UFC Injury Woes Highlight the Importance of a Deep Roster

The problems surrounding UFC 108 are almost enough to make a person believe in curses.  Nevertheless, the UFC's recent struggles have only highlighted how much of an advantage they have over the competition.

Injuries are common in MMA, but the number of injuries affecting the UFC 108 card defies normal variance and probability.

At one point in time, it looked like UFC 108 might include bouts of Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort, Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin, Lyoto Machida vs. Shogun Rua, Minotauro Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez, Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Junior Dos Santos, Sean Sherk vs. Jim Miller, Tyson Griffin vs. Jim Miller, and Carlos Condit vs. Paul Daley.

There were other rumored fights, but of course, none of those fights, or the ones mentioned above will be happening on Jan. 2. Instead, we have a main event featuring Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva, although that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The fight card could have been one of the best ever had injuries not occurred, but the remaining card isn't anything to complain about.

The main event may not be a fight that people have been talking about for years, but it is still a matchup of two top contenders in the UFC's glamour division, and it's a hell of a lot more relevant to the title picture than last month's main event between Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz.

Not only is the fight relevant, but it also looks like it has some serious potential as a fight.  The fight could be competitive either as a grappling or striking battle, and it is difficult to predict exactly what will happen.

The other fights aren't that bad either.

The fight between Paul Daley and Dustin Hazelett pits a knockout artist against one of the flashiest submission fighters in the UFC. Chances are likely that we're going to see some sort of highlight-reel finish in this one, no matter who wins.

The fight between Gilbert Yvel and Junior Dos Santos seems to have "knockout" written all over it, but it could also end up being the fight that gives us an indication of what Dos Santos' ground game looks like.

So far in the UFC, we are still waiting to see what kind of submission and wrestling skills Dos Santos possesses.

Against Yvel, Dos Santos may finally feel the need to take the fight down to the ground. This is the kind of fight where we might really get to see how good Dos Santos is as mixed martial artist.

That would be a pretty good consolation prize if we are denied the promised knockout finish.

The other two fights are lightweight battles featuring fighters who all almost never have a boring fight.

In summary, this card may not have the star power of some other UFC cards, but it looks like it might have the kind of lineup that could really deliver the goods, and for that reason, it will probably still bring enough buys to keep the UFC in good shape.

The UFC has really survived the recent plague of injuries and contract issues quite well, considering the sheer numbers involved.

Assuming that the UFC is not actually cursed, the UFC looks poised to make a big comeback in the first half of 2010.

It looks like most of the injured stars will be getting back in action, and in the mean time, the UFC has hardly suffered at all because of their absences, despite running the busiest schedule of any fight organization in the world.

After seeing what has happened to the UFC over the past few months, I wonder if any other organization could have handled a string of injuries and other issues with their high-profile fighters.

For example, consider Strikeforce's return to CBS in April. The card will likely feature Fedor Emelianenko, as well as the Strikeforce debut of Dan Henderson, but would Strikeforce be able to move forward with the card were those two fighters to become unavailable?

Hardcore fans might be more than willing to accept a card headlined by the likes of Gegard Mousasi, Cristiane Santos, Muhammed Lawal, Marius Zaromskis, Gilbert Melendez, and Ronaldo Souza, but I'm not so sure that the casual audience or the executives at CBS would be nearly as convinced.

Obviously, such plagues of injuries as experienced by the UFC are not common, but they do happen, and the fact that they do happen really makes the depth of Strikeforce's roster a serious risk in the near future.

As we saw this past summer with Affliction, even one high-profile slip, like Josh Barnett's positive steroid test, can be enough to derail a fight card.

Strikeforce's roster is filled with fighters who cannot exactly be relied upon. Here is a short list of the less-than-reliable Strikeforce stars.

Gina Carano and Cung Le appear to be more focused on acting than fighting.

Josh Thompson is often injured.

Frank Shamrock and Matt Lindland seem close to retirement.

Fedor Emelianenko is prone to fight-delaying hand injuries.

Gegard Mousasi has indicated that he might not fight unless Fedor is also on the card.

Alistair Overeem seems far more interested in K-1 and fighting in Japan than he is in returning to defend his title.

KJ Noons has a history of walking away from a fight.

Nick Diaz may one day choose marijuana over a continued fighting career.

That list includes the majority of current Strikeforce stars.

Of course, it's possible that all of these fighters will have a smooth 2010 without injuries or other issues delaying or preventing fights, but given their histories, I wouldn't bet on it.

Given that Strikeforce seems committed to putting on more events than ever before, it seems quite likely 2010 could be a year that tests Strikeforce's ability to cope with personnel issues.

We already know the UFC has passed this test with flying colors.