Basic HTML Version
February - 2015
SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
40
even there, it was obvious that
some of the fights were freak
shows).
However, there are plenty of
legit reasons to love Pride, and
the early days MMA. For those
of you who weren’t watch-
ing – well, the early stars, the
underdog stories, those things
are easy to love. And the tour-
nament format — used by the
early UFC, Pride, and other
promotions — that format
made the sport different. Ex-
citing. Not just a fight, not just
boxing with other disciplines
mixed in. The tournaments, es-
pecially the one-night tourna-
ments, brutal and grueling as
they were, those made MMA
a true test of who the greatest
athlete, fighter, martial artist,
etc. really was. It was basically
running the gauntlet. It was
something to behold.
Of course, as the sport grew, it
needed to change. Regulation
was key. And one night tour-
naments just weren’t a great
idea for fighter safety. Yes, Bat-
tlegrounds MMA brought the
concept back this past fall, but
don’t expect it to ever return
full time in any major promo-
tion.
On the other hand, tourna-
ments over a prolonged pe-
riod, with weeks or months
between bouts — well there’s
plenty of room for those.
The problem here is, the pro-
motion at the forefront of the
tournament format, Bellator,
did away with them when
founder Bjorn Rebney was
given the axe. New showrun-
ner Scott Coker did a 180,
and went straight to spectacle
fights, disavowing the “sport
first” vision of the promotion’s
founder.
Fair enough. Freak shows sell,
spectacles sell.
There’s a certain segment of
the MMA fan base, however,
that still wants tournaments.
Either because they miss the
old days, or because they want
the sport to be, well, a sport.
They want tournaments, and
more than just what you get
on The Ultimate Fighter.
Enter the World Series of
Fighting. Last week they an-
nounced the signing of Matt
Hammil and Thiago Silva, who
will, along with Ronny Markes
and a fighter yet to be named,
enter into a four-man tourna-
ment for the WSOF light heavy-
weight title.
Now, while the signing of Sil-
va, who was recently dropped
from the UFC after allegations
of domestic abuse and a video
showing him brandishing a
gun against his ex-wife turned
up online, is severely problem-
atic, we’ll leave that debate for
another day. Instead, lets focus
on the positive: the WSOF has
made this tournament mean
something by having a handful
of recognizable names com-
pete for the highest reward
they can offer, a champion-
ship in the young promotion.
This is probably the first move
by the WSOF since the signing
of Jake Shields that really has
fans talking. For North Ameri-
ca’s third-ranked promotion, it
shows that fans do care — if
the stakes are right.
This is the same reason that
The Ultimate Fighter 20 was a
cut above recent seasons: the
tournament mattered. There
was more than just a contract
on the line (a prize that seems
disingenuous these days when
half the fighters appearing on
the show get tryouts in the UFC
anyway). It’s the same reason
that Bellator tournaments mat-
tered, at least up until the end,
when they started stacking the
deck in the hopes of marquee
fighters making it through.
In any case, the WSOF is prov-
ing that the tournament for-
mat still garners attention with
this move. The real test will be
pulling it off, but it’s certainly
something to look forward to.