UFC Influx of Talent

Much has been made of the lack of talent in some of the divisions of the UFC. Fighters from TUF are in many of the shows and pay is still pretty low among most of the undercard. However, recently the UFC has made an attempt at bringing in some big name talent. So far this year, we saw the return of several stars including Tito Ortiz, BJ Penn, and Royce Gracie. That influx has continued in recent events as we saw the UFC debut of Anderson Silva, an impressive KO against Chris Leben. At UFC 61, Dana White introduced yet another fighter set to come into the UFC. Wanderlei Silva, who's last fight in the Octagon was in April of 2000, is set to return to possibly face Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell(provided Liddell defeats Babalu in his next title defense).

Is this recent run of bringing in bigger name fighters just a result of the UFC making a little more money now than it was before or is the competition from other fighting companies causing the UFC to step up their game? Perhaps a healthy mix of both but I for one am glad a little bit of competition is starting to emerge. It can only push the UFC to put out a better product and be more enjoyable for us, the fans. I just hope that the UFC does not start to blackball fighters, managers, and trainers who participate in shows like IFL and WFA. The way to succeed over these competitors is too put on a superior product, not to try and snuff out the competition by threatening anyone who is involved with them.

I hope the signing of international stars continues and especially in the heavyweight division, which could use a major upgrade in talent.

Until next time,
Jason