Richlen Faces The Pain (WMMA3 UFC Diary, Part 10)

[Gus Richlen Was Wrong]

LAS VEGAS, 2/1/14:

I guess I couldn't blame Dana White for having the strange look on his face when I fell out of the gap that mysteriously opened up in his office. Someone used to seeing insane knockouts and submissions doesn't see eyes from other dimensions (or something like that) very often.

"So you're the representative she's sent me?" he asked as I picked myself up.

I nodded, holding out my hand for a handshake, which he accepted. "Yes, sir. Ms. Yakumo sent me."

It was a shock to the MMA world when it was announced that the Fertitta brothers had entered into a partnership with the mysterious Gensokyo Enterprises, owned by the Scarlet sisters and administrated by the equally mysterious Yukari Yakumo. Touhou fans were stunned that the game universe actually somehow existed, MMA fans couldn't believe Zuffa had become co-owned by some absolute unknowns, and I couldn't believe that I, a random fan, had been chosen to represent the partnership as the new booker, although Joe Silva and Sean Shelby would be kept on as advisors.

Dana sat back down in his chair as I sat across from him. "So I'm guessing she's filled you in on the details of your job?"

"Most of them."

"Well, let me go over them again. We're giving you almost complete control. You have to keep our TV contracts going, keep the fighters happy, and keep the fans happy. Just to make sure you can pull that off, we're giving you almost total control over the whole pocketbook as well. Obviously, I don't want you hiring a bunch of f***ing nobodies and paying them more than our champions get paid but we want the best that we can get. Otherwise, go nuts, OK?"

"Understood, sir."

"Good. So, how are you going to start?"




A few days later, he got his answer. Several of them, in fact.

I dug into the pocketbook and started throwing the cash around. Satoshi Ishii was a huge get for the Heavyweight division but was painfully expensive. Eddie Alvarez wasn't much cheaper but I felt the Lightweight division needed him. Relatively cheaper were Damacio Page (Bantamweight), Ovince Saint Preux (Light Heavyweight)and Max Nunes (Middleweight). I also shortlisted a number of fighters, and to my surprise, Yukari managed to convince Dana to end his blacklisting of Paul Daley (stemming from the infamous suckerpunch of Josh Koscheck in 2010) and be open to signing Ben Askren.

UFC 167 (yes, this game kind of screws the numbering up) was swiftly booked, with two other events to follow. Welterweight remained without a champion, so I had a dilemma. Johny Hendricks obviously deserved another shot after the controversial loss to GSP, but who to put across from him: Rick Story, Dan Hardy, or Carlos Condit? I spent quite a bit of time mulling it over, eventually asking Silva for his advice. And thus the rematch between "Bigg Rigg" and "The Natural Born Killer" Condit was set, with Renan Barao making his first defense of his Bantamweight title in the co-main against the much-praised Takeya Mizugaki, a decision that did not take me long to make. I did, however, promise that Dominick Cruz would have a chance to reclaim the title he never lost from the winner.

And finally, the day came. Everyone on the card for 168 made weight and all was set to begin. Aside from the news that M-1 Global had fallen to High Level Regional and Vadim Finkelchtein forced out as CEO, not much else was going on. So it was fight time. Nine fights, including three prelims. Two title fights. Big boys at Heavyweight. A rising Featherweight star. It was time for my first real test as UFC Head Booker, which oddly fell on a Monday thanks to me forgetting to check the timing.



TREVOR SMITH VS. ANTONIO BRAGA NETO (Middleweight, Prelim): A generic Middleweight fight to start everyone off. Fairly evenly matched with not much to speak of but Smith would snag a 29-28 unanimous decision. Meanwhile, I looked over at the Scarlet sisters, who joined me for our first card in charge, and Flandre was considerably confused as to why anyone would take the nickname "Hot Sauce." (Good)

ALEXANDRA ALBU VS. ROXANNE MODAFFERI (Women's Bantamweight, Prelim): Although the division is rather thin at the moment, I felt like we needed to start sorting the wheat from the chaff. Enter this fight, where Albu would be trying to improve to 2-0 while "The Happy Warrior" just would try to move closer to a shot at Ronda Rousey. Albu would get mount midway through Rd1 off a judo throw but Modafferi let her do nothing with it. Rd2 began as a rather boring striking affair until Albu blocked a kick and turned it into another judo takedown, getting her back as time ran out on the round. Roxanne looked worn out but opened up her striking in Rd3, knocking a wobbly Albu down at one point. Unfortunately for her, Albu swept out of half guard and got full mount again before managing to take Modafferi's back of a botched sweep. Time ran out as she was trying to get a rear naked choke so Albu had to settle for a 29-28 UD win. Albu may be worth watching but she needs to show some serious growth before we throw her into the deeper end of the division. (Good)

MYLES JURY VS. KEVIN LEE (Lightweight, Prelim): This was one that Silva, Shelby, and Yukari all insisted I needed to book. Two rising stars, both with a golden future ahead. Lee got a takedown early in Rd1 but did absolutely nothing with it, to the point where I couldn't hear Remilla Scarlet's comment about Lee's wrestling over the booing. The ref stood them up but they still did nothing and I began regretting being talked into making this fight. Rd2 consisted of mild striking and two failed takedown attempts by Lee. I started wondering why I didn't accept that job booking for WWE instead. The striking got better in Rd3 but Lee failed two more takedown attempts before getting one to work towards the end of the fight. Yeech. Lee won a 29-28 UD but I felt we all lost. (Poor)

CONOR McGREGOR VS. DENNIS BERMUDEZ (Featherweight): Initially, this was going to be a prelim but I figured it'd be a good showcase for both men if they got a spot on the PPV instead. Either McGregor would continue his rise or Bermudez would stake his claim to a possible Top 5 opponent. The striking was even in Rd1 and Bermudez had him pushed back against the cage until it got reversed, and that's when McGregor walloped him with a big left, which knocked Bermudez down in the last seconds of the round. Bermudez was a lot more respectful of Conor's power after that, which slowed the fight down a good deal and wore McGregor out. McGregor took a 30-27 but there will need to be improvement before I consider giving him a stronger foe. (Very Poor)

BRANDON VERA VS. FRANK MIR (Heavyweight): These two faced off in 2006, with Vera winning by TKO. Mir would get a very early Rd1 takedown but Vera let him do nothing with it, even attempting subs from off his back. Frank got side control eventually but that's how the round would end. He missed the first takedown of Rd2 but got the second, only for Vera to sweep him off and get up. Mir ended up badly gassed and shot for another takedown, but missed. Rd3 saw Vera attempt to do stuff but Mir keep backing up. That's it. Vera got a 29-28 UD and I could feel the disapproval coming from Dana White, seated not too far away from me. This first attempt at making a UFC card was going badly. (Poor)

KYLE KINGSBURY VS. ANTHONY PEROSH (Light Heavyweight): I threw this in because I figured there would be at least one finish before this one. Now I needed this fight to save my ass. Not much happened in Rd1 other than Perosh missing the first takedown but getting the second. There was striking, to say the best, in Rd2 before Perosh got another takedown and pretty much got stuck there for the rest of the round. Perosh missed two more takedowns in the first half of Rd3 and I began wondering what was on RAW. That changed when Perosh got one ninety seconds before the end of the fight and was able to work his way into getting Kingsbury in a guillotine choke to get the submission at 4:40 of Rd3. "Hippo," I love you. You just saved me from getting a worse scolding from Dana than I was going to get. (Decent)

MANNY GAMBURYAN VS. ERIK KOCH (Featherweight): This was Shelby's idea. Assumption is that we will have a clearer picture of where Koch stands in the division, and possibly giving McGregor an optional opponent. After McGregor had trouble with Bermudez, I don't think so, Sean. Koch impressed Flandre and I both early with his striking before getting a Greco-Roman slam on Manny. He would then hit several huge knees to the side of the TUF 5 runner-up before attempting Hold Number 688: ARMBAR! and nearly getting the tap, but Gamburyan managed to slip out with a minute left in Rd1. Both would trade sub attempts but neither would get anywhere close as time ran out on the round. That round alone made me feel relief after how bad the card had been going thus far. That feeling left quickly in Rd2 as they engaged in some weak striking before Manny pushed Koch against the cage, only for it to get reversed. It took the ref to break the monotony. Koch failed a takedown and got pushed against the cage to end that round. Rd3 was mostly grappling as both men were drained, with Koch missing a takedown. Twice. Koch would snag the UD (29-28 x2, 30-27) but Remilla had already moved over to sit next with Dana and the vibe I got from the body language in their conversation indicated that Koch is probably stuck on the prelims for a fight or two and Gamburyan may be there for good. (Awful)

RENAN BARAO (C) VS. TAKEYA MIZUGAKI (World Bantamweight Championship): Dominick Cruz has been badgering me for the winner of this fight. He will get it. Barao did a good job of avoiding the challenger's shots early and landed a HUGE right of his own to rock Mizugaki. He recovered, however, and resumed moving forward, launching huge bombs that almost landed. Unfortunately for him, "almost" cost him as Barao got a takedown and a guillotine to finish him off at 4:17 of Rd1. Cruz got in the cage right away as Joe Rogan was interviewing Barao and was quick to get in the champ's face. Thankfully it did not get too heated but both Scarlet sisters and Dana would make it clear that Cruz will not have to wait long. Now to keep Urijah Faber occupied. (Great)

JOHNY HENDRICKS VS. CARLOS CONDIT (World Welterweight Championship): Last time these two faced off, it was UFC 158 and Hendricks took a close UD. Joe Silva figured this would be the perfect time to run that one back and add some big stakes. With the retirement of GSP, we are assured a new champ tonight. Hendricks faked a takedown but Condit was the one who shot for it first, only to get shoved on his face and Hendricks to start pounding away. Carlos managed to finally get back up but he took a major beating in the process. Johny chose to put his wrestling to use but it ended up resulting in a bizarre sequence where they would repeatedly reverse and pin the other against the cage. Flandre got dizzy watching it. Hendricks would try to close in on Condit in Rd2 but Carlos landed a big punch that stunned him briefly. Hendricks would recover and grapple him into the cage again, but Condit would reverse it around and go for a takedown (SO MANY TAKEDOWNS). Hendricks tried to counter with a guillotine but couldn't stop the takedown. Oh, and both men were utterly gassed out before the round was even close to ending. We got striking to start Rd3 but Condit would counter a lousy right hand with a massive headkick to drop "Bigg Rigg" only to do nothing as he was still gassed. He tried to drop a bomb on him but got sucked into guard instead. Nevada, I am so sorry. Hendricks would attempt a triangle choke but got nothing. Rd4 opens with both men still at minus levels of energy. Didn't stop them from both throwing strikes with whatever they had left. Condit kept moving away from the shots and set up for a head kick. Sadly for him, it never got past set up as Hendricks landed a brutal left hook to knock him out at 2:16 in Rd4. Hendricks' gas tank needs work but the figurative heart on him is huge. Going to be very interesting to see who he gets for his first challenge. (Decent)




The numbers for the first show were staggering. Attendance was 18,524 for a $2,778,600 gate. As we would later learn, the PPV buyrate was a staggering 943,394 and an earning of $5,660,364. Critically, it was merely an average PPV results-wise but the commercial results were decent enough. The Bantamweight title fight got Fight Of The Night honors and Barao got another bonus for Submission of The Night. Hendricks, the new Welterweight king, had the only Knockout so it was easy to give him the bonus for that.



Afterwards, there was a mild celebration amongst Gensokyo Enterprises. We knew it should have been a better card, but as Dana White would tell us before he left for the press conference, "There's only one way to go, guys, and it's up."

