Mixed martial arts, in particular the UFC, has cultivated an amazingly passionate fanbase. Boxing and its fans treat card-filling fighters like throwaways with little interest. Meanwhile, because of the coverage from sites like MMAJunkie, FanHouse, Bloody Elbow and MMAWeekly, hardcore mixed martial arts fans often view the guys in match No. 9 with a reverence just short of the attention given to main eventers.
Which bring us to the latest cut made by the UFC. Gerald Harris, a cast member from Season 7 of "The Ultimate Fighter," was given his walking papers after losing to Maiquel Falcao at UFC 123.
Upon hearing of the Harris cut, the MMA community erupted. Keep in mind, Harris (17-3, 3-1 UFC) is well-liked by many bloggers and fans for appearing on lots of podcasts and being active on Twitter. Now some are using the Harris firing to question Dana White's motives and business acumen. From SB Nation:
Gerald Harris was cut after going 3-1 in the top MMA organization in the world. Cutting someone because of "boring" performance (which is subjective) is not the way a so-called sport works. I would wager that if Harris had been choked out in the 1st round, he would still have a job. This whole thing seems like a "I put you on the main card and this is how you repay me? With a boring fight?" type personnel move. Doesn't seem like the right way to run a business. Now, in the big picture, the Harris cut seems insignificant, but moves like these add up over time.
S.C. Michaelson says emotion is playing a role in the UFC's roster moves.
The Harris cut for a "boring" fight also ties into my other point of vindictive booking. Let me state outright vindictive booking has no place in any sport. The NFL or NBA schedulers don't make matchups trying to obtain a certain outcome. It seems like the UFC is doing this more and more.
That's an interesting view. On the flip side, many fans trash the heck out of cards any time there are slow fights. It seems like White is simply giving the casual fans what they want -- action fighters. The UFC's head honcho says he's operating like the major sports:
"It's exactly the way it works. You want to stay at the top of the food chain, you deal with it. If you don't, you won't. You know how many guys get cut by the NFL and Major League Baseball every day? It's crazy, staggering. Same thing here, no difference."
He wants action in the Octagon. If that message hasn't been sent by the recent cuts, maybe all fighters on the roster need to read this Dana White doozy (also from MMA Fighting via SB Nation):
"This isn’t the [expletive] Ultimate Staring Competition, it’s the Ultimate Fighting Championship."
Harris seems like a nice guy and he was entertaining in his previous fights, but with dozens of fighters being added to the roster from the 135- and 145-pound divisions there isn't much margin for error.
Because of a clock error in the first round, Harris got new life in the Falcao bout. He did little with the opportunity in the final two rounds. Falcao certainly took a lot of starch out of him and he probably didn't have a whole lot left in the gas tank.
On the positive side, these roster trimmings will have more fighters going for broke knowing their jobs are far from safe.
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