MMA Nation - UFC 141 Coverage: Brock Lesnar Vs. Alistair Overeemhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/33343/mma-icon.png2012-01-04T09:48:24-08:00http://mma.sbnation.com/rss/stream/22751952012-01-04T09:48:24-08:002012-01-04T09:48:24-08:00With Brock Lesnar Gone, Who Will Be In The Next Wave Of UFC Stars?
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<p>Now that Brock Lesnar is gone, can Jon Jones carry the UFC into a new era in 2012?</p> <p>Former UFC heavyweight champion <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122494/brock-lesnar">Brock Lesnar</a> retired following his first-round loss to <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122499/alistair-overeem">Alistair Overeem</a> at UFC 141. Lesnar is the biggest pay-per-view attraction in UFC history. In a single calendar year he headlined two million-selling pay-per-view events, a feat only matched by Mike Tyson and Manny Pacquiao. Now he's gone and the UFC's number-two draw <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122591/georges-st-pierre">Georges St. Pierre</a> is out with injuries for most of 2012. Who does the UFC have waiting in the wings, ready to take over the throne?</p>
<p>Light heavyweight champion <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122514/jon-jones">Jon Jones</a> is clearly the man the UFC is banking on in 2012.</p>
<p>Jones headlined three of the seven top selling UFC pay-per-views in 2011 (that's assuming that UFC 141 performs up to expectations) and his <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fight-card/74507/ufc-133-evans-vs-ortiz">UFC 133</a> bout with <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122513/quinton-jackson">Quinton "Rampage" Jackson</a> did over 500,000 buys. According to the <i><a href="http://www.f4wonline.com/newsletter-archive/wrestling-observer/23555-january-2-observer-newsletter-huge-business-year-in-review-issues-roh-ippv-overeem-vs-lesnar-preview-tons-of-news" target="_blank">Wrestling Observer's </a></i>(subscription required) latest analysis of Google searches for fighters, boxers and pro-wrestlers, Jon Jones was the #10 most popular fighter in the U.S. last year, up from #41 in 2010.</p>
<p>Jones told<a href="http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=7422764" target="_blank"> Josh Gross yesterday</a> that he might fight as many as four times in 2012. This is a big change from Jones. After his <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fight-card/79673/ufc-140-jones-vs-machida">UFC 140</a> win over <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122516/lyoto-machida">Lyoto Machida</a>, he was talking about taking four or five months off. If Jones can maintain the higher level of activity without injuring himself too much in training, that's the best thing for both him and the UFC.</p>
<p><a href="http://mma.sbnation.com/2012/1/3/2679300/brock-lesnar-ufc-141-olympic-crossovers-jon-jones-interview-mma-news" target="_blank">Dave Meltzer spoke to MMA Nation's Luke Thomas</a> about Jones' potential in 2012 and beyond and identified his biggest weakness:</p>
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<p>This year, let's face it, Jon Jones is gonna carry the company. Georges [St. Pierre] is gonna be out for most of the year, Anderson Silva's probably only gonna fight once, maybe twice and he's no matter what, Anderson's getting old and Anderson's a reflex guy. I'm not saying that he's gonna be done but when you get a guy who relies on incredible, incredible reflexes and they start getting in their late 30s, look at Roy Jones Jr. as an example. You can fall from the top pretty quick. Jon Jones is a young guy and he's gonna have to carry the company. The problem with Jon Jones is he desperately needs a rival and I don't know who that guy is. That adversary that really brings it out where you can't wait for this fight, the two top guys that people talk about and Jon Jones is still not quite at the level of a draw that people might have hoped so it's gonna be a struggle but I think the exposure on FOX helps in a lot of ways but there's a mainstream thing that Jon Jones may be years away from being able to get or may never get that Brock Lesnar already had and that no one else in the UFC, even St. Pierre really had.</p>
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<p>Meltzer is talking around a problem that has been diagnosed for a while: the UFC hasn't figured out how to make stars in MMA. The popular satirical humor web site <a href="http://www.theonion.com" target="_blank"><i>The Onion</i></a> had a brief blurb this week called,<a href="http://www.onionsportsnetwork.com/articles/ufc-fan-knows-what-all-those-guys-names-are,26856/" target="_blank">"UFC Fan Knows What All Those Guys' Names Are"</a>, here's an excerpt:</p>
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<p>Sources confirmed Monday that area resident Kyle Nickerson apparently knows the actual names of all those guys in the UFC and that, to him, they don't all sort of run together. "I know maybe four of those guys: Brock Lesnar, Kent Shamrock, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122519/tito-ortiz">Tito Ortiz</a>, and the guy with the mohawk-but Kyle knows all of them, even the ones from that reality show," Nickerson's friend Eric Heijl told reporters...</p>
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<p>They're not trying to analyze the UFC's business model, but they have done it pretty succinctly. The UFC has very successfully marketed the promotion into the mainstream of the American consciousness, but they haven't really figured out how to build the superstars that take their business to the next level. In a post-Brock Lesnar world, they're going to have to.</p>
https://mma.sbnation.com/2012/1/4/2679203/ufc-brock-lesnar-jon-jones-gsp-nick-diaz-alistair-overeem-mma-newsNate Wilcox2012-01-03T09:25:42-08:002012-01-03T09:25:42-08:00Brock Lesnar's Absence, Olympic Crossovers, Jon Jones' Star Potential With Dave Meltzer: Part 2
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<p>In terms of the type of test case he provided (phenomenal athlete, popular crossover from a different world or sport, able to compete to some measurable degree right away), Dave Meltzer says "there's never gonna be another Brock Lesnar". In part two of our interview about the former UFC heavyweight champion following his retirement after UFC 141, we discuss whether Olympic athletes can do what Lesnar did, why Jon Jones will carry the company in 2012, Lesnar's biggest contribution to the sport of mixed martial arts and much more.</p> <p><a target="_blank" href="http://mma.sbnation.com/2012/1/2/2676626/brock-lesnar-diverticulitis-dave-meltzer-interview-mma-news">In part one of my discussion with Dave Meltzer</a>, proprietor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and writer for Yahoo! Sports, we discussed the legacy of former UFC heavyweight champion <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122494/brock-lesnar">Brock Lesnar</a> in mixed martial arts after his loss at subsequent retirement following UFC 141. In part two, we talk about Lesnar's most important contribution to MMA, the UFC's need to create stars with Lesnar gone and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122591/georges-st-pierre">Georges St. Pierre</a> on the shelf, whether there will ever be 'another Brock Lensar' again (and if Olympians are the counterexample), and why UFC light heavyweight champion <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122514/jon-jones">Jon Jones</a> will have to carry the company in 2012.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://youtu.be/zUm05uxFH-4">Full audio and transcription below</a> (part two content begins at approximately 21:20):</p>
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<p><b>Luke Thomas: Speaking of Lesnar, what is his greatest contribution to MMA? Certainly he provided some entertainment for fans and I don't mean it in such a simplistic way, but to me, probably his greatest contribution is not necessarily that of a competitor although as you mentioned he was able to do great things, but it's his injection of popularity. I guess I'm wondering to what extent is it lasting? As you indicated, his fanbase at its core is probably not identical to the UFC fanbase so while all the pay-per-views he was a part of seemed to do really, really well from day one and I guess we'll see how this one does. Was the UFC boost from Brock Lesnar a sustaining boost or a temporary shot in the arm?</b></p>
