johng Blog

Last week was a crazy few days for UFC with programs on almost every night. The legend Ken Shamrock retires, a brutal five round war is waged and Rich Franklin defeats himself before even stepping foot in the octagon. Tired? Not me but I feel many soon will be unless action is taken.

This is all great stuff that I am truly wrapped up in at the moment and can’t get enough of. However they do run the risk of burning out very quickly if they maintain this pace into 2007. More mega fights on the horizon include the rematches of Hughes vs. GSP next month and Ortiz vs. Liddell in December, two fights I am salivating over.

But after that where do they go next? Well Mr White said recently they are planning five shows for the UK next year. If you add that to the monthly PPVs and minimum of ten live Spike TV shows I start to wonder if they can really keep this super drawing business at such a high level for much longer.

The roster needed to be enhanced with more top level fighters this year but the UFC have failed to secure guys such as Rampage Jackson, Wanderlei Silva, Matt Lindland, Heath Hearing and more. These are fighters who should have been brought in before now so they could earn their way into title contention in 2007. It’s all very well bringing in Anderson Silva and giving him a title shot after one fight but it won’t draw much money because mainstream fans (or even the bookies in this case) won’t believe in the challenger no matter how much international experience he has.

They have a great product right now and really don’t want to just see it explode and die. They need to invest now to protect their future.