Do Tournaments have a place in modern MMA?

[Stoo]

With the one night tournament all but banned in the USA and the last two high profile attempts (UFC Fly and SF HW's) at an extended tournament almost immediately descending into farce is there a place for tournaments any more

With DREAM going tits up and Bellator really failing to make a dent in the market, is there an appetite for them anymore?

The only recent successes were the Bantamweight at the NYE show in Japan and the continued success of The Ultimate Fighter

Should the West leave tournaments to the Asian market?

Do you even consider TUF as a tournament?

Discuss gentlemen

[Primate]

I don't really consider it a tournament unless at least a portion of it (ie, more than one round of fights) takes place on one night.

I'm not against the idea of a tournament, but I picked the SF GP falling on it's arse before it even got started and the UFC BW title thing can barely be called a tournament in any way shape or form, it was a pair of title eliminators, and will be followed by an inevitable title match. It was no different from the situation they had with Mir/Nog/Couture/Lesnar leading up to UFC 100.

[Stoo]

The UFC Flyweight is obviously a one off due to there being no Champ at the weight. I guess you could loosely apply the word Tournament to it just because of the extra round stipulation. But it's interesting with the scoring error with Creepy and MM it's like it's was almost doomed to fail

I dont think we'll be seeing anymore ''Tournaments'' from Zuffa

[thewinfella]

I have to say im a fan of tournaments , and was a big fan of the PRIDE GP format , but with the commersialisation of the UFC its difficuilt to see where they fit in , the structure is pretty simple , there is a champion and a contender in each division , how do you introduce a tournament to that ???

I thought the SF HW tourney was a valiant attempt in supplying a genuine world class HW tourney , it didnt work out like that but it looked the real deal at the beginning , Barnett and Cormier its still a much anticipated fight IMHO and either man would make a dent in the UFC HW division even now (in Barnett's case) , if Cain Velasquez's praise of Cormier is anything to go by , he's one to watch in the future !!

To hold a credible tournament , there has to be a credible prize / title , if a champion is not amongst that group of fighters what is the point ?? , plus , all of the current UFC champions are " dominant " champions (Henderson being the exeption , but in time watch this space) , therefore there is no real need for a tourney , its a shame because a good tournament really does site the imagination

[Flea Man]

I like to see two good contenders matchups where you know the winners will probably meet up. If they could actually enforce those sorta things every once in a while (like a 4 man tourney to crown a no.1 contender in a packed division) I think that would add intrigue to things but the way UFC does business I'd say that tournaments will have no impact other than this, which is just extending what they're doing to crown a champ at Fly to crowning a contender in a top heavy division.

But I like the way Zuffa build their guys up now really, it's not a sticking point for me by any means, might just add a little more intrigue now and then.

One things for sure we'll all be tuning in to see who goes on to fight Benavidez for the title. It adds extra intrigue to the McCall-Johnson rematch because it's not just 'who will win this' it's 'what do they have for Benavidez'?

Hope some of this rambling post makes sense

[Will Cooling]

Originally Posted by Stoo

With the one night tournament all but banned in the USA and the last two high profile attempts (UFC Fly and SF HW's) at an extended tournament almost immediately descending into farce is there a place for tournaments any more

With DREAM going tits up and Bellator really failing to make a dent in the market, is there an appetite for them anymore?

The only recent successes were the Bantamweight at the NYE show in Japan and the continued success of The Ultimate Fighter

Should the West leave tournaments to the Asian market?

Do you even consider TUF as a tournament?

Discuss gentlemen

Strikeforce actually did a one-night four woman tournament in 2010 that wasn't that bad actually. It was the one that Tate won her title shot in. Only thing that marred it was the three minute rounds.

I think tournaments are a good way to provide meaning to otherwise meaningless matches which is why both Bellator and TUF make sense. I think for anything else its overly rigid and risks trapping matchmakers.

Btw I've said it before - but why does everyone says that the Strikeforce tournament descended into farce? Other than the Overeem withdrawal what actually happened that was so bad?

[doomeddisciple]

I love the tourney format.