<p><b>Dave Meltzer</b>: Both, but the majority I would say is a temporary shot in the arm. There are people he brought in who grew, who appreciated and became sustainable fans. The vast majority of that I would say is not the case. I'll give you a perfect example. If tomorrow, something happens and Georges St. Pierre retires and he's got all this Canadian fanbase. I would guarantee you that, some of those fans will stay, but most of those fans will also be gone because that's what happens in every sport. Just like with Ali in boxing. When Ali left, yeah, he made a ton of fans for boxing but how many of them really stayed for Larry Holmes? Not that many. I think in team sports, it's different. I think in team sports, they sustain better. In individual sports, I notice the kind of guys whether it's Tiger Woods or Ali that swell the audience for those sports, when those guys are gone, yeah, they did help the sport, but most of the audience that they swelled, they're gone when the star is gone and I think that's gonna be the same thing with Brock. I think that the vast majority of people that he brought to pay-per-view, I don't think they'll buy another pay-per-view. Some will buy every pay-per-view though.</p>
<p><b>Luke Thomas: I was gonna ask you about certain audiences. With Brock, there was always that opportunity to want to see. It was the professional wrestling audience that was his core but Lesnar, and I can say from my experience, more than Georges St. Pierre, had that ability to generate interest among professional sporting media. When Brock fought, the radio station was more interested and maybe this is the case for you too, Dave, you get more requests for radio interviews.</b></p>
<p><b>Dave Meltzer</b>: Way more.</p>
<p><b>Luke Thomas: So what is that? Why, is it just that Brock Lesnar curiosity? Why don't the sports fans stick around when he introduces them to a larger sport of mixed martial arts?</b></p>
<p><b>Dave Meltzer</b>: He's a unique personality because he dabbled into football and he was so big in how he looked and pro wrestling fame, obviously. There was always that thing about the big, the first time something happens. Even though <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/130216/ken-shamrock">Ken Shamrock</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/131719/dan-severn">Dan Severn</a> were pro wrestlers and went into MMA, they were also not big pro wrestling stars before and MMA was a different world. MMA wasn't getting the big sports coverage in the 90s no matter what happened. It just wasn't gonna happen at that point. Lesnar came at the right time and he had that perverse pro wrestler who was a superstar in pro wrestling come over and it was gonna be, it's the same thing like the first boxing match, the first boxer, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/132536/james-toney">James Toney</a> thing and it could have been bigger if it was a bigger boxer than James Toney but the point is...I always knew the first time a boxer with name value appeared in the UFC, there'd be a lot of sports interest and things like that but the second and third time, it's not gonna be there at all. It's already happened, it's that novelty approach.</p>
<p>We're never gonna get that because first of all, there's never gonna be another Brock Lesnar case and the reason I say that is because when a guy like Brock Lesnar comes out of college now, with the mentality he has and the gifts he has, he's not going to the WWE. That's one of the things that people don't realize. The UFC and WWE are very different but the UFC has tremendous effect on the WWE and the biggest one is, you get a super dominant heavyweight wrestler who has the right look to come in and those were the guys who became the legends of professional wrestling. Now, those guys do not go into pro wrestling because they don't want someone telling them, "You've got to lose tonight." They've just come out of a really tough sport where they win and lose on their own and they're willing to go into another tough sport where they win and lose on their own where they can make money as opposed to someone telling them, "Okay, you've got to lose to this guy," and it's hard for a lot of the amateur wrestlers to flip that switch because they so much hate losing and to go into a profession where someone tells you, "You lose tonight," and it takes many of them years to psychologically get to that. Many have and done great in pro wrestling, but those guys, Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, Verne Gagne, Danny Hodge and these type of guys, these guys are not gonna be pro wrestlers today. These guys are going into MMA because they're gonna go as far as their athletic ability can take them as opposed to going into a world where somebody else is in full control of them being a star or not.</p>
<p><b>Luke Thomas: What about the Olympics? Obviously Michael Phelps and swimming, it's not an accident. Swimming is a little more popular at least during the Olympics time and there's a history of great swimmers who have been popular figures in America but what about the idea, something like a heavyweight Henry Cejudo where a guy can be, and I know he's not a household name, where a guy can be a big star in college in terms of the wrestling community and goes to the Olympics and somehow in popular mainstream America finds a way to crossover and becomes a big star and goes and fights. First of all, is that paradigm, I know it's unlikely but is it possible and wouldn't that still provide that kind of curiosity factor to the extent that we can produce it that Lesnar may have brought with his audience in coming over to the UFC?</b></p>
<p><b>Dave Meltzer</b>: If you have the right gold medalist, yes, absolutely. If they get exposure during the Olympics and they come in. The problem is, we have an impatient society too and this is a hard sport to learn. Look at recent example <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/135964/mark-ellis">Mark Ellis</a> and he's not an Olympic gold medalist but he was a good amateur wrestler who did win a national championship albeit in a weak year and he came in and I watched his fights on HDNet and I was like, "Ah God, NCAA championship, you expect more, right?"</p>
<p><b>Luke Thomas: He couldn't even take the guy down.</b></p>
<p><b>Dave Meltzer</b>: Yeah, well that's another thing. Remember Karam Gaber when he came out of the Olympics and he fought Fujita? That guy was as dominant in the Olympics as anyone since Kerelin and he walked in and he didn't try a takedown and he got knocked out in like a minute and then the bubble can burst.</p>
<p><b>Luke Thomas: Like Cejudo, here's a guy, he's not the be all, end all, but he has wrestling credentials and some meritorious accolades in amateur boxing. What if something like that were possible?</b></p>
<p><b>Dave Meltzer</b>: It is, if you had the right guy coming off an Olympic gold medal winning performance in wrestler who's exposed and capture the public. When I was a kid, Dan Gable, when he came out of the Olympics, he was a household name and we didn't really have that later. Kurt Angle, he wasn't a household name but the WWE thought he was very marketable and he did very well in that world. Again, if it was 1996 and he didn't have a bad neck and MMA was big and he came out and he went into MMA and could do well in his weight class, I think the Olympic hero thing, there could be something there. It's possible.</p>
<p>That's what happened in boxing with De La Hoya and even Ali to an extent. Win the Olympic gold medal and the difference is in boxing, when you're someone like that, they protect you. They put you against guys that you're not going to lose to for 3-4 years and they build up your confidence. In MMA, man, people can't wait to see you get beat and promoters can't wait to push a guy inexperienced against a top guy if they think he's got a name. I'm not saying it can't happen, it can still happen, but the way MMA is structured, it's pretty tough because you have to look good and impressive in a sport where it's hard to look good and impressive without experience and boy, they push you pretty hard pretty quick. You don't see guys with 3-4 years of fattening up their records before they start fighting real guys. In MMA, you may get it for a little while but not that long and in UFC, you don't even get it for a little while. You're fighting real guys right away.</p>
