Kellie
08-09-2010, 05:31 AM
UFC 117 was one of the best, if not THE best, MMA PPV that I've ever seen, from start to finish. The live crowd in Oakland was well mic'ed and made plenty of noise thanks to the action that they were seeing in the Octagon.
Chael Sonnen deserves massive credit for verbally selling this fight either by making himself more of a fan favorite/underdog can survive type of fighter or by turning himself villain for daring to speak negatively of the celebrated, MMA legend and arguably the best pound for pound mixed martial artist in the world, Anderson Silva.
Without an emotional investment being clearly made by the participants and the promotion, fans on limited discretionary income cannot or will not make the investment to buy a PPV when they may need the cash for groceries, etc instead. Sonnen and UFC created a must see/must buy environment for UFC 117. Silva's lack of English hurts him but Sonnen more than made up for that matter by selling this fight like a maestro directing a symphony.
I text Chael a couple of messages after the show last night at about 2 a.m. my time in Oklahoma. I said, "I've had three serious bouts of the facial paralysis, Bells palsy. It challenges me daily but I use it to motivate myself. I feel that I am the best @ what I do an refuse to allow the hand dealt me define who I am. My best, @ 58, is yet to come & I tell myself that every day. Losing happens but becoming a loser is a choice. I choose to say "Hell, no." Your press conference was tremendous. Broken hearts, thank God, can be mended. I'm living proof. Rest and reflect. Great days lie ahead for you."
I also told Chael "How a man responds when dealt a bad hand determines the type of man that he becomes and then that legacy is ever lasting. Stay proud, stay focused and never change. You created history tonight. Covet what you accomplished. You will build from that experience in all areas of your life."
The courageous, outspoken, honest and intelligent Sonnen responded promptly and in a classy manner that I will keep private but suffice to say it was a moving response.
One has to hand it to Anderson Silva who was physically dominated for over 4 rounds before finding a way to win. That's what champions do, they find ways to win even when the windows of opportunity are closing. Watching the post match press conference it was obvious that 'The Spider' was hurting big time from the beating that he took, but more importantly that he survived, to come back in the bottom of the 'bottom of the 9th' to win the toughest fight of his career.
It doesn't take a genius to determine that the world will buy this fight again as this is one guaranteed rematch that Dana White and UFC have in their back pocket and can utilize when the time is right and when these two fighters have the chance to heal and then to properly prepare. Perhaps the spring/summer of 2011 but it's a fight that I would love to see in person.
Sonnen is a man's man and made himself an even bigger star in a shocking, stunning albeit losing effort after dominating the best pound for pound fighter in the world for over 4 rounds of a 5 round fight.
Other UFC 117 thoughts:
UFC might consider shooting the packed crowd a few more times to show the humanity on hand. Close ups of fans mugging for the camera become predictable and perhaps less is more with those.
I feel that the use of the old "John Madden telestrator" could be of value for Joe Rogan to utilize from time to time. Showing Sonnen reluctantly tapping last night via a telestrator would have been a nice touch.
Mike Goldberg should not be voicing over all the 'history packages' or 'fighter features' on the PPV. Your primary PXP voice should be kept more special. A generic, big voice, voice over guy could easily read the copy for the aforementioned packages.
As a fan I would love to hear more of the dialog with the fighters and their people between rounds. It allows the announcers to lay out and let me up for a moment plus for the fans/consumers to enjoy the unique nuances of the between round activities.
Starting the night off with Dos Santos vs. Roy Nelson heavyweight bout was brilliant. Nelson must address his conditioning but based on what I saw last night neither guy can beat Brock Lesnar or Cain Velásquez. Santos could not finish a seemingly exhausted Big Country while if Roy would commit to a new training and diet regiment he would not only extend his career and ability to earn much more money but he has that granite chin that is a gift for any fighter.
Even though I have heard it many times before, hearing Hank Williams, Jr. sing 'A Country Boy can Survive' when Matt Hughes comes to the ring always is entertaining and so befitting the athlete. Hughes wins with raw, nasty power with a basic, front face lock. Simple, effective, and deadly. Old school wrestling hold. Hughes has fuel left in the tank and seemingly freakish power and knowledge of leverage.
Who's more entertaining to watch fight than Clay Guida? What a motor and metabolism. 'The Carpenter's' long hair really sets him a part from his adversaries. Guida is perpetual motion who never slows down or takes any portion of a round off.
Jon Fitch is highly skilled, seems to have no discernible, in ring weaknesses and looked like a pissed off caveman. Fitch's victim, The 'Pit Bull,' must commit to better training or move up a weight class. That's a no brainer.
Finally, as a broadcaster for 4 decades, matches like Silva vs. Sonnen are what we 'talkers' live for. People will talk about the main event for years to come. Sonnen and Silva helped continue to validate the UFC's PPV franchise and, no doubt, helped sell more PPV's for the next time fans have the chance to buy another UFC PPV which will in about three weeks from Boston.
The Boston event certainly has its work cut out for it to top what many of us saw and throughly enjoyed Saturday night from Oakland.
