tito, while late, is a fight many have wanted to see for quite some time. Peppering in the all time greats for what for most will be a swan song would be great. It would also be a changing of the guard on the biggest stage.

Post #12 » by **CPT** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 9:09 am

Chach, I have to disagree with you.

I barely scraped through first year economics, but I think the law of diminishing returns applies here. Brock vs. Mir, GSP vs. Alves, Rashad vs. Rampage, Penn vs. Florian, etc are all main event level fights that would do between 500,000 and 750,000 buys each. But there are only so many people who will buy a UFC PPV. It's not like a UFC fan is going to be sitting there thinking "Brock vs. Mir and Rashad vs. Rampage is a pretty good event, but I don't know if I'll buy it.....oh, GSP vs. Alves is on it too? hmmmmm....maaaaaayyyyybe.......oh, ok, Penn vs. Florian too? I'm sold." Anyone who would buy the event with all 4 of those fights is pretty likely to buy it with 3, 2, or even just one of them. Putting all 4 of them together isn't going to get you 2 million+ buys. It will probably just top 1 million. If they spread them out, they get their 2 million buys and then some.

Maybe it would all work out the same in the end with the shows surrouding the event each doing 300,000ish buys, but if the point is to get the mainstream hooked with a mega card, you have to strike while the iron is hot and offer up something else good to cash in on it. If you pique their interest and then offer main events like Hughes vs. Serra and Liddell vs. Vera in the following months, it's going to be all for nought.

I think we're going to see something like Rashad vs. Rampage or another title fight (Brock vs. Mir or Penn vs. Florian), and if the situation is right, GSP vs. Anderson Silva. That's the fight they will bill as the fight to determine the best pound for pound fighter in the world, and it would be.

Toss another few big names on there (maybe oldtimers like Cammo is suggesting) and you have a pretty special card that doesn't **** up the rest of your business.

Post #13 » by **Chach** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 4:11 pm

Well I'm sorry you feel that way Cammo but right now Stevenson vs Sanchez IS the main event at 95. It's also free on Spike. It would do horrible PPV buys but the card looks like it could be pretty exciting and people will watch it for free. And using free UFCs is how you are going to hook the general public. UFC 100 would be the Tipping Point but one single card won't get the mass general public to ritually drop $50 bucks every month on a sport they don't know much about. But if you give them several free cards following UFC 100, that's when they get hooked so long as the fights are exciting and big name, main event fights are often hit or miss. GSP is one of the most popular fighters in the UFC and his last two main events have been snoozers. He dismantled Serra in the first round (which was fun was pretty short for a main event title fight) and he picked Fitch apart last time. If you offer up a few free UFCs with stacked exciting cards, you can get away with not having title on the line at every event. They may lose money in the short term because they are foregoing the PPV for a few months but if you can get the general public enamored with MAA then topping one million buys for future events will be nothing. That will be the new benchmark that 500,000 buys gets you today. Dropping off Gracie and the corpse of Ken Shamrock into the ring will not do that.

I'm sure there will be some sort of ceremony or celebration of the older fighters and seeing Jim Brown announce again would put a smile on my face. But I don't want to see them fight. In case you guys haven't seen a lot of the original UFCs but a lot of those fights sucked. Dan Severn was the original Lay and Pray practitioner. UFC 3 was pretty awesome and some of the ill-matched fights were fun to watch. Seeing guys who's style was called "Warrior Training" or "Survival" was entertaining but when you had legit fighters, those ones blew. Part of it was the "no holds barred" style where they didn't have ref stand-ups or rounds but I wouldn't want to see those guys fight again. Let's see how good Coleman does against Shogun as a litmus test for the old timers fighting today. I wouldn't cal myself a hardcore UFC fan because I've only been watching for about a year but I am hooked by MMA, I'm trying to watch as much as I can and I'm playing catch-up on old UFCs (I'm up to 11) so I am most definitely not a casual fan and I would hate to see a worthless fight like Shamrock/Gracie or Couture/Ortiz. The only reason I want to see Henderson/Franklin is because both are still relevant today. I personally don't care to see Hughes/Serra but that's because I missed the drama or their beef. If I had seen it, I'd like to see the fight because I'd have an emotional investment in it.

