From UFC 100 to 200: A World Of Difference
Reaching 100, let alone 200, seemed to be unthinkable in the late-1990s. The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was hemorrhaging money. It was an organization on the run and in trouble, with Senator John McCain initiating a personal crusade by issuing the now infamous tag to mixed martial arts as “human cockfighting,” and following that up by tendering letters to the governors of all 50 states requesting that they ban any MMA event.
Advertisement
It took a decade for MMA to make the step into crossover appeal. It’s taken just seven years, since UFC 100 and now with UFC 200 quickly arriving on July 9, at the T-Mobile Arena, for the sport to grow even more.
In January 2001, Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG), on the brink
of bankruptcy, sold UFC to Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, and their
partner, Dana White, for $2 million, and created Zuffa, LLC. By UFC
100 just eight years later, the fight card itself, which took place
at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, had a payroll of $1.8 million,
with Brock Lesner reportedly receiving $3 million, the bulk of
which came from sponsorship deals.
So UFC has grown considerably, not only in its crossover appeal and revenue, but the very face of it.
Here were the feature fights in UFC 100:
Heavyweight: Brock Lesnar (c) def. Frank Mir Welterweight: Georges St-Pierre (c) def. Thiago Alves. Middleweight: Dan Henderson def. Michael Bisping. Welterweight: Jon Fitch def. Paulo Thiago Decision. Middleweight: Yoshihiro Akiyama def. Alan Belcher.
Notice anything unique?
No women.
White himself even questioned the depth of talented women to create a Women’s division.
Ronda Rousey became the first woman signed by the UFC, in November 2012, and that didn’t happen until three years after UFC 100.
Take a look at the landscape of the sport and where it’s gone in only seven years, from UFC 100 to UFC 200: There are two women’s fights on UFC 200, one in pay-per-view, featuring bantamweight champion Miesha Tate taking on No. 4 ranked Amanda Nunes, and bantamweight contenders Cat Zingano fighting Julianna Pena in the preliminaries.
You can even place a bet on one of the main women fighters through UFC betting.
Jon Jones, who was originally scheduled to fight in the main event before being pulled because of testing positive for a banned substance, was only a prelim fighter on UFC 100, which was held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, before 10,871. He was supposed to head the main event in a rematch against Daniel Cormier before 20,000.
You could say UFC 100 was a coming out party of sorts for Jones, who has been replaced in the main event by the legendary Anderson Silva. He emerged as a late replacement in his UFC debut on two weeks’ notice, then followed that up by beating veteran Stephan Bonnar at UFC 94, and choked out Jake O’Brien at UFC 100 to earn a four-fight contract with UFC.
Since then, his world has changed dramatically.
Jones has been in-and-out of trouble with the law, helped police by capturing a thief, had major sponsorship deals revoked, made a public mea culpa to his fans via social media and remains an enigma to those that follow him and watch MMA.
Seven years ago, Tate had to wonder where her next step would be. One of the more recognizable faces in the sport was coming off one of second defeat, dropping a unanimous decision to Sarah Kaufman, in Fresno, California, fighting under the Strikeforce banner. She lost the Strikeforce bantamweight championship. She’s battled knee problems, and dealing with the considerable shadow that Rousey has cast.
But a lot of changes can occur in seven years, since UFC 100. And Tate is living proof. Though Rousey still commands crossover cover interest, it’s been Tate’s face that has adorned the posters and promotions for UFC 200.
Yes, seven years can make a difference.
http://www.sportsbetting.ag
Related Articles