I tweeted a great deal during the broadcast @JRsBBQ if you want to check them out. I plan on watching the show again today it was that good.
Boomer Sooner!
J.R.
Chael Sonnen deserves massive credit for verbally selling this fight either by making himself more of a fan favorite/underdog can survive type of fighter or by turning himself villain for daring to speak negatively of the celebrated, MMA legend and arguably the best pound for pound mixed martial artist in the world, Anderson Silva.
Without an emotional investment being clearly made by the participants and the promotion, fans on limited discretionary income cannot or will not make the investment to buy a PPV when they may need the cash for groceries, etc instead. Sonnen and UFC created a must see/must buy environment for UFC 117. Silva's lack of English hurts him but Sonnen more than made up for that matter by selling this fight like a maestro directing a symphony.
I text Chael a couple of messages after the show last night at about 2 a.m. my time in Oklahoma. I said, "I've had three serious bouts of the facial paralysis, Bells palsy. It challenges me daily but I use it to motivate myself. I feel that I am the best @ what I do an refuse to allow the hand dealt me define who I am. My best, @ 58, is yet to come & I tell myself that every day. Losing happens but becoming a loser is a choice. I choose to say "Hell, no." Your press conference was tremendous. Broken hearts, thank God, can be mended. I'm living proof. Rest and reflect. Great days lie ahead for you."
I also told Chael "How a man responds when dealt a bad hand determines the type of man that he becomes and then that legacy is ever lasting. Stay proud, stay focused and never change. You created history tonight. Covet what you accomplished. You will build from that experience in all areas of your life."
The courageous, outspoken, honest and intelligent Sonnen responded promptly and in a classy manner that I will keep private but suffice to say it was a moving response.
One has to hand it to Anderson Silva who was physically dominated for over 4 rounds before finding a way to win. That's what champions do, they find ways to win even when the windows of opportunity are closing. Watching the post match press conference it was obvious that 'The Spider' was hurting big time from the beating that he took, but more importantly that he survived, to come back in the bottom of the 'bottom of the 9th' to win the toughest fight of his career.
It doesn't take a genius to determine that the world will buy this fight again as this is one guaranteed rematch that Dana White and UFC have in their back pocket and can utilize when the time is right and when these two fighters have the chance to heal and then to properly prepare. Perhaps the spring/summer of 2011 but it's a fight that I would love to see in person.
Sonnen is a man's man and made himself an even bigger star in a shocking, stunning albeit losing effort after dominating the best pound for pound fighter in the world for over 4 rounds of a 5 round fight.
Other UFC 117 thoughts:
UFC might consider shooting the packed crowd a few more times to show the humanity on hand. Close ups of fans mugging for the camera become predictable and perhaps less is more with those.
I feel that the use of the old "John Madden telestrator" could be of value for Joe Rogan to utilize from time to time. Showing Sonnen reluctantly tapping last night via a telestrator would have been a nice touch.
Mike Goldberg should not be voicing over all the 'history packages' or 'fighter features' on the PPV. Your primary PXP voice should be kept more special. A generic, big voice, voice over guy could easily read the copy for the aforementioned packages.
As a fan I would love to hear more of the dialog with the fighters and their people between rounds. It allows the announcers to lay out and let me up for a moment plus for the fans/consumers to enjoy the unique nuances of the between round activities.
Starting the night off with Dos Santos vs. Roy Nelson heavyweight bout was brilliant. Nelson must address his conditioning but based on what I saw last night neither guy can beat Brock Lesnar or Cain Velásquez. Santos could not finish a seemingly exhausted Big Country while if Roy would commit to a new training and diet regiment he would not only extend his career and ability to earn much more money but he has that granite chin that is a gift for any fighter.
Even though I have heard it many times before, hearing Hank Williams, Jr. sing 'A Country Boy can Survive' when Matt Hughes comes to the ring always is entertaining and so befitting the athlete. Hughes wins with raw, nasty power with a basic, front face lock. Simple, effective, and deadly. Old school wrestling hold. Hughes has fuel left in the tank and seemingly freakish power and knowledge of leverage.
Who's more entertaining to watch fight than Clay Guida? What a motor and metabolism. 'The Carpenter's' long hair really sets him a part from his adversaries. Guida is perpetual motion who never slows down or takes any portion of a round off.
Jon Fitch is highly skilled, seems to have no discernible, in ring weaknesses and looked like a pissed off caveman. Fitch's victim, The 'Pit Bull,' must commit to better training or move up a weight class. That's a no brainer.
Finally, as a broadcaster for 4 decades, matches like Silva vs. Sonnen are what we 'talkers' live for. People will talk about the main event for years to come. Sonnen and Silva helped continue to validate the UFC's PPV franchise and, no doubt, helped sell more PPV's for the next time fans have the chance to buy another UFC PPV which will in about three weeks from Boston.
The Boston event certainly has its work cut out for it to top what many of us saw and throughly enjoyed Saturday night from Oakland.
I tweeted a great deal during the broadcast @JRsBBQ if you want to check them out. I plan on watching the show again today it was that good.
Boomer Sooner!
J.R.