I hope he's right....

*TO BE CONTINUED*

[Gus Richlen Was Wrong]

PART TWO:

Our roster did not escape UFC 167 unscathed. Along with our regular medical suspensions, Roxanne Modafferi suffered a pec tear that would keep her out at least another month and a half, and Antonio Braga Neto suffered a nasty facial injury that would keep him out for the next several months. Manny Gamburyan, meanwhile, chose to take a leave of absence for personal reasons, and Yukari told him to take as much time as he needed. And now we had to get Brandon Vera resigned. It took some waiting, but we were eventually successful, although it was another hefty contract. Dana already began warning us to be more careful.

Fortunately, we did expand our Women's Bantamweight roster by signing Rin Nakai. We realized that the division needed more players to challenge the champion, Ronda Rousey, who would be defending her title soon. Against whom, we were not yet certain.

In the meantime, we had two cards to look forward to: a Fight Night in Connecticut headlined by Gray Maynard and Diego Sanchez in a match that had fans salivating the moment we announced it, and UFC 168: Weidman vs. Machida. We chose to then add a UFC On FOX show, headlined by Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis defending his title against the former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez. By Flandre Scarlet's suggestion, we would be loading the card again.

Other than camp changes and Max Nunes officially joining the roster, everything was quiet until UFC Fight Night: Maynard vs. Sanchez....

And right before weigh-ins, Dana sent me the text, and I went racing over to where he and the Scarlets were. "Please tell me this isn't something too disastrous," I got out as I tried to catch my breath.

"Well, depends if you consider losing a heavyweight contender as 'not too disastrous,'" Dana replied. "Mark Hunt just announced he's retiring after his next fight."

I was stunned. It felt as if "The Super Samoan" was going to be in this sport forever. But now, in his mid-40s, he'd decided to hang up the gloves. Now I had two major tasks ahead: who to book in his swan song, and who to start signing to fill the void. My mind was so preoccupied with those that I had a hard time focusing on the fights the following evening.



CARLOS AUGUSTO INOCENTE FILHO VS. OMARI AKHMEDOV (Light Heavyweight, Prelim): The division suffered from a huge gap between the top fifteen and the rest of the division. This was to see if either man could make a good case for a spot in that fifteen. Both men were fairly equal in striking in Rd1 but Inocente managed to stuff a takedown midway through the round. It was much of the same, missed takedown included, early in Rd2 but then Akhmedov managed to catch the Brazilian off guard with a successful takedown. Inocente threatened with a couple of submissions from his back but neither man could do anything before the round ended. Akhmedov got a takedown in Rd3 but his foe would do a good job of defending against two americauna attempts. Inocente would eventually give up his back and Akhmedov would sink in a rear naked choke but Inocente would hold out until the final horn. Akhmedov got the UD (30-27, 29-28 x2), and certainly got a lot of people's attention. (Good)

JARED ROSHOLT VS. GERONIMO DOS SANTOS (Heavyweight, Prelim): Heavyweight was another thin division for us, and once again, we would be out to sort the possible contenders from the career prelim guys. Neither Dana nor Yukari were thrilled about this bit of matchmaking, considering Rosholt's penchant for boring decisions. That turned out to be an empty fear when Rosholt got the takedown and instantly began looking for the finish. "Mondragon" would block one sub attempt but would give up his back attempting to avoid mount and Rosholt would punch away until the ref stopped it for the TKO at 3:07 of the opening round. Suddenly, Jared Rosholt looked a lot better in the eyes of both fans and management. He would be due for a bigger fight soon. (Great)

JAMIE VARNER VS. GLEISON TIBAU (Lightweight): I booked this for a fun fight to open the main card. Both men were veterans of the fight game, especially Tibau, and this fight would be for more than just a paycheck and a possible bonus. This had the potential for someone to skyrocket up the ladder. Rd1 started with a striking stalemate, followed by Varner stuffing a takedown and muscling Tibau to the cage. Tibau would reverse and get the takedown. He would find himself unable to do anything with it, however. Rd2 saw Tibau go for six takedowns and all of them got stuffed, resulting in him being completely gassed out. Rd3 saw more failed takedown attempts from Tibau, and now Varner was blown up. Varner would finally go for a takedown of his own but it also got stuffed. Neither did much good striking thanks to exhaustion, so Varner went for the takedown twice again, missing the first but getting the second as time wound down. Tibau would survive and get the UD (29-28x3) but I was less than impressed. So much for the ladder. (Decent)

SCOTT JORGENSEN VS. SERGIO PETTIS (Bantamweight): I was excited for this, mostly since this was to be a showcase for the younger Pettis. Yukari pointed out that Jorgensen would be a very dangerous opponent to be putting him against. Pettis caught the WEC veteran flush with a spinning backfist in Rd1 but seemed to hurt his hand in the process. Jorgensen soon found himself hurt instead, however, with a good jab, and then a knee caught him flush and his legs went wobbly. Pettis swarmed in with punches, and Jorgensen was not a Weeble and thus he did fall down. Pettis would get mount but Jorgensen would get out into full guard to survive the round. Rd2 saw Jorgensen get an early takedown but Pettis defended well on the ground. The ref eventually had to stand them up, but Rd2 ended with nothing. Rd3 was a stalemate for much of it, but Jorgensen eventually got the takedown. And that was all that happened in that round. Jorgensen would take a Majority Descision (28-28, 29-28x2) in what many labeled an upset. Many, that is, except Yukari Yakumo, who was already talking about who to match Jorgensen up with next. (Poor)

ROBERT WHITEFORD VS. RANI YAHYA (Featherweight): Booked solely as an action fight, not so much for ranking effect. Lots of clinching and dirty boxing before Yahya got the takedown. Yahya would work to get mount but it took a lot of time off the clock. Yahya had to play defense as Whiteford came out firing in Rd2, and Whiteford was able to deny him a takedown. Yahya would get one late but it became clear that he would be using those more for defensive purposes as Whiteford was going in hard with the striking. Whiteford's striking game wore him out in Rd3, and Yahya caught a kick and got another takedown. Whiteford defended well against sub attempts so Yahya decided to stand up of his own accord. That lasted for a few seconds before he got another takedown and actually locked in a kneebar, but time ran out before he could get the tapout. It was an easy UD for Yahya (30-27x3) but also rather one-sided. Still, despite the fight being less than ideal, we knew we had to get him a top 15 opponent next. (Poor)

ERICK SILVA VS. B.J. PENN (Welterweight): Yukari, Remilla Scarlet, and I all booked this with the intent of someone getting an easy win. Yukari and Remilla wanted one for Silva. I not only wanted one for Penn, I wanted a reason to make Silva our first roster cut of our regime. Silva came out firing early to start Rd1 but Penn would get the takedown. The former Welterweight and Lightweight Champion would quickly take side control and slap on a kimura that Brock Lesnar would be proud of to force the submission at 2:48 of the opening round. Penn survived to fight another day, and I moved closer to my goal of cutting a major bit of divisional dead weight. Yukari, however, made it clear that she had a match in mind for Silva, which would force me to shelve my plans. (Great)

GRAY MAYNARD VS. DIEGO SANCHEZ (Lightweight): Two men who were contenders, now both in need of a win. This fight had violence written all over it. Maynard got a quick takedown to open Rd1 but chose to stand up when it resulted in nothing. Sanchez would go for one of his own but Maynard would stop that from happening. Sanchez got pushed into the cage but he would reverse and send Maynard to the canvas with a Greco-Roman slam. Maynard would try to sub him off his back but Sanchez was able to switch to side control instead. Rd2 opened with Sanchez missing a jab, leaving him open to Maynard unloading with right hands. Sanchez went all wobbly from them and went for a takedown, but Maynard would not only stuff it but get one of his own. He would try to stand up after not being able to do anything, but it took him a while to get out of Sanchez's guard so he could do so. It would be a mistake, as Sanchez would get a takedown. Maynard would catch him with a triangle choke from his back and it was deep, only for Sanchez to do his best Rampage Jackson impersonation and powerbomb him! Maynard had to pull Sanchez into side control to avoid getting TKOed but almost got submitted by an armbar as a result. A tired Sanchez couldn't get the takedown in Rd3 and Maynard would get one instead. Sanchez would attempt to go for a triangle off his back but all he did was surrender side control, with his back soon following. He would swiftly be flattened out as Maynard would secure the rear naked choke, and at 4:25 of Rd3, Sanchez had no choice but to tap. Maynard locked up a possible contender bout down the road, while we now had to decide what to do with Sanchez moving forward. (Great)




Where it was a Fight Night as opposed to a PPV, we didn't expect much for the gate (7,500 for a gate of $1,125,000), but a critically decent show had a great commercial performance otherwise. Penn vs. Silva took FOTN, KOTN went to Rosholt, and Maynard got a well-deserved SOTN bonus.

Injury-wise, we got off better than expected. Pettis and Jorgensen would only be out about a couple of months each as would Silva, but Guto Inocente was out for up to six months with a busted foot. What was more concerning, however, was that B.J. Penn asked for time off. We had plans lined up for him, but leaves of absence didn't get refused.

We now had a PPV to look forward to, and I could sense some big things were ahead on the horizon....

*TO BE CONTINUED*

[Gus Richlen Was Wrong]

PART 3:

Everything was quiet after UFC Fight Night: Maynard vs. Sanchez, and we were beginning to get ready for UFC 168: Weidman vs. Machida when the bombshell hit.

Anderson Silva was retiring.

We shouldn't have been surprised, considering how long he'd been in the sport and the severity of his broken leg, but it still came as a shock. As we converged on the MGM Grand Garden Arena for UFC 168, it was all that anyone really cared to talk about. There were even opinions being voiced online that neither "The Spider" nor Mark Hunt were happy with the new management and this was their form of protest. It was ridiculous, of course, but we could not get away from the rumors fast enough.



BRAD SCOTT VS. URIAH HALL (Middleweight, Prelim): There was no real reason to set this up other than Dana trying to give Hall every chance imaginable. Scott attempted a takedown early in Rd1 but Hall stuffed it and got a takedown of his own. Scott was able to sweep the position around and end up on top. He failed to lock in two separate arm triangle attempts and the ref stood them up once it became clear that Hall was simply going to not let Scott do anything on the ground. Not much else happened past that. Rd2 saw Scott swarm Hall with punches but fail on a takedown as Hall worked to drag him down instead to no success at all. Hall would then get hit with a leg kick and two huge right hands, allowing Scott to grapple him into the cage (a scene that got way too familiar for us after the first couple of shows). Hall got hit again with more big rights to open the last round as Scott began to wear himself out by going nuts with the strikes. Not much other than some strike trading occurred until a few seconds left as Scott went for a wicked leg kick but accidentally caught Hall downstairs instead. Hall was able to continue and the last few seconds ticked away with nothing happening. Somehow, one of the judges thought Hall won the fight but thankfully the other two got it right for Scott to score the split (29-28, 28-29, 29-28). None of us were sure where to go with either of them from there. [Odd note: the Report file gets saved as Scott_Hall.] (Good)

JESSICA ANDRADE VS. JESSICA EYE (Women's Bantamweight, Prelim): More sorting in the division. Andrade showed off her striking prowess early in Rd1 and got a takedown, only for Eye to scramble and reverse positions. She decided to just let Andrade stand up and after a bit of a stalemate, Andrade got a takedown to end the round. Rd2 was a striking stalemate. Rd3 was the same plus a failed takedown from Andrade. Andrade would pick up the UD (30-27x2, 29-28) but no one cared. So much for sorting. (Very Poor)

