You’d have to be too much of a UFC odds buff to want to place money on UFC 176, unless you’re interested more on the wagering action than in the quality of the actual event. And at this juncture Dana White and Co. seem headed toward the poorest quality card since UFC 151 -which was actually cancelled. It all started when the main event rematch of featherweight champion Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes was scrapped when the former suffered a shoulder and cervical spine injury.
That leaves the event without any champion presence at all, after the awkwardness between White, Joe Rogan, and Ronda Rousey made it clear that the women’s bantamweight champion will not defend her title either on August 2.
Even if Rousey had been ready and willing to fight twice in a three-week span, it has been revealed that she sustained a right index finger injury that required nine stitches; that, coupled with her planned knee surgery make her involvement with UFC 176 even more far-fetched. Not to sound chauvinistic, but who would have thought the testosterone sport of mixed martial arts would look at a female fighter to save a card? No disrespect to Ronaldo Souza or Gegard Mousasi either -the makeshift main event- but as skilled and talented as they both are, it would be asking too much to expect them to carry this event.
Injuries happen in all sports, and even more so in the one sport that encourages what all other sports ban, but the UFC roster doesn’t seem to be deep enough to rotate big-name stars while at the same time give injured fighters or -those who have recently fought- sufficient time to recover. Let’s hope Dana White is not like that hypothetical individual we mentioned at first who is more interested in UFC odds than in UFC fights. Seemingly though, Dana will have to learn the hard way that you can’t consistently offer quantity and quality forever -the well has to dry sooner or later. At some point we’re going to end up with subpar pay per views, unless we’re willing to make do with fewer PPV’s a year.