Should the UFC have stand by fighters?

Definitely if just to save cards more than anything else. If a card has one fight that makes it especially big then you have to try and keep at least half that fight there. Look at the incident in boxing recently Pirog v Golovkin big fight a lot of international interest. Pirog falls out injured replaced by Proska another good fight.

Also better communication between camps and the UFC would be good. Some injuries are instantly recognised that there will be a pull out but some ala Hendos latest injury take time before their extent is realised. If 3/4 weeks out from a fight you know one fighter has been injured but might still be able to compete but its unsure the ufc can tell the healthy fighter there may be an alternate and sort it out then rather than a week before the fight.

 

Yes.

I don't see any argument against this (other than your chosen example of Forrest Griffin is a **** one, no way in hell should Forrest have even been in the running for Hendo's standby).

The UFC should pay one fighter to be in shape to make weight if either man should drop out. For Jones vs Hendo, it could have been Machida or Gustafsson or Belfort, someone who'd be a good match for either guy.

 

And where are they going to come from when the UFC is constantly culling its stable? There's a fundamental problem in the UFC and injuries are only a smaller part of that problem.

 

Or they could just build cards that aren't dependent entirely on one fight?

 

The fact the UFC has been getting away with this for close to a year now lets you know there is a serious problem. The UFC is not boxing. Its a brand. It cant get away with these bull**** cards and think fans will stay interested, especially when a huge chunk of that fan base are casual guppys of the Sherdog variety that still think Chucks fighting.

 

I don't know. Do you market an event as: UFC 152- Jones/Machida V Henderson/Sonnen? You would have to have a similar level guy as backup in a full training camp that may not get to fight so then he would have to rest and wouldn't be ready to fight for another few months when he might be needed as an understudy again. I think cancelling an event is unavoidable now the fighters are big names in their own right. I mean if people want Jones V Hendo and one of them gets injured what can you really do? If Jones had accepted the Sonnen fight people would moan about that being a BS fight with Chael coming off the back of a stoppage loss in the division below and getting a shot on teh back of talking ****. It's just a fact of life I suppose and it will happen more and more.

 

I see your point but I think the general opinion is that there are too many PPV right now.

They should stop trying milking the North American cow now I think and should focus on putting maybe 6 to 8 PPV a year and put everything else on TV.

By doing that IMO they could pack those card with good fight and if some fighter are injured for those card at least they wouldn't be soo weak that they need to cancel the whole card !

 

Thing is, UFC is too big now. It has 250ish fighters on it's books. They absorbed org's like WEC and fighters from all the other big shows. Therefore UFC brand is diluted. Thats why you have the numbered events, UFC on Fox and UFC on fuel etc. But if Jones Hendo was off and he turned down a replacement, even with a killer undercard would you be happy if you had already paid for the PPV? Back in the day people watched the UFC not really knowing a great deal about 80% of the fighters on the cards, now people moan about that and want top name V top name. Jones could have got injured, then what? Hendo V Sonnen? I mean what the **** can you do? MMA fans are basically ****ing idiots for the most part, that's what I take from this whole situation.

 

Right so its the fans fault the UFC put on a toilet card where they couldnt re-shuffle the card to ensure the bill still happened?..When MMA fans only have the choice of ONE premier promotion you can't not expect the spot light to be on the UFC especially when it puts on a card so bad that one injury scrapped the card. I don't see how thats the fault of fans at all.

 

The work and effort that goes into a " fight camp " can wear very very heavy indeed on the human body and mind

If the UFC go down this route they need to pay this " standby fighter " a fee worth getting into fight shape for, specially at the level of world title's, myself i think its a non starter

Alternative; you tell a guy who's in shape, just fought and got a W, who happens to fit the bill of a replacement for a particular fight to stay off the scoff and wine because you are officially the " standby fighter " for this fight !!, that way nothing lost, the guy just stays on the boil, and potentially trains for a fight no more than 3-4 weeks away

Fighters usually **** off on holiday or have a wee bender or three after a fight, if that gets nipped in the bud, and they have a name or a fight that they can focus on (well sort of) it eliminates that scenario where a fighter goes from " fighting fit " to being 20 lbs over the weight and no good to anyone in a matter of 7 days

 

The UFC need to keep more of their old timers who people remember from TUF and the old days to build up the new fighters. Only guys with name recognition leaving the UFC should be drug cheats and retirees.

 

exactly that, the ufc is an organization/company/brand. it is not a sport (mma is). it is athletic entertainment using a similar model to pro wrestling. and there's nothing wrong with that because it is what it is and it works for its purpose. and because the fans believe in the illusion they don't get that the champions are truly made and created with "storyline" like a movie. the ufc may not know what the outcomes are going to be but you can believe they have the next marketing/branding move in play for post competition, no matter what the outcome.

it is completely calculated.

my conspiracy theory mind believes that they all already have contract clauses for fighters to renegotiate if opponents have injuries, etc. this situation was on purpose, kind of like a "coke vs new coke" negative campaign that rejuvenated the beverage brand in the 80's. the ufc doesn't need "rejuvenation" necessarily as much as it's been 150 cards without this adversity. the brand is based on drama and it worked a new angle on this aspect.

back to the original question, i don't think they need official "stand in fighters" b/c there's enough hungry kids out there that someone will want to fight if they wanted to look in a "replacement pool".

 

scurlar, I'm for the fighters first and the organization second. I don't want you to think that I'm siding with the corporation with this post.

There is nothing wrong with the UFC giving a bout to a fighter that is not in the UFC, as long as that fighter isn't under a non-compete clause; or something similar.

What I'm getting at is that I wonder if the UFC cuts fighters to lessen financial obligations, or just for the good of the sport. There could be salary, insurance, or other obligatory compensation(s) for company fighters that Zuffa can eliminate by cutting a fighter.