UFC 182 & The Hype Train That Never Arrived
UFC 182 hit the history books this past Saturday (January 3rd, 2014) with all the potential and hype for ‘card of the year’, and why not? The headlining bout alone was a salivating prospect, which was being billed as one of the biggest MMA rivalries ever. Light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones fought Daniel Cormier, ending, or at least suspending their much-publicized beef.
The bad blood between “DC” and “Bones” was the real selling point for this card, ranging from their notorious media day scrap to a hotel confrontation on fight week. Of course there was plenty of psychological warfare in between all this, and we were gearing up for one of the landmark events of modern MMA this past weekend. Unfortunately, many of us were left disappointed after the fact.
So what went wrong at UFC 182? The preliminary card delivered some awesome fights and finishes, acting as a pre-cursor to what should have been a momentous main card. Two of the top lightweights in the world right now, four highly regarded welterweights, two high level flyweights and of course the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet taking on the biggest challenge of his career. A winning formula on paper, without question.
What transpired up until the co-main & main event could have easily been forgotten had the top billed fights delivered, but they didn’t. Kyoji Horiguchi, Brad Tavares and Hector Lombard won lopsided, but not really exciting decisions. Nonetheless, we waited on the edge of our seats for the biggest fight of the past 12 months to go down. Donald Cerrone and Myles Jury take to the cage, and the bout is uncharacteristically stale.
“Cowboy” wanted the fight, and “Fury” did not. Props to Cerrone for trying to make it a fight, but alas it just didn’t happen. Frustratingly, one of the best fights on the card hadn’t delivered. Still, Jones vs Cormier could’ve saved the card. The two men took to the octagon, and I personally noticed a lack of substance in the air, a lack of the aura that makes fights like these stand out from the rest. In honesty, I didn’t feel like this would be a special fight, especially not given the train load of hype that had preceded the bout.
Let’s just talk about that for a second, the hype that led up to UFC 182. It was unparalleled, and very much centred on the collision of ‘immovable object and unstoppable force’. Hype videos started to overlap each other, and we as fans found ourselves watching the same 60 seconds of footage on a constant loop, regardless of each individually titled episode or Vlog. Don’t get me wrong, I think we all love a good backstory, in fact it has become a tradition as well as a necessity in the lead up to fights like Jones vs Cormier at UFC 182.
As we’ve learned from events in the past, our perspective as fans is clearly different, and less profit centered than the promotion’s that are trying to sell us PPVs (Pay-Per-Views). But when does it become too much? In fact, when does it become harmful to future PPV sales? I imagine there are a number of fans out there that would think twice before buying another big event, but that really is a smidgeon of where Zuffa make their bank, so why would they change their tactics?
Anyway, they fought to a five-round grinder, and it was rather one-sided for the champion. All-in-all, it was not the balls to the wall slugfest we had hoped for, as these fights can often turn out. The hype train that had been building momentum for the past half year never really arrived in Las Vegas last Saturday, or am I the only one that feels this way?
UFC 182 undoubtedly had a lot of weight put on it by the hype train, but equally had some serious star power to back up all the talk. We’ll await the official PPV numbers for the event, but judging by how strong the preliminary card was, they are likely to be pretty decent. Will there be over a million unhappy customers with $60 holes in their wallets? How did you enjoy UFC 182?
Let’s not even mention the fact that the champion’s post-fight interview was cut short, mainly due to a ten minute interview with Conor McGregor that had taken place live during the card. Meh
