While other organizations are beginning to challenge the UFC for some of the top fighters, MMA’s growth can be closely tied to the excellent job Dana White and the Fertitta brothers have done with the UFC. White took a brand that had almost no value, legitimized it by working with legislating bodies, added more safety elements, and made excellent marketing decisions.
The result was an organization North American fans looked to as the leader in the MMA world. Fans largely recognize the UFC champions as the best in the world.
While the now defunct Pride organization had arguably just as good or better fighters, it competed in a separate market from the UFC (Japan), and did not confuse North American MMA fans during the sport's rebirth.
While MMA and boxing fans love to argue about which is better, another controversial topic is the instant attention being paid to two new stars.
Kimbo Slice is EliteXC’s poster boy and a YouTube sensation. Kimbo (real name: Kevin Ferguson) made a name for himself through tapes of him brawling in backyards and parking lots in Florida and being the toughest guy in the neighborhood.
EliteXC wanted to capitalize on his YouTube popularity and put him in touch with MMA trainer and former UFC champion Bas Rutten. Kimbo holds a 2-0 professional MMA record, with wins over little-known Bo Cantrell (10-11) and fan favorite David “Tank” Abbott (9-14).
However, Abbott’s last professional win was over two and a half years before his fight with Kimbo, and his best days as a fighter are behind him. Fighters such as Chuck Liddell have gone on the record either expressing their disdain for the attention being heaped at Kimbo, or to say that if put in the octagon against them, Kimbo would be no match for them.
The UFC has its own version of Kimbo Slice in Brock Lesnar. Lesnar, the former WWE champion (not real fighting) was in the co-main event on his first UFC card for only his second professional MMA fight. Lesnar lost to Frank Mir, an expert in submissions and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
However, Lesnar’s collegiate athletic experience separates him from Kimbo. In 2000, Lesnar was the NCAA Heavyweight Division I champion in wrestling, one of the critical elements in MMA competition.
Lesnar is such a great athlete that the Minnesota Vikings welcomed him to try out for the team. While he did not make the team, the fact that an NFL team would welcome an athlete to try out for their team with limited football experience speaks to his raw athletic talent.
Kimbo Slice vs. Brock Lesnar is an interesting comparison. Round One, being a comparison of the way they have been managed to date, goes to Kimbo Slice. Kimbo has been matched up against opponents he can beat, who are willing to play to what we can only believe is his strength, his standup game and power.
The first televised MMA card on a major network is on May 31, and features Slice against James Thompson. This fight is set up to show what may be MMA’s largest-ever television audience a devastating Kimbo Slice knockout. Thompson has lost seven times by either knockout or technical knockout. Thompson usually likes to trade punches and definitely will be under pressure to do so here.
By contrast, the UFC matched Lesnar up with one of the worst possible opponents for him. If it was a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lesnar’s strength and take down abilities make him Rock.
However, the UFC put him up against a Jiu-Jitsu expert who was able to submit him. Frank Mir in this case is Paper. While the UFC is usually pretty great at matching and marketing fighters, this particular fight left many scratching their heads.
Possibly, the UFC was trying to recoup the large investment they made on Lesnar and figured a fight against someone as well-known and as talented as Mir would make him legitimate for a monster fight if he won. If he lost, he would be able to withstand it and remain a large box-office pull, while Mir would once again become a headliner. Round One goes to Kimbo.
Round Two, based on intimidation, goes to both fighters. If you put either of these guys into a bull-fighting arena, they would probably charge at the bull and the bull would be wise to run away. If either of them hit an average person, the average person would be lucky to ever get up.
Round Three is pure potential as a fighter. Both are insanely strong. Lesnar, though, is one of the greatest collegiate wrestlers of the past decade. Kimbo was a brawler before being a technical striker, but he has picked up the skill set quickly and looked much more pure than Abbott in his last fight.
However, Kimbo would want to stay on his feet and strike against Lesnar, while Lesnar would be able to use his wrestling to take the fight to the ground. Ultimately, Lesnar would be able to ground-and-pound Kimbo and win the fight. Lesnar is also a younger fighter who has more time to learn the complexities of the sport.
While Kimbo may have a great career, and Lesnar stumbled out of the gate, look for Lesnar to be a legitimate champion before Kimbo Slice.
Lesnar, Round Three, KO.
Tagliabue was a special guest of Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots who donated the funds for the construction of the only stadium in Israel designed for American football and is a dedicated supporter of other Jewish causes. Kraft and his wife Myra personally lead annual missions from the Combined Jewish Philanthropies, the Jewish Federation of Greater Boston.
In 2006, Patriots' Pro Bowl quarterback Tom Brady joined the mission, which was also honored at a Kraft Family Stadium event. This year, Kraft brought one of the most respected professional sports league commissioners of to Israel.