<p><b>Luke Thomas: So let's talk about going forward. One of the key worries is that the UFC is in this transition phase not only between Spike and FOX but a lot of the old stars are leaving and they've got to create new ones. St. Pierre is still on the shelf for a little while longer. Lesnar is now gone. To what extent does Lesnar's absence really kick into gear Zuffa's priorities for starmaking?</b></p>
<p><b>Dave Meltzer</b>: Well, they had to do it anyway because all of these guys have a short shelf life anyways but I do think this hurts their year a lot because if you could have had, we figured, two big Brock Lesnar pay-per-views and especially if he had won this fight, Lesnar versus Junior would have been gigantic. That would have been actually gigantic worldwide. That would have been huge, huge, huge in Brazil because Junior's on the cusp of being something special there already and Brock would be such a great opponent for Brazilian TV and that casual audience over there but it's not happening.</p>
<p>Overeem, I can tell you Overeem can be to an extent, that, in Brazil. Not so much in the United States but yeah, there's two pay-per-views they would have had that would have done big business but won't or a FOX show because Brock fighting on FOX would have been the highest ratings of anyone. I think it's a big blow but those things are gonna happen anyways. If it wasn't this year, it was gonna be next year.</p>
<p>You've always got to have big stars and again, you know a lot of it is the promotion getting behind people and a lot of it is luck. We all thought Cerrone, he had this charisma and a very exciting fighting style and he was one fight from possibly challenging for the championship and now that's not gonna happen.</p>
<p>Jon Jones blasted through everyone and became that guy. This year, let's face it, Jon Jones is gonna carry the company. Georges [St. Pierre] is gonna be out for most of the year, Anderson Silva's probably only gonna fight once, maybe twice and he's no matter what, Anderson's getting old and Anderson's a reflex guy. I'm not saying that he's gonna be done but when you get a guy who relies on incredible, incredible reflexes and they start getting in their late 30s, look at Roy Jones Jr. as an example. You can fall from the top pretty quick. Jon Jones is a young guy and he's gonna have to carry the company. The problem with Jon Jones is he desperately needs a rival and I don't know who that guy is. That adversary that really brings it out where you can't wait for this fight, the two top guys that people talk about and Jon Jones is still not quite at the level of a draw that people might have hoped so it's gonna be a struggle but I think the exposure on FOX helps in a lot of ways but there's a mainstream thing that Jon Jones may be years away from being able to get or may never get that Brock Lesnar already had and that no one else in the UFC, even St. Pierre really had.</p>
<p>Some foreign reporters were talking to me and they said, "I didn't think about it this way, but for us, this is bad. The ability to create more jobs for reporters in this industry, Brock Lesnar was more valuable than anyone else," and that's the truth, he was, because those guys you talk to that don't care about MMA, when Brock Lesnar fought, they did care and all of a sudden, the sport got a little bit of respect. "We can't be behind them, we've got to cover this. We've got to have someone who knows what they're talking about for this fight at least." Kind of like with boxing when you had the big fight and in case, losing Lesnar is gonna hurt in ways people don't think about.</p>
<p><b>Luke Thomas: So if we call what Lesnar did, non-ignorable MMA, with this FOX deal as the UFC moves forward, not just in 2012 but over time, can the UFC create somebody, as you mentioned, maybe not the Brock Lesnar crossover guy, but with its own machinery, with its own alliances and with its own power, can the UFC create somebody at some point in the relatively near future who captivated audiences in the way that Lesnar did because I sort of had this curiosity, why is it that when <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/129159/herschel-walker">Herschel Walker</a> crosses over, well now the football guys will care. Can UFC create somebody in house that can generate that kind of interest among audiences that typically aren't accustomed to watching UFC?</b></p>
<p><b>Dave Meltzer</b>: Absolutely, but it's gonna be somebody not who they created but somebody who comes along. It's gonna have to be the right guy who captures the public and I think the UFC is strong enough that when that guy comes, they'll get behind him and there's another Jon Jones-level guy who maybe even has more charisma than Jon Jones. It'll be there.</p>
<p>In seven years, again, it's like the Ali thing in boxing. Can boxing create another Ali or Mike Tyson even? It's like, they can't wave their magic wand and do it but if the next Mike Tyson shows up and just starts knocking people out. If there's a heavyweight that comes along that looks like <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122499/alistair-overeem">Alistair Overeem</a> and just starts knocking people out, the public will catch on. Maybe it will be Junior dos Santos in time. The language barrier and all that but Junior comes across very likeable. It takes years to do this because Tyson was lucky. He had so much exposure as a teenager that by the time he was 20, people were ready for him. De La Hoya was lucky because he came right out of winning Olympic gold and Junior's not that young but he's young enough. Overeem is in his 30s and it takes few years of building that thing but if some awesome guy comes along, say there's an American Jose Aldo.</p>
<p><b>Luke Thomas: What about Cejudo, could he do it?</b></p>
<p><b>Dave Meltzer</b>: Look, if the guy could walk in and destroy everyone, he's pretty small and in the small weight classes it's tougher but if he came in and knocked everyone out, of course he could be a star.</p>
<p>I think if Aldo was American, I think Aldo would be a really big star because at that age, people love to see someone from a young age and watch their whole career and especially if they've been on top for 4-5 years and people see that tenure and knockout after knockout after knockout. If some guy comes along, probably not even an NCAA champion wrestler as much but probably some guy who at 14, decided they loved this sport and just got awesome at this sport. I think that's what we're gonna be seeing is guys like that more than the guys crossing over from other sports.</p>
<p>But if the guy is really good and talks good, looks good, yeah, the teenage prodigy thing, it could work. Again, the guy has to come along, it's not like the machine is gonna create him and the problem is that this is a sport where anyone can win and anyone can lose and they don't protect their stars that well in a sense of giving them really easy matches like the boxing promoters do and creating these 40-0 records because that doesn't happen in this sport. In that sense, it's more difficult. But on the flipside, when those guys are made, fans are a lot more accepting of their losses than they are in boxing so you've got the thing on the flipside.</p>
<p>Look at <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/129554/chuck-liddell">Chuck Liddell</a> until the last fight. He still drew really good attendance and a really good buyrate and he lost how many times and he was 40 years old. If that guy comes and he's really good at 25 and he starts drawing really big from 25-32 in his prime, he probably could stay on top if he wants to for years to come based on that name and still draw if he's the right guy at the right time. It's a question of the guy who clicks.</p>
<p>Jones is the best candidate but there's weaknesses in Jones. Not fighting weaknesses but personality weaknesses. I don't know, but listen, if Jon Jones goes undefeated for five years, I don't care what his personality is, he'll still be a sports superstar and he'll still be somebody.</p>
https://mma.sbnation.com/2012/1/3/2679300/brock-lesnar-ufc-141-olympic-crossovers-jon-jones-interview-mma-newsLuke Thomas2012-01-03T08:52:50-08:002012-01-03T08:52:50-08:00In Defense Of XBox Live's Botched UFC 141 Stream
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/d2QZmlON7aTwA2hr3cXC7_eHuyc=/0x0:450x300/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47827633/default.43.0.jpg" />
