Is UFC 332 the worst numbered event (on paper) in UFC history? Is there some reason we keep talking about rematches at heavyweight and lightweight instead of moving on to other business?
Plus, does Michael "Venom" Page's UFC exit confirm once and for all that winning simply isn't enough? All that and more in this week's mailbag. To ask a question of your own, hit up @BenFowlkesMMA on X or @Ben_Fowlkes on Threads.
@rithemnblues: How can I as a consumer voice my displeasure with 332? However, this can't include not watching because the only thing I look forward to are Saturday cards.Hate to tell you this, but they got you. And they know it. We'll still watch because a) it's part of our routine, and b) it doesn't cost any extra to do so. It's just something that's on TV, and we look forward to whatever the UFC sees fit to serve up each Saturday.
The consensus among fans is that UFC 332 is one of the weakest attempts at a numbered event that the UFC has ever put forth. I can't disagree. We've seen other events that ended up being pretty thin due to injuries and what not, but this one was never strong and it doesn't feel like a ton of effort went into making it so.
The lone title fight really isn't one, since we all know who the real women's flyweight champ is, and she's not on this card. There's only one other bout on the card featuring ranked fighters. There are a couple of interesting names (King Green is always fun; Roberto Soldic's debut should be worth seeing), but nothing that feels "premium" in the sense of a "premium live event. "
Then again, these aren't pay-per-views anymore. This is included with the monthly Paramount+ subscription. So now all UFC events essentially cost the same. If this were the lineup for UFC Fight Night: Salt Lake City, would we really find it all that disappointing? I don't think we would. It's only the framing of it as a numbered event that makes it feel like a letdown, but that framing is a holdover from a different era with different incentives.
The people who really have a right to feel upset are the ones who bought tickets. Imagine you hear that the UFC is coming to town with a numbered event. You're thinking title fights and big stars. You pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for tickets. Then you get … this. That's a costly way to learn that we're living in a whole new era.
@bodkins_nick: Why do you feel like there is so much talk of rematches. Gane vs Alex, Justin vs Illa?Maybe we just lack imagination. At heavyweight, it seems like it's mainly Alex Pereira who's been pushing that rematch talk. I can't say I'm all that interested in it right now, and I think there's other interesting fights for him (like Josh Hokit) to get his name back in the mix. The only thing I'm really interested in seeing Gane do right now is finish his business with Tom Aspinall, though that's subject to the slow healing process of the human eye.
As for Justin Gaethje and Ilia Topuria, it might make more sense if we were lacking fresh contenders. But we're not. Arman Tsarukyan is right there, and he earned that title shot a couple times over already. Plus, Topuria has that rivalry with Paddy Pimblett still bubbling on a back burner. That fight would make sense for both those guys right now.
When there are no better options, fine, we can all entertain ourselves watching reruns. But when that's not the situation, by all means, let's try something new.
@michal_sobek: I remember Roberto Soldić being really hyped when he was a free agent after his KSW tenure. He's only had 3 MMA fights since leaving KSW, going 1-1 with 1 NC. Do you think there's still something to be hyped about now that he's signed with the UFC?The thing to be hyped about is that we're going to get to find out whether there's something to get hyped about. That's always the exciting promise of a free agent from elsewhere in the MMA world coming to the UFC. We get to see how Roberto Soldić stacks up on the sport's biggest stage. That tells us something not only about him, but about the level of competition elsewhere.
That said, let's remember that plenty of fighters have come into the UFC and underperformed in their first fight. Those Octagon jitters are real (not that it bothered Salahdine Parnasse any). So I'd say we might need two or three fights before we know what the UFC really has in Soldić.
@NeedXtoseeposts: Is winning enough, or should MVP have "had" to do more?At this point, whether we like it or not, it's been decided. Winning isn't enough. Even true, rare greatness isn't enough. If it were, the UFC never would have been willing to let go of Demetrious Johnson back when he was still arguably the best flyweight in the world and a pound-for-pound MMA great.
The UFC is in the entertainment business. That's filtered through the lens of a sport, but this whole thing only operates as a sport in the brief window between when the cage door closes and when it opens. The rest of the time it's a carnival, going from town to town and promising whatever it takes to get people in the tent.
Michael Page has been at this long enough to know that. While he was coming up in Bellator, putting on entertaining fights was his whole thing. It's why Bellator kept giving him advantageous matchups, so he could show out and produce some highlights.
He hasn't done that in a long time. He just kept promising that he'd do better next time. But after a series of boring fights, a guy who's pushing 40 eventually runs out of next times — at least in the UFC, which has the luxury of letting good fighters walk now and then.
@bear_reynolds: Book MVP's next fight-what promotion, where, when and against who?He actually picked a really good time to be a free agent. The PFL-MVP merger is going to give us a new product in need of known names. Scott Coker's re-entry into the MMA space will also be in need of bodies soon. There are options, and Page is in a good spot to capitalize on them.
As for who he should fight, that depends on what his new promoter wants to do with him. If the goal is to make him a featured attraction, give him some overly aggressive brawler who'll wade right into his counter-striking style. If it's to use him to build someone else, an overpowering wrestler might do the trick.
@ewillcock: Nico Price is returning from retirement to face Leon Shahbazyan (no not that Shahbazyan). Seems like he may not be satisfied after DC passed him over for an interview following his career-ending loss to Chiesa. If true, is this the worst possible reason to return?With all MMA retirements, you've got to give it a solid year before you have any sense of whether it'll stick. Niko Price retired in March and is reportedly coming back in October, so he didn't even come close to hitting that mark.
I'd hope his reasons for it are better than just wanting to get a retirement interview on the broadcast. Because if you retire and then change your mind that quickly, you're basically making the case that they shouldn't bother to give you that mic time. Why interview a guy who might be back in six months?
