Every once in a while we all have things we need to get off our chests. It’s good for the soul. Every Monday morning our MMA World Senior Editor Stephen Rivers takes the opportunity to cleanse his with a takeaway from the weekend’s MMA news and events.
Don’t Call Chambers’ win a fluke
By the end of the 2nd round of her fight with Kailin Curran in Adelaide on Saturday, most fans could have forgiven Alex Chambers for checking out. She had been put under relentless pressure by a bigger, stronger, more athletic opponent. Chambers needed a finish and it was hard to imagine that she would get one, but she did, finishing Curran with an armbar with two minutes left in the fight.
Why then were so many people labeling this a lucky win? When Anderson Silva found a way to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, having been dominated by Chael Sonnen for the best part of five rounds in 2010, he was deemed a true warrior and a great champion. This wasn’t so different, even if some viewed it as such.
Thankfully that was not lost on her employers, who were impressed enough to award Chambers a $50,000 performance of the night bonus. The award was richly deserved. It’s just a shame that not everyone saw it that way. Calling it a fluke discredits a gutsy and determined performance from a fighter who refused to accept she was beat and had the skill to do something about it.
A Late Stoppage – More than bad refereeing
When reviewing the Mark Hunt vs Stipe Miocic main event from the weekend, most people agree that the fight could have been stopped earlier than it was. Had referee, John Sharp, stopped it in the third round few would have complained. Had he done it in the fourth most would have agreed. By the time he eventually did stop the fight in the fifth most of us were just thankful it was finally over.
Sharp got it wrong and let a fighter take more punishment than he needed to, but he isn’t the only one to blame. This is not the first time that we’ve seen referees in this position give a tough fighter every chance to try and win the fight. Knowing that this can happen, Hunt’s corner are every bit as culpable by refusing to pull him out.
MMA is a tough, macho, testosterone fueled sport but the tough guy egos can only be taken so far. Early stoppages can rob a fighter of a marginal chance to win a fight, but late ones can shave years off their careers, or worse. On Saturday a referee, a doctor, and a fighter’s corner combined to create an ugly and uncomfortable spectacle.
Fight Pass is Worth Your Money
Once again a UFC Fight Pass exclusive event delivered the goods. Bar the one sided beat down in the main event, it was an excellent show with great pacing and exciting finishes throughout.
Sadly, there are many who did not get to see the show as it aired on the UFC’s online platform. You only have to take a quick look at Dana White’s twitter replies to see fans bemoaning any suggestion that they should pay a monthly fee for the package if they want to see every single UFC fight that is broadcast.
Living in the UK where we receive even the biggest UFC pay-per-views on free sports channels, perhaps we have just been spoiled and now come to expect everything for free. Numerous times over the weekend I had people complaining to me on twitter that they could not watch the show, asking, “why should I have to subscribe and pay to watch it?”.
As Dana will always say himself, you don’t have to subscribe to it. If that’s not your priority, spend your money elsewhere. If it is and these fights mean that much to you, when you consider the vast amount of content available on Fight Pass the question should be, “why wouldn’t you want to subscribe to it?”.
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