Saturday May 31, 2014 will go in the UFC history books, as it marked the first time the organization held two events on the same day. So, did you watch all 22 UFC fights on Saturday?
Beginning at 9:30am in the west, UFC Fight Night 41 began on UFC Fight Pass live from Germany’s O2 World Berlin. The entire card was stream live on the UFC’s online digital streaming service and this is where things get a tad bit mustered up. If you don’t have Fight Pass, because you don’t want to pony up the $10 a month, then there was no way for you to watch these fights live.
Hardcore fight fans, like Brandon Desautel, tuned in to every single bout stating, “to be fair, l don’t follow any other sport.” So if you had nothing else to do on your Saturday morning/afternoon then that could have been the case for you as well.
The main event in Germany ended at around 1:45pm PT with Gegard Mousasi absolutely dominating Mark Munoz in the opening stanza. He was able to wind up in the top position after Munoz went for the slam takedown and it was all downhill from there. At 3:57 of Round 1 Mousasi locked in a deep rear-naked choke which forced Munoz to tap out. The main card only featured four fights, two decisions, one of which was a terrible one, as Luke Barnatt was robbed and lost via split decision to Sean Strickland. Kicking off the main card was a featherweight fighter who everyone should be on the lookout for — Niklas Bäckström tapped out Tom Niinimäki with a bulldog choke late in the first round.
With one event down and just four-hours wasted, it was time to switch over to the TUF Brazil 3 Finale card. Much like FN 41, the first few prelims aired on UFC Fight Pass, while the remainder of the card was on FOX Sports 1. This is where the casual fans, or the ones that didn’t care about undercard fighters came around. Taylor Brogdon said, “I watched the main cards, because I felt that only the main cards are worth watching especially when the undercards receive little to no hype.”
From an outsiders perspective, that completely makes sense. The majority of The Ultimate Fighter 3 Brazil Finale undercard was filled with regional fighters who many fans would have never heard of. Once the main card his FOX Sports 1
Some fans complain that the UFC is becoming too over saturated. UFC President Dana White doesn’t think those people are true fight fans. As Christopher Thompson said, “UFC advertising has sucked lately. You check the site and there’s no fight card data until the fight is about a week away.” That comment lead to Aaron Christopher Brevick agreeing whole heartily and added a comment of his own, “Horrible advertising job on the part of UFC, also I’ve always wanted more UFC cards but honestly when there’s one good match up an 9 junk fights I’m just not gonna keep up with it anymore. Not to mention all the WWE drama.”
Above are the fans outlook on the day, then there are the media members. Most of which had to give up their entire Saturday — time with kids, family time, etc.
MMAKanvas.com’s Justin Faux had the following to say about the day’s events, “I covered both events, and watched every fight for over those 12 hours and change. I can safely say that I hated MMA a little bit after that day.”
This was definitely a rare occurrence having two UFC events in one day which was what FOX Sports‘ Damon Martin said, “It was an interesting experience. Kind of like the first day of the NCAA basketball tournament but should only happen on the rarest of occasions not a regular event or there’s nothing special about it any longer. The concept could also backfire badly if the fights don’t go well or the cards aren’t compelling enough to keep fans engaged.”
Stipe Miocic finished things off just after 9pm on Saturday evening with a bang. He was able to drop Fabio Maldonado just seconds after the initial bell sounded to cap the marathon day off.
Whether you stayed up the entire day, or even night depending on which time zone you were in, you were treated to a mixed bag of fights. From unanimous decisions, to terrible split decisions, to amazing knockouts, this day with 22-fights had something for everyone.
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I will leave you with this comment from a hardcore UFC fan on Twitter.
@MMASucka if the UFC is on I always watch. I no longer have a choice. I watch even when i don’t want to watch. I am powerless over the UFC.
— Slim The Heating Guy (@slimshadyhvac) June 1, 2014
