My weapon of choice is breaded cauliflower and my family recipe ground beef, almonds, and dates stuffing. That's what I gorge myself with on Thanksgiving, the last couple bites being enough to put me in a solid two hour food coma before the final football game of the night.
Meanwhile, MMA fans are stuffed solid with a packed month of action that raised as many questions as it answered. Before I hop on a train bound for turkey (and well before I pass out on the couch in a small drool puddle) it's worth looking back at November and digesting what happened a little. Loosen your eatin' belts!
Some people look at Shane Carwin's 5XL hands and think "those would hurt to get punched with." I think "damn, those would make awesome hand turkeys."
Is Fedor The Ratings Answer For Strikeforce?
5.4 million is the final number for the Fedor-Rogers telecast, and that has to be considered a success for both CBS and Strikeforce, especially if they held eyeballs through the Jake Shields-Jason Miller grapplefest.
It's also great news for Fedor and M-1 Global, who have leverage now. While they're notorious players of hardball for their services, it had yet to be proved that they could get American crowds excited about the Russian. Judging from media coverage the next day and the ratings numbers, they succeeded.
The "Fedor bump" is a double-edged sword, however. I'm not certain Strikeforce has anybody else that's going to get eyeballs in front of the television on a Friday night. Gina Carano needs another fight or two before a rematch against Cris Cyborg is credible, so who else can the company main event with? Gegard Mousasi is good but way too vanilla, Brett Rogers needs a bounceback fight, and the only potential sponsor Shields excites is Ambien. A star can make a telecast, but a roster makes a promotion. Right now I'm worried that Strikeforce isn't doing enough to market the rest of their fighters to the general public.
Did Jose Aldo Pick A Great Time To Become the WEC's Best Fighter?
If it's November, it's must be time for UFC-WEC merger rumors, and Tatame.com reported rumors of a merger this month before it was denied by WEC's PR department in a statement to Heavy.com.
In spite of UFC's desperate need for some healthy blood (more on that later), I think the companies staying separate is a great thing for fans of ZuffaCorp, because it means more free TV showings for the explosive Jose Aldo Jr. who once again rewrote the top of the featherweight division in WEC.
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