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By Shawn Ennis, MMATorch Senior Columnist
It was a big news day in the MMA world on Thursday, specifically (and kind of by definition) as it pertains to the UFC. Let's run it down point by point and see what it all means.
Five Round Non-Title Fights
I think this is great. How many times has a main event fight ended after the third round and you've wanted more? I know for me it's been pretty often. When you've got main event-caliber guys going out there, they're going to be capable of going five rounds. We're going to see more decisive endings to main event fights, and that's definitely a good thing. The next step could be extending this to feature fights that aren't main events - like number one contender fights. It may be a bit before we see that, but it only seems logical that it will happen eventually.
Flyweight Division on the Horizon
More divisions means more fighters, more fights, and more events. (Although in reality I'm sure the decision to add the division came after the opposite thought progression.) It's always good to have a place for everyone to fit in. Demetrious Johnson is going to be the first guy who comes to most peoples' minds when thinking about guys who could drop to 125 pounds, but Joseph Benavidez and a bunch of guys currently fighting at Tachi Palace will have something to say about being the next big thing among the little guys. The UFC has never held a mult-event tournament to crown a champion outside its unofficial mini-tournaments for the lightweight title (which ended in a draw between BJ Penn and Caol Uno and soured Zuffa on tournaments in general) and heavyweight title (which was kind of officially a tournament, but not really.) Getting a real deal, 16 man tournament to decide the first UFC Flyweight Champion could be good stuff.
Nick Diaz Vacates the Strikeforce Welterweight Title to Fight GSP
Well, yeah. Next up: Gilbert Melendez. It's inevitable, and quite frankly he's got the best shot of any Strikeforce champion, including Diaz, at dethroning the current UFC champ. That's no knock on Frankie Edgar - Melendez has been in beast mode for the last while.
Josh Barnett Says His Unlicensed Status in Texas is a "Non-Story"
This is ridiculous! How could anyone believe that Barnett would have trouble getting licensed?!
Rampage vs. Hamill Is Looking at Under 400k Buys
Ouch. And we thought Hamill would be a draw...
Possible New TV Deal for the UFC
This has got to be an exciting and terrifying prospect, however it ends up panning out. I've got a lot of thoughts on what could go down if the UFC ends up buying controlling interest in G4, but it's too much speculation at this point to even get into it. There are so many exciting possibilities coming up pertaining to how the UFC will be distributed. They've got a lot going on with social media, they've announced a partnership with XBOX 360, and we're seeing every fight air from their events. None of this means anything without a TV deal. And not just a regular TV deal. It's got to be a good one. Spike is pretty much the UFC channel right now, so even if they get Bellator to replace the UFC after their departure (which I don't buy as a sure thing just yet,) they're going to be looking at almost a complete rebranding. And for the UFC, what's next? A weekly show somewhere? Will TUF survive? Will it be rebranded as well? Will the prelims still be aired on TV before PPV events? How many live shows will we get on a new deal? Will they get into the NBC/Comcast family? Will that lead to a network deal? Will they sign another exclusive deal with a cable network? Will ESPN be looking to cash in? What does this do to a Showtime deal after the Strikeforce contract expires? Is it the final nail in the coffin? If they do get a network to call their own, will that open up a minor league of sorts?
So yeah, there are a lot of questions that are going to be answered. We're nowhere near the end of this story yet, and whatever direction it ends up going in, I think we're going to see a lot more UFC on our TVs, and that's a good thing.
Shawn Ennis has been contributing to MMATorch.com since 2004. He plans to post a News Blog reacting to the current news cycle on a regular basis.
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STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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