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<p><a href="http://cdn1.sbnation.com/imported_assets/938544/Xbox-Live-UFC.jpg"><img src="http://cdn2.sbnation.com/imported_assets/938544/Xbox-Live-UFC_medium.jpg" class="photo" alt="Xbox-live-ufc_medium" height="156" width="293"></a><br>If you thought MMA fans were unforgiving, video game nerds appear to have positively zero tolerance for failure. And when video game nerds <i>are</i> MMA fans, it's off with their heads. When it came to XBox Live's utterly failed attempt at showing UFC 141 through their new service on Friday fight night after a campaign of free pay-per-view giveaways, let's say fools weren't suffered gladly.</p>
<p>And nor should they be. It was the height of launch failure in any business venture, gaming or otherwise. As the gamer website Kotaku notes, Microsoft has humbly issued a hat-in-hand apology with remarkably frank language acknowledging "<a href="http://kotaku.com/5872559/xbox-live-couldnt-handle-a-ufc-match-broadcast?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed" target="_blank">there is a great deal of room for improvement</a>" for future streams. That's putting it mildly given that they failed so completely there's nothing <i>but</i> room for improvement.</p>
<p>But I generally applaud the effort. UFC offered up potentially 30,000 pay-per-view buys for free. They did this, mind you, in a year where UFC pay-per-views were down 40% from 2010. They also did this for a UFC event on a Friday, a risky move in and of itself. To give 30,000 fans a chance to watch the biggest UFC event of the year for free given the larger considerations of the pay-per-view climate is one hell of a giveaway.</p>
<p>Many, however, disagreed with me on Twitter. They suggested XBox/UFC's generosity in giving away 30,000 potential pay-per-view buys was a naked marketing attempt for XBox Live's service. Both UFC and Microsoft are billion dollar companies simply trying to get you to use a new service and this temporary giveaway, while fun for the moment, should not be applauded, they contended.</p>
<p>I won't argue the effort was an attempt to market the XBox Live service. It's obviously true. And I also won't argue the botched execution from XBox was a terrible advertisement for said service. But that's hardly any sort of reason to dismiss what in actual practice amounts to nothing more than a free giveaway.</p>
<p>Consider the architecture of the offer. The coupon for the service didn't come with obligation to buy anything else, require a credit card for repeatable charges, a small one-time tax, or issue any other recurring commitment. It was a one-for-one trade: here's a coupon, watch this fight for free and we hope you like it enough to come back again. This was a no-obligation giveaway that was as much about raising awareness as anything else.</p>
<p>Here's another important fact: you don't have to pay any money to watch UFC pay-per-views on XBox Live except the cost of the pay-per-view itself. <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.xbox.com%2Fen-US%2FLIVE%2FFeatures-and-Apps&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fmma.sbnation.com%2F2012%2F1%2F3%2F2679111%2Fufc-xbox-live-ufc-141-stream-mma-news" target="_blank" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener">A free, 'silver' XBox Live account is all one needs to purchase pay-per-views</a>. Yes, you need a 'gold' account to stream weigh-ins, countdown shows and other programming. And obviously XBox wants you to fork over the annual $50 charge to get access to that content on their platform (even though you can easily get it for free on the Internet). On fight night, however, none of that is necessary.</p>
<p>Let's revisit, for a moment, the idea that there's nothing to celebrate.</p>
<p>It would be truly spectacular, if wholly unrealistic, to expect a corporation of any size to simply give riches or resources to customers or purchasing public. Is such largesse even possible though? Any such giveaway would be suspiciously greeted with accusations of image blandishment. While corporate responsibility has strong roots in early twentieth century industrialization, assuming today's for-profit entities proactively engage in socially responsible actions because of collective conscience is a mistake I'll leave to the gullible.</p>
<p>It's not that it doesn't matter if XBox is trying to 'get something' out of you. What matters is what they offer up in return for what they ask. And in the UFC 141 deal, fans (before the failed stream) were set to make out like bandits. A lot was offered for almost nothing in return except your cognizance the service existed. Some will make the jump to the gold account, sure. And if that's content they believe is properly servicing their needs as fans, then shouldn't fans consider that a win as well? Ultimately XBox and UFC were giving away expensive content for free in the hopes you'd purchase services that met and even augmented your needs or expectations as a gaming and MMA fan.</p>
<p>Whatever you think of the larger XBox Live service as it relates to UFC content, the UFC also did their best to kick things off with fan interest as a key priority by handing out no strings attached, highly valuable content in the biggest pay-per-view of the year.</p>
<p>Oh, and since the first effort to launch this free giveaway didn't work, they're going to do it all over again. They've got some nerve, huh?</p>
https://mma.sbnation.com/2012/1/3/2679111/ufc-xbox-live-ufc-141-stream-mma-newsLuke Thomas2012-01-02T09:25:06-08:002012-01-02T09:25:06-08:00Brock Lesnar's Legacy, Diverticulitis' Impact, UFC 141 Talk With Dave Meltzer: Part 1
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<img alt="PHOTO CREDIT: Esther Lin, <a href="http://www.MMAFighting.com/" target="new">MMAFighting.com</a>" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SdIESA5nTEHKClmtuW_D6HTy6fU=/0x0:1100x733/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/imported_assets/937459/073alistairovereemvsbrocklesnar.jpg" />
<figcaption>PHOTO CREDIT: Esther Lin, <a href="http://www.MMAFighting.com/" target="new">MMAFighting.com</a></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Brock Lesnar's impact on mixed martial arts was both sudden and powerful, but after announcing his retirement at UFC 141, how will we look back on the former champion's career? Dave Meltzer of Yahoo! Sports and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter talks to Luke Thomas on MMA Nation Radio about Lesnar's mixed martial arts legacy.</p> <p>Upon the announced retirement of former UFC heavyweight champion <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122494/brock-lesnar">Brock Lesnar</a>, the MMA world immediately begin to consider the impact the former professional wrestler and NCAA Division I national champion wrestler had on the world's newest combative sport. Both as a force in the heavyweight division and as a promotional powerhouse, Lesnar's inclusion in the sport had immediate effect. But what will his legacy be now that's he gone?</p>
<p>In this two-part interview with Dave Meltzer, Yahoo! Sports writer and the proprietor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, we discuss to what extent UFC 141 was a commercial success, whether <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122499/alistair-overeem">Alistair Overeem</a> can be a mixed martial arts star, what impact the diverticulitis had on Lesnar's career, why Lesnar looked so feeble at UFC 141, why the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122488/shane-carwin">Shane Carwin</a> fight at UFC 116 was a turning point for Lesnar's MMA career and much more.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUm05uxFH-4">Full audio and transcription below</a>:</p>
<p><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zUm05uxFH-4" frameborder="0" height="300" width="525"></iframe></p>
<p><b>Luke Thomas: Dave, I want to talk first about UFC 141 and then more specifically about Brock Lesnar. UFC 141, a lot of changes. They moved back to the 10 p.m. timeframe for east coast starts on pay-per-view. It was pushed to Friday. I know you had initially expressed concerns and I can tell you on my end, it's never a one-one-connection but I'm an online traffic junkie and the online numbers were through the roof. How do you believe this will ultimately turn out in terms of pay-per-view buys?</b></p>