CHARLES OLIVEIRA VS. CLAY GUIDA (Featherweight): Both Flandre Scarlet and Sean Shelby pushed for this fight on the basis of it being a potential Fight Of The Night. I booked it with the hope of sorting out the crowded field at 145. "Do Bronx" failed a takedown early in Rd1, and the fight became a striking battle, with Guida using his movement to cause problems, including dodging another takedown attempt. RD2 was preceded by a Guida belch. [That actually shows up in the game if he's booked.] Guida decided to turn Rd2 into a grappling contest and had Oliveira on the cage at one point, only for the Brazilian to turn it around. His attempt to get a takedown off it resulted in Guida breaking to the center of the cage, and he easily avoided another takedown attempt after that. Rd3 turned into another grappling contest, to the dismay of the crowd and, from what I could see, of Dana White. Oliveira finally got a takedown but Guida's defense was too good and the fight ended on the ground. Once again, we had an odd judge call as one of them gave Oliveira all thre rounds but the other two went in "The Carpenter"'s favor. Guida's split win (29-28, 27-30, 29-28) fell in the alarming pattern on Guida's most recent fights. I had a sinking feeling that this PPV was going to go horribly wrong. (Abysmal)

JIM MILLER VS. EDDIE ALVAREZ (Lightweight): For Alvarez's debut, we decided to throw him into the deep end of the division. Miller was chosen for his gatekeeper status, all while acknowledging that he could pull off a major upset. The fans were buzzing for this, and after the clunker that was the previous match, we needed these two to hit it out of the park. Miller went for a quick takedown in Rd1 and Alvarez couldn't catch him with a guillotine to stop it. Miller did well to keep control, at least until he let his guard down and Alvarez caught him in a surprise triangle with armbar and got the sub at 2:38. Alvarez had just made a good case for a contender fight, at least to most. I felt that he needed to have a much more dominant performance since he spent much of the fight on his back. (Poor)

SATOSHI ISHII VS. BRENDAN SCHAUB (Heavyweight): Another debut, this time for Ishii. We needed to add more bodies to the division and he was the best choice available. Our hope was that he could establish himself as a major threat. Schaub came out firing in Rd1 and avoided an Ishii takedown. Ishii would miss another one as Schaub completely dominated the opening frame. Rd2 saw Ishii miss on a third attempt and later fail to slam Schaub. Another takedown attempt failed and he got caught with a big right hand as I started having a bad feeling about the new signing. Rd3 opened with the exact same thing as Ishii went for a takedown and got caught with a big right to stop it. And then Ishii, proving that he learned nothing, DID THE EXACT SAME THING AGAIN AND GOT THE EXACT SAME RESULT. I couldn't blame the fans for chanting "BULLSHIT" at that point. Fortunately, Ishii finally got the takedown off a judo trip. Schaub let him do nothing, however, and the fight ended there. Schaub predictably took the UD (30-27x2, 29-28). There went Ishii's moment. And there went any chance that the PPV would be good. (Very Poor)

ALEXANDER GUSTAFSSON VS. CHAEL SONNEN (Light Heavyweight): Once again, we had a fight that would sort out a division. Both men came off losses, the Swede to Jon Jones, Sonnen to Rashad Evans. One of those two would get back into contention, while the other would have a very long road ahead. After a stalemate in striking to start Rd1, Gustafsson easily muscled Chael to the cage for a short period. Once he backed off, it was back to striking for the rest of the round. Rd2 saw Gustafsson display his striking mastery, at least until Sonnen landed a beautiful counterpunch that sent "The Mauler" crashing. Sonnen attempted to follow with a big right hand bomb but Gustafsson was able to catch him in half guard. Sonnen spent the entire rest of the round unable to get a better position. Rd3 saw the two engage in a grappling struggle, something which lasted almost the entire round. In a bit of a shock to quite a few, Sonnen would score the split (28-29, 29-28, 29-28). The match felt OK to me but most others were not impressed. This show had turned into a nightmare. (Abysmal)

CHRIS WEIDMAN (C) VS. LYOTO MACHIDA (World Middleweight Championship): This was our last chance to salvage the show, and I knew that regardless of the result, Dana was going to rip my head off the moment we went off the air. But we would at least hopefully had a doozy of a main event, with the former Light Heavyweight Champion Machida taking on the man who dethroned Anderson Silva. Weidman failed a takedown early in Rd1, so it turned into a striking contest until Weidman made another unsuccessful attempt. All I could think was, "Here we go again." More striking opened Rd2 but Machida could not stop a takedown this time. And then nothing happened for quite a while until they were both stood up by the ref. Fans had already begun to give up and leave as Rd3 began. Machida had begun to find great success with leg kicks and Weidman was now clearly struggling. More striking exchanges happened as Weidman decided to close in for a takedown to give his legs some relief, but Machida would have none of it. Two further attempts preceded by good combos were left empty by the smart Machida. Rd4 opened with Weidman catching a kick and getting a takedown. Machida, sadly, would let him do nothing with it. The ref stood them up only for Weidman to attempt another takedown and fail as the round ended. Rd5 saw Weidman get success on a beautiful combo, only for him to get clipped as he went for a takedown. And another combo from Weidman resulted in another missed takedown. Machida then walked right into a single leg takedown, and at that point, the Scarlet sisters got up and left. They were as sick of that show as everyone else. When it became clear that the fight was going to end there, Yukari opened up a gap and left through it. Weidman would retain by UD (48-47x3) but nobody won. At all. Except for Jake Shields, who started blowing my phone up with texts asking for the next shot. It would be either him or Michael Bisping, and whoever got the fight would have to make it better than this. (Abysmal)




It was not a good sign when our FOTN went to the opening fight between Brad Scott and Uriah Hall. Alvarez had the only finish and got SOTN. We may have done good commercially (17,886 attendance for a $2,682,900 gate; 1,081,844 buys for $6,491,064), but the fans and the analysts savaged the abysmal show. Dana looked embarrassed to be there as he gave Weidman his title back, and I was embarrassed.

To make matters worse, Chael Sonnen's shoulder got screwed up during the fight, sidelining him for the next month or two at least. Weidman also was suspended by NSAC for two months after all the leg kicks he suffered. And we also had to renew Jim Miller's contract.

That night, I walked over to the press room, where we would have the post-fight press conference. Dana was already waiting and I started apologizing profusely, but he stopped me mid-sentence. "Look, I've had plenty of bad shows on my watch too. You just gotta f***ing brush it off and move on. Next show will be better."

I hoped he was right.


*TO BE CONTINUED*

[Gus Richlen Was Wrong]

PART 4:

Dana told me everything would be all right. As we approached UFC On FOX: Pettis vs. Melendez, I had my doubts. Thankfully, after re-signing Jim Miller, everything went quiet until that night.




[NOTE: I accidentally hit Backspace and lost my write-ups of the first two fights, so here's my attempt to recover, sorta.]

TIM ELLIOT VS. RICHIE VACULIK (Flyweight, Prelim): Nothing happened. Seriously. It was uninspired striking and Elliot failing takedowns. Elliot won the UD (30-27x3) but no one cared. (Very Poor)

BRIAN STANN VS. DYLAN ANDREWS (Middleweight, Prelim): Intended as a fun fight. Both men had decent striking in Rd1, but Stann opened up with huge shots in Rd2, knocking Andrews down twice. He tried the same in Rd3 but was worn down and Andrews played good defense. To the shock of a lot of people, it went to a majority draw (28-28, 29-28 Andrews, 28-28). We doubted we would run it back but both men certainly impressed. (Average)

RIN NAKAI VS. JULIANNA PENA (Women's Bantamweight, Prelim): It was Nakai's debut and Pena's first test as a rising contender in a weak division. Both women traded failed takedown attempts to start Rd1, but Nakai kept going for it even when Pena was easily shrugging her off. Pena would soon get one of her own, however. As the round came to a close, Nakai would use a kimura to reverse into top position, something that Flandre Scarlet found impressive. Pena whiffed on some early Rd2 strikes but Nakai would whiff on a subsequent takedown. And then of course Pena got it instead as I began to wonder if this was a smart acquisition. And then I blinked and missed it as Pena began unloading with strikes and the ref ended it with just two seconds left in the round. Pena proved mighty damn good against someone for whom we had plenty of hype. Nakai, on the other hand, had us shaking our heads. (Good)

MIKE PIERCE VS. RORY MacDONALD (Welterweight): Both men were coming off hard losses: Pierce in the controversial match with the long-gone Rousimar Palhares, MacDonald in a tough split to Robbie Lawler. Both men were desperate to get back on track here. Pierce ducked a spinning backfist early in Rd1, but it then descended into a cage grappling stalemate, with both men reversing positions CONSTANTLY. Thankfully, Rory got a trip takedown to end the madness. Scrambling ensued, which ended up with Pierce turtled and taking huge shots but getting saved by the horn. Rd2 started with some striking until MacDonald pushed Pierce into the cage. After about almost a minute, MacDonald would get another takedown. Unfortunately for him, Pierce would shove him back up and get top position in the scramble that followed. From the crowd reaction, I would have thought I was watching Rory's fight with Jake Ellenberger again. That was not a positive reference. Rd3 saw both men tired yet Rory started hitting good leg kicks. MORE CAGE GRAPPLING! Rory would get another takedown to end that, thankfully. Pierce would again push him up and again won the scramble. Only problem was MaDonald did enough to win on the scorecards and get the UD (30-27x3). Rory got the win and yet not one of us felt like giving him a bigger challenge... yet. (Poor)

KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV VS. RAFAEL DOS ANJOS (Lightweight): This one had everyone buzzing, as Khabib was undefeated and RDA was a possible contender. The winner would likely have Benson Henderson lined up in a contender fight with a strong enough performance. RDA was unable to get a takedown and got clinched by Khabib. He did some cage work but then stepped back and tried a spin kick, and it turned out that his striking was sloppy as all get out. RDA would take advantage and land several good blows of his own before going for a takedown, only for Khabib to turn him to the cage and miss half his strikes. Rd2 had grappling. Lots of it. Too much in the opinion of the ref. Only thing is more happened, but this time RDA got him down and got the mount. And to the shock of everyone, he would rain down strikes, forcing the ref to end it and handing Khabib his first career loss by TKO at 4:31 of the round. RDA had locked up a #1 Contender fight, at least in the eyes of Remilla and Flandre Scarlet. I had another fight I was keeping an eye on but RDA could have sealed a spot in my book as well. (Average)

FABRICIO WERDUM VS. DANIEL CROMIER (Heavyweight): With Cain Velasquez booked to defend his title in May against Travis Browne, we decided that this was likely a contender fight, acknowledging that DC would likely refuse to fight his teammate (CAYYYN VO-LAS-KEZ!!!!). DC started Rd1 by closing in on Werdum with strikes and escaping an attempted takedown. Werdum seemed more interested in using the takedowns to chase Cormier off, but it didn't work as DC would grapple with him standing. Rd2 had Werdum continuing the defensive takedowns, to no success. Or at least until he reversed a grapple and got a takedown. Werdum would then get an arm triangle locked in but DC would manage to slip out. Rd3 saw both fighters exhausted. As a result, nothing happened until midway through when Werdum failed a takedown and got shoved on his face. DC could do nothing, though, and Werdum was able to get back up. He got some good striking to end the fight and claim the UD (29-28x3). Not too entertaining, but it would shake up the division at least. Only now Werdum would definitely have to win his way to a shot. (Poor)

ANTHONY PETTIS (C) VS. GILBERT MELENDEZ (World Lightweight Championship): This fight had fans going insane when we announced it. UFC and WEC Champion vs. Strikeforce and WEC Champion. All of us were hoping for a barnburner. Rd1 started with good striking and Melendez having to avoid a lot. Pettis would dodge a jab and hit a violent flying knee. That prompted Melendez to go for a successful takedown to try and slow Pettis down. The champ would try to escape but time ran out as he ended up turtled. Rd2 saw Melendez get another takedown and hold the champ down for some time, or at least try to. Pettis would repeatedly force his challenger to defend against subs, and with under a minute left they got stood up. Rd3 saw Pettis start to fire away with strikes but Melendez proved ready for it, although Pettis was able to avoid a takedown. Melendez would continue to easily handle all of Pettis' strikes and would drop him with a brilliant counter right. He would ultimately take the back and almost secure a rear naked choke before the round ended. Rd4 saw both men trade strikes before Pettis avoided a Melendez takedown. Melendez would have more good striking and movement for the rest of the round and it became clear that Pettis would have to go for broke in Rd5. Rd5 would see Melendez catch Pettis off a missed jab and SLAM him. Pettis would keep him stuck in guard, however, and the ref would stand them up for the rest of the fight. With a UD (48-47, 49-46x2), Melendez captured the Lightweight crown. After the disappointing loss the prior year to then-champ Benson Henderson, many people felt that this was a long time coming. All I could think of was who to line up as his first opponent. (Awful)




Awful apparently was a step up from abysmal, but not by much. We only had an attendance of 6,005 and a gate of $900,750. Pena would be a double bonus winner, for FOTN (with Nakai) and TKO. Needless to say, I was disappointed. AGAIN. Meanwhile, Melendez, Nakai, Werdum, Pierce, and Nurmagomedov all suffered injuries and would be out with medical suspensions, with Pierce also deciding to take a leave of absence.

