One of the new talking points heading into UFC events is the size of the Octagon. There is the traditional “large cage” which has been the standard for major UFC events and the smaller cage which used to only be used for rare events such as Ultimate Fighter finales.
With the new expanded schedule from the UFC, they find themselves utilizing the smaller cage with far more frequency.
The major thing with a smaller cage is that it appears to force more action and, in turn, is believed by many to lead to more finishes.
In a recent MMA Junkie article, Ben Fowlkes detailed a big issue with the cage size, most notably that fighters often have no clue which cage they’ll be fighting in:
“I noticed right when I stepped in,” says Rothwell (34-9 MMA, 4-3 UFC), who scored a first-round TKO victory over former Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem at “UFC Fight Night: Jacare vs. Mousasi” that night. “I didn’t know it was that (the cage) was smaller. They told me after.”
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The problem, according to several fighters, is that the UFC doesn’t always tell them beforehand which cage it will use. According to Mitrione, his first questions when the UFC offers him a fight now are all about venue and cage size.
“That last few times I thought it was going to be a full-sized cage and I come in to find out it’s not, it’s a 25-footer,” Mitrione said in Connecticut. “It makes a difference for me, mentality-wise.”
According to UFC officials, the organization does not “proactively” reach out to fighters to tell them which cage they’ll be fighting in.
One thing should be addressed before proceeding, mostly that many times the size of the arena makes it somewhat obvious which cage will be used. Smaller arenas tend to get the smaller cage, larger buildings get the big cage.
But, the fact that fighters don’t know the environment that they’re fighting in with 100% certainty and that the UFC doesn’t feel the need to have this be a part of the bout agreement is very strange.
On a strategic level, a fighter should be training for the correct environment. It does, after all, have a significant impact on the way the fight plays out.
If you’re a fighter who relies on footwork, you certainly should be demanding to know if you’re going to have 40%+ less room to utilize your movement. Will you be forced into more exchanges? Does your focus need to be more on getting your back off the cage?
And, why would a manager not demand to know the cage size up front prior to any sort of bout agreement being accepted or presented to their client? It would seem to be the job of a manager to put their fighter in the best environment for their success.
Many fans will disagree because they don’t like seeing fighters turn down fights and have very little interest in fighters having control over their own careers, but I’d want to tilt things in the favor of my clients. My more aggressive fighters should be in smaller cages, my more elusive fighters in the bigger cage. It’s just basic strategy. I wouldn’t want an elusive client who works off of speed and footwork at distance (especially if he has a questionable chin) to fight a guy with heavy power in an environment that neuters his ability to do what he does best while enhancing the risk of getting into the exchanges he needs to avoid.
The very kinds of strategy that Floyd Mayweather uses in his bout negotiations. If you want to fight Floyd, you’re going to do it in a ring that could be as large as 26 feet.
The fighters are slotted into the shows by the UFC who fails to give all relevant information, the management gives little (or no) pushback and the fighters show up and are sometimes completely unaware of what to expect.
It’s certainly strange that this is considered business as usual. But, that’s MMA, I suppose.