<p><b>Dave Meltzer</b>: It's really hard to tell. The time change I don't think makes any difference whatsoever. It's a little more inconvenient for a lot of people but I guess it's more convenient for some people as well but Friday I think is gonna hurt them. I think the show probably did fairly well just because it was a Brock Lesnar show and there hadn't been one in 14 months and there hasn't been that many big shows this year so people are kind of starved for what they perceive as a "big show" even though there have been a lot of great shows but they haven't been big shows to the public. I think it did reasonably well, it would have done exceptionally well if they had been on Saturday but they had reasons. They couldn't have run it in Las Vegas on a Saturday. I was there and all the stuff Dana White said, it's definitely true. You couldn't get in on Saturday night to the strip, they shut the whole place down at 6 p.m. so it would have really been impossible to run there. I mean, I suppose they could have run a different city and the actual original plan was to run New Year's Eve from Abu Dhabi and it fell through so that's where Las Vegas came in and they did the best they could. I'm sure they number will be good but it probably would have been better on Saturday.</p>
<p><b>Luke Thomas: 750k or what?</b></p>
<p><b>Dave Meltzer</b>: It could be. It could be. It wouldn't shock me. It's really hard to tell. I was thinking in that range, maybe a little lower but it could be. It could be even better.</p>
<p><b>Luke Thomas: What did you think of the live gate and the audience? There was an article today on ESPN.com and I actually challenged the author of it. She had noted that the gate did 3.1 million and I think after a little papering, the turnout was just north of 12,000. That 12,000 wasn't the greatest number but 3.1 million, even with the casinos, it's one of the more respectable gates of this year. She called it a dud. Do you agree 141 at the gate was a dud?</b></p>
<p><b>Dave Meltzer</b>: Here's the thing, no, because they've run Las Vegas so many times and there's so much money you can draw in that same city over and over again going back to the well so I would never consider a 3.1 million dollar gate for a show without a championship match a dud. The last one was like 3.9 million but that was a GSP show with higher ticket prices, even though GSP wasn't on the show, all of those tickets were sold for GSP because they sold all the tickets the first weekend. There were tickets available until the end. I wasn't shocked. Brock Lesnar has never been a sellout guy in Vegas. Yeah, for UFC 100 he sold out and I think there may have been another one, but a lot of ones he's done, the Carwin fight didn't sell out even though it was a huge pay-per-view fight. The first Mir fight didn't draw all that exceptionally well.</p>
<p>I remember that because I remember thinking, "Wow, we all thought Brock was gonna do this huge, great number," and he did great numbers on pay-per-view but he didn't sell out Vegas at least without papering. And I think they were probably papering at the end but I expected they would just because of so many shows on the market and again, Lesnar's not a sellout guy in Vegas and that's just how it's been. Even the Couture fight, the Couture fight did a big, big gate and it was a HUGE fight at the time, they were papering that one as well and the Couture fight I thought was gonna go clean in a minute and it didn't. Brock's audience is professional wrestling fans and professional wrestling fans are not used to flying in and paying big ticket prices for shows. They are very used to watching pay-per-view. That's why I always thought that Brock was a much bigger pay-per-view draw than a live arena draw.</p>
<p><b>Luke Thomas: He's not the gentleman that I want to spend the majority of time talking about, but Alistair Overeem coming in and, it was one of those moments, I don't know what kind of Brock we saw, but even a star-making debut, he certainly looked good against Brock Lesnar. To what extent does this launch him into a position to be a star in 2012? I don't mean right away, but sort of groomed for stardom. Does this fight really serve as a catalyst for potential stardom for Alistair Overeem?</b></p>
<p><b>Dave Meltzer</b>: Absolutely. Alistair Overeem always had the chance to be a star, he just didn't have the exposure in this country. The rating he did with the show in Dallas with Werdum, that rating wasn't through-the-roof good but it was a good rating for Showtime for an MMA show and anytime a Showtime show can beat a 1.5, that's telling you someone has potential to be a draw. Diaz did and Overeem did there. Of course Fedor did, but he's Fedor. He's always been a star. That told me Overeem could be a star and also I've noticed that Overeem is very popular in Canada already and Canada is usually ahead of The United States when it comes to these things, when it comes to who the stars are gonna be. Granted, you've still gotta win, but I'm saying the potential to be a crossover or top-tier guy, Overeem was already getting there in Canada and he's got the potential to be there in the US. He's got the look and he talks very well and all of those things. He's a big heavyweight who knocks people out and that's always a good thing so yeah, Overeem has the chance to be, and a lot of people watched this fight because of Lesnar and a lot of people saw it and they were impressed by Overeem. It was a great debut for him and I think him and dos Santos is a very intriguing fight and I think if he beats dos Santos, he'll be a gigantic star. If he doesn't, based on the nature of how he would lose, it depends. If he loses a war, he'll still be a gigantic star. If he gets knocked out in one minute, people will go, "Oh well, golly gee, Brock Lesnar must suck," or whatever.</p>
<p><b>Luke Thomas: Do you have any sense of how they want to leverage that dos Santos - Overeem fight? I know they gave away that heavyweight fight between Velasquez and dos Santos but to me, that was a bit of a red herring. They were saying, "Well, we can do 800k with this pay-per-view," but even if you put it on that card with <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fight-card/82269/ufc-139-henderson-vs-rua">UFC 139</a>, I think even that was debatable much less that actual UFC on FOX card they went with. Do you have any idea, will they put dos Santos versus Overeem on pay-per-view? Is it that a big draw or would they be better served getting new eyeballs on a potentially blockbuster event, even one that may currently lack popular appeal?</b></p>
<p><b>Dave Meltzer</b>: My feeling is that if Lesnar had lost in a better way and was sticking around, then I could see them putting this one on free TV because Lesnar could still draw like a Lesnar - Velasquez fight would be viable and that would do very well on pay-per-view and then "this one" we could put on TV to springboard the winner in front of the most eyes possible for future pay-per-view. But because with Lesnar out and St. Pierre out, that means the number of big pay-per-view buys they have this year diminishes and so my gut is they will make it a pay-per-view and not a FOX show but I don't know. I haven't talked to anyone about that but that's how I would look at it. If it was different, I actually would consider it because a lot of eyeballs would be seeing Overeem and whoever wins is the rightful, finally, you've got a guy who rightfully will say probably deserves to be number one without question. There's other guys in some other matches coming up but the point is that for this year, everyone has kind of been eliminated. I guess you could say Barnett if he gets by Cormier. I guess you could make an argument somehow since he won that tournament if he does win that tournament.</p>
<p><b>Luke Thomas: That might be a stretch, Dave.</b></p>
<p><b>Dave Meltzer</b>: Well, I'm just saying as far as eliminating all top contenders who haven't lost. Barnett hasn't lost in a very long time, that's why I say you could make a case for him but Overeem has destroyed everyone in his path except for Werdum and the way Werdum fought that fight, it made it hard to make him look good anyways. The argument's there for Overeem and the argument is certainly there for dos Santos. He hasn't lost in the UFC and has been knocking people out. Those are the two guys where, if you make the argument for who's number one, it's as close to as an undisputed number one ranking match that we've had in the heavyweight division in a long time, maybe ever.</p>
