Story of the Year: UFC Power Moves

Dent · **Posted:** Mon Dec 20, 2010 8:29 pm

By E. Spencer Kyte Sun, Dec 19 2010
There are sure to be those who question my selection for Story of the Year, calling the events that make up the narrative nothing out of the ordinary. While the UFC has indeed been flexing their muscles and making moves for a number of years, 2010 saw them step it up to another level.

In February, the UFC went to the other side of the world for the first time, debuting in Australia to a packed house at Acer Arena. Not only was the event a financial success, selling out and playing to an excited audience, but it also served as the introduction point for a pair of breakthrough performers, as both George Sotiropoulos and Cain Velasquez delivered impressive performances that set a solid year in motion.

Four months later, Vancouver, British Columbia welcomed the premier mixed martial arts organization town with hesitation. While the show was the quickest sell-out in UFC history and came off without a hitch, many local politicians and physicians have remained unsupportive, with the British Columbia Medical Association going as far as petitioning for the sport to be banned across the country. Despite the hurdles, the event was successful enough to merit a return trip to Western Canada's biggest market in 2011.

While the new stops on the UFC world tour were impressive, two other market moves were even more important in helping make the UFC's continued power moves the Story of the Year in 2010.

First, the UFC broke into the massive Chinese market, securing a television deal with Inner Mongolia Television (NMTV) and establishing a UFC-China office headed by former NBA executive Mark Fischer at the helm. As a follow-up, the organization touched down in the second largest North American market left to conquer, establishing an office in Toronto, Ontario in June with former CFL commissioner Tom Wright in command.

While hosting an event in China is a long way away, the UFC was finally able to help push through legislation to make a trip to Ontario a reality, and the UFC will invade the Rogers Centre at the end of April. The show, which many expect to be headlined by Georges St-Pierre's title defence against Jake Shields, will play out in front of more the 60,000 fans, the largest North American MMA audience ever.

In addition to breaking new territory, the UFC also made a long-discussed but still unexpected announcement in October that was a major power play as well.

Fans and media alike had discussed the possibility - and perhaps necessity - of merging the UFC with the WEC, their sister organization of lighter-weight fighters, but it had always been shot down by the higher ups. On October 28, Dana White announced that the move was being made, with Pablo Garza and Fredson Paixao becoming the first competitors from the WEC to debut inside the Octagon.

Though the WEC only ended their run on Thursday, the move into the UFC has garnered a great deal of interest and a new collection of competitors have already started to emerge as fan favourites even before they've stepped into the UFC cage. Obviously, Anthony Pettis is garnering a great deal of attention thanks to his "Showtime Kick," while more established stars like Urijah Faber, Jose Aldo and Dominick Cruz are getting some quality exposure in light of their UFC arrivals as well.

The company also made some power plays in regards to their roster as well. On the additions front, the UFC inked former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields, a fighter widely regarded as the best welterweight competitor outside of the organization. After amassing a lengthy winning streak in smaller shows, fortysomething lightweight Antonio McKee finally signed with the big club and will make his debut at UFC 125.

Phil Davis was inked in early 2010 and proceeded to rattle off four-straight wins, including one by way of his brand new, self-named "Philmura" submission. On the international front, fighters like Karlos Vemola, Pascal Krauss and Carlos Eduardo Rocha all signed with the company and earned their first wins.

There were also subtractions, one of which garnered a great deal of attention. Gerald Harris was dumped following a single sorry performance, and the MMA community at large went bonkers about it. The message from the UFC was loud and clear - engage or get set loose. The secondary message that a lot of people missed in their upheaval about Harris was that the new roster additions mean that spending money on middling fighters isn't an option anymore, especially if they're under-performing.

One-time heavyweight uber-prospect Todd Duffee was also dumped unceremoniously in the last year, falling by the wayside after losing to Mike Russow and complaining about life as a starving fighter. Former title contenders Patrick Cote and Gabriel Gonzaga were let go, along with massive fan favorite Keith Jardine and a host of lesser known, lower tier fighters too.

All in all, it has been a year where the UFC roster and their global reach continued to shift, producing 2010's Story of the Year.

Source: http://communities.canada.com/theprovin ... moves.aspx

Story of the Year: UFC Power Moves

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