UFC 296

The fight business is still the entertainment business, and sometimes the entertainment business can be a dirty business if there are dollars on the line. The UFC, through its lucrative ESPN deal, is assured a guaranteed amount of cash for the events it produces, mostly for the ESPN+ streaming service, but there's still the pressure to deliver the buy rates since the value of the next TV contract could be impacted by the drawing power of the brand. The hefty $80 price tag for monthly UFC pay-per-views can make it a tough sell, particularly around the holidays and even more so with the uncertainty of the current economy. Traditionally, the organization hosts a signature card at the end of the year, but a slew of injuries, including to current heavyweight champion, Jon Jones depleted a portion of the star power that the company can use to market those previously mentioned $80 PPV events. Jones, who was shoehorned into the heavyweight title picture without fighting in the weight class before he was granted a title shot after Francis Ngannou vacated the championship following a contract dispute, was originally scheduled to defend his belt against former heavyweight kingpin, Stipe Miocic. However, Jones suffered a torn pec in training and required surgery, sidelining him for several months so their scheduled main event last month was canceled.

Taking into account Stipe's dangerous punching power, and the relatively short tenure of Jones in the division, this was considered "Bones" Jones' toughest test at heavyweight. When the pec injury derailed those plans, Alex Pereira vs. Jiří Procházka for the light heavyweight championship that Jamahal Hill was forced to vacated because of an injury took the main event spot. UFC 295 delivered great action and an entertaining night of fights, but that's only one side of the equation, as it lacked a selling point for the casual fan.

With Conor McGregor's status still undetermined, especially after he failed to enter the USADA testing pool to be eligible to fight Michael Chandler following their stint as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter reality show, and the exit of Ngannou because of the previously mentioned contract disagreement, Jon Jones is the biggest star the company has on the roster. When "Bones" Jones was put on the shelf, UFC brass needed a big draw for its usual event at the end of the year.

Mixed martial arts is a competitive sport, but make no mistake about it, the UFC became an established entity among the American sports landscape because they used a collection of pro wrestling tactics to market the product. Yesterday's pre-fight press conference was no different. There are heroes and villains in real life so it's much easier for the casual fan to invest into entertainment, regardless of the form it takes, when the narrative reflects that.

In a rather ham-handed attempt to draw from the lowest common denominator, Colby Covington, the brash and controversial interim welterweight champion, was granted a title shot against Leon Edwards for the main event at UFC 296. Edwards is on an impressive winning streaking, including a pair of wins against former 170 LBS champion, Kamaru Usman in his last two fights to win and defend the title respectively. Edwards' most recent bout was the majority decision he won against Usman earlier this year. On the flip side, Colby was knocked out by Usman in their original bout before he lost a unanimous decision to Usman in the rematch, putting him at 2-2 in his last four bouts. In his last octagon appearence, Covington beat the one-dimensional Jorge Masvidal with a lackluster decision on the score cards when Masvidal simply couldn't defend the take downs. Colby has one victory since he lost to Usman and that win over the previously mentioned Masvidal was more than a year and a half ago.

Has Covington done enough with one win in March of 2022 to justify a title shot? I don't think so, but it's important to remember that the fight business is still the entertainment business.

As we know, Colby brands himself as the MAGA fighter and along with that gets the support of Donald Trump's fan base. Who knows how much of it is an act to talk himself further up the card than he would be otherwise, but it's a smart strategy for Covington. He's a great wrestler, and if an opponent can't defend the take down then he can grind out a decision on the score cards. If his opponents can stop the take down attempts, as Usman did in their two contests, Colby is exposed as a rather one-dimensional fighter with limited striking ability. Usman broke Covington's jaw in their initial fight before the ref stopped the contest.

This could all be a facade to get the biggest payday possible, but Colby, who visited the White House when he was the interim champion, caters to the MAGA audience. That gives him a built-in fan case, and at the same time, those that don't agree with Trump are willing to pay to see him lose. Keep in mind, it doesn't matter if the fans pay to see a fighter win or pay to see a fighter lose, as long as they are paying to see them. The political association is automatically going to bring that dynamic into the fight, and as know from the way that both political parties shamelessly advertise fundraisers every few years, politics generates money. There are books, speaking tours, and podcasts from a slew of political figures even if they don't win office that people are willing to pay for so it's relatively easy money to jump on the political band wagon on either side of it. Plus, there are morons actually paying $500 for a George Santos cameo, but we won't discuss that.

However, you have to wonder if there's a point where it jumps the shark and becomes too much trash TV and thus it actually sours fans on the event?

At the press conference, Colby, clad in a George Washington outfit and a MAGA hat, made a disparaging remark about Edwards' deceased father. Aside from the fact that Covington looks like a clown more than an athlete, the comment went too far and shouldn't be tolerated by the UFC. Yes, it's the fight business, but the company has a conduct policy. Still, it will be chalked up to promotional hype because the almighty dollar is most important in the fight game. In my view, it's not that I want to watch the fight to see Covington lose, but rather that his comments were so disgusting that I don't care to see him fight at all. Assuming Edwards can avoid being too emotional, he should be able to defeat Covington, similar to the way that Usman beat Colby, but at the same time, the take down can be very effective from Covington if the fight goes into the later rounds.

If I had to pick winner, I think Leon Edwards will get the win, but that's more of a guess than anything. However, the biggest takeaway from this more than who wins the Welterweight championship is that this sets a new low for what will be used to sell UFC pay-per-views.