I openly admitted at the press conference afterwards that I was less than pleased with how the last two events had gone. Dana had assured me prior that we were doing better, slowly but surely. But I was already losing faith in my abilities. Perhaps Yukari had made a mistake after all....


*TO BE CONTINUED*

[Gus Richlen Was Wrong]

PART 5:

I came to hate reading MMA news sites. Almost every opinion column condemned my ability to book fights and the entity known as Gensokyo Enterprises for hiring me, an unknown newcomer, in the first place. Dana White gave me his advice, which was, essentially, "F*** the opinions, they're not doing your job."

I found myself unable to ignore the criticism.

There was only one solution, I knew: Make sure that UFC 169: Aldo vs. Mendes II reversed the trend of disaster.





PHIL HARRIS VS. DARREN UYENOYAMA (Flyweight, Prelim): Sorting. Also, Uyenoyama's name made Flandre Scarlet laugh every time she heard it. Funny Name Guy (as Flandre called him) spent a good chunk of the first half of Rd1 keeping Harris stuck against the cage after a missed takedown. The ref had no choice but to separate them, and Funny Name Guy started peppering Harris with strikes to end the round. Rd2 was quiet outside of light striking and the round ending like Rd1 mostly started, with a failed takedown keeping Harris on the cage. Rd3 saw Funny Name Guy start with good strikes but Harris would get the clinch and drag him down. Unfortunately for him, Funny Name Guy kept hunting for submissions from the bottom, and at 4:32, he finally got it with a guillotine. Everyone knew the name of Darren Uyenoyama now, even if it was unwieldy. Flandre, on the other hand, chose to stick with her nickname, and I was not about to argue with an crazy centuries old little vampire girl. (Decent)

KRZYSZTOF SOSZYNSKI VS. LORENZ LARKIN (Middleweight, Prelim): More sorting, plus it was our required generic Middleweight fight. Rd1 saw the two trade shots for most of the fight, with not much to move past a stalemate until Larkin had to avoid a takedown. Neither fighter looked too pleased as the round ended or as Rd2 began. Larkin had to settle for jabs and was unable to stop Soszynski from getting a takedown. Larkin's ground defense proved too good, though, as the round ended with Soszynski stuck in guard. Rd3 opened with a bang as Larking dodged several shots and dropped his foe with a push kick before unloading with punches. Soszynski would recover just enough to pull half guard, for a few seconds anyway as Larkin would get back up, deciding he wanted to keep the fight standing. Soszynski tried throwing punches like it was nobody's business but a flying knee sent him crashing back down again. Larkin went all out with punches but got pulled into half guard again. He would manage to stand up again, hoping to repeat the sequence of events but with a finish. Soszynski would oblige him by throwing a right that got ducked under and he would be knocked clean out by a Larkin counter right at 2:55. Only two fights in and we had a better event than the last two, and Larkin was incredibly impressive in victory. We penciled him in for a potential Top 15 fight. (Average)

ROBBIE LAWLER VS. DONG HYUN KIM (Welterweight): We had a wealth of talent in the 170 lb. division, so we opted to make a fight that would be both entertaining and ranking-relevant. Lawler started Rd1 by outclassing "Stun Gun" in the striking department and avoiding a takedown. Both men showed good movement, with neither having the most luck with strikes. Kim would get a takedown a few seconds left to close the round on a high note. Rd2 saw Kim take Lawler down off a caught head kick attempt in the first few seconds. Lawler defended well and was eventually (emphasis on that word) able to force Kim to stand but Kim would drop back down into side control. The Korean could do nothing with it as the round ended, however. Rd3 saw Kim strike, strike, strike, and eventually get another takedown. He took the UD (30-27x3) but I was stunned with how one-sided it was. Lawler's defense made it rather tedious, sadly. (Awful)

NATE DIAZ VS. JOE LAUZON (Lightweight): Lightweight was also stacked with talent, and like the previous fight, we opted for a match that would be crowd-pleasing (hopefully) and title-relevant. Plus Diaz and Lauzon had somehow not faced each other in their entire time in the UFC. Lauzon would land two good right hands early in Rd1, but Diaz would get a takedown only for Lauzon to instantly get back to his feet. Diaz went for another one to no success, but a double leg got Lauzon down and scooted to the cage. Diaz would get Joe in a guillotine choke but Lauzon managed to keep it from being perfectly applied so Diaz had to let go and hope his arms didn't get worn down. Both men came out firing to start Rd2, and they spent much of the rest of the round doing so, Nate doing his mean mugging in the process. He would catch a body kick late and get the takedown. Lauzon turned up the power on his punches early in Rd3, but he used up the rest of his energy in doing so. Diaz spent the rest of the round just letting Lauzon fruitlessly attempt strikes. Diaz would take the split (28-29, 29-28, 29-28) and I enjoyed it at least. The reaction from the crowd was a bit more mixed, however. Mission did not feel accomplished. (Awful)

ANTONIO "BIGFOOT" SILVA VS. JOSH BARNETT (Heavyweight): Heavyweight was a much thinner division, so every fight was crucial to determine who would move closer to contention. Rd1 saw Barnett go for a takedown, only for Silva to sprawl and Barnett to end up turtled. Somehow, he managed to survive a heavy assault of strikes and get to his feet, but he went back down thanks to Silva getting a takedown. Silva got side control but nothing else. Rd2 saw Barnett open up his strikes, and "Bigfoot" was completely blown up before the halfway point. Rd3 was more of the same, with Silva wearing out even further. In desperation, he ended up telegraphing a head kick and Barnett ruined it all with a brutal right cross that knocked him clean out at 3:27. Barnett put himself back into contention with the knockout, while Silva now found himself at a difficult crossroads. (Great)

RONDA ROUSEY VS. SARA McMANN (World Women's Bantamweight Championship): We felt there was a dire lack of contenders for Rousey's title, but the Olympic wrestler McMann was the best option in our view. Lots of grappling in Rd1, with McMann using her wrestling to prevent Rousey from getting any sort of advantage. Unfortunately for McMann, the champ used her Olympic judo skills to throw McMann to the ground and move into side control. One armbar at 3:05 later, and Rousey notched a successful defense. As great a display as it was, we needed someone who would be a major threat to the Rowdy One's reign. (Very Poor)

JOSE ALDO VS. CHAD MENDES (World Featherweight Championship): Their previous matchup in 2012 ended in Aldo knocking Mendes out, but Mendes always argued that it was a result of Aldo illegally grabbing the fence. In the rematch, we hoped there would be no more controversy. Rd1 opened with a striking stalemate so Mendes went for a takedown, but Aldo would land a clean right hand to drop him. Mendes would survive the ensuing barrage and pull half guard. He managed full guard and forced Aldo to defend against a triangle choke attempt. Mendes would get the takedown in Rd2, and Aldo's attempt to scramble out of half guard resulted in him being turtled. He would eat a load of punches as he got back up, only to be taken down again. Rd3 saw Mendes get another takedown off a caught body kick, but Aldo was able to keep him in half guard until just over a minute left in the round when they got stood up. With half a minute left, Mendes would get another takedown on the gassed Aldo. Mendes swung for the fences to start Rd4 but a counter right sent him crashing to the ground, with Aldo following up with a deluge of punches. Mendes was able to pull half guard and survive, however, eventually moving to full guard. It proved to be the worst thing to happen to Aldo as he ended up caught in a guillotine choke and forced to submit at 4:39 as the Miami crowd erupted. Mendes had finally pulled it off. The King at 145 had fallen. And now we would have the difficult task of deciding what would happen next. (Decent)




We got savaged again by the media as they considered the PPV to be a poor effort. The fans thought it was decent enough, however (12,047 attendance for a gate of $1,807,050; 714,927 buys for $4,289,562), and that was all we cared about. Barnett vs. Bigfoot got FOTN, with Barnett snagging a second bonus for KOTN. The new Featherweight Champion claimed SOTN. Aldo, Bigfoot, Soszynski and McMann all got medical suspensions, with McMann getting the worst one (four months).

It was a small step up in event quality, but we had taken the right step forward. Now we had to take the next step.



*TO BE CONTINUED*

[Gus Richlen Was Wrong]

PART 6:

We felt like we were unable to get out of our string of bad events. And at some point, Dana's reassurances were going to ring painfully hollow. With the announcement made by Anthony Perosh that he was going to retire as well, we now had a roster that was beginning to give the appearance of unrest. Never mind that "The Hippo" was forty. With that said, we were able to land a major signing in Melvin Manhoef. The kickboxer was someone that Yukari and Remilla had their eyes on for some time, and now we had him.

Now we needed UFC 170: Velasquez vs. Browne to score big.



