Trading Shots: Downes and Fowlkes on WSOF and lowered expectations

In this week’s Trading Shots, MMAjunkie columnist Ben Fowlkes and former UFC/WEC fighter Danny Downes look back at WSOF 9 and all the heel-hooking, face-smashing goodness therein.

* * * *

Fowlkes: So I’m sitting there on my couch watching WSOF 9 late last night, just enjoying the action, when it occurs to me how much the experience reminds me of the old recurring “Mad TV” sketch about the “Lowered Expectations” dating service. Is it just me, or is WSOF the place where fighters go to be measured by a completely different yardstick? Rousimar Palhares heel hooks a guy and lets go before he has to be pried off with a crowbar, and that’s a big deal. Yushin Okami actually finishes an opponent, and that’s an even bigger deal. Success stories all around –as long as the bar for success is lowered considerably.

I still enjoyed the fights, and Marlon Moraes is always fun to watch (though how did he let Josh Rettinghouse limp the full distance without putting him away?), but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was watching a lot of plan Bs come to fruition. Am I alone here? Is this the part where you tell me I’m a curmudgeonly pessimist?

Downes: “Lowered Expectations – when you’ve been blown off by the rest, settle for second best.”

I’ll always take the opportunity to accuse you of being curmudgeonly pessimist, but I think I’ll just call you a “Zuffa shill” to save the people in the comments section the trouble. In your defense, it’s hard not to come to that conclusion. When the president of the UFC tells Ben Askren that he should pick up a couple wins in WSOF and then maybe they’ll give him a look, it’s hard not to view the organization as a minor league. Having said that, I think the truth is a bit more complicated. In Palhares’ and Okami’s cases, they may have been released from the UFC, but not because they couldn’t compete with the “big boys.” The truth is either one of them could be top 10 in his division.

When it comes to MMA though, the truth doesn’t matter – only the perception. Are Okami and Palhares exceptions when it comes to the bulk of the WSOF roster? I’d say so, but look at some of the talent on the UFC roster for the international shows. It’s hard to say where those fighters place in the larger context. MMA as a whole is becoming increasingly more tiered. Not all UFC fighters are equal, and the same applies to other organizations. I know how much you like making broad generalizations, but aren’t we just going to have to judge each competitor individually? Can’t we live in a world where a fighter isn’t judged by the logo on his shorts, but on his ability to cause blunt force trauma?

Fowlkes: I think you hit on a good point. WSOF does not have minor league talent. Or at least, it doesn’t only have that, just as the UFC doesn’t only have elite fighters. But whatever you think of the WSOF roster, the organization seems to have been branded as the safety school of MMA. If things don’t work out for you in the UFC, hey, there’s always WSOF. I’d say that’s a harmful, unfair characterization, except WSOF all but invites it with these events that are anchored by UFC castoffs.

Maybe that’s not so bad, though. If WSOF is the home to the outcasts and has-beens, as well as the never-weres and someday-might-bes, that could be good enough to get us to tune in on a Saturday night here and there, right? I mean, as long as there’s no UFC event that night.

But what I wonder is whether we, the fans and the media, are even capable of living in this MMA utopia you mention, the one where we judge fighters on their own violent abilities rather than the banner they fight under. If memory serves, aren’t you the same guy who just last week pointed out that this sport has become more about brands than about people? Whose fault is that, anyway?

Downes: I indeed did argue that very point last week. That opinion, however, was observational, not prescriptive. Who wouldn’t want to live in an MMA utopia where the Xyience flows like water and all our belongings are dynamically fastened? You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one (OK, maybe I’m the only one).

It think we should just cut to the chase. It feels like the major issues are, 1) Is it OK to brand WSOF a “minor league,” or equivalent, and 2) If we accept the fact that it is “below” the UFC, what’s its place? There are nuances in the first question. We’ve already discussed Palhares and Okami and the fact that “UFC caliber” may not mean the same thing it did years ago. All that aside, the best fighters in the world are in the UFC. Take the top 15 in any weight class and look at what who signs their checks. Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler are excellent fighters. Alexander Schlemenko fought this weekend, and I think he’s also a great fighter. Unfortunately for Bellator, they are the exceptions and not the rule.

As for the second question, that’s a bit more complicated. Some MMA fans have adopted the Ricky Bobby attitude when it comes to fighting. If you’re not the No. 1 organization in the world, then everything you do is crap. That’s simply not true. As the sport has grown, it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to get into the higher levels. Talent needs different outlets, and they are finding them in other places. Why is this so hard for people to understand? Is it because we only have so many hours in a week to dedicate to MMA and it’s easier to write off other organizations so we can spend a Saturday night doing something else?

Fowlkes: Oh, to live in such a utopia, one in which we are always either facing the pain or stepping to this, pausing only momentarily in order to move to Metro. It’s never going to happen, though. Why, you ask? Why is it so hard for fans to understand that a fighter can be awesome outside the UFC just as easily as he can be mediocre in it? Maybe because that’s been a running narrative in this sport ever since the UFC vs. PRIDE days. When you’ve got the UFC president shouting about how his organization is the only one where the best fight the best (unless he doesn’t like them or their managers), it’s not surprising that some people swallow that gross over-generalization more than others. Also, fighting lends itself to that first-or-last mentality you mention. Only one dude gets to be the baddest man alive, right?

Personally, I’m fine with WSOF being MMA’s Island of the Misfit Toys. I’m not going to stay home to watch it when Chad Dundas’ rock band is playing a borderline illegal show in one of Missoula’s many bike shops (totally worth the hangover and the hearing loss, btw), but I’ll DVR the hell out of it and then watch it at my leisure. I just wonder if the fighters who compete there are as cool with this perception as WSOF seems to be.

Downes: Yes, the narrative for the bulk of MMA history has been “UFC or bust.” But allow me to put it in terms that even a dehydrated, cochlear-impaired Montanan can understand: The game done changed. The UFC is still the top dog, but things aren’t that simple anymore. Long gone are the days of 10-12 broadcast events a year. Dana White himself has told fans and media that it’s perfectly OK to ignore certain events because they’re not designed for American audiences.

How that affects the UFC’s future progress/perception is yet to be determined, but it does open the door for other organizations. As Zuffa expands and focuses its scope globally, there will be room for organizations like Bellator and WSOF to get a piece of the action. We can sit here and argue semantics about whether or not it’s proper to call them minor league, but that misses the larger point.

Is there enough of a market for multiple MMA entities? I say yes. Are Bellator and WSOF direct competition to the UFC? Yes, in the sense that they’re both MMA promotions, but I wouldn’t exactly call them threats.

Fans like to get caught up in the economics of the fight business and discuss things like ratings and pay-per-view buy rates. Here’s an idea: How about we just watch fights? You can call them major league, minor league or anything else you want. A rose by any other name is just as sweet, and an inverted heel hook is just as brutal.

For additional coverage of WSOF 9, check out the MMA Events section of the site.

Ben Fowlkes is MMAjunkie and USA TODAY’s MMA columnist. Danny Downes, a retired UFC and WEC fighter, is an MMAjunkie contributor who also writes for UFC.com and UFC 360. Follow them on twitter at @benfowlkesMMA and @dannyboydownes.