Injury bug bites UFC hard
Recently there has been some major changes to upcoming UFC cards, and it begs to ask the question: Are the events becoming too frequent and not allowing fighters adaquate time to recover, rest and prepare to fight?
The UFC 106 event was to feature Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin as the main event, but due to sickness and injury the card has taken a drastic turn, and the headlining fight now features a rematch between Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin. Lesnar and Carwin are both believed to have the H1N1 virus and won't be able to fight until at least late December or early January. Instantly this card goes from can't miss to won't pay for and will seriously hurt the expected pay-per-view sales for the UFC at this event.
To try and replace the hype for the card, the UFC has scheduled Josh Koscheck and Anthony Johnson to fight at the 106 card, this brings both of these fighters in on short notice from their previous fights, especially Johnson who fought at UFC 104. It will be interesting to see leading up if he stays healthy and actually makes weight for the fight.
An anticipated rematch between Thiago Alves and Jon Fitch was set to take place in mid-December, instead an MCL injury to Alves leaves that fight on the shelf while Fitch fights a replacement opponent. For those that are unfamiliar with Fitch and Alves, they are easily the number two and three welterweight fighters in the UFC, behind Georges St. Pierre. It sucks to see this fight go to the wayside for the time being as it would have been a great measuring stick to see where each guy is. Early on in their UFC careers the two fought, with Fitch winning by TKO.
Recently Todd Duffee, a UFC newcomer who had a ton of hype after a big knockout win at UFC 100 was sidelined for his expected UFC 107 fight with Paul Buentello. Another big blow to a UFC card, and especially to a guy who many see as a big prospect and has a chance at being champion one day.
Call it bad luck, but maybe it's time for the UFC to either slow down on their event frequency, or to increase their roster size so some fighters aren't going into fights already hurt, or barely recovered from their previous fight.
It is clearly a product of the sport being physical and taking a toll on the human body. I throw my vote in for easing up on the event frequency, and even though that means less quantity of fights, it certainly means more quality. I don't need to shell out $50 more than once a month for a PPV quality card, and I'll be happy with the product that I receive in return.
We'll see how long the injury bug bites the UFC before fighters start turning down fights and waiting a longer time between them, to rest and recover.
The UFC 106 event was to feature Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin as the main event, but due to sickness and injury the card has taken a drastic turn, and the headlining fight now features a rematch between Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin. Lesnar and Carwin are both believed to have the H1N1 virus and won't be able to fight until at least late December or early January. Instantly this card goes from can't miss to won't pay for and will seriously hurt the expected pay-per-view sales for the UFC at this event.
To try and replace the hype for the card, the UFC has scheduled Josh Koscheck and Anthony Johnson to fight at the 106 card, this brings both of these fighters in on short notice from their previous fights, especially Johnson who fought at UFC 104. It will be interesting to see leading up if he stays healthy and actually makes weight for the fight.
An anticipated rematch between Thiago Alves and Jon Fitch was set to take place in mid-December, instead an MCL injury to Alves leaves that fight on the shelf while Fitch fights a replacement opponent. For those that are unfamiliar with Fitch and Alves, they are easily the number two and three welterweight fighters in the UFC, behind Georges St. Pierre. It sucks to see this fight go to the wayside for the time being as it would have been a great measuring stick to see where each guy is. Early on in their UFC careers the two fought, with Fitch winning by TKO.
Recently Todd Duffee, a UFC newcomer who had a ton of hype after a big knockout win at UFC 100 was sidelined for his expected UFC 107 fight with Paul Buentello. Another big blow to a UFC card, and especially to a guy who many see as a big prospect and has a chance at being champion one day.
Call it bad luck, but maybe it's time for the UFC to either slow down on their event frequency, or to increase their roster size so some fighters aren't going into fights already hurt, or barely recovered from their previous fight.
It is clearly a product of the sport being physical and taking a toll on the human body. I throw my vote in for easing up on the event frequency, and even though that means less quantity of fights, it certainly means more quality. I don't need to shell out $50 more than once a month for a PPV quality card, and I'll be happy with the product that I receive in return.
We'll see how long the injury bug bites the UFC before fighters start turning down fights and waiting a longer time between them, to rest and recover.
