The Sports Informant

When Urijah Faber finished the rematch against Jens Pulver in the first round on Sunday, I let go a sigh of relief. While I expected Faber to win all along, I learned in his last fight that you just never know, and with Pulver fighting for survival, it could have been another shocker.

It wasn’t, thankfully, and Faber walked out unscathed from another fight, a typical result for the Sacramento-based Mixed Martial Arts star.

For those of you who didn’t catch the fight, shame on you. It was free on the Versus channel on a Sunday night. What were you doing, watching reruns of “Deal or No Deal”? Yeah, that’s more interesting.

You didn’t miss much, though, honestly. Faber and Pulver tested the waters around the ring with a few jabs and kicks, then Faber attacked with a left hook to the ribs. It landed solidly and Pulver winced in pain, backing up quickly to the cage fence. There Faber jumped all over him, landing punches in bunches before the referee stopped the fight.

The fight put Faber right back in line for a rematch with Mike Brown for the Featherweight title, pending the result of Brown and challenger Leonard Garcia’s fight in March. We should all hope Brown beats Garcia, or Faber’s ladder gets one rung taller.

Should Brown lose, Faber would probably fight Brown in a rematch to silence critics and earn the No. 1 contender spot, then fight Garcia for the title. If Garcia loses, hopefully Faber jumps in the ring with Brown, although I wouldn’t put it past the WEC to make Faber fight Garcia first, so maybe it won’t matter.

Either way, Faber’s got some training to do. Regardless of who he fights, he’s gotta spend this year climbing back to the top where he belongs, so ultimately he can bring back the belt, and the fame, to Sacramento.

Giving Us a Bad Name

I can’t recall the name of the broadcast journalist doing postfight interviews in the Octagon after WEC fights, but he made everyone in our profession look idiotic and downright mean when he asked Pulver, in front of a packed crowd in San Diego and millions watching on live TV, if he was “still relevant in the sport” after a third straight loss. I immediately cringed at the question, despite it’s validity.

Yes, the question deserves analysis. Is Pulver, once considered a legend, no longer a force in the sport? Coming off of three straight losses after only one win since entering the WEC, Pulver is struggling, and obviously no longer in his prime. But why ask him such a loaded question as he’s trying to catch his breath in the middle of the ring after being beaten down? That’s like asking a puppy if it’s still worth keeping after it’s been kicked 20 times by it’s owner.

The question could be asked in the press conference after the fight (similar questions were asked in the postfight press conference with a beaten and bruised Pulver in Sacramento last June, see photo at right) at the earliest, or by true professionals, later in the week when Pulver’s had a chance to soak in his thoughts on his career. Asking in the ring is a slap to his face, and you know what usually happens when you slap a fighter in the face, right?

Pulver immediately answered with something along the lines of, “That’s what I’m asking myself right now,” before breaking into tears with why he loves all the support he’s gotten over the years for trying. Eventually, the fighter in Pulver came back at the end of the interview and he emphatically shouted, “F— that!” to say he’s not done fighting, a response that should get in him in trouble because it was on live cable TV.

The thing is, the F-word was almost justified, in my opinion. The question was loaded and uncalled for, and because Pulver’s always been a class act and as honest a professional athlete I’ve ever met, he answered it. Anyone else would, or should, have looked at the reporter and said, “What? Really? This interview is over.”

Instead, Pulver showed us how a tough man can break down, and thanks to a jackass reporter, can be reduced to self-depravating remarks and eventually childish language in the form of behavior unacceptable by professionals.

I immediately sent a text to Pulver after the fight simply saying, “Jens, you’ll always be relevant.” He will be. Anyone whose raw emotion can make me start to tear on my living room couch, and after a fight no less, has a special place in the sport. His mistake, the cursing while families are watching, is forgiveable, and the tears should be welcomed by anyone searching forever for human beings in professional sports. We finally found one.

Bring a Monopoly

When I say the state of MMA in the headline, I don’t mean Nevada. Yes, Las Vegas is home to several of the big MMA events both historically and currently, but I’m speaking of the sport’s blossoming. While Kimbo Slice’s embarrassing display sent the EliteXC into the gutters, there’s still a lot of thriving success in the business, and eventually, we may be headed to what I’ve been hoping for all along.

When EliteXC finally calls it quits next week, the business will join the International Fight League and Bodog Fight as MMA businesses to fold in the past year. Should others fall in line with the tough economical times, we may just see an MMA monopoly, which should be a welcomed sight.

Hear me out. I know monopolies in America are full of stepping on the little man to make money, and with supreme power, they can do whatever they want. But professional sports are different. They don’t follow the same guidelines as a Walmart or a Microsoft. In sports, we pay to be entertained, not to save a buck on a toaster, so it’s more about witnessing the highest level of competition, not driving down prices.

Look at the NFL, for example. It’s a monopoly and we don’t say a thing. The best players go from college to “the pros,” which refers solely to the National Football League. There are no competing football leagues in America trying to get TV rights or sell themselves to the general public (remember the XFL?), it just wouldn’t work. The NFL is pro football, and there’s no question about it. MMA needs something like that, too.

So, should all other companies in the MMA business fold, fans would finally get to see the dream matchups they’ve been waiting for forever, and that’s what will finally make the sport on level par with the other big boys in town (NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL). Imagine if LeBron James and Kobe Bryant never played one another because one was in the ABA and the other in the NBA. That’s what MMA’s got right now.

Last Saturday, Affliction Clothing put on “Affliction: Day of Reckoning” on pay-per-view. Despite a card of fights nowhere near the caliber of most Ultimate Fighting Championship presentations, the main event showcased two of the best heavyweights in the world in Andrei Arlovski and Fedor Emelianenko. Emelianenko, arguably, or flat out factually, is the best fighter in the world in any weight class.

The two met in a ring, where Emelianenko knocked Arlovski out in midair with a fantastic display, and most of the world didn’t get to see it. Why? Because it’s Affliction…

Only true MMA fans will pay for an Affliction card one weekend and then a UFC card the next (as BJ Penn and Georges St. Pierre face off in the UFC this weekend on pay per view, a highly-anticipated rematch with both holding championship belts in different weight classes). The average fan, which the sport needs to draw more of, won’t.

And here’s where a monopoly comes into play. In the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL, the average fan is the one that brings in the real money. Die hards will buy season tickets and sports memorabilia, and will be loyal to a team until its demise. But millions of dollars are spent on advertising to bring the not-so-die-hards, the guys and gals flipping through the channels with nothing to watch, because they far outweigh the die-hards. With the average fans on board, business really becomes big business.

Imagine if Affliction, Strikeforce, Dream and any other major MMA organizations out there recruiting the top fighters also folded, leaving only the Zuffa-owned WEC and UFC. We’d finally see the Emelianenko vs. Randy Couture fight we heard about forever, or maybe a better-trained Brock Lesnar in Randy’s place. We’d see the return of Tito Ortiz, a talented fighter who’s disappeared because of contract battles with the UFC. We’d see the best versus the best, bottom line.

Granted, there’d have to be new management with the monopoly. The reason these top-notch fighters are leaving the UFC in the first place is because of disagreements on paper, not in the ring. If the organization created a players’ association or union in some way, treating all fighters fairly and legally, we might just see the rebirth of an already booming sport, one skyrocketing to heights no one involved could have ever imagined.

That’s my dream as an MMA fan. Can it ever come true?