“You have no idea of the magnitude of this thing. If she is allowed to infiltrate this world then George Costanza as you know him ceases to exist. You see, right now I have Relationship George. But there is also Independent George. That’s the George you know, the George you grew up with… Movie George, Coffee Shop George, Liar George, Bawdy George.”
-George Costanza, Seinfeld
Dana White must feel a lot like George Costanza. Outspoken. Male pattern baldness. Dreading his worlds colliding.
The UFC finds itself walking a very thin line. Coming off one of their biggest summers ever, complete with their centennial supershow, the company now finds themselves signing, resigning, scrapping, replacing, and moving fights all over the autumn and winter months. Quinton Jackson up and Mohawk’d himself to Vancouver. Brock Lesnar picked up a case of swine flu from a viking horn. Lyoto Machida’s hand has eluded him. Anderson Silva has a recurring funny bone injury. Thiago Alves’s knee won’t even let him TRY to make weight. And despite Greg Jackson’s best efforts, Georges St. Pierre CAN’T hit a guy with his pulled groin.
So what does a company do when a significant handful of their top stars are on the proverbial shelf? Well, promote Amir Sadollah and Phil “Oil Lantern” Baroni onto the main card.
Jesus. If only the UFC had a sister promotion from which they could pluck talent in cases of emergency. Perhaps a promotion whose fighters have clamored for a bigger stage and bigger paydays. A promotion that calls a small niche cable station its home, and could use exposure to a wide audience.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, as they say. Desperate times call for the implementation of rational measures long past due, as I say. Why not put Miguel Torres’s comeback fight on at UFC 107? You don’t take away a title fight from the WEC and Versus, you set up a Brian Bowles rematch (or build a new star if Torres falls) with millions watching, and you fill the spot vacated by Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves with two high level guys.
“If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right.”
-Jerry Seinfeld, Seinfeld
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