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What did Sage Northcutt's painful debut for ONE Championship tell us about the different levels of MMA competition in the world and the perception of any organization that does not call UFC? Retired UFC and WEC fighter Danny Downes will join MFA editorialist Junkie Ben Fowlkes to discuss Trading Shots this week.
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Downes: Well, it may shock you, but netizens are angry at something that a website has published. This week, the culprit was quoted in a Deadspin title: "Poor sage Northcutt is knocked out 30 seconds before the start of the Minor League MMA."
As you may have guessed, a number of fans were totally shocked by the use of the "minor league" to describe ONE.
I am not here to try to attract the author (who has already admitted it was a mistake). Moreover, we do not even know if he is the one who chose the title. You know how publishers can be, right?
In addition, the average sports writer can be forgiven for not knowing the intricacies of the overall structure of MMA. Let's be grateful. Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe will not have an opinion on Northcutt vs. Cosmo Alexander.
There are clearly levels in the professional MMA, so how would you qualify the MMA "minor leagues"? Why do the majority of American fans still think the landscape is UFC and all the rest? Plus, what does it mean when UFC veterans such as Eddie Alvarez and Northcutt head to ONE and lose their first fights?
Fowlkes: If your fight promotion has Demetrious Johnson, you are not a minor league. The real minor leagues in this sport are what we often call "regional" promotions.
If you have clauses in your contracts to allow fighters to fly as soon as they receive an offer from the UFC? If you boast of feeding the UFC, or the number of fighters that went straight from your UFC lineup? So yes, there is a good chance that you are the minor leagues of the MMA.
Maybe that's just what I think from inside the bubble, but reactions to what I've seen clearly show that most fighting fans do not consider the ONE Championship a minor. And some of the recent reconciliations have led me to wonder if ONE's goal is to use UFC veterans to make this argument.
Give Northcutt a very tough fight against Alexander in his debut? Match Alvarez to "Tim Nasty" in the first round of the tournament? These do not look like the battles you are waging if you consider your recent UFC free agent signatures as valuable goods that need to be nurtured and protected.
Perhaps the goal was to show that ONE Championship relies on its list of very tough fighters, even if they are not supported by the three special letters.
This has had serious consequences for Northcutt, however. The young man brushed his face in a particularly frightening way (even if it could not stop his general enthusiasm for life). It's a difficult start to the world after leaving the UFC in a winning streak. Does this make you think that the UFC was right to let him walk, after he had squeezed all the value he could get out of it? Did the attempt to make him a star by simply telling us that he was already one taught us something?
Downes: I do not know what you mean by "just". Was it a tactical decision with a fairly solid business logic? Sure. Did Northcutt probably ask for more money and did the UFC leaders realize that they had neither the influence nor the energy to make it a "thing"? You know. One of the UFC's most popular stories about ESPN so far is that UFC officials do not really have to try. They receive the money from the start. Example: the UFC Rochester card from last night.
Once again, I do not know if the ESPN agreement forced the UFC officials to consciously change their business decisions, or if we are witnessing the continuation of a trend that began a few years ago. The UFC has always assumed that the mark was larger than any unnamed fighter Conor McGregor. The powers within the company may have spent time and money on Northcutt, but his contract had cost irreversibly at the end of his contract. At least they always have Paige VanZant, I guess.
With respect to what we have learned from the way the UFC has managed Northcutt, there are two opposing points of view. One side can make fun of the UFC for putting promotional muscle behind a child who has not proven itself and has fizzled out. Many people say that the UFC can not build stars and was just "lucky" that the Ronda Rouseys and McGregors of the world came forward.
On the other hand, I think the Sage experience shows just how beneficial it can be for the UFC to be by your side. Of course, Northcutt never became a champion, but he earned much more money and glory than any other MMA fighter of his caliber.
Part of this can be attributed to backlash. When many MMA fans know that you are a corporate man, they will do everything in their power to drown you as often as possible. It just means more attention.
You must also recognize that Northcutt has adapted to the situation. That he rips apples, washes his car without a shirt or makes no matter what it isIt's hard to imagine that he is not involved in the joke. Perhaps we have learned that a muscular and attractive guy in a conventional way, able to do stolen stuff, can earn enough money in this sport. Wait a minute. That can not be all we have learned, is not it?
Fowlkes: Perhaps we have learned that you can only hide the flaws of a fighter for so long. The UFC desperately wanted Northcutt to be a thing, even when this desperation was provoking negative reactions among supporters and fighters. He had good battles, good card placement, and the benefits of the UFC Hype machine. Then, when negotiating a new deal, the UFC decided it might not do the same thing, or at least it was worth getting paid.
He carried his talent to the ONE Championship, but all the attention the UFC gave him made him a target as much as a symbol. If one of your guys beats one of the guys in the UFC, you may have made a point that was worth it. And maybe this point is that you're not such a minor league after all.
Nevertheless, it is not really a revelation that there are good fighters outside the UFC. There is talent everywhere in this sport. The challenge for other promoters has been to catch the attention of fans. Seeing the former UFC golden boy get smashed could make a strong impression. It could also end up being quickly forgotten.
Ben Fowlkes is MMA Junkie and MMA columnist for USA TODAY. Danny Downes, a retired fighter from the UFC and WEC, is a contributor to MMA Junkie who also wrote for UFC.com and UFC 360. Follow them on Twitter at @benfowlkesMMA and @dannyboydownes.
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