Dana White announced via twitter that Georges St. Pierre will be out for 10 months with a knee injury. As a result, Carlos Condit steps in to face Nick Diaz for the interim Welterweight title for the Super Bowl Weekend card February 4th.
Condit was slated to fight GSP at UFC 137 and then was bumped from the card when GSP went down with an injury. After Diaz defeated BJ Penn, Diaz was awarded the title shot at GSP instead of Condit.
Payout Perspective:
The injury is a tough blow for the UFC as the Super Bowl weekend show is a big draw due to the amount of traffic in Vegas for the weekend. Condit-Diaz is a tough main event to sell as many casual viewers do not know Condit and Diaz is not the best at selling a fight. The rest of the card for UFC 143 is devoid of major names which is a problem. A part of this is due to the second Fox card on January 28th. But, without one of the UFC’s biggest stars (GSP), the UFC will have to scramble to make this card appealing.
In addition, the GSP injury hurts his marketability as the UFC moves to Fox. Certainly GSP is one of the company’s top draws and it looks like he won’t see the Octagon until the fall of 2012. Its definitely disappointing for GSP and puts the UFC in a position to market behind others in the Welterweight division.
The only bright spot here is that Condit gets his shot at the title. Hopefully, the UFC will give him a nice push in front of the February 5th card.
It’s a tough blow for Diego as well. I booked tickets to Vegas 1 hour before the news broke and it’s going to cost me $75 to cancel and I don’t get my money back, I get a credit with the airline.
I like the Diaz-Condit matchup but it’s not a “fly to Vegas for the weekend and spend exorbitant amounts on hotel, booze and UFC tickets” kind of card. More of a “sit on my couch with a 6-pack” kind.
Only 1 fight out of GSP in 2011 and it looks like 1 fight in 2012. It will be tough for the UFC PPV numbers if they lose any more main events next year. Creating more stars or getting stars to fight more often will be a major focus next year i believe.
Something interesting to note. I have felt the lack of finishing fights from GSP is due t his age partly. He was fighting young fighters rather than Older Triggs, Hughes, Penns, etc. I think he declined ever so slightly over the years. But it doesnt take much in the competitive world of MMA to fall behind everyone. Now GSP will have to deal with being being a year or two older and even harder to over come is inactivity. We have seen all though MAM history guys who are inactive be left behind. Like the NFL. The speed of the game is something to cant recreated. I think Tito killed his career with his constant 12-18 month long hold outs and inactivity. He looked the same after that. GSO will come back and he has the hardest road of his career in front of him coming injury, age, and inactivity. He has Ellenburger, Condit, Johnson, Story, etc all in their prime and gunning for him. He will not be able to beat them when he comes back. Even now some of the fights are almost 50/50 imo.
This may be the end of GSP as a dominant champ. The UFC is maybe looking out a future without him. It will be interesting to see if they protect himand keep him at the top when he comes abck or throw him to the wolves. I think they turn their focus to Rory MacDonald and pass the torch.
BrainSmasher:
“Creating more stars or getting stars to fight more often will be a major focus next year i believe.”
That’s the problem. The more you fight, the more training you do, the more susceptible you are to getting injured. The UFC has had 2+ years to try and tackle this problem and there has been no solution as of yet. Best bet is to get guys on FOX or as TUF coaches to expose to fans while not fighting. That’s tough to do though for everyone.
Agreed with you that this will be a pretty big blow to the UFC. Relying on Lesnar to fight 2-3 times in 2012 is asking a bit much IMO. Young guys will have to step up to the plate, but it will be a rocky road in the get go.
Other than Lesnar, is anyone not hurt on the roster currently capable of a 700k+ PPV buy? Big blow to the PPV. UFC on Fox 2 looks like the best card of the 1st quarter, and I don’t even have to pay for it.
I think a lot of the injuries are due to over training. If you up the number of fighters per year you force guys to get to a weight they can maintain. Why does it take a fighter a 3 month training camp to train and get in shape when other sports althletes dont? Guys take time after a fight and get out of shape. Fight them more often you make it harder of them to cut so much weight. You make it harder on them to use PE’s. Granted you may get more injuries. But when the fighters are healthy you are taking advantage of it.
I have trained with fighters/ At the UFC level guys do not improve that much from fight to fight if at all. There would be no difference in a 1 month camp and a 3 month camp. The problem is the guys for the most part ar always in the same shape as they fight in their entire camp. The camp is where they get hurt. They dont get hurt fighting that often. IMO, i think getting them out of the training camp sooner and into the cage will cut down on the injuries. Every day you are on the mats you take a chance on someone landing the wrong way. Most fighters will tell you that they just go through the motions most of the camp. It isnt until the last month they actually step up the intensity and train hard.
Imagine getting5-6 fights a year out of Brock or GSP or anyone. 2 months between fights is very doable for guys who do not get hurt in the fight. You are right about the UFC having to use FOX to create more stars. But the system is still fundamentally flawed. Outside of a couple guys most fighters peak for maybe 18 month to 2 years. There is just no time to capitalize on them in that time span. Machida, Shogun, Forrest, Jackson, etc didnt have the belt long enough to even promote them. Jones is on top now and isnt even a draw. By the time the public finds out about him he will be getting ready to lose the belt. History has shown us that if Jones isnt Silva, GSP, Chuck Liddel or Hughes. He will lose his belt within the next year unless he drags it out with injuries. He has potential the UFC will never be able to exploit. You cant change how long a fighter peaks. You can protect them and make it look like they peak for longer. But really the only thing you can do is get them more fights while they are at their best. Even if those fights aren’t against the #1 contender every time out.
I’m sure the guy that gets hurt is the most disappointed of everybody.
I wish i could believe that. But i cant. I have seen to many guys choosing non emergency surgery. To many times a guy says just a nagging injury and just wanted to get it out of the way BS. To many new champs get hurt and drag out their first defense. Trying to hold onto the belt imo. I think at the UFC level the position is worth to much money and fame. Even when you are not fighting you have sponsors, make appearances etc. You are well known. Guys dont want to risk them and it is to easy to get a few loss’ and lose out on paydays. When a fight is coming up they are not 100% confident i think some are pulling out. Its getting to the point it is impossible to get a super fight to go off. Someone dont want to risk losing. Dana White said their doctor always check each fighter to confirm they are really hurt. But unless its something torn or broken then the Doc is just going by symptoms the fighter tells them. They have to take their word for lots of pain injuries.