Last week when I said that UFC 149 was going to be a “sleeper” card, I was partially right. There is no doubt that some of you were probably sleeping.
Although going to see the UFC live is usually an amazing experience — and trust me, I did enjoy the week’s festivities — there was a part of me that felt sorry for the fans that put down big money to see what was an excellent preliminary card, and an absolute horrific main card. In fact, the show was so bad that even a new gate record didn’t take the scowl off UFC President Dana White’s face at the post-fight press conference.
I said this the other day and it’s true: We make money,” White said. “This company makes money, and I like breaking records. We broke the gate record tonight and I’m embarrassed by it. I was excited when I heard and now I’m embarrassed.
The preliminary card delivered big time and it had me — and others in press row — excited about the pay-per-view portion of the card. In the prelims, Edmonton’s Ryan Jimmo delivered what I think is the UFC record for fastest knockout. Although it was officially announced as tying the record, it would have been a five-second KO and that would have been the fastest knockout had the referee been in proper position to stop the fight. But it was an amazing debut by the 30-year-old Canadian who many called a boring point fighter from his MFC days.
Another highlight of the prelims was when Calgary’s Nick Ring came down to the cage with Brett “The Hitman” Hart by his side. The fans went nuts. In what was a pretty good fight, Ring was able to pull off a controversial unanimous decision over Court McGee.
There were many great highlights in the prelims and like stated above, we were looking forward to what the main card would offer. However, Hector Lombard didn’t look like the former hyper-aggressive Bellator champ, Cheick Kongo fought with a broken collar bone, and Brian Ebersole looked tentative. By the time the main event rolled around the fans wanted blood, and while Faber versus Barao was a solid technical fight, it was not exciting enough to make up for the lackluster main card.
The Calgary fans had every right to boo. They were great fans. In fact during the prelims it was one of the loudest stadiums I have ever been in. However, just like Calgary’s hockey team, sometimes UFC fights don’t always deliver.
Alberta, what happened? Only one local judge and no local referees. I hope you don’t send your people to BC looking for a job. We take care of our own.