Recently, Thomas Gerbasi over at UFC.com wrote a rather lengthy article entitled “A Word or Two (or 1,500) on Rematches”. Here is a how he begins the article:
The rematch is a strange beast to figure out. In boxing (with obvious exceptions, of course), it can be a recipe for disaster, with the fighter who has lost the first time usually losing in a more decisive fashion in fight number two. But in mixed martial arts, the rematch has been a perfect vehicle for redemption, with fighters somehow able to pull off the impossible and reverse the result of a losing bout, and sometimes doing it spectacularly.
A lot has been made recently about the UFC and how they seem to be constantly feeding the same fights and the same fighters to their audience by way of useless rematches. Well, I want to take a minute and talk about what I consider to be a truly useless rematch by MMA standards, but a smart rematch by UFC business standards.
Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar will fight at UFC 62 in August and take part in a rematch of their Ultimate Fighters season 1 finale battle. In my mind, this fight should not be taking place at all, but the UFC knows who they are marketing too and they know how to market to that TUF audience. At this point, I think Forrest is clearly a step above Stephan in their MMA careers.
Since the TUF 1 finale, Stephan Bonnar has been a staple of the UFC Ultimate Fight Night shows, where he has appeared in every show except for the second one. After losing by decision to Griffin in the TUF finale, Bonnar went on to beat Sam Hoger and James Irivin. Since the death of Carlson Gracie, Stephan’s long-time friend and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor, it seems like Bonnar has not been the same fighter. He won a decision victory over Keith Jardine in April, but I think most people agree Jardine clearly should have won that fight. Then, in July, Bonnar looked completely unimpressive in a decision loss to Rashad Evans.
Forrest Griffin on the other seems to have found his place and proven his MMA worth in the UFC since the TUF finale. After winning TUF 1, Forrest defeated Bill Mahood and Elvis Sinosic at UFC 53 and UFC 55 respectively. Most recently Forrest lost a decision to Tito Ortiz in a fight that many people thought could have gone the other way (personally, I think the right decision was made even though the scoring was not correct).
The UFC knows that Forrest is a money maker for them and he has been ever since TUF 1 ended. The new UFC fans who started watching MMA with the TUF series are in love with Forrest, and any other TUF fighter for that matter (see Kenny Florian, Chris Leben, Mike Swick, etc…). The first Griffin vs. Bonnar fight truly was a great fight, but I think its absurd to think we are going to see that same type of fight and action in a rematch. I think this will be a decent fight to watch, but there is no point in having this rematch right now. If the UFC would cut back on some of these useless shows, and save fighters for their PPV events, they may not need to try and manufacture interest in a PPV event by promoting a fight like this.
I guess I just don’t see it. Is there really that much interest and desire to see this rematch right now? Leave some comments and let me know if you think so… or if you don’t.
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I take offense a bit. I have been watching the UFC since I was in High School (I’m 31 now) and I’m a fan of Forrest Griffin & ofcourse, Kenny Florian. And oh…how soon people forget…
After the first Bonnar vs Griffin bout, the forums were LIT UP…BEGGING FOR A RE-MATCH. Old fans…New Fans…I mean, look it up if you have time. Now all of a sudden its a bad thing? Give me a break.
1.TUF is the best thing to happen to MMA…bottomline.
2.If Pride had thought of the concept, they would have done the same damn thing and everyone would ride their nuts even harder. UFC does it and takes heat from “OG fans”.
3.For YEARS…and I mean…YEARS…people bitched about “When will the UFC ever go mainstream?” and now that it has, people ***** about those damn “newbie TUF fans”
4.To say the new fans (which is again a good thing…new fans..thats the point) only like TUF fighters is again narrowminded. I don’t see alot of fans going nuts over Rashad Evans or Luke Cummo. Forrest is popular cause he has HEART…Florian isn’t even popular, people hate him cept me. And prior to the Silva fight, you gotta admit Leben was fun to watch.
Stop with the “Tuf Fan” crap already people.
Jason,
First of all, I would hardly consider you a “TUF fan.” I am a fan of the TUF series just as much as you are and TUF has done wonders for MMA in general and specifically here in the US. And new fans to any sports are always great, but just because you and I are fans of the TUF shows, doesn’t mean that you are what I am referring to as a “TUF fan.” Even you have to admit that a lot of the new fans are uneducated about MMA. They are UFC fans, not MMA fans, which is fine and is exactly what the UFC wants. What better way of locking down a market and driving your brand home. I have to congratulate the UFC on their business strategy because it is working.
I also agree that after Griffin-Bonnar I everyone was begging for a rematch. I wanted to see it myself…but that was then, this is now. A rematch back then under that timeframe is much different than it appears now. I, personall, don’t think this rematch holds the luster that it would have in the context of the TUF 1 finale. That is my personal opinion.
In my opinion, this fight isn’t as interesting to me right now as it might have been a few months ago; that’s the point I was trying to get across. I’m sure many MMA fans feel differently and are just as anxious now to see this fight as they have ever been. That’s the beauty of it; we all have different opinions, and I love it when people express them here.
P.S. I love to watch Leben and still do. You don’t have to be a great MMA tactician and world-class fighter to be fun to watch. The UFC just needs to start calling him the “Cat-Smasher” again instead of the “Crippler” and he can start his climb back up the ranks.
[...] Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan BonnarIf you read MMAHQ.com often, you probably saw my article on this rematch back when it was announced. Just to reiterate briefly; I don’t think this fight should even be happening right now. I understand it is an excellent business move and people have been waiting to see this rematch since the TUF 1 finale. I think it will be an exciting fight to watch again, but I dont give Stephan much of a chance this time around, and judging from our poll, neither do any of you. Both these fighters seem to be headed in a different direction with their MMA skills and careers and I look for Forrest to dominate this time around and don’t expect the fight to be nearly as entertaining as the last one. That is, if this fight even happens. The rumor floating around is that Bonnar is sick or injured. I’m sure the UFC will force him to fight no matter what, since they’ve already had about 10 fighters drop off this UFC 62 card. Winner: Forrest Griffin [...]