<p><b>Luke Thomas: So let's talk about Brock Lesnar. He now retires. I guess I'll just ask you up front It was weird going into the fight and I could tell you as an editor, I was dealing with this. We were getting articles like, "Lesnar with this win could get a title shot," and at the same time they were juxtaposed with articles saying, "Lesnar could retire if he loses," and if you think about that, title shot or retirement, you almost never see a guy in that position. Were you surprised by his retirement?</b></p>
<p><b>Dave Meltzer</b>: Well, since I heard rumors all week, I wasn't, and even more than just the week. No, I wasn't surprised. The way he lost, when that fight was over, I expected him to retire at that moment. When he grabbed the mic and started talking, I go, "He's gonna retire."</p>
<p><b>Luke Thomas: Because he looked so terrible?</b></p>
<p><b>Dave Meltzer</b>: Yeah, I think in my mind, Lesnar has made a lot of money and this time he saved his money. He doesn't live high and he's got a life that he wants to lead and he's got the money to lead it for the rest of his life and I always thought that Lesnar wasn't gonna stick around and be a <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/129554/chuck-liddell">Chuck Liddell</a> or a <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122569/wanderlei-silva">Wanderlei Silva</a> or a Mirko Cro Cop or all these guys who keep fighting because they're fighters and they just convinced themselves that they can still get it. They say, "Physically, I'm diminished, but I'm a smarter fighter." I think a lot of older fighters think that. You are smarter but it cannot overcome your physical diminishment as you get older. Very, very few can do that.</p>
<p>I think with Brock, he didn't fool himself. I think that Brock saw that athletically, he wasn't what he once was and that's all he had going for him. He was a very good athlete who's athletic ability transferred very well to fighting. He was not a great all-around fighter and he was too old to become that. If he was 27 and he goes, "I can shore up these weaknesses," he's 34 and got a lot of mileage. Those four years of pro wrestling took a lot out of his body. There's injuries everywhere and I think that illness devastated him and I think you could see the difference.</p>
<p>He didn't have the confidence going in and the key is, it's a lot like Fedor. You lose a little bit of that speed in the heavyweight division and all of a sudden, you're not the same. I don't think Brock's nearly as quick as he was a couple years ago and that's the difference. I'm sure he can lift the same weights, he's huge but he was never that great all-around fighter. When you lose that speed, there are exceptions but you don't see a lot of freestyle wrestlers in the heavyweight division at 34 competing for Olympic gold. Karelin was done at 32, he was a Greco guy but he was done at 32 so he was even younger than Brock and Kerelin was the biggest physical freak of all physical freaks. Far more than Brock ever was. That's kind of like your prototype. Guys like that, when their bodies break down and they lose that thing, they're done at that level and like most of them, I think that when both of them in their minds thought they were done, they got out. You didn't see Kerelin coming back at 36 trying to win that gold medal. As soon as he got that silver and he knew that he was not what he once was knowing that the old Kerelin would have destroyed Rulon Gardner no problem, he got out and Brock's the same way.</p>
<p><b>Luke Thomas: I want to actually talk about the diverticulitis. He didn't just have one bout but two bouts with it and as you mentioned, in the words of <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122515/muhammed-lawal">Muhammed Lawal</a>, it kind of snatched his soul a little bit. I don't know what kind of challenges he faced athletically in his life but it seemed that disease shook him in a way to his core where he finally had to accept his own fragility and mortality and this is only conjecture, but what could he have done without the disease, without the time off, with the ability to at least in some capacity stay in camp, stay training and find a niche forward. How good could he have been?</b></p>
<p><b>Dave Meltzer</b>: Well, the thing is if he had come out college at that point if the sport were as big as it is now and he would have gone right into this, he wouldn't have done pro wrestling. I think he probably could have been the greatest heavyweight we've ever seen because he did have those athletic gifts and he would have been, at 22, I don't think physically just looking at him he would have been a great striker, but he had such power that I think he could have been a knockout guy and a decent enough striker to set up his wrestling and he'd have been the best wrestler if he'd kept his wrestling up.</p>
<p>You've got to remember, he took eight years off wrestling and then he came back in the sport. You don't see a lot of guys take eight years off wrestling and come back and be what they once were as wrestlers so that Brock Lesnar, yeah, I think he could have been an all-time great. This one coming in at that age, he had a lot going against him but if he didn't have the diverticulitis and he would have been in camp year-round and he would have been learning the submissions because he probably could have been pretty good at the submission game because that comes from wrestling and I think he probably would have done pretty well with that because he is a great student and he's not a stranger to training hard. Striking, he probably never would have been great at, but I think he would have been a lot better.</p>
<p>What was gonna hurt him was when the speed was gone because the speed made him more than the power. Power's great, it is, but this is a speed sport. You look at all of these guys, when they lose a bit of that speed, that's when they fall from the top. It's not when they lose the power. At some point, a guy of his size, 35-36, it still would be tough I would think. I think the diverticulitis, it had to take a lot out of him. I was stunned when this match was announced because it was too soon and in hindsight, when I look at what happened in this match, I think he was looking for a way out. That's not the right wording. He was looking at life after fighting after the Carwin fight. I can tell you that for sure. If you remember when I was telling people, I used that term and people go, "Oh, he's gonna quit for pro wrestling," I'd be stunned if he ever goes back to pro wrestling as a regular pro wrestler. Now will he do like one Wrestlemania match? I think he will. He'll do one match or two matches or a four appearances per year type of thing. Sure, I could see him doing that but going back to pro wrestling as a profession? There's no way he'll ever do that. He would rather fight than do that but I think that when what happened in the Carwin fight happened, I think in his mind, there's a reason he got out of pro wrestling.</p>
<p>There's a bunch of reasons but one of the reasons he got out of pro wrestling was, he was in the locker room one day and he saw all these guys 40 years old with their fake tans and gobbling those pain pills and hurting real, real bad and he was like, "When I'm 40, I want to be able to do everything that I can do. I don't want to be a crippled up guy," and that's why he got out of a business that he was making a ton of money in. The same thing is gonna happen in this business. He's got money and when the time comes about getting beat up, he's not gonna want to get beat up. He's gonna get out when he feels that he's getting beat up and the Carwin fight, he got beat up but he had the confidence that he survived it. I think he also had a thing of, "don't stay too long," and this is what happened. A lot of guys would want to come back but if he had the confidence in his athletic ability, where he used to be and he could still be a top guy, he'd still go. But he's not getting beat up to be a guy who's no longer a main eventer or a guy who fights <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/123062/roy-nelson">Roy Nelson</a> or <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122493/cheick-kongo">Cheick Kongo</a>, people like that. I never thought that he would stay for that.</p>