"If you build it, they will come," said American Football in Israel president Steve Leibowitz as he announced the new Israel Football League to dozens of players and guests.
"Football is about family and community and you have those here," Tagliabue told the players and fans at the ceremony.
If anyone knows about building football leagues, it is Tagliabue, who retired as chief of arguably North America's most successful professional sports league on September 1 after 15 years of service.
Over the course of Tagliabue's tenure, he wascredited with an abundance of achievements. Under his reign, the NFL had no player's strikes or lockouts, an accomplishment unmatched by any of the other current league commissioners. He is also known for negotiating the richest television deal in professional sports.
Tagliabue expanded football beyond North America, creating NFL Europe, now known as NFL Europa, and holding the first-ever regular season game outside the US, in Mexico in 2005.
When asked about US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's announcement that being NFL commissioner was her dream job, Tagliabue joked, "Be careful what you wish for."
The guests arrived at the field as exhibition games were being played. "I saw some great receivers out there on the women's [national flag football] team. The Patriots could use a few good receivers," Kraft said jokingly to the crowd.
Dori Reichmann, a San Diego Chargers fan from Rehovot, has been playing tackle football in Israel since 1994, when he played in pickup games without any pads or helmets. Next year, he'll be playing for the Tel Aviv Pioneers in the new Israel Football League. "We've been waiting for this for 10 years," he said.
While the IFL has been a three-team tackle football league without helmets and pads, the new fully-equipped IFL plans to kick off this fall with at least four teams located in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and Kfar Saba.
I'm watching the game with a guy from Texas and a guy from Alabama. At home my friend Haim and I host a party every year. The Super Bowl for us - and many others in North America - is about a few things: big screens, over-the-top-funny commercials, chicken wings, Budweiser beer and obscure bets. Before the game starts, we take a pen and paper and place five-dollar bets on everything from the game winner to who's going to win the coin toss. We're very typical about the whole thing, and we love it. The Super Bowl is about celebrating being typically ridiculous.
The commercials have been half CBS blockbusters and half METV ads for old sitcom reruns like the Cosby Show and Lassie.
The recurring theme this Super Bowl week has been about the fact that for the first time ever, two black coaches are squaring off against each other in the game. All the media's been saying is how it's not a big deal that both coaches are black. All game long, there are constant close ups of the coaches and plugs for black history month. It's actually starting to look a little ridiculous.
I walked into a party populated mostly by Americans and new olim. They had rented a projector, made salsa and ordered pizza. But the cable feed was METV and not CBS, "America's most watched station." The salsa was lacking some Mexican spice, and the pizza came with this strange mayonnaisey, spicy sauce. The chips were finished in 15 minutes, and the sunflower seeds and nargilah seem to be carrying us through the night. I suppose it's impossible to bring authentic American culture overseas. The Israeli staples are saving us here.
By the second quarter, there have been five turnovers, the Colts are up by five points and the guy behind me is snoring. We all accidentally wake him up laughing violently as the artist formerly known as Prince attempts to cover Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" in a lime green suit and tangerine shirt.
As usual, when watching American sports in Israel, there is more than enough banter over which players are Jewish. The Texan thinks Grossman, the Bears quarterback, has a Jewish father. He also claims the Bears kicker, Robbie Gould, is Jewish. It's all speculation.
Apparently the Colts owner is Jewish, too. But everyone just wishes there were more Jews to cheer for.
By the third quarter there's a symphony of snoring behind me. Any moment of boredom is automatically pacified every time the Texan and I look at each other and enjoy the sounds of sinus. In all honesty, it's 3:45 a.m., my eyes are starting to close and delirium is setting in. Fighting to stay awake during the game is a whole new experience.
It's late, but we all feel fortunate to be here. Tank Johnson of the Chicago Bears especially, who is playing the game under "special supervision" from the local authorities after being arrested three times. Who says athletes don't get special treatment?
So the game is over. Unfortunately the Colts, who are known as perpetual big game losers, have finally won. It was a great game, back and forth, but they were the better team. Whoever is still awake feels like they've been battling to finish this thing along with the players. The commentators are still talking about the coaches. The real story is that Peyton Manning, one of the best-ever quarterbacks, now has his first championship.
Our real story is that we stayed up for this game. How many programs would I actually stay awake all night to watch? So even though my team lost and I am 50 shekels poorer, I cant help but feel as though I/we have accomplished something by making it through the game. It was a victory of sorts, and I'm up to date with Chevy's newest line of larger-than-life trucks and Pizza Hut's new crusts. I'll never forget my first Israeli Super Bowl, except for those ten minutes of the fourth quarter for which I was asleep…at least I don't snore. Go Bears.