If you want to reward long time UFC fans for their loyalty, don't get sappy about the past and clog up a PPV card with over the hill old timers. Give them the greatest card in MMA history and tap into the general public while you're at it. mahalo
~Chach~

wade2bosh · Post #14 » by **wade2bosh** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 9:44 pm

Chach wrote:I think GSP versus Alves is a more likely situation.

Lesnar vs Mir
Rashad vs Rampage
Penn versus Florian
GSP vs Alves

Four of the major belts would be on a general time-line for it. Silva is the only one fighting reasonably close to the date and would be out. This could definitely water down the talent pool for the next month or two but if you put that card on display at Madison Square Garden, with all the titles but one on the line then you have the makings of some insane money. You could even line up some old timer fights like Chuck-Randy IV but Liddell has a fight coming up in the next few months so he's probably out. I really dislike doing that, or bringing back Shamrock vs Gracie when both are so far past their peaks. Hughes vs Serra might be a good match-up for a non-title belt. mahalo
~Chach~

Forest vs Wanderlei

El Hardee · Post #15 » by **El Hardee** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 11:25 pm

Bj Penn vs. Jaime Varner
Mir vs. Lesnor
Torres vs. Faber
Serra vs. Hughes
Nick Diaz vs. Dustin Hazelett

Prelims

CB vs Amir Sandollah
Cheik Congo vs Cain Velasquez
Nate Diaz vs. Efrain Escudero

I know its a little far fetched but I would love to see this.

Post #16 » by **kdawg32086** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 7:00 am

Here are my thoughts....

Main Card:
Rashad Evans vs. Quinton Jackson
Matt Serra vs. Matt Hughes
Mark Coleman vs. Ken Shamrock (sponsored by viagara)
Martin Kampmann vs. Jon Fitch
Cheick Kongo vs. Gabriel Gonzaga

Prelims:
Junie Browning vs. Phillipe Nover
Ryan Bader vs. Eric Schafer
Kurt Pellegrino vs. Efrain Escudero
Jeremy Horn vs. Jason MacDonald

SpReEfOrAlL · Post #17 » by **SpReEfOrAlL** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 9:09 pm

Main:
Rampage v.s. Rashad
Randy v.s Chuck (I personally have no interest, but would make tons of $$$$)
Koscheck v.s Karo
Anthony Johnson v.s Thiago Alves (I know it makes no sense in the current title situation, but damn it would be a good fight)
Maia v.s Paulhares

Prelim:
Joe Lauzon v.s Junie Browning
Fisher v.s jeremy stephens
Jason MacDonald v.s CB Dolloway
Andy Wang v.s Wayne Weems (Clash of the titans)

Post #18 » by **Chach** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 9:11 pm

Considering half of your undercard is scheduled to fight at a Fight Night Live in Tennessee in April, I believe, they probably won't be available for the 100 show.

Kongo and Gonzaga could possibly meet. Whoever wins Carwin and Gonzaga in two weeks probably faces Kongo for #1 contender status. Hughes and Serra are set to fight probably at UFC 98.

Are any of your guys familiar with Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point? The basic premise is that pop culture trends don't build slowly over time but have a singular moment when they blow up and enter the general public's thought process. Do you guys remember Airwalks from middle school? Gladwell uses that as an example in the book. MMA has grown by leaps and bounds the last few years but, let's honestly ask, was it the Tito Ortiz and Liddell/Couture trilogy or Matt Hughes that set the sport into the stratosphere? No, it's not. Everyone collectively points to one single moment that really was a defining point for the UFC: Griffin/Bonnar I.