MIKE WILKINSON VS. NAM PHAN (Featherweight, Prelim): One problem that we faced with a sprawling division like Featherweight was a glut of talent, good and bad. At some point, we realized we would have to end some contracts. In the meantime, we had to see who would survive. Rd1 started with good counterstriking from both men until Phan countered a missed left with a brilliant right hook to send Wilkinson crashing to the canvas. Phan started unloading with punches and the ref stopped it, with Wilkinson popping right up and protesting the stoppage. Sure enough, it looked to be a fail by the ref. Nonetheless, Phan picked up a huge win at the 2:59 mark. It was a shame that it got f***ed up by the referee but there was not much we could do. (Great)

MAX NUNES VS. SEAN SPENCER (Middleweight, Prelim): Nunes was one of our previous big signings, and while Spencer was a tough first opponent, he also was suited to Nunes' style. The first round saw Nunes fail to get a takedown thanks to get defense by Spencer, and it stalled from there as Spencer kept staying out of range. The Swede would avoid an early Spencer takedown in Rd2 but Spencer continued to play good defense against Nunes' striking, getting a takedown not long after. Nunes used great ground defense to use a guillotine to take top position. Spencer was able to escape a dangerous armbar and block a kimura to end the round. Nunes again missed a takedown early in Rd3 but couldn't get it and so much of the round turned into a stalemate, with Nunes utterly gassed out. Commentary suggested the weight cut had something to do with it. The Swede finally got a late takedown but was too beat to defend against a triangle choke and Spencer got the tap at 4:09. Yukari was quick to tell me afterwards that Nunes would have to fight at Light Heavyweight if his weight cuts were going to be an issue. Considering I had just struck out on yet another signing, I was quick to agree. Spencer did pique some interest, though. (Average)

JAKE ELLENBERGER VS. JOSH KOSCHECK (Welterweight): Both men were on terrible skids, and while I was not intent on cutting the loser, Dana did inform me that it would take a lot to convince him to let me resign the loser afterwards. Both fighters spent much of the first round in a stalemate until Koscheck got a single leg takedown. The former collegiate wrestler found himself unable to do much with Ellenberger's defense and the round ended there. Rd2 saw Koscheck defend well against the striking of Ellenberger and Ellenberger avoid a takedown. Little else happened outside of good strikes and defense by Koscheck. Rd3 was a stalemate until midway when Koscheck got a takedown. He managed to get side control but nothing else before the fight ended. Koscheck managed to put a stop to his slide by UD (30-27x2, 29-28), simultaneously putting Ellenberger on even thinner ice. (Average)

WANDERLEI SILVA VS. TIM KENNEDY (Middleweight): Kennedy had specifically asked for this fight, calling Silva a steroid cheat and promising to ensure that "The Axe Murderer" would be stuck in prelims for the rest of his career. None of us decided to argue with the Army Ranger. Despite a decent kick to the ribs early in Rd1, Kennedy was able to get a quick takedown. Silva would keep him in guard and threaten with a triangle choke, but the second time he went for it Kennedy would take side control while avoiding. From there, he would get mount and drop elbow after elbow on Wanderlei until the ref stopped it at 4:20. Kennedy had just ensured himself a high rnnking opponent, while Wanderlei looked woefully past his PRIDE prime. Still, there had to be something for him.... Right? (Great)

JORGE MASVIDAL VS. JOSH THOMSON (Lightweight): More sorting, although Thomson was needing a win after the tough loss to Benson Henderson in January. Masvidal chose to use his wrestling to grapple "The Punk" into the cage early in Rd1. Thomson would use good striking to fight back, including a slicing elbow that left an ugly cut over one eye. Masvidal was able to escape a Muay Thai clinch but that was when the ref stopped the fight to check the cut. The doctor cleared Masvidal to keep fighting, and "Gamebred" ended the round avoiding a takedown. Rd2 saw both men use excellent striking and defense for the first half, but Thomson got backed into the cage, where Masvidal unloaded with big right hands. Thomson would get hammered with more and more blows until he fell to the ground and the ref stopped it at 2:50. Thomson was now stuck on a downward slide, but Masvidal had just added one hell of a finish to his resume. Where Thomson had failed in the title hunt, Masvidal was now poised to succeed. (Decent)

RICH FRANKLIN VS. VITOR BELFORT (Middleweight): Both men had put themselves back in the upper echelon of the division, and either man with a win would have sealed themselves a possible date with Chris Weidman, the champion. Franklin got a nice jab to open the first round but Belfort suddenly uncorked a flying knee to send him crashing down. Belfort seized the opportunity and unleashed a deluge of punches to get the TKO just 1:10 into the fight. Belfort had now added himself to the messy title picture, with Kennedy, Michael Bisping, and Luke Rockhold all wanting their turn as well. Our job was now getting extremely difficult. (Decent)

CAIN VELASQUEZ VS. TRAVIS BROWNE (World Heavyweight Championship): Browne had earned his shot with two highlight reel finishes in 2013 of Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett. Now he had to deal with the tough champion Velasquez. The champ used good striking to set up an early Rd1 takedown. He would then take side control and unload with punches to score the TKO at just 2:02. Browne did nothing. Absolutely nothing. It was the most dominant that Velasquez had been as champion against anyone not named Bigfoot Silva. We now had to see who would be able to challenge him next, and also to see if Browne could recover from a humiliating loss. (Great)




We finally did it. We snapped the string of bad shows with our first truly good one. Our commercial results were only decent (13,725 attendance for a gate of $2,058,750; 714,927 buys for $4,289,562) but we hardly cared about that. Tim Kennedy was a double bonus winner for both Fight (with Silva) and KO, while Spencer's submission, the only one of the night, got him the other bonus.

Franklin, Thomson, Browne, Silva, and Phan all had suspensions of either one or two months. Masvidal, meanwhile, had chosen to take time off right after his big win. But good news came that night: Chael Sonnen was ready to come back.

We were happy to be turning a corner, or at least seemingly turning a corner. We would have to get more booking done and run those cards in order to be sure. But the pressure had been alleviated... for now.


*TO BE CONTINUED*

[Gus Richlen Was Wrong]

PART 7:

After the relief that was UFC 170, we were ready to move forward. Already we had UFC 171 booked, and while there were complaints that Phil Davis was not worthy of a shot at Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones, we felt he was the best option. Mark Hunt's retirement fight was set for that card, against Stefan Struve. Meanwhile, Dana pressured me to put Conor McGregor on the main card despite my reservations. I gave him what he wanted, all right: McGregor would face Clay Guida in his biggest challenge yet.

In the meantime, our roster was shrinking further. Oleksiy Oliynyk and Fabricio Camoes had chosen to hang it up after one more fight. Oliynyk's retirement was painful as it meant our Heavyweight division absolutely needed to have new signings, regardless of record, but Camoes meant one less body in a crowded Lightweight field. With all else being quiet, we headed for London, England for UFC Fight Night: Johnson vs. Dodson II.



STANISLAV NEDKOV VS. TOR TROENG (Middleweight, Prelim): Another bit of middleweight sorting and shuffling. Troeng used his striking and his quickness to cause problems early in Rd1, causing Nedkov to miss on a takedown attempt. With less than a minute to go, however, Nedkov snapped off a brilliant counterpunch to drop him. Troeng got right back up but Nedkov swept the leg and blasted him again with a massive right hand, putting Troeng out cold as Nedkov simply walked off at 4:34. That was not the result that any of us had expected, and that certainly bought Nedkov a good fight for his next outing. (Decent)

LANCE PALMER VS. ZUBAIRA TUKHUGOV (Featherweight, Prelim): Palmer was one of our new signings, and while Tukhugov was not an easy fight, it was still one that Palmer was favored to win. Tukhugov started the fight much like Troeng started his eventual loss, frustrating Palmer into a failed takedown, but he would get the second one to halt Tukhugov. Palmer was able to achieve side control but that would be it. Rd2 began much like Rd1, missed takedown and all, but Palmer finally began to get his own strikes in. And just like the previous round, he would get the takedown on the second try. Only with the second takedown he had plenty of time to switch to side control and pelt Tukhugov with right hands until the ref called for the TKO at 4:11. Palmer's debut was a successful one indeed. Now we had to carefully move him up the ladder. (Good)

DAVEY GRANT VS. GEORGE ROOP (Bantamweight): There was zero reason to make this fight other than to give the London crowd a local guy to cheer for. Roop got the better of the striking exchanges in Rd1, stopping two takedown attempts along the way. He would open Rd2 with a wicked leg kick before getting a takedown, shrugging off a guillotine attempt on the way. Grant would push him back standing but Roop would drop back into side control and lock in an arm triangle. Grant would manage to escape, incredibly enough, but Roop would take the back and flatten him out with a rear naked choke, getting the tap at 3:46. The local favorite, much like in WWE, had come up short. Roop, meanwhile, had shown that he still had plenty left in the tank. (Good)

HACRAN DIAS VS. HATSU HIOKI (Featherweight): With a new champion in Chad Mendes, the division was under pressure to step up. Hioki and Dias would be the first to seriously make that push. Hioki would use good combinations in Rd1, one instance of which netted him a single leg takedown of Dias. From there, he would get side control but not mount before time ended. Rd2 saw Dias have issues with Hioki's striking early and had to fight out of a Muay Thai clinch. He then spent much of the rest of the round avoiding Hioki like the plague until Hioki got another Muay Thai clinch late. Rd3 saw both men fail badly at striking, with Dias failing so badly that he got clinched and taken down. Hioki would threaten with two kimura attempts before getting side control and using it to take the back. He would get the rear naked choke locked in but the fight ended before Dias had to tap. Hioki would get the UD (30-27x3) but he would have a long way to go if he had any plans for serious contendership. (Poor)

THALES LEITES VS. TOM LAWLOR (Middleweight): Sorting. Rd1 opened with a bit of striking before Lawlor unsuccessfully went for a takedown on the former title contender. He would get a surprise single leg takedown and attempt to smother Leites on the ground, but Leites kept trying to fight his way out of it, even trying to catch him with a triangle choke attempt. Lawlor would escape and get side control, but he locked the arm triangle up with only a second left in the round. Rd2 saw Leites get an early takedown of his own, but he could not get out of any form of guard and the ref stood them up with just over half a minute left. Leites would get one more takedown before the round came to an end. Rd3 became a grappling match, with Leites clinching into a third takedown. Lawlor, like Grant earlier, would fight his way out of a tight arm triangle but just like that fight, Leites would take his back and go for submissions. Lawlor fought off an armbar and a rear naked choke but Leites would get a second RNC attempt locked in, only for time to expire right as he did so. Leites would win the hard-fought UD (29-28x3) but it got him no closer to finally getting back into the title picture. (Average)

DUSTIN POIRIER VS. TATSUYA KAWAJIRI (Featherweight): Both men had their sights set on a match with Chad Mendes as well, if Frankie Edgar didn't cut in front of the line first. Both men spent the start of Rd1 striking, with Kawajiri missing a takedown. The rest of it featured Kawajiri using counters and movement to frustrate Poirier. The tables seemed to have turned in Rd2 with Poirier using his striking to keep Kawajiri at bay, but a massive right dropped him, and Kawajiri swarmed him with punches on the ground to end it at 2:27. While Edgar remained a possibility for Mendes' first challenger, Kawajiri had just staked a major claim of his own to the title, while for Poirier, it was back to square one yet again. (Average)

DEMETRIOUS JOHNSON VS. JOHN DODSON (World Flyweight Championship): Dodson had been wanting a rematch since their first fight in January of 2013, and with no one else logically in contention, he would get it in London. He would open the fight with good striking and stuffed two takedowns before getting one of his own. "Mighty Mouse" would not let him out of guard and threatened with submissions before the ref stood them up with thirty seconds left in the opening round. Johnson would miss another takedown as the round ended. Dodson would use good striking in Rd2 and stopped another takedown before getting another one of his own. Only Johnson was able to get back to his feet almost instantly but Dodson would deck him with a spinning back fist. The champ would finally get a takedown but Dodson would pop right back up and would reverse another one to pin Johnson against the cage to end the round. Dodson had almost complete control of Rd3 despite missing a takedown on Johnson, using a good combination of striking and defensive grappling. Johnson was pressuring quite bit, however, and Yukari (who made the trip with me via gap) thought that Johnson could have stolen the round. Both men were worn out to open Rd4 but Johnson finally started to use good striking and defended well against a takedown. Dodson landed a good leg kick, however, causing Johnson to begin limping. The challenger still couldn't get a takedown, however, and Johnson's jabs were beginning to add up as the round ended. The final round opened with Dodson getting an early jab but the champ took over with good striking despite his weariness. Dodson would miss another takedown but tried to put the pressure on as the fight came to an end. Much to Yukari's dismay, Dodson would win the title via split decision (47-48, 48-47, 48-47). I felt that Dodson had indeed done enough, but the London crowd didn't seem to care at all. (Awful)




Our hopes for a turnaround were dashed. The reaction from critics was very poor and the attendance was worse (1,111 for a measly $88,000 gate) even if fans thought it was decent outside of the title fight. George Roop was a double bonus winner for FOTN (with Grant) and SOTN, while Nedkov's walkoff KO earned him the other bonus. Incredibly, we escaped any injuries, but our contracts with FS1 and ESPN UK needed renewal now.

