UFC HOPES TO CHANGE ITS LUCK
Training center could help end main event curse
Given the nature of mixed martial arts, perhaps the most punishing and brutal of sports, it should be no surprise that injuries come with the territory of being an elite fighter.
Yet while the Ultimate Fighting Championship features a steady diet of ferocious knockouts and beatdowns, the ailments causing the company its worst recent headaches have taken place nowhere near the scene of competition.
When former middleweight champion Chris Weidman revealed severe neck problems this week and withdrew from the main event of UFC 199, scheduled for June 4 at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., it was not a shock.
That’s nothing to do with Weidman, who was due to try to reclaim his middleweight belt from Luke Rockhold, even though he has pulled out of three big fights because of injury in the past.
Rather, it is because a main event curse seems to have stricken the UFC, to the extent that it is now more of a surprise if a payper-view card goes ahead as planned.
As it turns out, Weidman will be replaced by Michael Bisping, who is more than capable of giving Rockhold a challenge, even if the clash does not have quite the same gravitas as the planned rematch.
On other occasions the change of plans has been more problematic. There have been sizable stretches of injury plague before in the UFC; for example, during a 13-month period starting in February 2014, 10 main event fights out of 16 UFC pay-per-views were scrapped.
It is quite the puzzle. Mixed martial artists train harder, more effectively and with greater detail and more sophisticated planning than ever before. But while such methods serve to have fighters better prepared for the tough realities of the octagon, they also seem to increase the likelihood of training injuries.
Such upheaval is one of the chief dilemmas facing the company, which spends a not-so-small fortune on promotion and advertising. When a withdrawal such as Weidman’s takes place, plans need to be ripped up, whether it is a replacement fighter coming in or a different bout being elevated to premium status. UFC chiefs also have conceded that a late shift in personnel can affect attendance and pay-per-view buys.
It was with this in mind that the UFC announced a new stateof-the-art training facility in Las Vegas that will be completed next year and will offer sports science and sports medicine programs. It is hoped the center will drastically reduce the number of injuries, quicken fighter rehab and lead to a number of combatants moving to Las Vegas.
If it achieves its objective, it can’t come quickly enough, as the UFC is mired in an injury slump that can be traced to the start of the year.
A booked heavyweight title fight between Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum was canned after Velasquez got hurt, Stipe Miocic was called up as replacement and then Werdum pulled out a day later. The card was taken off pay-per-view, causing what was originally scheduled to be UFC 197 to actually become UFC 196. (Are you following here?)
Then there were problems with that too.
Rafael dos Anjos suffered a broken foot in training, setting into motion a bizarre chain of events the UFC neither envisioned nor could be particularly happy about.
With dos Anjos out, Conor McGregor was denied the chance to fight for the lightweight title to add to his featherweight strap. McGregor, the bombastic Irishman, ended up moving up to 170 pounds, got choked out by late replacement Nick Diaz and, to a certain extent, saw his juggernaut of momentum smashed.
Stung by his defeat, McGregor reneged on his promotional commitments ahead of UFC 200 in July and was bumped from the main event of that card. Yep, another main event eliminated by way of knockout.
Then there are all the ones in between. For UFC 197, Jon Jones’ highly anticipated rematch with Daniel Cormier was scrapped when Cormier suffered a lower leg problem. Ovince St. Preux came in on short notice, but the upshot was a one-sided and largely uneventful fight.
For UFC 198, held in Curitiba, Brazil, Werdum and Miocic did eventually meet, with Miocic, the likable Cleveland firefighter, winning in a major upset. Yet there were still issues, with Brazilian favorite Anderson Silva ruled out after suffering abdominal pain.
Weidman’s announcement took the trend further and meant that, more than anything, UFC President Dana White will be holding his breath regarding UFC 200, the summer spectacular that is being touted as the biggest event in MMA history.
Despite the issues with McGregor, the unwillingness of Diaz to fight anyone other than the Irishman and the disappointment of Ronda Rousey being unavailable, the UFC has still put together a stacked card. Jones vs. Cormier headlines a long list of compelling, elite-level matchups.
The viewing numbers promise to be huge, and the event at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas could be a groundbreaking night for the company. But for it to go off without a hitch, the UFC will need its luck to shift and for the injury bug to stay away.