If the UFC wants to enter into the public consciousness on a level of the NBA and NFL, they are not going to slowly build their way up there. They need another Tipping Point, another defining moment to pull everyone in. The hardcore purists will always be there and, frankly, the majority of the viewership were not around for the original UFCs. That is such a small segment of the population that it is a poor business choice to stock a card with old fighters like Coleman/Shamrock or Shamrock/Gracie for the old timers, they are going to lose money AND put up boring fights. Shamrock got cut warming up for his last fight and hasn't won in five years and hasn't looked good in MMA since returning from the WWF. If you have a card that absolutely blows people away and brings in the fringe buyers or the people with passing interest, you need to pull them in. You think UFC 94 being the day before the Super Bowl was luck? One of the biggest fights of the year and possibly of all time before the biggest unofficial holiday of the year? Some of these upcoming fights are free and while the main events leave something to be desired, the cards looks like they will be entertaining at the very least. If you have a blockbuster card at UFC 100 and then offer some good cards and some free shows after 100, you could hook A LOT of people.

Some of the fight cards between now and 100 are coming down so I think we are going to get a clearer picture of the 100 card.

Lesnar vs. Mir- rumored to be UFC 98 but I have my doubts
Rashad Evans vs. winner of Machida/Silva.
GSP vs. Alves
Penn vs. Florian
Griffin vs. Franklin
Kongo vs. winner of Gonzaga/Carwin

Overload, absolutely, but the timelines work and they set up some great storylines for the following months. Rampage is fighting Jardine at 96 I believe. Winner of Griffin/Franklin takes on Rampage for #1 contender status. Kongo fight is clearly the #1 contender for the HW title and you get a clear cut HW champ on the same night. IF GSP wins, this fight card works. Otherwise it would be Alves/Penn and the Florian fight would have to be shelved. Machida is not "exciting" enough to carry a headline, even with the title, so having Lesnar on the card will draw more PPVs and if Machida wins convincingly then maybe his namebrand can be built. If Evans wins, that means he has knocked out legends in Liddell, champs in Griffin, and undefeated contenders like Machida. You can't deny he is the champ AND he has enough personality that he can build up his brand too. A long term win-win from a development standpoint and they make serious bank because of Lesnar. mahalo
~Chach~

Post #19 » by **CPT** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 10:51 pm

There's no way they are putting 4 belts on the line on one show. It's just not going to happen.

Not only would it mean that there would be no title defenses for the months leading up to it (which would be about 6 months for the LHW title, 5 months for the WW title, and over a god damn year for the LW title), but at least 3 months afterward, and even then you would have to stagger the events (like 3 months before the LW title, 4 for the WW title, 5 for the LHW title, 6 for the HW title) so they are on their own schedules again.

It's completely unrealistic.

And as I said before, I don't think it will have as much impact as you think. A PPV event is not likely to be the tipping point. Something like that has to be more spontaneous, like Griffin vs. Bonnar.

Post #20 » by **kdawg32086** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 11:35 pm

Ok, so now that all these new fights for upcoming PPV's have been announced it's time to re-do things. I'd say everyone fighting in March or sooner is fair game, since UFC 100 doesn't take place until probably late June or early July.

Main Card:
Light Heavyweight Title: Rashad Evans vs. Rampage/Jardine winner
Lightweight Title: BJ Penn vs. Kenny Florian
Heavyweight Bout: Cheick Kongo vs. Gonzaga/Carwin winner
Welterweight Bout: Martin Kampmann vs. Jon Fitch
Middleweight Bout: Nate Marquardt vs. Maia/Sonnen winner

Preliminary Card:
Light Heavyweight Bout: Brandon Vera vs. Hamill/Munoz winner
Lightweight Bout: Marcus Aurelio vs. Mac Danzig
Middleweight Bout: Alessio Sakara vs. Amir Sadollah
Welterweight Bout: Chris Wilson vs. Marcus Davis
Welterweight Bout: Luigi Fioravanti vs. Pete Sell