We had fallen back into the dismal slide downward. I feared that it was a permanent one.



*TO BE CONTINUED*

[Gus Richlen Was Wrong]

PART 8:

Catastrophe struck quickly. ESPN UK had opted not to renew their TV contracts with us, forcing us to begin looking for a new outlet for our English fans. Yukari warned that it would likely not be the last time we'd have to look for a new broadcaster, her belief being that our struggles would turn off networks to airing sub-par content.

Yoshihiro Akiyama had announced his retirement as well, and now the news sites and anyone who could condense an opinion to 140 characters were declaring that Gensokyo Enterprises were going to sink the UFC. Dana White had now given us an order: "F***ing damage control the shit out of this, and I don't care what you have to do. Just f***ing get this under control." Flandre Scarlet adopted "F***ing damage control" as a mantra, hoping to make sure that we kept our spirits up and kept pushing to staying on top.

UFC 171: Jones vs. Davis was just around the corner, and we now HAD to hit the show out of the park.



WILL CAMPUZANO VS. KID YAMAMOTO (Bantamweight, Prelim): The booking was simple: either Yamamoto would finally win a fight in the UFC or Campuzano would sign Yamamoto's termination papers. The Scarlets made it very clear that Yamamoto was gone with a loss, no questions asked. Kid stopped a takedown early in Rd1 and controlled the round with excellent grappling throughout. Rd2 saw Campuzano fail another takedown and Yamamoto got him in a headlock and started pounding away. Campuzano took a brutal amount of ground-and-pound but was able to finally get to his feet. Unfortunately for Yamamoto, he had completely burnt out, and Campuzano would drag him down into guard and submit him with a triangle choke to end Yamamoto's UFC career at 3:26. Campuzano had a signature win and we would now be jettisoning one of the biggest busts in UFC history. (Great)

MARIBEK TAISUMOV VS. JOHN MAKDESSI (Lightweight, Prelim): More sorting. Both men spent much of the first round doing a lot of striking, with Makdessi using effective leg kicks, at least until he missed one that allowed Taisumov to unload with huge punches. Taisumov had him hurt but Makdessi recovered just enough to duck a massive head kick. Taisumov went for the big KO punch seconds into Rd2 but Makdessi would send him crashing to the canvas with a spinning back roundhouse kick to the dome. Taisumov would recover but lose the scramble, though he would keep Makdessi stuck in guard. The ref would eventually have to stand them up, but nothing major happened with the rest of the round. Rd3 had striking, striking, and more striking, with Taisumov constantly looking for the KO shot but not finding it. It would come back to haunt him as Makdessi swiped the UD (29-28x3). None of us were sure how this would affect our sorting plans going forward. (Average)

LUKE ROCKHOLD VS. MICHAEL BISPING (Middleweight): We had booked Chris Weidman to defend his title against Jake Shields in July, so the winner of Rockhold vs. Bisping would get the next title shot. Rockhold used his striking to get an early takedown in Rd1, but Bisping kept him stuck for the entire rest of the round, to the dismay of everyone. Rd2 saw Bisping try to get Rockhold to engage in a striking fight, but Rockhold attempted a takedown anyway and missed. Rockhold kept trying and finally got one, but once again all it did was eat up the clock and we officially began getting "BULLSHIT!" chants from the Montreal crowd. Bisping kept trying to keep the fight standing in Rd3 and it finally paid off as a body hook dropped the former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion. Rockhold managed to scramble and ended up in full guard. Which meant the fight went back to being painfully boring. Rockhold got the UD (29-28x3) and the title shot, but none of us were happy about it. At all. (Abysmal)

CLAY GUIDA VS. CONOR McGREGOR (Featherweight): Having McGregor on the main card was Dana's idea. Having his opponent be Guida was mine. Guida tried to go for a power takedown early in Rd1 but badly telegraphed it and McGregor easily got out of the way. The Irishman chose to not go to the ground to pursue him and let Guida get back up. This turned into a mistake as Guida was able to slam him. McGregor did not let him do anything afterwards, however. *OBLIGATORY GUIDA BELCH* Rd2 saw Guida forced to grapple McGregor after McGregor opened the round with excellent striking. Guida ended up losing control, however, and despite not being able to find a home for much of his punches, McGregor would suddenly tear off a beautiful counter flying knee. Guida was forced to absorb quite a few punches in the closing seconds. Guida opened Rd3 with a takedown attempt to avoid taking anymore punishment but missed and McGregor would nearly drop him moments later with a massive counter right. McGregor tried to avoid Guida and let him tire himself out, but ended up tired instead and Guida would get a takedown. Guida would get mount and start pounding away, forcing the ref to step in at 4:13. It was clear that McGregor, as good as he was, needed more seasoning before getting placed in a pressure situation like that ever again. Meanwhile, I felt justified. (Decent)

MARK HUNT VS. STIPE MIOCIC (Heavyweight): Hunt was retiring after the fight, so we decided to give him a tough opponent, intending to apply pro wrestling logic (put someone over on the way out) to MMA. Miocic would get the better of the striking in Rd1 and would fell the Samoan with a counter right. Hunt would survive the round by putting Miocic in half guard. Rd2 saw Hunt avoid a takedown and try to take control in the striking department. It backfired badly as Miocic would pepper him with strikes before sending him into retirement with a brutal right cross KO at 3:29. Hunt admitted afterwards that he simply had lost motivation, which was led to his retirement. That was not something we needed to hear with the critics bearing down on us. (Excellent)

RAFAEL DOS ANJOS VS. T.J. GRANT (Lightweight): After his shocking TKO of Khabib Nurmagomedov, we had planned to give RDA a huge matchup, and where we were still determining the pecking order at 155, a match with top contender Grant was the perfect decision. At least it seemed that way. Dos Anjos would grapple Grant to the cage early in Rd1 and would take Grant's back after the Canadian defended a takedown. RDA would get the takedown from there and get side control. Grant would scramble out, however, and he would get side control. Rd2 saw the Brazilian avoid Grant's striking and grapple him to the cage again. RDA would take advantage of that by getting the takedown. From there, he would get side control and lock on an arm triangle, but Grant managed to pull his head free. Both men hit a stalemate with striking early in Rd3 but Grant would land two big rights that briefly hurt the worn out Dos Anjos. RDA would come back with good counters but Grant would fire back with some of his own. RDA would survive and get the UD (30-27, 29-28, 30-27) and put himself, at least on paper, in contention for the championship. In my view, however, he needed another match and a better performance to get his shot at Gilbert Melendez. (Poor)

JON JONES VS. PHIL DAVIS (World Light Heavyweight Championship): Dana was less than pleased that I gave a title shot to the wrestling-heavy Davis. We were struggling to find challengers, however, which was why I made the match. As expected, Davis started the fight grappling, getting Jones to the cage only for Jones to reverse the position. Jones would get a trip takedown off the cage and would counter a Davis triangle choke attempt to get side control. He would take the challenger's back and try to get a rear naked choke in the closing seconds but Davis would block. Rd2 saw both men do poorly with striking early before Jones got the takedown. Davis would defend well and force Jones to stand up. The champ would lose the ensuing scramble and was left trying to keep Davis in full guard. Davis, frustrated, decided to get up and resume the fight on the feet. And then nothing happened. Rd3 saw neither man get much success off strikes and Jones' takedown attempt was countered into a clinch. Davis would briefly push him to the cage but got nothing from it, and eventually had to go for a takedown, which he got but could do nothing with. Rd4 began with me realizing that Dana was right about how I shouldn't have made this fight. In the octagon, Davis would use good striking to set up a takedown. With nothing left in the tank, Jones could not stop him from getting side control. Davis, weary himself, would get a tight armbar but Jones somehow managed to escape it. The challenger would get mount, and Jones' attempt at a sweep blew up in his face when Davis took his back. Jones opened up the final round trying to find whatever energy he could to hang on and pull off the win, but the equally exhausted Davis would still manage to grapple, or at least try to, as both men reversed it and eventually broke. All Davis could do afterwards was throw jabs at the cautious champion. And in an upset that I never saw coming when I booked the fight, Davis took the Light Heavyweight crown by UD (48-47x3). It was far from exciting, to be sure, but for Davis, it had paid off in a big way. (Poor)



A relatively poor showing commercially (19,858 attendance for a $3,475,150 gate; 823,366 buys for $4,940,196) on the rather average card hurt, although it was better for the most part than the London debacle. Miocic scored bonuses for both KO and FOTN (meaning Hunt at least left with a bonus), while Campuzano's opening fight submission got him the other one. We also ended up with half the card wounded: Bisping and McGregor suffered eye injuries in their losses and were out for at least three months, while Grant, Taisumov, and the soon-to-be-cut Yamamoto also had suffered injuries and suspensions.

Everything was going wrong all over again. And the pressure was getting worse and worse and worse.



*TO BE CONTINUED*

[Gus Richlen Was Wrong]

PART 9:

I took some time to clear my head and calm my nerves after the steady decline of our shows by going to my birth state of Montana. This meant that the Scarlets and Yukari were left in charge until my return. To my dismay, they were unable to make any progress in finding a new deal in the UK.

Which meant that we were in deep trouble heading into the next UFC On FOX event. I had an unpleasant feeling that we would be going to my home state of Wisconsin to give my fellow statespeople something horrid.



MAXIMO BLANCO VS. MIKE THOMAS BROWN (Featherweight, Prelim): The feeling from all of us was that Featherweight was perhaps a little too talent-heavy. This would require us to do more weeding. Brown opened the fight with decent counter striking but missed a takedown early, with Blanco trying to use his grappling defense to his advantage. Brown would score the second time around, only to be stuck in half guard for the rest of Rd1. Rd2 started much the same way as the first, with counters and a missed takedown by Brown. Little happened afterwards until late in the round when Brown went for one leg kick too many and got dropped by right hands. Blanco did not bother to follow up and just let him get back to his feet. Rd3 saw Blanco using counters in a reversal from how the other two started, resulting in a worn Brown trying and failing a takedown. Blanco wasted little time in landing two huge rights, briefly hurting Brown, but Brown would recover and land some nasty leg kicks. Blanco was visibly limping with less than half a round to go, and Brown kept targeting the legs until the fight ended. It was a narrow UD (29-28x3) win for Brown, but with how the last two rounds went, we felt pleased that we had opened with a good fight. (Decent)

OLEKSIY OLIYNYK VS. SATOSHI ISHII (Heavyweight, Prelim): Oliynyk was retiring and Ishii had disappointed in his first UFC outing. Either the latter would recover or we would be preparing to write him off as a failure, something we did not need. Rd1 opened with Oliynyk landing a nasty leg kick and some jabs before Ishii went for the takedown. Just like the Schaub fight, he failed and was left pushing Oliynyk into the cage. An attempt at a judo throw takedown gets blocked and Ishii ended up against the cage. Ishii would turn it back around and try another judo throw, but once again it ended in failure, and he ended up against the cage once again before reversing it around again. The ref mercifully forced them to the center as the round ended. Rd2 saw Oliynyk land another leg kick, leaving Ishii limping. Oliynyk almost got taken down when Ishii wisely caught a kick but avoided the trip. Not realizing that spamming takedowns was not working, Ishii went for another one and only succeeded in pushing Oliynyk into the cage again. A judo throw off the wall finally worked, but Ishii could do nothing with it and gassed out before the round ended. Rd3 saw Ishii decide to strike instead of go for takedowns, only for Oliynyk to get a takedown of his own. He was also exhausted but managed to get side control and eventually Ishii's back, and at 3:31 of the final round ended his career by submitting Ishii with a rear naked choke. Ishii was now all but officially a lost cause, a total waste of company payroll. We would have to look for other potential heavyweight stars elsewhere. (Decent)

