UFC pits their biggest Filipino star versus Pacquiao on November 14
The UFC recently announced that on November 14, they will be pitting Randy Couture against Filipino-American Brandon "The Truth" Vera to headline UFC 105 in England. On the same day, boxing's biggest fight of the year between Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines and Miguel Cotto will also be taking place in Las Vegas. Some fight fans scoff at the pairing because they will have to choose who to watch but personally I think it's beautiful. I think this is a monumental night for Philippine sports as two Filipinos will be headlining the two biggest sports spectacles on the same night. And in terms of the rivalry between Boxing and UFC, I think the UFC did the right thing by holding the bout in England.
It's a smart strategic move by Dana White in the ongoing rivalry between UFC and boxing. Not only do they keep their momentum going by challenging the institution that is boxing, but by taking the card to England, they will be backed up in terms of PPV numbers and audience by the strong European market. Not only that, they also put Manny Pacquiao's last KO victim, England's Ricky Hatton, in the co-main event to try and help revive Hatton's career and boost ticket sales- oops my bad, never mind, I thought that was Hatton. It's actually Michael Bisping, but close enough. Bisping who got embarrassed in American soil last June by Dan Henderson, returns home and will try to regain some lost pride with the help of his loyal and rabid hometown fans.
As to whether Brandon Vera's Filipino background had anything to do with his selection to face Couture on the same night Boxing's most popular fighter climbs the ring, is left for me and you to
speculate. If you ask me, I say yes and no. Yes in the sensethat it makes sense for White to try and pull away some of the Filipino fight fans from watching the Pacquiao fight and encourage them to tune in to Vera instead. Vera himself is a big Pacquiao fan so that guarantees one Pay-Per-View buy boxing already lost to the UFC.
All jokes aside however, and as much a I am a Vera fan myself, the ploy does not work. If anything, the effects will be miniscule. Vera does have a huge Filipino following in the MMA community but for the casual fight fan, it's a no brainer. Pacquiao is Kobe Bryant, Brandon Vera is Jordan- not Michael Jordan though, more like Jordan Farmar. Pacquiao brings the excitement, and despite Vera's recent wins, they came against mediocre fighters and were accomplished in ho-hum fashion. How it works however is with the publicity from the rivalry, Vera gets more exposure. For those who don't have a Blue's clue, they will soon find out about "The Truth".
So at the end of the day, this whole Boxing vs. UFC yields a clear winner- the fans. You get to watch bigger, better and more loaded events while the two sports fight for our viewership. So if I were you, keep the rivalry heated!
Post a Comment