Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: Chris Lytle, Ben Henderson, and The UFC/FOX T.V. Deal
Aug 17, 2011 - 9:00:46 AM HYDEN BLOG: Chris Lytle, Ben Henderson, and The UFC/FOX T.V. Deal

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

Chris Lytle announced his retirement after submitting Dan Hardy at UFC On Versus 5 Saturday. The thing I'll remember most about Lytle is that he always brought "it." There were plenty of times that Lytle wasn't the better man in the cage, but he always gave a great effort. Lytle finishes with a 10-10 record in the UFC and a 31-18-5 overall record. To have fought 20 times in the UFC and finish with a .500 record is pretty good. A lot of fighters get called a warrior in terms of their in-cage acumen, and Lytle definitely deserves that moniker.

I'm glad that Lytle is going out on his terms. If he had wanted to keep fighting, that would be great, but to be able to walk away the way you want is kind of rare. I believe him when he says that his retirement is permanent, wanting to spend time with his family is a very powerful motivator to stay retired. I'm sure there will be times when he gets tempted to fight again, but I think he means it when he says he's done.

There's no question I'll miss seeing him fight, but I'll always have fond memories of watching him compete in the cage.

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I remember people trashing some of the WEC fighters and saying they couldn't compete against the best the UFC had to offer. While it's true that Anthony Pettis lost to Clay Guida at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale, that doesn't mean Pettis is a bum; I think that loss speaks more to Guida's ability to disrupt his opponents and make them uncomfortable.

Ben Henderson further poked holes in the argument against the WEC's lightweights as he took Jim Miller apart for three rounds at UFC On Versus 5 Saturday. Miller had his moments, but it was pretty clear that Henderson had the fight in hand early. I can't deduct points from Henderson's win because he kept trying to finish Miller, it just wasn't going to happen easily with a guy like Miller defending. Both guys fought hard, but Henderson was the clear winner.

Jim Miller had been in line for a title shot, so this shakes things up a bit in the division. Henderson definitely deserves a chance to fight for a title shot. There's any number of opponents he could face so it's hard to judge his chances of winning that, but he at least the chance to compete for one.

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The UFC has reportedly signed a television deal with FOX that would bring up to four events a year to the network. Other live events and The Ultimate Fighter would move to FX. The deal is expected to begin in 2012. The UFC's current home, Spike, is available in about 96 million homes while FX is available in about 90 million (These figures are from 2008 so they might have changed, I couldn't find any more current numbers).

Viewership for The Ultimate Fighter and other UFC shows shouldn't see much of a drop in ratings after the initial period of uncertainty where viewers have to re-find the show. That's the hope, anyway. This is also assuming, of course, that the times and days these shows come on stay the same.

The big news from this report is the UFC having up to four events a year on FOX. The exposure from this should be huge, and it'll be very interesting to see how they play this. They obviously want to have some big names on these cards, but they also need to make sure that their pay-per-view business doesn't suffer. They need to ensure that they have exciting fights on these FOX shows while also trying to leverage the increased exposure to pump up the popularity of their fighters. This is a very interesting situation that could play out many different ways.

Missteps are bound to happen, but I have faith in the UFC that they will do their best to ensure that they minimize the mistakes. I hope my faith is rewarded.


Comments and suggestions can be e-mailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com