<p><b>Luke Thomas: Let's talk about his MMA legacy, such that one exists. Not his larger athletic career but just in MMA and even that's kind of hard to compartmentalize because he had such an anomalous entry and experience but talking about him as an MMA competitor, looking back at him and assuming that the Overeem fight is his final fight, how would you characterize his performance and experience in professional MMA?</b></p>
<p><b>Dave Meltzer</b>: What he did, given his experience, was phenomenal. At the same time, I don't think that people will look back at him. I think there's gonna be this thing, he was given this championship fight early because of his marketability but the fact is, he still had to win that fight. A lot of people want to rip on, "Oh, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122508/randy-couture">Randy Couture</a> was this and this and this and old and all this," he was still way, way more experienced and also Randy Couture was a technically better wrestler than Brock. Brock was able to outwrestle him in the fight because of superior weight and size and strength to a degree but he couldn't physically dominate him because Randy was that good of a wrestler and he knew that game. The beating of Randy Couture to me was impressive considering the experience both guys had. The Mir fight, he looked really impressive there and I think that people will downgrade him, "Randy's old," well Randy was old since day one and he had a great career.</p>
<p>When he came back from the diverticulitis, he was clearly not the same guy. The Cain fight, I don't know if he would have ever beaten Cain. If they fought 10 times, he may have won one or two, but even Brock at his best without the diverticulitis, I think Cain was just a much better all-around fighter and could deal with the wrestling and he also had a stamina edge which was a big thing. I think that would have been a tough fight for Lesnar under those circumstances. Overeem, it's really hard to say. I would have loved to have seen a Brock with his confidence in his wrestling and with his old speed go against Overeem just to see if he could get a wrestling game going because in a stand-up fight, no matter what, in a stand-up fight, any form of Brock Lesnar at his best, in a stand-up fight, it was gonna be this exact same result with Overeem. There's no question, it's a huge difference in stand-up ability.</p>
<p><i>In part two of this interview, Meltzer makes the case for why there will never be another Brock Lesnar in MMA.</i></p>
https://mma.sbnation.com/2012/1/2/2676626/brock-lesnar-diverticulitis-dave-meltzer-interview-mma-newsLuke Thomas2012-01-01T16:18:23-08:002012-01-01T16:18:23-08:00Brock Lesnar's Future, UFC 141 Results, Dave Meltzer On 106.7 The Fan's MMA Nation
<figure>
<img alt="PHOTO CREDIT: <a href="http://www.mmafighting.com/" target="new">MMAFighting.com</a>, Esther Lin" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zE8GWA8ptj2-0JwNYg5-0opmsXE=/0x0:1100x733/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/imported_assets/936799/074alistairovereemvsbrocklesnar.jpg" />
<figcaption>PHOTO CREDIT: <a href="http://www.mmafighting.com/" target="new">MMAFighting.com</a>, Esther Lin</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Join Luke Thomas tonight at approximately 9 p.m. ET as we talk all of the results for UFC 141 and discuss the impact Brock Lesnar had on MMA with Yahoo! Sports' Dave Meltzer.</p> <p>How strange is it to find a fighter who is at once on the verge of either retirement or a title shot? That's exactly where former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar found himself and we quickly found out which path he's headed on. We'll discuss that and more on tonight's show.</p>
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<div class="mmanation-howto"><span style="line-height: 17px;">Tonight on the show, we'll discuss the results from Friday night's UFC 141: <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fight/1152/ufc-141-lesnar-vs-overeem-brock-lesnar-vs-alistair-overeem">Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem</a>:</span></div>
<div class="mmanation-howto">
<ul>
<li>Are you surprised by <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122494/brock-lesnar">Brock Lesnar's</a> retirement?</li>
<li>What is Brock Lesnar's legacy in MMA now?</li>
<li>Where do <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122576/jon-fitch">Jon Fitch</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/127154/johny-hendricks">Johny Hendricks</a> go from here?</li>
<li>Early predictions for <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122499/alistair-overeem">Alistair Overeem</a> vs. Junior dos Santos?</li>
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<p>To help us breakdown Brock Lesnar's role in MMA and more, we'll talk to the proprietor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and writer for Yahoo! Sports, Dave Meltzer.</p>
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https://mma.sbnation.com/2012/1/1/2675107/brock-lesnar-ufc-141-results-dave-meltzer-interview-mma-newsLuke Thomas2012-01-01T08:19:28-08:002012-01-01T08:19:28-08:00VIDEO: The Reem Season 2, Episode 9
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<p><object width="295" height="200"><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/34388342?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=ffffff" mce_src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/34388342?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=ffffff" width="295" height="200" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe></object> </p>
<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122499/alistair-overeem">Alistair Overeem</a> presents a new episode of his ongoing video autobiography, The Reem. This episode goes behind the scenes with Overeem as he prepared for <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122494/brock-lesnar">Brock Lesnar</a> and UFC 141.</p>
<p>Up next for Overeem is UFC heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos. Dos Santos took the title from <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122504/cain-velasquez">Cain Velasquez</a> at <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fight-card/84361/ufc-on-fox-1-velasquez-vs-dos-santos">UFC on Fox 1</a> with a quick first round KO. Overeem's win sets up a match between dos Santos, the heavyweight division's best boxer and Overeem, it's most mauling Muay Thai clinch fighter.
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<p>Dos Santos (14-1) is 8-0 since joining the UFC in 2008 with only two of those fights going the distance. Overeem (36-11-1) is 1-0 in the UFC and is 11-0 with 5 KO's and 5 submissions. Overeem, a former <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/promotion/strikeforce">Strikeforce</a> heavyweight champ as well as the last champion of <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/promotion/k-1">K-1's</a> kickboxing Grand Prix, is not likely to be over-awed by dos Santos' boxing skills. But the champ's conditioning will be a huge advantage if the fight goes into the deep water of the championship rounds.</p>
<p>Dos Santos vs. Overeem should command considerable fan interest, but there is no way it will match the business that would have been done by a dos Santos title defense against Brock Lesnar. That bout would likely have done more than 1 million PPV buys. With Overeem challenging for the title it should do more than 500,000 but is very unlikely to approach 1 million.</p>
https://mma.sbnation.com/2012/1/1/2674127/UFC-video-the-reem-season-2-episode-9Nate Wilcox2011-12-31T14:35:44-08:002011-12-31T14:35:44-08:00UFC 141 Results: Johny Hendricks And Alexander Gustafsson Move Up The Ranks With Quick KO Wins
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<img alt="Johny Hendricks celebrates beating Jon Fitch at UFC 141. Photo by Esther Lin for <a href="http://www.mmafighting.com/photos/" target="new">MMA Fighting</a>. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ad_DxlnLYrQ32dxBmsxYVGZqGLw=/0x0:1100x733/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/assets/842729/140_Johny_Hendricks_vs_Jon_Fitch.jpg" />
<figcaption>Johny Hendricks celebrates beating Jon Fitch at UFC 141. Photo by Esther Lin for <a href="http://www.mmafighting.com/photos/" target="new">MMA Fighting</a>. </figcaption>