ANTHONY PEROSH VS. RAFAEL CAVALCANTE (Light Heavyweight): It was the retirement fight for "The Hippo," and so we made the fight in hopes that Cavalcante would get himself some momentum for some sort of run to the top. Perosh missed a takedown before the end of the first minute, then another one midway through the round. Nothing else of note happened between those attempts. He would try twice more in Rd1, but on the second miss "Feijao" landed a massive right hand before he could even get there. Unfortunately for the Brazilian, he made the mistake of rushing in and got taken down. Both men came out firing to start Rd2, but Cavalcante fired the biggest shot with a right hand that felled Perosh. Despite being blown up, Cavalcante rushed in again, and this time Perosh had no answer as he took a massive beatdown that finally ended in TKO at 1:56. It was an unceremonious end to Perosh's career, but a major boost for Cavalcante. We would be cautious, but the possibilities were endless. (Fantastic)

DONALD CERRONE VS. EDSON BARBOZA (Lightweight): Both were action fighters. Both were possible contenders. This was one of the easiest matchups we could make. Both men started with good striking before Cerrone whiffed on a takedown. More striking happened before Cerrone scored on a single leg takedown. From there, "Cowboy" swiftly went to side control and locked on an arm triangle choke, forcing the tap at 3:39 of the first round. It was one of the most impressive performances we'd seen yet, and it all but ensured that Cerrone would find himself in a contender fight very soon. (Great)

BEN ROTHWELL VS. ANTONIO RODRIGO NOGUIERA (Heavyweight): In a thin division like Heavyweight, we were willing to take what we could get for contenders and fights, and if it meant giving Kenosha's Rothwell a fight with home field advantage, so be it. "Minotauro," meanwhile, was needing something big to make one last push for UFC gold. The Brazilian pushed forward with strikes to start the fight and Rothwell was willing to engage, leading to "Minotauro" trying to grapple him backwards to the fence. Rothwell fought it off and backed Noguiera into the cage instead, but he was already blown up and "Minotauro" managed to reverse it. He failed to get a last-second takedown, however, and time ran out on the round. Rd2 saw Rothwell try to go for the knockout early but Noguiera would counter and take him down, and Rothwell was too tired to avoid being mounted, put in an americana, stuck even further in side control, and submitted at 2:31. So much for home field. "Minotauro" proved he still had something left in the tank, even if it was going to be a while before he would be considered in title contention. (Very Poor)

CHRIS WEIDMAN VS. JAKE SHIELDS (World Middleweight Championship): Shield's move to Middleweight prior to our taking control surprised a lot of fans and analysts, but he had done enough to earn himself a shot at Weidman and his title. Luke Rockhold, despite his horrific outing against Michael Bisping an event earlier, was waiting for whoever emerged with the win. Weidman tried to end it within the first few seconds of the fight but Shields was able to avoid the vicious right hand. Shields quickly fired off some shots and went for the takedown, but even though he didn't get it, he was able to take Weidman's back off the ensuing cage grapple. The champ ended up in further trouble as Shields was able to drag him to the ground but was able to fight off a rear naked choke. He then was able to get out of the hooks and avoid an armbar attempt, and suddenly the challenger was lying on his back in side control. Shields kept him from getting mount and actually swept out but ended up in north-south instead, and that was how the round ended. Rd2 saw Shields avoid a takedown and eat a combination for his trouble, but he set up his own takedown attempt with a combo of his own. He came up empty, however, and it was back to square one. A slam from Shields missed but the takedown did not, only for Weidman to defend well as the round came to an end. Rd3 saw Shields get some good strikes in before making another attempt at a takedown. All he could do, however, was push Weidman into the cage and keep him there for a bit before finally bringing him down with a Greco-Roman slam. He was able to push the champ to the cage and get in a guillotine, but Weidman was able to hold on. As a result, Shields ended the round gassed out. Rd4 saw an also-tired Weidman swing for the fences, with no success. Shields was able to use movement to avoid almost everything Weidman could throw at him, and managed to get another takedown. He was too tired to do much, however, and the fight went to Rd5. Weidman, totally shot, tried a takedown, but Shields sprawled and got one of his own. It took time but Shields was able to get an arm triangle choke, but just like in Rd3, Weidman refused to tap out and was able to get free. As time ran out, the ref stood them up, and Weidman went for one more takedown, but Shields' sprawl left the champ on his face, and the challenger was able to put him in a D'Arce choke, and once he rolled over, Weidman was left with no choice but to tap out at 4:47. At long last, after years of futility, Jake Shields had finally become a champion. We suddenly had a treasure trove of matchups available, even though I was not looking forward to the inevitable bout with Rockhold. (Decent)



The commercial success was only decent at best (6,845 attendance for a gate of $1,026,750) but everyone agreed that it was as good a show as they'd seen from us so far. Cavalcante was a double bonus winner for KO and Fight Of The Night (meaning that Perosh, like Mark Hunt prior, at least ended his career with a bonus), while Shields' title-winning D'Arce earned him the Submission Of The Night. We did not leave unscathed, however: Rothwell was out at least a month or two, Weidman for three, and Cerrone suffered a leg injury that would put him on the shelf anywhere from two to six months.

We now had another challenge: getting a whole horde of broadcasting contracts renewed. ESPN UK would likely decline renewal again, so our search there continued. We would have to prepare for anything, including the worst. Even if we were used to it by now.



*TO BE CONTINUED*

[Gus Richlen Was Wrong]

PART 10:

As expected, ESPN UK refused to consider extending our UFC On FOX contract. However, OSN Sports 2 also refused, meaning we now had to look for a new source in Asia as well, although Yukari suggested trying to make new deals with both networks after the current contracts expired.

On another alarming note, we realized we had forgotten to renew Shogun Rua's contract. Due to the nature of his deal, we had to get him booked down to his last fight before we could renegotiate, and his contract expired in the middle of October. We quickly set him to face Rashad Evans at UFC 174, stacking that card further.

Then came yet another hit: Dan Henderson was retiring. It was understandable, considering his age and the fact that his chin had evaporated by this time, but it was a blow we didn't need when the criticism was not going away. The announcement that Sara McMann and Mike Pyle were joining him in retirement did not help. On a positive note, we were able to renew Stefan Struve's contract, setting him up for a solid payday.

So as we prepared for UFC 173, our apprehension had yet to go away. We needed another good card, and we needed it badly.




VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO VS. JESSAMYN DUKE (Women's Bantamweight, Prelim): Our push to try to build up credible contenders to face Ronda Rousey continued. Shevchenko opened with some decent striking but Duke got a quick takedown. She tried to get in some ground and pound but Shevchenko was able to briefly push her away only to end up in side control. She managed to work her way back to her feet and that was where the fight continued, with Duke whiffing on a takedown being one of the few things that happened before the round's end. Rd2 began with Shevchenko being precise with her striking and blocking a takedown. Duke finally got one midway through the round and had Shevchenko in a guillotine but couldn't get the tap. She ended up putting Shevchenko in mount but failed to do anything with it as the round closed. A worn out Shevchenko was on defense for the first ninety seconds of Rd3 until she dodged a body kick and unloaded with punches, only for Duke to land a nasty leg kick. Both women spent the rest of the fight trading shots and gassing out. In a result that did little to help our contender search, Duke took a split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28). It was entertaining, certainly, but not helpful. (Good)

OMARI AKHMEDOV VS. ROBERT DRYSDALE (Light Heavyweight, Prelim): This was nothing more than a random battle of low-level LHWs. Striking opened Rd1 before Drysdale got the takedown off a single leg. From there, he moved to side control and nearly got a submission off an arm triangle. Akhmedov was able to escape but could not get out of side control, and he nearly fell to a kimura before Drysdale got mount and fired off elbows to end the round. Rd2 was a total stalemate until 90 seconds left when Drysdale scored a takedown. He was able to get side control and then take Akhmedov's back, but time ran out before he could do anything. Akhmedov ramped up the punches to open the final frame, only to gas out and get taken down again. From there, he once again got side control and then mount, locking in an americana before returning to side control to force the tap at 4:18. If nothing else, Drysdale was assured of a climb up the ladder. (Decent)

MELVIN MANHOEF VS. NICK RING (Middleweight, Prelim): We decided to give our new signing an easy fight by having him face Ring. Considering how badly our last attempt at trying to ease someone in went, I didn't have much confidence. Ring went for a leg kick to start the fight but Manhoef unleashed some nasty right hands to counter. Ring fired back with a leg kick but another attempt at such got him leveled with more right hands. He managed to get back up, get the clinch, and drag Manhoef down, and just like Drysdale the fight before, he got mount, an americana, and got the tap at 3:46 once he moved to side control. Manhoef started well but Ring clearly had come prepared. Time would tell whether Manhoef would join Ishii as a major bust or whether he would be able to rebound. (Great)

MELVIN GUILLARD VS. MICHAEL CHIESA (Lightweight): More lightweight shuffling. Guillard opened up with good striking, and when Chiesa went for a takedown off some wild haymakers, Guillard struck with a huge right hook that hurt "The Maverick" badly. Chiesa was put into retreat until he went for another takedown, only for Guillard to sprawl and Chiesa to get turtled. Guillard went nuts with punches but couldn't finish Cheisa off, and Chiesa was able to get back to his feet. He would miss on two more takedowns before the end of the round. Rd2 saw a bit of a striking stalemate before Chiesa went for a takedown. Guillard would stop that with a left above the eye, and when Chiesa went forward again, Guillard turned his lights out with one right hand at 1:34. Guillard had added one hell of a highlight reel finish to his resume and earned himself a move up the ladder. Where Chiesa went would be anyone's guess. (Good)

JOHN HOWARD VS. GUNNAR NELSON (Welterweight): Welterweight shuffling. The fight opened with a lot of nothing until Howard pulled Nelson into a Muay Thai clinch and kneed him in the face. Nelson ate an elbow before breaking loose and taking Howard down. He defended well for most of the duration, however, until he tried to scramble out and ended up with Nelson taking his back to end the round. Rd2 saw Howard do good with his striking but back away when Nelson made an effort to fight back. Nelson would finally get close enough to get the takedown but Howard defended well on the ground to the point of outright boredom. Rd3 saw Howard again put his striking and movement to good use despite tiring out. Nelson, also gassed, ended up turning the rest of the fight into a striking stalemate. Howard would snag the split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28) but neither man was impressive at all. So much for shuffling. (Poor)

ALISTAIR OVEREEM VS. STEFAN STRUVE (Heavyweight): We had set this up prior to resigning Struve as a way for both men to try to reclaim lost ground in a painfully thin heavyweight division. After starting with some weak striking, Overeem got Struve into a Muay Thai clinch, which got turned by Struve into a regular wrestling clinch. Unfortunately for him, Overeem turned on the dirty boxing before putting him back in the Muay Thai clinch and firing a knee right into his face, knocking him out at 1:56. Giving Struve a loaded contract was looking like a mistake. Overeem, meanwhile, finally had himself a big win. Now it would be up to him to get back to speed. (Decent)

