 Barack Obama is our new President-elect, but what’s really got everyone buzzing today is Paulo Filho’s inability to make weight for tonight’s WEC fight with Chael Sonnen. A pound or two is understandable. Three or four is embarrassing. Seven is unprofessional and indicates a pressing need to reevaluate which weight class he belongs in. Not making weight and downgrading the bout to a non-title fight is a slight to Sonnen, who won’t be able to call himself the last WEC middleweight champion after he wins since the belt is no longer on the line. Does Filho not take Sonnen seriously or does he lack the requisite self control to eat properly before a fight? Either way, he should be like John McCain and prepare a good concession speech that will ease the suffering of his bandwagon. Since it is election time, Mark and I will not dwell on the past, but look boldly into the future and hold out hope that some real change is on the horizon.
Is the WEC’s move to pay-per-view smart?
Kelly-No. This is America. We like things free and get pissed off when the price spikes anywhere above that. In these troubling economic times, Zuffa makes enough money that they can afford to give back to the MMA community. Wait…I sound like a democrat trying to redistribute wealth. Fuck that. If Zuffa wants to take the WEC to pay-per-view and make money, then that’s their right in a free market economy. The timing is bad since the average MMA fan has less disposable income to spend on pay-per-views, but the jump will also force them to make a better product in order to keep the fans with dough tuning in. It’s risky for Zuffa to take away something everyone has grown accustomed to seeing for free, but if they’ve got the cajones to take a leap of faith, then best of luck to them. I’ll be surfing the internet for hacked copies of WEC fights and saving my pay-per-view budget for the more intriguing UFC events.
Mark- Hey, I like redistributing the wealth…I’m not rich, so I’ll gladly take some money off anyone’s hands. But, the WEC needs a program to redistribute the attention. What’s the WEC again? Is that the one with Gina Carano? Or is that the one with Fedor? Hmm…maybe it’s the one that had the fights at the Playboy Mansion? Without an extreme amount of cross promotion by Zuffa, I can’t see WEC PPVs pulling the numbers needed to make it viable. It kind of sucks, because the WEC has a stellar product. The hardcore fans know about it but I don’t think most casual fans do, which is sad. I really do think a move like this could work but now is just not the right time.
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