Anyone excited about Shamrock v. Ortiz II?
Doublehead wrote me with a good question:
So why have the fight? Simple. Ken was a star in pro wrestling, one of the UFC's original stars and their first fight got a big PPV buy rate. I am sure the UFC figures that with its upswing in popluarity and a season of TUF 3 carefully orchestrated to build the Shamrock/Ortiz feud, the rematch will pull huge numbers.
And, while there is nothing wrong per-se with the UFC booking a lame headline fight because it will get a lot of attention from non-MMA fans, that does not mean that I am going to be too interested in it.
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I was wondering if you were going to give a take on it about the Shamrock vs Tito fight being a co-main event fight. Do you think people are really interested in seeing this re-match? Isn’t Shamrock something like 1-4 in his last 5 fights? I guess the UFC thinks that TUF3 is a big long promotion for this fight, but I don’t know anyone who is all that interested in paying to see it.I agree with Doublehead. Tito dominated Shamrock in the first fight, and not much has changed between that fight 4 years ago and today (except that Shamrock is now 42 years old while Tito remains in his competitive prime). I see no reason to think it will go differently, unless Tito's skills have deteriorated beyond all recognition.
So why have the fight? Simple. Ken was a star in pro wrestling, one of the UFC's original stars and their first fight got a big PPV buy rate. I am sure the UFC figures that with its upswing in popluarity and a season of TUF 3 carefully orchestrated to build the Shamrock/Ortiz feud, the rematch will pull huge numbers.
And, while there is nothing wrong per-se with the UFC booking a lame headline fight because it will get a lot of attention from non-MMA fans, that does not mean that I am going to be too interested in it.
I am not excited about this fight. There a bunch of fighters I’d like to see Tito fight. Ken Shamrock isn't high on the list.
But I did find some people who are interested in this rematch. See link below. Of course, at least one of them is convinced a sumo wrestler would beat anyone, so I wouldn’t say they know much about the sport. But I doubt Dana White (or others involved in the UFC) really care who gives them dollars. Their business is to generate revenue by putting on fights. If they can put on fights that generate more revenue from folks who fall for WWF type hype and self-promotion, the UFC is going to go that route.
I realize the UFC has shifted towards promoting personalities rather than trying to ararnge the highest quality fighters fighting each other. I understand this and agree that is how to get a bigger fan base and a means of generating more revenue.
The TUF shows work. People get to know the fighters and are more interested in watching fighters they know even if they aren’t the best fighters.
But the problem with this fight is that Shamrock is too well known. Everyone I run into knows Shamrock but don’t care about him much anymore. Most people realize his time is over. Before Shamrock vs Rich Franklin fight, I was excited to see how Shamrock would do against Franklin. I thought it was good to give Shamrock another shot. Then I watched the fight and realized it was over for Shamrock. Now I am left wondering how many more shots is he going to get?
The facts are Shamrock has gone 1-2 since the last time these two have met...who (besides the guys linked below) thinks things will go differently this time around?
http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=1380131&page=0
Posted by Doublehead | 6/07/2006 9:27 PM