Well, so much for all that.

PREVIOUSLY: UFC on Fox 2 Preview

The second installment of the UFC on Fox delivered with some exciting fights, memorable finishes, and one of the better Lightweight fights of the past month between Evan Dunham and Nik Lentz.

Too bad all of that was in the preliminaries.

The reactions I read on Twitter spoke volumes and are the talking points for various websites this morning. What was the UFC thinking in putting this main card together? Why put so many grapplers on there? Isn’t that instant death for mainstream attraction?

My initial reaction was that the show was something of a disaster from a network broadcast standpoint. One follower on twitter asked if this could have gone any worse for the UFC. I semi-jokingly replied that all that was missing was a death in the ring, while another follower suggested that Maia could have just pulled guard for three rounds. He might as well have; I didn’t like what I’d seen of him and thought he’d have issues with Weidman, but I didn’t think his cardio would be that bad. It was a very rough start to what turned out to be a largely uneventful and taxing night for all but the most diehard fans.

Those who stuck through the plodding Maia/Weidman fight or missed it entirely were then subjected to a very underwhelming performance from Chael Sonnen, who got a Unanimous Decision win based on takedowns from Sonnen that went nowhere and did nothing to improve position. Bisping, to his credit and my surprise, was the better striker in the first two rounds and was actually more effective with his grappling defense and cage clinch. So much so, in fact, that he won it 29-28 on my scorecard. Sonnen’s excuse can and should be that Sonnen spent six weeks training for Mark Munoz, a different style of fighter. But to the mainstream fan who has to accept that this guy can somehow beat the best pound for pound fighter in the world, that’s a hard sell.

I thought and was hoping the main event would have gone better for Phil Davis, but Rashad Evans is just that good. My main concern about Evans and the reason I went with Davis is that he’s a bit undersized as a Light Heavyweight, but as I said before and I’ll resoundingly state again, it only makes what he’s able to do in there that much more impressive. As we expected he was able to outstrike Davis, but surprisingly he also outwrestled and overpowered a much larger former NCAA Division 1 champion. What others have been saying to me and the UFC’s matchmakers was proven true: Davis isn’t quite ready yet for that level of competition. Some guys just have to be brought along at a steady pace, and clearly jumping from fighting guys out of the top 10 to the #2 Light Heavyweight in the world was way too much to ask of “Mr. Wonderful.” On the flip side, I was impressed with his ability to hang in for all five rounds and felt he kept his composure despite what must have been a frustrating bout. It’s the type of fight that will only make him a better fighter.

As for Fox itself, I continue to have issues with its sports production. Red Cleatus fighting Blue Cleatus (I was hoping beyond hope we’d be spared the Fox Sports Bots) and Curt Menefee acting like the UFC was an alien race that just landed on our planet made me really miss Spike TV’s broadcasts.

My frustration could not match what the affiliates must have felt with that unnecessary overrun. To put it bluntly, Fox fucked them. They wanted to do an overrun to artificially jack up the rating, and did so by doing absolutely nothing the first quarter hour. When I say nothing I do mean nothing; Menefee talked to a charisma-less Randy Couture (great fighter, bad broadcaster) and a woefully unprepared Jon Jones about…well, nothing. They didn’t even show any pre-fight video packages until sixteen minutes into the broadcast. From a promotional standpoint, that’s inexcusably inept.

As a fan of fights, I wasn’t totally turned off. But I’m one of those diehards, and I’m also not as impatient when a fight goes to the ground as others are. Still, it was an overall frustrating broadcast, and someone needs to have a come to Jesus meeting, whether it’s Fox telling the UFC they need matchmaking that’s going to entice the casual fan or the UFC telling Fox it needs to hit the ground running and opt out of its usual bullshit pandering and bad habit of insisting professional athletes be broadcasters.

The UFC has released the full card (sans a couple prelims yet to be decided) for UFC on Fox 2 on Saturday, January 28th.

In addition to the previously announced main event of Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis and co-main of Chael Sonnen vs. Mark Munoz, both presumably to determine the #1 contenders for their respective divisions, the speculated fight between Michael Bisping and Demian Maia will happen on the UFC’s second primetime network event.

Earlier this week, Dana White told journalists to expect another “big” fight, saying it would be comparable to the other two in terms of prestige and importance. I’m not quite sure Bisping and Maia is quite that important to the fans, but it is an important fight for Michael Bisping. White has also said in recent interviews that the two-hour broadcast is likely to include at least three fights.

Bisping will go into the fight just seven weeks after his dominant win over an out of shape and unprepared Jason “Mayhem” Miller at The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale. Despite being in the UFC for seven years and compiling a 22-3 record, Bisping has only fought a Top 5 fighter twice in his entire career. The last time was the now legendary knockout loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 100 over two years ago. Before that, he lost a highly controversial and disputed split decision to Rashad Evans in 2007 at UFC 78. That loss, ironically, was the closest he’s come to beating a legitimate contender in any weight class; Evans went on two fights later to win the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship from Forrest Griffin before immediately being dropped by Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida.

