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2008-05-05 00:00:27
UFC 85: How the UFC Scrambled to Replace Chuck Liddell
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Forget Georges St. Pierre. Forget Anderson Silva. Forget Randy Couture. Chuck Liddell is by far the most recognizable (and most popular) MMA fighter in the world.
So when Liddell injured his leg training for his fight against Rashad Evans, the UFC had a big problem. Liddell was headlining the UFC 85 card which was due to take place on June 7th in London, England. Liddell is the UFC's biggest draw, and not having him on the UFC 85 card would cause the PPV numbers for the event to fall off rapidly. Not only that, but many fans from London were buying tickets to see Liddell, and would be extremely disappointed if there wasn't a suitable replacement headlining the card.
So to counter Liddell being pulled from the card, Dana White and Joe Silva came up with a three-pronged approach towards saving the card:
1. Have a "hometown" fighter featured in one of the major fights on the card to satisfy the British fans.
2. Make a new main event that would satisfy the North American audience and keep PPV numbers high. This would involve booking one of the promotion's bigger draws, such as St. Pierre or Anderson Silva.
3. Stack the entire card with a number of strong fights.
The UFC managed to pull this off and salvage the UFC 85 card. While PPV numbers won't be as high without Liddell in the main event, they should still be respectable. Most importantly, the fans in London should have a very entertaining show to watch.
The first thing that the UFC did was (smartly) book Michael Bisping to fight Chris Leben. Bisping is from England and this will give the London fans their "main event". Not only do the fans get the treat of seeing their "hometown" favorite fight, but they also will see a great match, as the 16-1 Bisping takes on the 18-4 Chris Leben. There will not be much in the way of ground fighting in this match-up - expect a brawl as both fighters are more comfortable on their feet.
Next up, the UFC had the task of booking a new "North American" main event. According to reports, the UFC went through their rolodex and contacted every major fighter that they have under contract who wasn't currently already signed to a match. Anderson Silva was contacted but told the UFC that he just had some type of surgery, and didn't know when he would return. Georges St. Pierre was contacted but informed the UFC that he needed more time to recover after his fight with Matt Serra. Rich Franklin was offered a fight against Dan Henderson, but felt that he wouldn't be ready on such short notice.
The UFC then contacted Matt Hughes, arguably the greatest Welterweight of all time, and offered him a match against Thiago Alves. Hughes quickly accepted, and the main event was set. Hughes is one of the UFC's most popular fighters, and a fight against Thiago Alves is an intriguing match-up that should interest most MMA fans.
Lastly, the UFC set off on the task of loading the card up with many different intriguing match-up. They did just that, cramming the card with 13 match-ups. There will be five "Main Card" bouts and eight "Preliminary Card" bouts. The Preliminary Card has some intriguing match-ups, including Nathan Marquardt vs Thales Leites and Antoni Hardonk vs Neil Wain.
The UFC did a phenomenal job of racing to patch up this card, and have done a great job in making everyone happy. The British fans will be excited for this card, and the North American fans should be intrigued enough to buy the PPV. Expect Chuck Liddell to headline another card soon - likely UFC 88 or UFC 89 later in the year.
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