The main event of this weekend’s UFC pay-per-view event is far from the most-anticipated sequel the promotion has ever put on, but it’s still a great fight.
In the headliner of UFC 177, UFC Bantamweight Champion TJ Dilllashaw puts his title on the line against the man he took it from, Renan Barão. Dillashaw defeated Barão back at UFC 173 via fifth-round TKO to capture the 135-pound title from the man no one thought could lose, and now, just three months later, he defends his newly-won title for the first time against the former champ.
The first fight provided the most unexpected upset win by an underdog in UFC title fight history, and was also a great matchup that ended up winning Fight of the Night on the UFC 173 card. Dillashaw’s breakthrough performance made him an instant star, and the storyline of Barão trying to come back from his 32-fight unbeaten streak being snapped instantly became a storyline the UFC could sell down the road. However, instead of building up a potential rematch for down the road, the UFC instead booked the rematch immediately, and it’s a questionable decision that could cost the UFC as it may alienate them from fans.
No one was asking for Barao vs. Dillashaw 2 after their first fight back in May, a bout that may have won Fight of the Night, but was absolutely dominated by Dillashaw for the entire five rounds. Sure, it’s possible that Barão just had a bad night, but at the same time, so did Cain Velasquez back at UFC on FOX 1, and he had to take (and win) another fight before the UFC matched him back up against Junior dos Santos for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. So why did Barão get an instant rematch, especially when the first fight was a blowout over five rounds with no controversy? I’m not exactly sure, especially considering the first fight did quite poorly on pay-per-view.
Don’t get me wrong, Dillashaw vs. Barão 2 is a fun fight. Actually, it’s a great fight, and I expect it to win the $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus at UFC 177. But I still think the fight was booked too soon, and I feel like the promotion should have waited until at least next year so both men could have improved their games and, dare I say it, become even better fighters by the time they met up for a second time.
Most importantly, though, if the UFC had waited a little while to book this fight, both men would have had more time to raise their profiles and build up their images. Look at Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes 2, for instance. The first fight wasn’t too highly sought after, and the PPV did mediocre numbers, but the rematch is much more well received and should do better numbers on PPV than the first fight did (although the undercard will play a role in that). Had the UFC built up the rematch between Barão and Dillashaw, I could be saying the same thing, but with the fight happening so soon — after a one-sided initial meeting, and with the PPV market so thin these days — I expect the rematch to do very poorly on PPV and become another reason for MMA observers to deduce that lower weight classes = lower PPV sales.
And the undercard definitely won’t give this fight any help. Right now, UFC 177’s PPV features a five-fight main card of Dillashaw vs. Barão 2, Tony Ferguson vs. Danny Castillo, Shayna Baszler vs. Bethe Correia, Carlos Diego Ferreira vs. Ramsey Nijem, and Damon Jackson vs. Yancy Medeiros. No doubt Dillashaw vs. Barão is the best fight of the bunch, but that is a weak supporting cast. Think UFC 173 did bad on PPV with 200K buys? Look at UFC 177, which is a far inferior card. It could potentially do half of UFC 173’s numbers, depending on the public’s appetite for the rematch in the main event, because let’s face it, there are no other true PPV-caliber fights on the card, and that fight, as good as it could be, isn’t really a PPV-drawing fight either.
We’ll see what happens this weekend – who knows what will happen – but I do think the rematch was booked too soon after the first meeting. and the PPV buyrates for UFC 177 will bear that out. And it’s a shame, though, because even if the fight is a classic, there will barely be anyone paying attention, and that can’t be what the UFC wants from its brand new bantamweight champion.
• TJ Dillashaw vs. Renan Barão (UFC Bantamweight Championship)
Click the stars to rate your anticipation for this fight.
**********
UFC 177: Dillashaw vs. Soto (formerly UFC 177: Dillashaw vs. Barao II) is due to take place on August 30, 2014 at the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, California.
Click the stars to rate how good you think UFC 177 will be.
