Seeing the 'brawl' that broke out following Jake Shield's win over Dan Henderson (decorated legend in the sport) did NOT help the sport of MMA. I'm not here to point fingers or place blame. I don't care who started it, or why it was started at all. For me it's much bigger than that.
See, what makes up a sport is more than just the athletes (fighters) and fans. There are promotors, marketers/PR people, sponsors/advertisers, journalists, and not to mention families. And trust me, you can't always lump families in the same category as fans.
Being on CBS was a key differentiator for Strikeforce from their much more established competitor, the UFC. Being on CBS (a national station) during prime time was a way the organization and fighters could increase their fan base by leaps and bounds. It was a way to reach the casual fan and those not yet a fan. Those that don't pay to watch MMA on PPV nor watch on Spike. There are still a lot of people that don't understand the sport. They don't understand what the sport entails.
And yes, I understand "this sort of thing happens in other sports... blah blah blah". But MMA is NOT any other sport. It's not main stream. Again, many people question the validity of a sport that started off with the WWE like characters and lack of weight classes which lead to some memorable but somewhat comical match ups. Not to mention it's not sanctioned and fully accepted in every state never mind other countries.
But I'm tired of hearing people (fans as well as people that actually make a living from the sport) say "People will keep watching and fans won't be turned off by what happened." That may be true, but I assure you many national brands that saw that debacle Saturday night were turned off. This sport still needs a lot of marketing dollars from national brand names. And not just the money, the sport also needs the reputation that comes along from those national brands. We won't see the sport grow from endemic money. It's a great start but at the end of the day it's almost peanuts in the big scheme of things.
And if you really want compare it to the other sports that have this sort of thing happen like basketball, okay let's review that. During a game between the Knicks and the Nuggets a fight broke out. At the end of the day 7 players were suspended for a total of 47 games without pay (the total pay loss was $1.2 million dollars).
Someone also said "oh this wasn't as bad as Tyson biting Holyfields ear, so relax" For one that was a PPV event, not free national tv during primetime. Two, his boxing license was rescinded. And three, the media raked him over the coals for his behavior. So sure maybe it wasn't to that extent but that's not really a point to judge right and wrong or good and bad.
At the end of the day, professional athletes are representing more than just themselves. Like it or not it's what you signed up for when you accepted your sponsorship money and make a living that is supported by fans that buy tickets. Again, I'm not blaming the fighters that were involved. But in general, that's something they need to keep in mind.
But where was the commissioner in all of this? Where was the security? The police? Why were there so many people in the cage to begin with? Why didn't CBS pan to a different camera to show something else other than the scuffle? They could have shown the crowd. Instead I saw a few camera men moving in on the action to get a better view. Also, they didn't edit it out of the west coast feed, so there's a lot to be said about that.
I saw the video interview Ariel Helwani did with Scott Coker after the incident where Scott mentioned the "prep talk" the CBS executive gave the guys during the rules meeting.I could see a talk being a good thing as a friendly reminder. But please tell me there's something in their contract that says it's an obligation to act like a professional. Like an adult?
Again, this won't kill the sport. But the little momentum that Strikeforce had will definitely be impacted. And this was not good for the sport of MMA overall. If Bellator keeps up with their momentum they definitely could take the #2 position of MMA organizations.
But more than anything, if you're involved in this sport please don't settle. As the sport evolves, so should our standards.
