UFC Championship Bout Injuries: Should There Be Alternates Waiting in the Wings?

Mixed martial arts is a rough and demanding sport. The majority of fighters, trainers and others associated with MMA have told me the work put in preparing for a fight is much more taxing on the fighters both physically and mentally than the actual fight itself.

For the most part, fighters are put through a rigorous training camp lasting a minimum of eight weeks. As we have seen far too often a lot can happen in that time span.

As with any sport injuries come with the territory, but unlike other sports—especially team oriented sports—clubs can quickly fill a void that was created by an injury.

The substitute may not be on the same level as the original participant, but at the very least the teams can move forward and wait until said player is ready to return. No games will be cancelled or postponed the way the UFC was forced to completely scrap the main event of UFC 137.

With that being said, the possibility of losing one of the combatants, if not both, in the weeks leading up to a fight, is far too often a reality as these mixed material artists continue to push the envelope when it comes to their bodies.

As the competition gets stronger, the need for new training methods and longer days will continue to increase.

Being a fan all we can do is support them and appreciate the work they put in to prepare themselves to be at their absolute best when it comes to fight night. These guys put their bodies on the line day in and day out in order to achieve their dreams and entertain their fans.

A prime example is the loss of UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre just under two weeks before he was scheduled to defend his title against Carlos Condit at UFC 137 on October 29 to a knee injury.

This isn’t the first time a main-event fighter has gotten injured while training, and we all know it won’t be the last.

The extent of his injury isn't all together serious, but as of now he can not train for a minimum of one month. The rest of the year end cards have main events scheduled. This will more than likely push Condit-GSP back to the early part of 2012.

Let's say the powers that be decide to reschedule this fight for March. That would mark eight months in between fights for Condit. That's not exactly the amount of time Condit wants to have in-between fights in order to remain sharp.

Fighters can train all day long, but their really is no substitute for an actual fight. You simply can not simulate the pressure and the sound of 15,000 screaming fans.

That brings me to the purpose behind this article I have chosen to write.

Would it be prudent for the UFC to name alternatives, thus allowing the main event to move forward and avoid having two fighters remain on the shelf for months at a time?

How this process would work could be done in many different ways, but the two alternatives would be named at the same time the main event was announced.

My thinking is pretty simple. In the case of the Condit-GSP bout, the UFC would pick one fighter to be prepared to replace Condit should he be injured. Said fighter would have to be ranked in the Top 10 or so, and be willing to put in a full training camp even though a fight is not guaranteed.

This would avoid the UFC having to pull its arguably top draw in St-Pierre. Ticket sales would still do well, as would the amount of pay-per-view buys. Both GSP and the alternative would know who they would have to prepare for in the event an injury is sustained.

Some of the best fights have been hit hard by an injury only to see Joe Silva, Dana White and company come through with a viable opponent.

Case in point would be UFC 79 when then-UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra was forced to withdraw from his title defense against rival Matt Hughes.

GSP saw an opportunity to not only capture the interim title, but close out a trilogy with Hughes. GSP showed his dominance and proved the loss to Serra was no longer taking up space inside his head which prepared him for his eventual rematch with the diminutive Serra.

In the event the champion is injured, then the UFC would once again make sure that there was an acceptable opponent waiting in the wings.

Yes, they would lose the allure of a championship bout, but at the very least they don’t totally lose their main event, and would keep Condit busy, and help him avoid developing any ring rust. If the champion were to be out for a significant time, then the bout could be for an interim title.

This may seem far-fetched and maybe even impossible, but isn’t it worth taking a look at?

A pay-per-view with GSP headlining the card would expect to bring in upwards of one million buys. Now with one less fight on the card, and the complete loss of both Condit and St. Pierre, the UFC could see the amount of buys dip below half a million.

Some fighters may not want to act as a replacement or maybe even demand some compensation, but at the end of the day it would be worth it, especially if the opponent would be someone with a large following, and the ability to put on exciting fights.

In the event that the main event goes off without a hitch, you still have two fighters ready to go. They would need some time to formulate a gameplan for whoever their next opponent would be, but that could take a couple of weeks rather than the 8-12 weeks it would normally take then to go through with a full training camp.

As they say, desperate times call for desperate measures.