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<p>Johny Hendricks and Alexander Gustafsson both notched huge KO wins at UFC 141.</p> <p>There was certainly an element of "ring in the new/ring out the old" at last nights <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fight-card/84572/ufc-141-lesnar-vs-overeem">UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem</a> especially as rising contenders <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/127154/johny-hendricks">Johny Hendricks</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122632/alexander-gustafsson">Alexander Gustafsson</a> made short work of veterans <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122576/jon-fitch">Jon Fitch</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122955/vladimir-matyushenko">Vladimir Matyushenko</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://mma.sbnation.com/2011/12/30/2671891/ufc-141-results-johny-hendricks-jon-fitch-in-12-seconds-mma-news/in/2435191" target="_blank">UFC 141 results: Johny Hendricks defeats Jon Fitch by knockout at :12 of round 1.</a><br><a href="http://mma.sbnation.com/2011/12/30/2671868/ufc-141-results-alexander-gustafsson-vladimir-matyushenko-mma-news/in/2435191" target="_blank">UFC 141 results: Alexander Gustafsson defeats Vladimir Matyushenko at 2:13 of round 1.</a></p>
<p>Hendricks (12-1, 7-1 UFC) became the first fighter to finish Fitch (23-4-1, 13-2-1 UFC) in the UFC when he caught him with a crushing overhand left and followed up with some quick ground and pound. The win is easily the biggest in Hendricks' MMA career. The former NCAA champion wrestler entered the bout ranked #18 in the welterweight division according to the <a href="http://www.bloodyelbow.com/rankings" target="_blank">USA TODAY/MMA Nation Consensus Rankings</a>. Fitch was ranked #2, a position he's held for years.</p>
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<b><a href="http://mma.sbnation.com/2011/12/30/2671150/ufc-141-results-play-by-play-brock-lesnar-vs-alistair-overeem-mma-news" target="_blank">UFC 141 Results</a> </b><b>|</b><b> <a href="http://mma.sbnation.com/2011/12/22/2654812/ufc-141-frank-mir-brock-lesnar-alistair-overeem-mma-news" target="_blank">Frank Mir Interview</a></b><b> | <a href="http://mma.sbnation.com/2011/12/29/2669217/ufc-141-weigh-in-results-brock-lesnar-vs-alistair-overeem-mma-news" target="_blank">Weigh-In Results</a></b>
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<p>For his part Gustafsson's win was a less shocking upset, but still represents a big step up the career ladder for the rangy Swede. The 24-year-old Gustafsson (13-1, 5-1 UFC) has been picking up a bit of hype as a fighter who could potentially threaten Jon Jones' hold on the UFC light heavyweight title. </p>
<p>Beating the veteran Matyushenko (26-6, 7-4 UFC) in emphatic fashion adds some real credibility to the hype around Gustafsson. He entered the bout ranked #13 in the <a style="text-decoration: underline; background-color: #ffffff; " href="http://www.bloodyelbow.com/rankings" target="_blank">USA TODAY/MMA Nation Consensus Rankings</a> and while beating the #18 ranked Matyushenko won't give him much of a jump in the rankings, it should raise his profile with fans.</p>
<p>For the 33-year-old Fitch, a formidable but notoriously boring fighter, the loss might do irreparable harm to his career. He had to win his first 8 straight UFC fights to get a title shot in 2008. After getting pasted by champion Georges St. Pierre for five rounds at UFC 87, Fitch put together a five fight win streak going into 2011. Unfortunately he only managed a draw against B.J. Penn at UFC 127 and now tumbles down the ladder with the loss to Hendricks. </p>
<p>The 40-year-old Matyushenko was riding a two KO win streak coming into UFC 141. Now he'll have to consider whether or not its time to retire as he clearly won't be contending for another title shot.</p>
https://mma.sbnation.com/2011/12/31/2673242/ufc-141-results-johny-hendricks-alexander-gustafsson-mma-newsNate Wilcox2011-12-31T12:20:13-08:002011-12-31T12:20:13-08:00UFC 141 Results: The Spike TV Era Ends With A Whimper As Pearson And Castillo Eke Out Decision Wins
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<img alt="Danny Castillo Beats Anthony Njokuani At UFC 141, Photo by Esther Lin for <a href="http://www.mmafighting.com/photos/" target="new">MMA Fighting</a>." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MfBvXanrHzIJWO0yLiHM9Ei-LMw=/0x0:1100x733/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/assets/842625/116_Danny_Castillo_vs_Anthony_Njokuani.jpg" />
<figcaption>Danny Castillo Beats Anthony Njokuani At UFC 141, Photo by Esther Lin for <a href="http://www.mmafighting.com/photos/" target="new">MMA Fighting</a>.</figcaption>
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<p>Danny Castillo, Anthony Njokuani, Ross Pearson and Junior Assuncao were the last four fighters to be featured in live UFC action on Spike TV as the cable network aired two preliminary bouts from the UFC 141 fight card.</p> <p>Six years ago a partnership between the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/promotion/ufc">Ultimate Fighting Championship</a> (UFC) and Spike TV propelled mixed martial arts into the national consciousness. Last night that partnership ended with a whimper as Spike aired its last two UFC bouts, preliminary fights from the UFC 141 card. Both were less than thrilling fights that went to decision.</p>
<p><a href="http://mma.sbnation.com/2011/12/30/2671755/ufc-141-results-ross-pearson-junior-assuncao-in/in/2435191" target="_blank">UFC 141 results: Ross Pearson defeats Junior Assuncao by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).</a><br><a href="http://mma.sbnation.com/2011/12/30/2671717/ufc-141-results-danny-castillo-anthony-njokuani-mma-news/in/2435191" target="_blank">UFC 141 results: Danny Castillo defeats Anthony Njokuani by split decision (29-28 Castillo, 29-28 Njokuani, 29-28 Castillo).</a></p>
<p>The UFC's relationship with Spike TV has been in a downward spiral since the breakdown of negotiations to renew their partnership earlier this year. Things degenerated further when the UFC signed a seven year deal with Fox and Spike's parent company Viacom acquired Bellator, a rival MMA promotion. Open acrimony broke out when Spike TV aggressively counter-programmed Junior dos Santos vs. <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fighter/122504/cain-velasquez">Cain Velasquez</a> at <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fight-card/84361/ufc-on-fox-1-velasquez-vs-dos-santos">UFC on Fox 1</a> with a number of fights featuring dos Santos and Velasquez. </p>
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<b><a target="_blank" href="http://mma.sbnation.com/2011/12/30/2671150/ufc-141-results-play-by-play-brock-lesnar-vs-alistair-overeem-mma-news">UFC 141 Results</a> </b><b>|</b><b> <a target="_blank" href="http://mma.sbnation.com/2011/12/22/2654812/ufc-141-frank-mir-brock-lesnar-alistair-overeem-mma-news">Frank Mir Interview</a></b><b> | <a target="_blank" href="http://mma.sbnation.com/2011/12/29/2669217/ufc-141-weigh-in-results-brock-lesnar-vs-alistair-overeem-mma-news">Weigh-In Results</a></b>
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<p>UFC president Dana White took that as a declaration of war and has refused to do anything to promote the final six weeks worth of UFC bouts on Spike TV. <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mma/fight-card/79699/the-ultimate-fighter-14-finale">The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale</a> was a casualty of White's scorched earth policy as were the two preliminary fights airing on Spike TV last night. The ratings have been good for the final few Spike fights and I expect that the UFC 141 bouts will be no exception. </p>
<p>Neither fight was anything to write home about although both bouts featured a decent amount of action. Lightweight wrestler Danny Castillo managed to take kickboxing specialist Anthony Njokuani out of his game enough to get a split decision.</p>
<p>Featherweights Ross Pearson and Junior Assuncao put on three action-filled rounds but neither man was able to get a decisive advantage. All three judges scored it for Pearson, but there was some grumbling online that Assuncao deserved the nod.</p>
<p>Regardless it was an unheralded farewell to the television relationship that did more to get the UFC and mixed martial arts over with a mass audience in the U.S. than any other factor.</p>
https://mma.sbnation.com/2011/12/31/2672960/ufc-141-results-danny-castillo-ross-pearson-anthony-njokuani-junior-assuncaoNate Wilcox