The Heat and the Shine

UFC must be dreaming.  In a year so wrought with drug failures and sinking buyrates and miniscule ratings, they get Daniel Cormier.  They get the perfect fighter with the perfect personality at the perfect time. It's the silly season of sports.  At no other point in the calendar year would a press conference brawl have found this much of ESPN's oxygen. Cormier is a natural babyface.  He is humble.  Self-efacing.  Aware of his tics and flaws and, importantly, still supremely confident in his abilities. And there's Jon Jones.  For whatever flaws one wants to affix to him, this much is true: He was chosen by God to fight.

It is time for another edition of Coors Light Cold Hard Facts (because Bud Light doesn't pay me).  Whenst last we separated Fact (not actual facts) from Fiction (more predictions, really), it was to discuss cable and satellite providers' distaste for WWE Network .  Your humble essayist is back, this time to discuss the business issue of the moment: UFC's declining pay-per-view and television numbers. Fact or Fiction: UFC's pay-per-view decline will reverse itself this year Fact. Yes, there are fewer MMA fans than ever (at least since the boom).  Yes, GSP is gone.  Yes, Cain and Ronda are hurt.  Yes, (about) 500k for Weidman/Ronda is unimpressive.  But it's got to get better. The first half of 2014 was about as ugly as it can get.  UFC has had exactly one PPV main event in the marquee weight classes (Light Heavy and Heavy) this year, and it went head to head with LeBron and Kevin Durant in the playoffs.  Ronda fought twice, which helped.  Otherwise, it's

Dana White wishes that there were no performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in UFC.  It is a scandal he doesn't want.  They cost him money that could be used for other things.  Fights cancel that fans want to see. The problem is that performance enhancing drugs aren't going away.  Professional athletes are as paranoid as they are competitive.  Many fighters use.  Most fighters believe that other fighters are using.  Some fighters just want an edge and don't care.  Whatever the case, they're here to stay. History has taught us that anti-doping measures are an endless cat-and-mouse game.  The 1988 Olympic 100 meter final was called the dirtiest sporting event of all time in an ESPN documentary.  When analyzed years after the race, every sprinter's urine sample was found to contain some type of PED.  The 2012 Olympic 100 meter final saw nobody test positive, but would anyone be surprised if a test done ten years from now found those samples dirty? The status quo is

UFC 173 tickets went on sale today and they are still available.  Very available.  The only sold out sections are the cheapest ones; though you can still get those $75 tickets on StubHub if you're willing to pay $125. It's odd to look at the MGM Grand Garden Arena seating map and see so many tickets available.   Floor seats at $750 are there, though the celebrity section perpendicular to press row is almost sold out.  Many of the straight-on escalated seats that sell for $750, $400 or $200 are gone, too.  And of course the cheapest lower level tickets ($200 per seat for the last few rows on the corners and ends) are mostly sold because those, the nosebleeds and cageside are where the ticket brokers make their money.  The rest of the seating chart is a sea of little blue dots waiting to be purchased. On paper, UFC 173 is a solid card.  It has a championship match.  It has a semi-main event featuring fighters ranked numbers one and five.  It has Daniel Cormier on his march t

The Undertaker's loss at WrestleMania XXX wasn't a screwjob.  It wasn't kept secret from the announcers and it wasn't a call in the ring.  It was planned.  It was his choice.  It was business. Brock Lesnar has been a financial disappointment to the company thus far, and this will give him a shot in the arm.  A deca-durabolin sized shot?  Time will tell.  It does put a shiny new coat on Lesnar and that could mean something. WWE needs a boost right now.  WrestleMania may have been an aesthetic success and a non-sports gate record for the Super Dome, but a soft belly lies beneath.  The weekly television audience is not growing.  Money-drawing stars are down to two.  The company becomes relevant in popular culture on increasingly rare occasions. Kudos to Undertaker, the McMahon-Helmsleys and anyone else who saw the lay of the land and made this brave decision.  There are a lot of WWE fans that wanted the Undertaker to keep that streak.  Some just liked having a gimmi

There are some things from the March 7, 1983 episode of World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) (now available on the WWE Network ) that cannot be duplicated.  A booker can hope for three local babyface brothers.  A promoter can want a mad villain like Michael Hayes.  But they are stars.  There is no way of knowing when they will appear or how bright they will shine. What bookers and promoters have control of is the storytelling.  Great storytelling will elevate present wrestlers and draw future wrestlers.  It will make dreamers want to work for you and make deciders want your show on their channel. The salient angle of the March 7, 1983 episode of WCCW begins at about the twelve minute mark.  The match is "Ice Man" King Parsons vs. Buddy Roberts of the Freebirds. The angle begins before the match with a shirtless Michael Hayes accompanying Roberts to the ring. The Lesson:  Two fundamental heel/antagonist move here.  Heels will try to bend or break rules.  Heels ar

The Nevada State Athletic Commission banned testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) and the people celebrated.  The people who put on the fights, cover the fights and watch the fights all reacted in unison.  "Yay!  A win for fair play." It is a win for fair play.  As MMA fan/anti-drug advocate Lance Storm liked to say, TRT doesn't level the playing field, it levels the player.  The egalitarian ideal is that each sportsman trains and studies and uses his natural talent to compete under the agreed upon rules.  People born with a disability must compete with that disability.  Being born with low testosterone would be treated no differently than being born with a poor work ethic.  Some will succeed, but most will never join the elite. The Nevada Commission's ruling is also a win for the public perception of MMA.  The scolds have been held at bay.  The loudest online fans and the most muckraking journalists will have to wait another day to complain. Some complainers