Mega money = lousy mega fights?

[jrdenn]

Is the big money the UFC is paying their fighters corrupting the sport? By corrupting I mean changing the fighters from what they were before the mega money was available. It seems now that marquee fighters have no incentive to fight hard. For instance Tim Sylvia made $100,000 at UFC 68 in his fight against Couture in which he lost every round.

Tim Sylvia is the poster boy of fighting not to lose and the main reason for this is the money. This wasn't always the case, since joining the UFC only 1 of the Maine-Iac's fights went to a decision before winning the HW belt. The 3 fights Sylvia fought as champion were all 25 minutes long.

It isn't just Sylvia giving us boring fights and fighting without passion. Even ex - HW champ Arlovski is fighting not to lose these days. The fighter known as the 'pitbull' is more bark than bite these days!

They are both fighting not to lose! Why? Because losers don't make jack shit! A great example is ex MW champ Rich Franklin who only earned $42,000 against Macdonald in his win. Even worse, Melvin Guilard made a mere $7,000 to get choked out by Stevenson.

A fighter like Sylvia fights not to lose because he doesn't want to make Franklin money or even worse Guillard money! The best fights are the fighters who have to fight to win like Bonnar vs. Griffin I proved to be true. Or even guys like Gab Gonzaga & Matt Serra who had to fight to win or else.

I'm glad these guys are finally earning the cash they so deserve, but it just isn't so fun for the fans sometimes! Do you attribute this mega money making to mediocre Main Event fights?

[Mud Flaps]

With Sylvia, his fighting style was more caused by not wanting to lose the belt as opposed to fighting for the money. Remember that continuing to win when they are making good money will only bring in more money.

[that_dude]

i don't like it, but it's a reality and it will become bigger has time goes by and MMA get's bigger.

everyone should get some of Minowa's blood, to spice things up.

[DUDEKAI]

The popularity of MMA, particularly the UFC, is having a huge impact on the sport right now, at least in the pro context. Zuffa is running like hell toward the big prize, i.e. a big cash-out, while the getting is good. That freakin Bonnar/Griffin fight opened up a big wound, and the Zuffa crew are circling in the bloody waters. All of a sudden, hordes of cubicle dwellers couldn't wait to blab around the water cooler about this hot 'new ultimate fighting' thing. Why do you think we've seen more frequent cards and a real bias toward pleasing the boo-birds with 'exciting strikers'. Cro Cop was supposed to take the UFC to a new level of poplarity with explosive hands and feet- a guy who could put on more Bonnar/Griffin type displays, except with more skill. Why else would Mirko and Gonzaga be made to stand when Gonzaga was clearly very busy and inflicting damage? Pretty generous interpretation of the rules in order to create more buzz, excitement, popularity, dollars. Zuffa has a smart team working for them. They will hit the pinnacle of popularity, before the fickle tastes of the mainstream shift elsewhere, sell shares to the public, and live happily ever after on a pile of gold. Luckily, some of the other smaller fight orgs are really good, with young, hungry dudes who scrap like there's no tomorrow.