UFC 104 Machida Vs Shogan

UFC has really underlined last weekend a lot of the problems it has had since inception and new issues which have developed over time. It has also shown that it has not solved any of them so far.

Today the biggest mixed martial arts promotion appears to be degenerate and on the verge of becoming boring despite its apparently strong profit margins. As fans continue to buy pay-per views we see more and more, weak cards. Nogueira vs. Couture was a great example of a fight that should have been the number two or number three fight. Champions should be defending their title for a headline fight but with over a hundred fights scheduled in 2010 this will not be possible to do. As a result, the cards are thin with a bunch of unknown fighters filling the airtime and viewers having to pay good money for a weak card.

Lyota Machida vs. Shogun Rua in UFC 104 is an example of the above issue of course. We have only two decent fights. That is all we get and although Shogun vs. Machida was a great fight, the rest anywhere else would be considered free entertainment.

You watch the preview to UFC 104. Then you pay to watch UFC 104 but many like myself were surprised to once again have to listen to the same adverts over and over again and added to that a replay of the commercial for probably a good 20 minutes. UFC needs to spend on original content if it wants fans to keep buying this stuff. They are making life so much easier for Strikeforce to compete with them. I am convinced that millions are ready to pay more money for a Pride-level promotion, with great action, superfights, Grandprixs and spectacular entrances than the dull events that UFC displays.

Something that really is beginning to bother is however the judging. Not only did they get it wrong with Ben Rothwell in UFC 104, ending the fight when the guy was actually getting up to resume the fight but they screwed up big time with Machida vs. Shogun. Rua was dominating pretty much every round, playing the Machida game and actually landing some devastating strikes and kicks. Machida even became the bad guy for not giving his belt to Rua to many of his fans.

A dominant majority of fans as well as nearly all of the MMA media and even Dana White himself accepts that Shogun won. They really need to do something about this.

At the end of the day, we get to see StrikeForce Brett Rogers vs. Fedor Emelianenko soon and this will be a truly great event that we can all enjoy.

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