The problem is that Bisping is British. No, I’m not trying to be funny, and no I’m not going to bore you again with my treatise on the grappling deficiency overseas. Rather, it makes him a commodity to the UFC that they have actively sought to protect, though they’d deny it and be able to provide circumstantial evidence to suggest timing has always been the issue. Still, the fact is that Bisping is easily their biggest British draw, and he’s important to maintaining a presence and further penetrating the British market.

But the UFC can only coast on Bisping for so long. His drawing power has been diluted by a resume that’s not quite as impressive once you get past his record. It’s certainly not his fault, since he seems eager to face better competition and has been making no secret of the fact that he’s getting restless and chomping at the bit to be given a chance to prove himself.

To an extent he’ll get that against Maia. A suspect chin has kept him out of the Top 5 at middleweight, and he hasn’t finished a fight in over two and a half years. He’s not facing the Maia that went on a tear after his UFC debut with five consecutive decision wins. But he’s still a lot more dangerous than Jason Miller, Jorge Rivera, and Yoshihiro Akiyama. A win against Maia goes a long way towards legitimizing Bisping at Middleweight and could, realistically, put him within one fight of title contention.

The rest of the card:

Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis
Chael Sonnen vs. Mark Munoz
Michael Bisping vs. Demian Maia
Evan Dunham vs. Paul Sass
Michael Johnson vs. Cody McKenzie
Cub Swanson vs. George Roop
John-Olav Einemo vs. Mike Russow
Demetrious Johnson vs. Eddie Wineland

After showing up looking like he’d lost some muscle mass and with none other than comedic actor Kevin James in his corner, Jason “Mayhem” Miller completely bombed out after an aggressive but sloppy first round and became easy pickings for his nemesis, fellow TUF 14 coach Michael “The Count” Bisping.

Miller won the first round, but it wasn’t pretty. While his style has always been described as unorthodox, his swings were wild and undisciplined. He went for several takedowns and was successful in one of them, pinning Bisping’s back against the cage and controlling his legs and lower torso. However, he was unable to do anything once in the position and ultimately burned himself out.

Michael Bisping won a lopsided fight against Jason "Mayhem" Miller, but the real story is still what he couldn't do.

As soon as the second round started, it became clear that something had gone wrong in Miller’s camp during preparation for this fight. He didn’t just look tired, he was straight up exhausted. Even the lightest jabs from Bisping gave the appearance of Miller being out on his feet, gasping for air and taunting Bisping with his hands down. It would take another round before the action was mercifully – for Miller and the fight’s spectators – stopped.

Afterwards, commentators Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan invoked the phrase “adrenaline dump,” which is only used when someone wants to excuse a fighter they like for his poor conditioning and preparation. Dana White wasn’t so diplomatic after the event, calling it one of the most lopsided fights he’s ever seen and hinting that Miller, making his first foray into the Octagon since a similarly overwhelming loss to Georges St-Pierre in 2005, might not be long for the promotion. Bisping took pride in his performance and said that Miller felt like a little boy, but also took issue with suggestions that Miller became tired. He suggested instead that it was the tenacious beating he put on Miller that caused the exhaustion and lack of effort from his opponent.

To his credit, Bisping did what he needed to do in order to win the fight. His boxing looked crisp and he was fairly light on his feet despite a very rough weight cut that took him three attempts on Friday to make the 186 pound cut-off. But if that fight on Saturday night was an audition for title contention or even placement in the Top 5, he failed it miserably.

To be unable to capitalize on an exhausted fighter who was beaten by poor preparation before he even got into a cage is not quite inexcusable given Miller’s reputation, but his tentativeness and the lack of power behind the free and open shots Bisping was handed is a troubling prospect in a division currently ruled by the best pound for pound fighter in the history of the sport. Even the first round, which on most peoples’ scorecards went to the sloppy but still more effective Miller, is a sign of trouble down the road for Bisping. Miller was practically – if not literally – throwing wild chimpanzee punches with his eyes closed. Bisping did very well in not panicking and trying to get into a slugfest with Miller, which is a mistake most fighters would have made and might have cost him dearly. But he also didn’t show enough when opportunities presented themselves, and in being patient also showed the same tentativeness and lack of instinct to finish that led to the knockout loss to Dan Henderson that continues to haunt him.

His inability to finish Miller, though, isn’t the only major stumbling block to title contention. There’s also his severe and heretofore unaddressed grappling deficiency. In the first round, when Miller was able to successfully take him to the ground, Bisping kept looking to the ref and requesting that he stand it up despite the fact that Miller was throwing strikes and improving on his position. He conveyed frustration and tried to convince the world that Miller was doing nothing at all, but that wasn’t the case.

In that moment I had a sudden realization that gave me pause: it is 2011 and Michael Bisping, despite now having over seven years of experience in this sport and five at its highest level, has absolutely no grappling game to speak of.

