MMA Squared: UFC on FOX is ending, here’s what it did well and what it tried to do

Welcome to MMA Squared. Today we say farewell to UFC on FOX, the ‘mainstream’ showcase. Booking vacillated between #1 contender fights and attempts to…

By: Chris Rini | 4 years ago
MMA Squared: UFC on FOX is ending, here’s what it did well and what it tried to do
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Welcome to MMA Squared. Today we say farewell to UFC on FOX, the ‘mainstream’ showcase. Booking vacillated between #1 contender fights and attempts to build PPV stars. Its inaugural event set the tone for the overall success: Good… but not what we really wanted to happen.

It has always irked me that they didn’t show Bendo/Guida that night.

One year into the experiment the UFC started headlining cards with title fights, seemingly in a bid to develop Benson Henderson and Demetrious Johnson into PPV stars. It didn’t work but saw six title defenses. Bendo vs Diaz, Johnson vs Dodson and Benavidez were all stellar.

The strategy that felt most appropriate was to book dynamic strikers, brawlers, and casual-fan friendly matchups that had divisional significance. I had guests over the night Robbie Lawler fought Matt Brown. They’d never seen MMA before, but were riveted from start to finish.

Hierarchical scale is an technique in which size is used to denote significance or importance.

TJ Dillashaw’s dismantling of Renan Barao is personal favorite. Showcase a young champ with a style that looks like a Kung Fu dance video: perfect. Whether people grabbed onto him is secondary. Exciting fighters were on network TV, and Dillashaw put on a show.

The newest Women’s Flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko has two excellent wins on Big FOX. First a sniper performance against Holly Holm, and then a crafty submission over Juliana Pena. It’s too bad so much time elapsed between these fights and her recent title win.

I was going for the gritted teeth look with Valentina here. Not sure that really comes across. next time…

And finally: two knockdown drag out masterpieces for Dustin Poirier. Years have gone by and he has emerged as one of the most reliable action fighters at the elite level. His win against Justin Gaethje had everything we wanted with some rolling thunder thrown in for good measure.

Farewell UFC on FOX. It was a weird ride. We didn’t get exactly what we hoped for (more stars, casual fans) but we got a lot good fights along the way. MMA Squared is brought to you by COMBAT WOMBAT. An expression of Marsupial violence known… somewhere. This is Chris (@RiniMMA)

Take care of yourself and I’ll see you tomorrow for the FCC (Friday Caption Contest). Chris

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About the author
Chris Rini
Chris Rini

Chris Rini is an artist and BloodyElbow’s editorial cartoonist. He has been an artist since 1996 and publishes an annual book called The Fine Art of Violence. Chris has worked in Mixed Martial arts since 2013 and in his spare time makes terrariums, plays keyboards, and trains BJJ.

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