But I prefer it to be on the same night - not spread out.

[BobDigi5060]

I'm almost certain tournaments in a single night still exist, their was a smaller show I read about in the Mid West, but their would be backlash if The UFC decided to bring them back.

Too bad SF did not unravel, because we could of had a MW and HW tournament of some sorts

[thejokerswild]

Tournaments are great, probably not appreciated enough in the west. Great chance to build a profile for the fighters.

Single night tournies would be great for the prospects and journeymen(ala prize fighter) but the elite would fight to certain injury, not really a good image for fighting.

[thewinfella]

Originally Posted by Will Cooling

Strikeforce actually did a one-night four woman tournament in 2010 that wasn't that bad actually. It was the one that Tate won her title shot in. Only thing that marred it was the three minute rounds.

I think tournaments are a good way to provide meaning to otherwise meaningless matches which is why both Bellator and TUF make sense. I think for anything else its overly rigid and risks trapping matchmakers.

Btw I've said it before - but why does everyone says that the Strikeforce tournament descended into farce? Other than the Overeem withdrawal what actually happened that was so bad?

Fedor lost in the opening round !!!

Now , given the old replace the new and everything else like that , it was still a blow to the prestige of the tourney , it would be like BJ Penn losing in the opening round of a UFC LW tourney , sickening

Overeem's withdrawal , with the loss of Fedor , people were looking to Overeem to provide that bit of extra magic to the tourney , what happened ?? the UFC snapped him up while he was still locked into a tournament !!

Barnett's licence issue's !! , whole thing has dragged this out way too much , to where Barnett Cormier is now just a HW fight , not the " Grand Finale " of what should of been a definitive tournament to crown the best HW in the world

Cormier .................... begs the question , why the **** wasnt this guy in from the begining ??? , the fans would of appreciated genuine talent once the guy got his chance to actually fight !! , instead Brett Rogers & Arlovski were preferred

[Will Cooling]

Yes. A fighter losing a fair fight caused the tournament to DESCEND INTO FARCE! Jesus Christ.

The problem with the tournament was that people had invested so much in it as a stick to bash Zuffa. When Strikeforce became owned by Zuffa it no longer allowed them to rant at how inferior the UFC was to this independent promotion. And yes having Brett Rogers and Arlovski in it was stupid - I was saying that last February but nobody on here would listen.

[Stoo]

Originally Posted by thewinfella

Fedor lost in the opening round !!!

Now , given the old replace the new and everything else like that , it was still a blow to the prestige of the tourney , it would be like BJ Penn losing in the opening round of a UFC LW tourney , sickening

Agree with the rest of the post except this. The favourite losing is in no way a farce. It's part of the excitement that this format has to offer. You may as well have pinned the belt on Fedor as he was the favourite otherwise

Originally Posted by Will Cooling

Yes. A fighter losing a fair fight caused the tournament to DESCEND INTO FARCE! Jesus Christ.

The problem with the tournament was that people had invested so much in it as a stick to bash Zuffa. When Strikeforce became owned by Zuffa it no longer allowed them to rant at how inferior the UFC was to this independent promotion. And yes having Brett Rogers and Arlovski in it was stupid - I was saying that last February but nobody on here would listen.

The usual suspect did do that, as they always do. But the MAJORITY of posters here were excited to see such a good line up. Brand bashing has nowt to do with it when you ignore the small minority of morono's

People were invested in it because it had Fedor, Overeem, Barnet, Arlovski, Sergei ect. If you cant get excited about the fights to come, and disappointed about how it actually turned out, then you aint no MMA fan

If it had been a success and the buy out hadnt occured, then tournaments with the other weight classes would have been something to relish. Most of the best non-Zuffa fighters in the mix, would have been great for the sport imo

[Greco]

I like the tourney format but would liket it to be more like the original UFC's tournament.

[Vitor Belfort]

I like the idea especially when it comes who gets a title shot. Sometimes fighters who doesn't deserved a title shot gets it just cuz of dana white.

[Ai-edy2007]

wtf does leave it to the asians mean?? thats ****ing racist you scumbag stoo!!