The UFC's decision to schedule two fight cards on the same weekend is looking excessively ambitious as UFC 147 approaches.
With a hastily thrown together main event pitting Wanderlei Silva against Rich Franklin, a main card featuring four fighters largely unknown to fans outside of Brazil (finalists of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil), and a preliminary card consisting largely of fighters from the all-Brazilian season of The Ultimate Fighter, the UFC 147 fight card has been criticized as not being worthy of pay-per-view, and rightly so. In all honesty, the more intriguing fight card of the weekend for most UFC fans is the one that airs for free on Friday night. The UFC on FX: Maynard vs. Guida fight card features a likely barn-burner of a main event pitting former No. 1 lightweight contender Gray Maynard against perpetual fan favorite Clay Guida, a likely barn-burner in the co-main event between lightweights Sam Stout and Spencer Fisher, and a host of alumni from the better-known American seasons of The Ultimate Fighter, including TUF 9 winner Ross Pearson, TUF 13 runner-up Ramsey Nijem, and TUF 7 veteran Matt Brown.
Looking at the way things have worked out, it's safe to say that UFC 147 is a disaster of a card for the UFC, and a cautionary tale about overbooking the roster on a single weekend. However, had things gone according to the UFC's plan, however, MMA pundits and fans would be singing a far different tune.
After all, the original UFC 147 fight card was supposed to feature the UFC Middleweight Championship rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen, which would have been, unquestionably, the fight to see this weekend. Of course, that plan was scuttled by the United Nations' Rio + 20 conference on sustainable development, which forced the UFC to move this weekend's fight card from a large soccer stadium in Rio de Janeiro to the smaller Estadio Jornalista Felipe Drummond in Belo Horizonte and moved Silva-Sonnen to next month's UFC 148 fight card in Las Vegas.
What's gone on since that move was announced is certain proof that a Silva vs. Sonnen main event would have held UFC 147 together without a problem. After Silva vs. Sonnen became the new main event at UFC 148, the original planned main event - a rubber match between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber for Cruz's UFC Bantamweight Title - became an interim title bout between Faber and Renan Barao after Cruz tore an ACL. That fight was eventually moved to the UFC 149 fight card in Calgary - a snakebitten card in its own right - to serve as the main event after Jose Aldo's injury derailed his planned title defense against Erik Koch. Despite the absence of Cruz-Faber, a new co-main event of Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin, and the removal of Rich Franklin from his bout against Cung Le, UFC 148 remains the highlight of the summer in MMA.
As it is, the fight card should be more than entertaining, with Franklin and "The Axe Murderer" reprising their Fight of the Night from UFC 99, a high-stakes heavyweight tilt between Fabricio Werdum and Mike Russow and a slew of young, hungry fighters looking to seize their UFC opportunities after competing on TUF Brazil. It just isn't up to the usual standards of the UFC's pay-per-view offerings.
If you want to blame anyone for that, though, blame the UN.