This is going to be a big problem when he moves up to the upper echelon of his division. Bisping is praised for his takedown defense, employing a strategy similar to the one popularized by Chuck Liddell. What fighters like Bisping and many commentators overlook, however, is that the style worked for Chuck Liddell because he had the knockout power that Bisping lacks and was an NCAA Division 1 wrestler at Cal Poly. Liddell had the grappling background that allowed him to hold his own and not panic if it did in fact go to the ground. And when he sprawled, it wasn’t with the idea to simply prevent being taken down, but to also get the fight back to where he wants it to be. Bisping’s takedown defense has improved, but is still only good enough to make it hard – but not impossible – for a good wrestler to take him to the ground. Once the inevitable happens, Bisping is still completely lost and at the mercy of his opponent.

Just imagine Bisping, who was overwhelmed by Miller’s competitive but comparatively mediocre grappling skills, having to fight someone like Chael Sonnen or Mark Munoz. As things stand now, he’d be smothered and pounded into the canvas.

Bisping’s next fight is speculated to be against Demian Maia, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert with an above-average grappling game. He can and will get Bisping to the ground, but unlike Miller, he’s going to be able to do something to Bisping.

It’s easy with all the resentments and apprehension that fans have towards Bisping to take him to task, but it’s not entirely his fault. As I’ve written countless times on this space, European and especially UK fighters have a severe grappling deficiency owing to the lack of competitiveness on lower levels and absence of high-level amateur wrestling programs. That makes becoming an MMA fighter and making the move to the highest level of the sport a precarious, if not dangerous, proposition. Paul Daley, Dan Hardy, and others have shown the same problems Bisping has: they are contenders until the moment someone with enough skill and gas left in their tank secures a takedown.

It’s not impossible for Michael Bisping to do something to address this problem, but the time to do so was yesterday and he faces an uphill battle. With children and a family to care for, Bisping won’t and can’t be expected to make the move stateside. But there has to be a sacrifice made somewhere if he or any other British fighter ever expects to hold a title in the UFC.

*****

Tom Lawlor’s entrances
Last Saturday, Lawlor fought in the last Facebook prelim against Middleweight phenom Chris Weidman. He lost (Weidman is on a tear and I expect him to be in a position for a title shot by the end of 2012), but he won our hearts with his latest entrance. Even better, though, was his turn at the weigh-ins where he showed up dressed as Steven Seagal:

*****

Chael Sonnen’s mental illness

Sonnen  is an incredible creep, highly unlikable, a liar, a cheater, brash, and irritating. Thankfully, though, he’s also batshit crazy. This makes him at least entertaining, even when he’s being intolerable.

*****

More “free” MMA than ever before
With UFC on Fox now behind us, we’re set to see more specials on Fox, Fuel, and FX in the next few months. As a bonus, they’ve learned their lesson from JDS/Cain, and Fox Network specials will have a minimum of two fights. It’s little consolation for those who decided to forego the Facebook prelims or didn’t know about them and missed a fantastic display from Benson Henderson and Clay Guida.

*****

Too much MMA
One of the things MMA fans have complained about over the past year – and I’m certainly one of them – is burnout. At certain times the UFC has operated at a blistering pace, putting on as many as six events in as many weeks. Add that to the weekly (and fantastic) Bellator cards and it becomes a bit too much to take. But let’s put this in perspective: remember when we’d get a UFC once every six to eight weeks? Not only was the wait killing us, but if you’re like me and had the occasional obligation on a Saturday night and missed a card, you had to wait another month or two before you got to see a decent fight again. In that sense, maybe too much MMA isn’t such a bad thing after all.

More Fight of the Year Candidates in the next five weeks (or would be if Shogun and Henderson hadn’t fought last Saturday)
UFC 140 is just two weeks away – I know – and features Mark Hominick taking on the Korean Zombie, Chan Sung Jung, on the undercard. As star-studded as the card as a whole is – it’s a triple bill featuring Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida, Frank Mir vs. Antonio Minotauro Nogueira, and Tito Ortiz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira – Hominick and the Zombie are all but guaranteed to steal the show. Then, just a few weeks later, we get Brock Lesnar taking on Alistair Overeem in the main event of UFC 141 and in the semi-main event a fight featuring two of the most aggressive Lightweights in the world, Donald Cerrone and Nate Diaz. And a lot of people seem to be sleeping on the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale between coaches Michael Bisping and Jason “Mayhem” Miller, which I think is going to surprise a lot of people with its intensity. It could be a thoroughly competitive, entertaining affair. Well, so long as Bisping doesn’t stick his chin out and skip in a straight circle like an idiot.

*****

Am I missing something? Probably. But clearly, there’s a lot to be thankful for and a lot to look forward to in the weeks, months, and years to come. So when you’re at your table tomorrow and your elderly grandmother asks you to lead the family in saying grace, take the hands of those next to you and tell everyone that you’re thankful to God and everyone else for the Minotauro brothers, the Korean Zombie, horse meat, and Mayhem.

Amen.