10 Reasons 2011 Has Been the Worst Year for UFC Fight Cards

2011 has featured some of the most important and defining moments of the UFC's 18-year existence, but it has also been a year that has seen some low points for MMA's biggest and most popular organization.

It has been one of the more underwhelming years in terms of pay-per-view buys for major UFC events, and there are many reasons why they haven't been doing as well as some might have expected.

This is a reflection on some reasons why 2011 has been a bad year for UFC cards, but it's something that is sure to change in the coming months and going into 2012.

No. 10: Still Awaiting Rashad Evans' Title Shot

Rashad Evans isn't the biggest draw in the UFC, but in a year when the former UFC light heavyweight champion has had three chances to fight for the belt, each chance was halted by injuries suffered by him and his opponents.

The first came at UFC 128 against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. After suffering an injury prior to his fight with the Brazilian, Evans' teammate, Jon Jones, stepped in as a replacement and beat Rua to become the new light-heavyweight champion.

After his victory, Evans got in the cage, making it official that he would be the next challenger for the belt. It turned out Jones injured his hand, and after already being out for over a year, Evans decided to take a fight against Tito Ortiz at UFC 133. He beat Ortiz by TKO in the second round.

When Jones defended his title against Quinton Jackson at UFC 135, Evans once against was called into the cage to set up a fight with Jones for the end of the year.

Evans wouldn't be able to fight due to a hand injury, and Jones decided to face Lyoto Machida at UFC 140 instead.

No. 9: Ultimate Fighter Still Losing Steam

The Ultimate Fighter used to be a place where the sport's best up-and-coming talent would emerge to become future title challengers, champions and contenders, but it has really lost steam over the past few seasons and now is struggling to feature the best of the rest in the sport.

Although the latest season featuring bantamweights and featherweights is one of the better seasons in a while, the UFC is going to make considerable changes to the format of the show when it airs on FX for its next season.

Some of the changes include broadcasting the fights live and having the fans pick who gets to fight.

With fans eager to see how the new format works, it's hard to keep interest in the fights from the latest season.

No. 8: Bad Judging Continues to Get Worse

There have been fights going to the scorecards more this year than ever before, and the judging still remains the same, and it's often bad.

With the UFC deciding to broadcast most, if not all, of their fights on Facebook and Spike TV, a five- and six-fight undercard that sees many controversial decisions leaves a bad feeling in the viewer, and this is something that translates into them choosing whether or not to buy the pay-per-view. Even if they do, it still doesn't set the right tone for the main card bouts.

Bad decisions not only draw fans away from buying a pay-per-view, but it also makes them lose interest in the sport itself.

No. 7: Fans Waited Over a Year For the Heavyweight Fight That Really Matters

On Nov. 12, the UFC will feature its first live fight on Fox, and it will be the year's biggest between UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos.

Both come into the bout undefeated in the UFC, and both have momentum behind them as they prepare for the toughest and biggest fight of their lives.

There might not be a better fight to put on Fox, but it did come late in the year when it could have helped draw bigger pay-per-view numbers for events surrounding it if had it been earlier in the year.

Like so many others, injuries have kept it from happening, but only time will tell if it was worth the wait.

No. 6: Retirement Fights

The UFC has lost some of its most exciting fighters this year, including one of their most popular from this past weekend in Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, who was knocked out by Roy Nelson.

Another fighter who announced his retirement prior to a fight with Dan Hardy was Chris Lytle. The welterweight let everyone know before the fight that it would be his last, and he went out on a high note after submitting the former title challenger in the third round.

When UFC Hall-of-Famer Randy Couture was knocked out by Lyoto Machida at UFC 129, the former light heavyweight and heavyweight champion retired from the sport for good.

After winless fights versus Jon Fitch and Nick Diaz, former champion B.J. Penn gave hints as to it being the end of the road for him as well.

Light heavyweight Matt Hamill retired from MMA following a loss to Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 133.

Other careers that may be coming to an end in 2011 include Tito Ortiz and Wanderlei Silva. Both go into their next bouts coming off losses.

No. 5: The UFC's Biggest Draw Only Fighting Once

UFC president Dana White has no problem calling UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre the promotion's biggest draw, and he is right, but it doesn't do them much good when he is only fighting once or twice a year.

After a disappointing fight versus Jake Shields at UFC 129, St-Pierre scheduled a bout with Nick Diaz at UFC 137 to make up for his lackluster performance. When Diaz was pulled out, Carlos Condit stepped in. Two weeks before the fight, St-Pierre pulled out due to a knee injury, which put him on the sidelines until 2012.

And to add to the Canadian superstar's frustrating year, a superfight with UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva hasn't happened, and it seems to be farther and farther away from happening, especially after the 30-year-old hinted a move to the lightweight division.

No. 4: Most Fans Aren't Seeing the Most Exciting Fights

When Dave Meltzer reported the PPV burate of 250,000 for UFC 136, the numbers were way lower than expected:

"

This would be the lowest number on PPV for a title match dating back to probably 2005, and this was a show with two title matches and Chael Sonnen’s return against Brian Stann.

"

Even after a fight of the year candidate between UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard in January, most fans were not interested enough to go ahead and purchase the card that featured the rubber-match.

It turned out to be as good of a fight, and one that ended with Edgar not only avenging his only loss but stopping a man who had never been beaten before.

For what many considered to be the best card of the year, it's a letdown that the majority of casual fans didn't get to see it.

No. 3: Too Many Events Without Enough Starpower

It's no secret that a UFC card is carried by the quality of the main event, and although any free card is a good card and one worth tuning into, they are often the ones that are often overlooked because of the lack of starpower.

With there being more events than ever, it's impossible for UFC cards to be stacked from top to bottom with the biggest stars, and it's not something that is going to change as the roster continues to grow.

It will be up to the UFC to develop stars that fans want to watch because one star can be the basis on whether or not a pay-per-view is bought or a free event is watched.

MMA is moving more into boxing where one fight carries the card, and depending on who it features, will be how viewers judge the entire card.

No. 2: Brock Lesnar Returns 364 Days Too Late

"The Brock Effect" hasn't had a chance to get the year moving, but it will when the former UFC heavyweight champion returns on Dec. 31 at UFC 141 to face former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem.

After a second bout with diverticulitis, Lesnar was forced to pull out of a Summer bout with Junior dos Santos, which arguably caused the stretch of disappointing pay-per-view buyrates for the weeks and months that followed.

There is a lot of hype behind the sport's biggest stars, and they can sometimes be the thing that gets fans hyped for all of the fights surrounding it.

Look for the return of Lesnar to really start 2012 on the right foot.

No. 1: Injured Fighters and Nobody to Replace Them

In this sport, everyone gets hurt, and it is almost impossible to avoid.

Winners get hurt, losers get hurt and fighters who don't even fight get hurt, and the ones that occur in training are sometimes the most detrimental to their careers.

With the new insurance policy granted for UFC fighters, don't expect to see many taking their chance fighting with an injury just to earn a paycheck. This is one of many reasons why there have been a lot more fighters pulling out of fights, but that's OK if the UFC can come up with a replacement, and this is where they have been lacking.

With there being more cards now than ever before and fighters being booked three and four times a year, it's hard to find a suitable replacement, and it has caused entire main events to be dropped completely with no replacement fight. This was the case for UFC 130 and UFC 137, where Edgar vs. Maynard and St-Pierre vs. Condit were both cancelled due to one or more of the fighters getting injured.