The moment the signing of Phillip Brooks (CM Punk) was announced, I suddenly had a new appreciation for ConorMcGregor.
I might not have agreed that he should get the next shot at Jose Aldo, but at least he has a true MMA background and is a proven competitor.
I have nothing against Brooks for wanting to test himself in real competition. In fact, I find that highly admirable. If any rancor about his signing exists, it should be leveled at the UFC decision-makers, not Brooks.
We all get why Brooks was signed. There have always been two aspects of how the UFC machine runs and makes decisions: for the entertainment dollar or for the sports dollar.
The signing of Brooks was clearly meant to grab the former, and to be honest, it probably won't be the last time the UFC tries to cash in on such a public character.
And make no mistake about it, the man that is Brooks will be fighting in the Octagon, but it will be CM Punk the character that Zuffa hopes will pull in the big pay-per-view numbers.
Yes, he's going to be making a lot of money putting his health and hisWWE persona on the line, but no one has any right to tell a man how to make his money, as long as it is done legally.
In fact, if there is any sport where a man should be looking to make as much money as possible, it's the combative sports, period.
Brooks will get his day in the cage and with that the most naked reckoning of a man's character available. If he rises to the occasion or ends up crushed, that is the question that Zuffa hopes you find compelling enough to pay to see answered.
And that is fine, because Brooks' fight will be honest, even if it is against a rank amateur.
But it is only fine for so long as the UFC remembers that borrowing from the WWE cast list isn't speaking to the bona fide worth of real competition, but the novelty of juxtaposition.
CM Punk is a character, and any fan of MMA knows that characters sell because they attract attention. McGregor is a character of sorts, but his inner core is utterly real. The same was true of Chael Sonnen.
It is now a matter of what the UFC does, as a legitimate sport, with all the attention that Brooks should bring to the table, that needs to be considered.
There are some excellent fights waiting to be made out there, and those fights are worth every ounce of energy the UFC can muster as a fight promotion. It's easy to forget that part of its job is to promote the fighters already seated at its table; it seems more interested in promoting its own brand than the fighters that enable it.
This has been done for many reasons, chief among them seeming to be the fact that it has never wanted fighters to get so big that they might turn down the fights that matter.
But with the UFC growing so large and looking to expand even further, the purchase of Brooks looks a bit short-sighted if only because it seems like it would rather buy us fast food than cook us a meal at home.
And it's got some quality ingredients in its cupboards, just waiting to be thrown together on the oven.
That is the thing the UFC cannot allow to happen, because it is within its own stores that it will find the fights that matter, not raiding the pantries of the WWE.
It would be wonderful to see the UFC take a serious interest in getting back to the business of promoting its fighters. It's been all about the UFC as a brand, thinking that where the brand is served, then so too are the fighters, by proxy.
While making sense in theory, this has seen the idea of character forsaken for characters, salesmanship lauded above performance. Nowadays, it seems of equal importance how a fighter can market and sell himself, how much drama he can generate, in addition to how well he can fight.
And if a fighter is lacking in the field of salesmanship, odds are he's not going to be getting the financial rewards one would think he's due, no matter how dominant he is in the cage.
That is where it seems the wheels have come off the machine. Throwing seeds to the soil is not enough to see them grow; it requires energy and attention beyond what they can glean themselves by simply being left alone to the environment.
That is the art of fight promotion: selling the fights that matter when the fighters are not up to the task of doing anything else other than fighting.
As if that wasn't hard enough in a sport of such change and demand.
Not every fighter out there can wear many hats with such grace and joy. That is why the Sonnens and the McGregors grab so much attention; they are the exception, not the norm.
It's why fighters fight and promoters promote; one is strong where the other is weak and vice versa. Together, the idea is that they provide a whole package to the consumer of such sport, to the delight of all involved on either side of the dollar.
And in the case of the UFC, it has always been its strongest argument that it can deliver what others cannot: the fights that matter.
It has proved incredibly capable of implementing whatever changes it feels are needed in order to get what it wants, which is very important.
But why hasn't it found a way to get Ronda Rousey and Cris “Cyborg” Justino in the Octagon? One has to believe that if it really wanted to get that deal done, it would have been able to make it happen.
Obviously, there is the weight issue, but that only holds so much water when you have a fighter like Rousey, who has said that if asked by Dana White, she would face Cyborg under any circumstances.
So why hasn't he asked?
Clearly, she'd be very well compensated (much more so than Cyborg) in either victory or defeat. As far as there being no division available for Cyborg, well, White created WMMA in the UFC for Rousey; the creation of another division for the greatest fight currently available to WMMA would show the cause is bigger than any one name.
Rousey by herself has been great for the UFC, but a great fighter alone is a picture incomplete. But to see her in a fight with her greatest rival? That will see both women elevated far beyond anything known now and in turn will be great for WMMA, both in and outside the UFC.
There are other fights as well, just waiting to be realized before time erodes their value.
One such fight that springs to mind is Jose Aldo and Anthony Pettis. Even with injuries and all the other obstacles that have been thrown up, it seems the UFC would be using all the energy and considerable resources it enjoys to keep the people talking about it and get the fighters themselves invested in it.
Aldo vs. Pettis is a “Superfight” the likes of Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Erik Morales; two striking machines going toe-to-toe, while still in their primes. Just thinking about such a bout is the closest thing to Christmas-wish fulfillment the UFC could give us since Georges St. Pierre faced BJ Penn the second time at UFC 94.
None of this is to say that the UFC hasn't given us some excellent fights, or that it won't in the near future. Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormierand Anderson Silva vs. Nick Diaz are going to be excellent fights that serve the fans because they serve the interest of the sport.
And while some big fights happen organically, the UFC should be doing anything and everything it can to make the other fights a reality, no matter how hard to promote.
Let's face it, Jose Aldo isn't the kind of man who's going to inflame fans with provocative language; he's a fighter, not an orator. To help sell a fight with Anthony Pettis for its full market value, he's going to need a lot of help, and the UFC should be happy to give it to him, free of charge.
Because the fights that matter are worth it, and their value cannot be eclipsed by any obvious and forgivable sleight of hand.
So go ahead and enjoy the bounty that the signing of Brooks will doubtlessly bring. Reap the rewards of enabling his dream to compete legitimately in the biggest and best MMA promotion in the world.
Just don't forget about the dreams of the fans in the process. We're a greedy bunch and won't be satisfied with fast food for very long.
And our dreams are important too...because they're based in reality. For a sport that espouses the “As Real As It Gets” credo, nothing could be more important.
CM Punk Is Fine, but Give Us the Fights That Matter
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Oleh
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