RENAN BARAO VS. DOMINICK CRUZ (World Bantamweight Championship): Cruz was dead set on getting the belt back that he never lost, but to do so, he would have to beat the seemingly unbeatable Barao. Barao opened with a weak right kick that Cruz countered with a spinning backfist, putting Barao out on the spot. It took a mere 23 seconds for Cruz to reclaim his throne, and he made no secret afterwards that he wanted to beat Urijah Faber again. Every single one of us were ready to oblige. (Decent)

JOHNY HENDRICKS VS. JOSH KOSCHECK (World Welterweight Championship): Koscheck had managed to rebound up the ladder and secure himself another shot at UFC gold with his victory over Jake Ellenberger. Hendricks, meanwhile, was out to notch his first successful title defense. Neither man found success early in Rd1 with striking but Hendricks was able to grapple him to the cage. Unfortunately, it turned into the two constantly reversing each other to the point where they were going around in circles. Koscheck tried to break the cycle with takedowns, but Hendricks stuffed both attempts and the challenger ended up gassed before the end of the first round. Hendricks then chose to try to make it a wrestling match anyway, with NOTHING happening before the end of the round. Rd2 saw Hendricks get a takedown early, and from there he turned on the ground and pound and the ref stopped it 57 seconds in. The awful first round dragged the match down, but Hendricks at least got the job done. Now he would await the next challenger. (Abysmal)



Howard vs. Nelson and the Welterweight title match left a poor taste in the critics' mouths, but we did a decent enough job commercially (16,096 attendance for a gate of $2,414,400; 1,046,744 buys for $6,280,464). Nick Ring snagged two bonuses, for Submission and Fight (giving Manhoef a bonus as well), while Cruz's triumphant return KO earned him the KO bonus. Koscheck, Struve, Shevchenko, Barao, and Howard all got slapped with medical suspensions by NSAC, while we now had to also get Barao a contract extension. Howard also announced he was taking time off, though nobody was complaining.

Despite having a lousy end to the PPV, we had a better feeling about where we were going than before the show. The only question was, how long would that last?



*TO BE CONTINUED*

[Gus Richlen Was Wrong]

PART 11:

We were still in "f***ing damage control" mode. Even after the last show had gone better than expected, even after we got numerous contracts renewed, even with numerous fighters on the cusp of returning from injury, we felt we were still in trouble. Neither the ESPN UK nor OSN Sports 2 contracts could be worked on until we let them expire. In the meantime, Cyrille Diabate was preparing for retirement as we were preparing for UFC 173.


MARK BOCEK VS. MARIBEK TAISUMOV (Lightweight, Prelim): Sorting nonsense, especially after Taisumov's loss a few months prior. Not much happened for the first minute of the opening frame until Taisumov went for a leg kick and wound up catching Bocek right downstairs. Bocek was given the mandated five minutes to recover but he didn't need that much of it and the fight resumed, with Taisumov not getting anywhere with the leg kicks for a bit but finding a home for a jab. Bocek went for a takedown but ate a right hand instead and crashed. Taisumov tried to strike with leg kicks (legal since they were not to Bocek's head) but Bocek upkicked him out of the way and Taisumov let him stand up. Bocek went for another takedown but got caught by another right hand, managing to avoid going down that time but getting hit with frequent counters as the round ended. Rd2 saw Taismuov continue to use effective striking, including a leg kick that left Bocek limping after missing a takedown. It got worse when Taisumov stopped yet another takedown with a punch and landed another brutal leg kick. The round ended with Bocek continuing to get peppered with shots, and in between rounds, he seemed to have lost all interest in being in the fight any longer. He tried opening Rd3 with a takedown but Taisumov was able to walk out of it with ease. Bocek would end up getting the clinch but repeatedly failed to take Taisumov down as it was clear that he just wanted to survive the fight. As expected, Taisumov picked up the unanimous decision (29-28x3) and things were accomplished. If nothing else, Taisumov had managed to bounce back from his loss to John Makdessi earlier. (Average)

OVINCE ST. PREUX VS. GIAN VILLANTE (Light Heavyweight, Prelim): We had signed OSP earlier in the year but had not yet gotten him a fight. Considering that we needed to build more people up in the thin Light Heavyweight division, we needed to change that quickly and we did. The first round saw them both open with strikes and then almost nothing else happened as Villante decided to play defense. Rd2 saw OSP fire off nasty leg kicks at will, leaving Villante hobbled even as he tried to fend off the newcomer with jabs. It paid off as Villante went for a straight punch and was instantly knocked cold with a counter hook at 2:59. The first round left much to be desired but the second proved exactly why we had signed OSP. Now we had to make sure that it didn't blow up in our faces. (Poor)

JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ VS. DARRELL MONTAGUE (Flyweight, Prelim): We were going to need people built up for John Dodson's challengers. This, we felt, was the right start. Montague opened the round by missing a leg kick and getting sent crashing thanks to a "JoeJitsu" left hook, allowing Benavidez to go right to the ground and land punch after punch until it was mercifully stopped in just 41 seconds. As soon as it was over, Remilla Scarlet, who was in attendance with me, leaned over and whispered, "There's your guy. Make the fight." I assured her I would. (Good)

DIEGO SANCHEZ VS. JOE LAUZON (Lightweight): We were stunned to see that Sanchez vs. Lauzon had never happened. Deciding that it would be certain crowd-pleasing violence, I chose to set the match for UFC 173. Lauzon opened the fight by being defensive and when Sanchez got a takedown, Lauzon was able to use a guillotine choke to sweep him into side control before deciding to keep the fight standing. Sanchez tried another takedown but got briefly wrestled into the cage instead and not much else happened for the rest of the round. Rd2 saw more grappling for much of the first half before Sanchez got a takedown and went right into side control and an arm triangle. Lauzon managed to somehow escape but Sanchez was able to take his back and lock up an armbar, only for time to run out on him. Rd3 saw Lauzon try to take the offensive with strikes, only for Sanchez to avoid them and take him down. Unfortunately, both men were blown up by that point, which allowed Lauzon to sweep Sanchez into side control with a kimura and then proceed to do nothing as time ran out. Sanchez won the unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27x2) but it was about as disappointing as it could get. So much for certain crowd-pleasing violence. (Very Poor)

TJ DILLASHAW VS. RAPHAEL ASSUNCAO (Bantamweight): With Cruz's reclamation of his Bantamweight crown, it was necessary to find the person who would be next in line after the planned rematch with Faber. If Dillashaw won, things would be complicated to say the least. Dillashaw opened the fight by wrestling Assuncao to the cage and keeping him there for most of the round. The ref forced the break and sent them back to the center, where Dillashaw grappled the Brazilian to the cage again. Assuncao was able to reverse it around but got stuffed on the takedown and thus the first round ended. Rd2 opened with Dillashaw catching a leg kick attempt and getting the takedown, but Assuncao didn't let him do anything and was eventually able to use a kimura to sweep Dillashaw into side control. From there, he was able to take Dillashaw's back but could do nothing as the round ended. Rd3 opened with decent striking but went right back to being a grappling match as Dillashaw pushed Assuncao to the cage yet again only for Assuncao to reverse and get the takedown again. Both men were completely gassed as Assuncao managed to take Dillashaw's back but he made the mistake of trying to get a no-hook rear naked choke, allowing Dillashaw to scramble and end up on top to close the fight. And in a repeat of the last time they fought, Assuncao slipped away with the split (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) but it was painfully uninspired and enough to make us reconsider giving him the first shot at the Cruz vs. Faber III winner. The sinking feeling was back. (Poor)

DAN HARDY VS. DONG HYUN KIM (Welterweight): Johny Hendricks' next title defense would be coming against B.J. Penn, meaning that, like the Bantamweight division, we would need to line up the contenders. Kim opened Rd1 with good striking and it led to him getting a takedown. Hardy let him do absolutely nothing with it, however, and the ref stood them up right as the round was ending. Rd2 saw Hardy open with great striking of his own but in what was becoming a bad theme for the evening, Kim got a clinch and pushed him to the cage. From there, he got a judo trip takedown but Hardy again defended well and Kim could only stay stuck in half guard. Rd3 was a major change as both men put their striking to good use, with Kim in particular landing punishing leg kicks. Then, just after the halfway point, Kim landed a beautiful body hook that sent Hardy to the canvas. Hardy was able to recover but lost the ensuing scramble and ended up taking plenty of shots before Kim was able to transition him from turtled to side control. Unfortunately, "Stun Gun" ran out of gas and time and had to settle for getting the unanimous decision (30-27x3). The fight, outside of the first half of the final round, was making the sinking feeling worse and that feeling was shared by Remilla, who looked like she was about to go full Charisma Break. (Awful)

RASHAD EVANS VS. SHOGUN RUA (Light Heavyweight): I had thought I had made the match between the former champions for the following PPV but after the contract mess with Shogun, I wanted to take no chances. Shogun used his striking to good effect to start the fight but Evans was able to get a takedown midway through the round. From there, he was able to get side control and then Shogun's back, getting the hooks in and raining down punches before the ref put an end to it at 4:48. After the previous disaster fights, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. Evans had a potential path back to the top waiting for him. (Great)

ANTHONY PETTIS VS. JIM MILLER (Lightweight): Both men needed a win after disastrous prior outings: Miller after falling victim to a surprise submission from Eddie Alvarez, Pettis after losing his title to Gilbert Melendez. Miller was put on the back foot early in the first round but managed to counter a combination with a takedown. Pettis allowed him to do nothing with it and was able to force him back to his feet. Miller allowed him to get back up and the fight resumed standing, at least until he got a second takedown late in the round. Rd2 was a complete stalemate as neither man did much with their striking early and Miller's attempts to take Pettis down from the clinch were completely thwarted. Pettis' corner told him to go for broke in the final round, and he not only proceeded to not do that, he got taken down late. Miller could do nothing and the fight ended with him stuck in half guard. He would pick up the unanimous decision (30-27x3) but that was it. It was at that point that I knew we would be getting absolutely fileted by the press. Again. (Poor)

GILBERT MELENDEZ VS. BENSON HENDERSON (World Lightweight Championship): When the two had last fought, many had declared that Melendez was robbed in a split decision. I had always felt otherwise but decided to book the rematch regardless. The former champion used defensive striking early before taking Melendez down. The current champ let him do nothing, however, and was able to work his way to the cage and use it to stand up and drag Henderson with him. Henderson, however, managed to drag him back down and ended the round stuck again as the fans expressed just how much the event sucked. Rd2 went almost the exact same way, only when Henderson tried to drag Melendez back down from the cage the champ was able to reverse it. And then they pretty much went around in circles for the rest of the round. Dana White had already left before Rd3 started and I was considering following him. Both men decided to start the round with striking, with Henderson eating some big punches early. The winging of shots came to an abrupt end, however, when he dodged a huge right and counter with a huge left to put Melendez out and reclaim the belt at 1:35. The event had come to a merciful end, but I could already sense the cringing over Henderson being a champion again. Considering how his first reign went, I couldn't blame them. (Very Poor)



The commercial success (15,780 for a gate of $2,367,000; 1,326,434 buys for $7,958,604) merely served to highlight how much of a poor event we delivered. Shogun and Evans got Fight Of The Night for being mercifully short. Henderson's KO was the only saving grace of his match and got him the only other bonus. Meanwhile, Melendez, Shogun, Hardy, Montague, Sanchez, Bocek, and Villante all got hit with medical suspensions, while Pettis declared he was taking a leave of absence.

We were back in freefall. I wondered how much longer it would continue.



*TO BE CONTINUED*