UFC 117 Manipulates MMA Fans with Classic WWE ‘Hero-Villain’ Psychology

So there I was, lathering up my man parts in the shower, thinking about how I’m unfortunately going to have to miss the fights on Saturday night due to a last-minute camping trip planned by the girlfriend (don’t worry, I’ll catch them the next day on FightPromo.ca for free) and that’s when the horror set in.

No, it wasn’t the bar of soap lodged in a place that it didn’t belong. It was more of an unholy epiphany—a nightmare really.

“What if Chael Sonnen actually won this weekend?” I wondered.

“What kind of a UFC Champion would this guy make?”

Not that I’m a big Anderson Silva fan. Quite the opposite in fact—especially after his last mockery of a performance in Abu Dhabi at UFC 112. I would love nothing more than to see Silva lose—but to Chael Sonnen?

I don’t think so.

The thing is however, if you had asked me how I felt about Chael Sonnen becoming the new Middleweight champion two weeks ago, I would have been all for it.

But that’s where things take a twist.

When I was a young boy growing up in the 80’s, I was privileged enough to be able to travel a mere five minutes over the Peace Bridge border from Canada to Buffalo every few months in order to to catch the latest live performance of the WWF (no, not the World Wildlife Fund—the other one—the wrestling one).

Now known as the WWE, I grew up fascinated by all of the uniquely different characters: Andre the Giant, “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, the Junkyard Dog (suddenly that chain around Rampage Jackson’s neck doesn’t seem so original, does it?), the Iron Shiek, Jesse “the Body” Ventura, Big John Studd, Sgt. Slaughter, “Playboy” Buddy Rhodes, Ivan “Polish Power” Putski, and of course, Hulk Hogan.

Wow, those were the days, and yes—I was a ‘Hulkamaniac.’ I said my prayers and I ate my vitamins and I was resolved to forever live a clean and athletic life—and I did (still do).

One time, I even touched Paul “Mr. Wonderful” Orndorff on the shoulder as he walked past me on his way down to the ring, yelling at the audience not to touch him. I was quite proud of myself for disobeying the dreaded “villain.”

Having been a long time wrestling fan (the product has now been completely ruined by the way, and I absolutely despise what it has become) I know a thing or two about how the characters gained and lost in their popularity. The WWF was quite good at making you either love a wrestler, or hate him. In the matter of one week, they could swing the emotions of the audience from one direction to the other.

The WWF knew exactly how to “make” the fans love or hate certain characters and the fans always ate up the make-believe drama like the good little sheep that they were (I was no exception).

How did they do it?

Simple.

If there was a “hero” that the WWF wanted to switch over to the “dark side,” they would make him turn against his best friend—usually out of spite or jealousy.

If there was a “heel” or “villain” that they wanted transformed, then they would simply inject him with an unsuspecting conscience, resulting in the rescue of some other popular “hero” (an alliance which ultimately never lasted).

Think Hulk Hogan and Randy “Macho Man” Savage.

So anyway, what does all of this have to do with UFC 117?

A lot actually.

After UFC 112, Anderson Silva could not have been less popular. This no doubt disappointed Dana White, not because he was upset with Silva’s fighting performance, but because he knew that the Champions future pay-per-view draw would suffer even worse than it had previously, which lead up to that specifically designed attempt to increase Silva’s global popularity.

The UFC needs its Champions to bring in the money and someone as unpopular as Anderson Silva just doesn’t pull his weight, regardless of how good of a fighter he is. After all, this is a business, not a martial arts competition.

[INSERT THE HERO EFFECT]

Chael Sonnen to the rescue!!!

Here we have a good “American” fighter with a strong wrestling background. He is funny, handsome, and best of all—he speaks English!

He also happens to be an aspiring politician and we all know how much Americans love their politicians, right?

Yes—that was a dig.

Clearly, Sonnen is the new “hero” in town, brought in specifically to defeat the “villain,” Silva.

Not quite.

[SWITCH OVER TO THE VILLAIN EFFECT]

The only real way to describe Sonnen’s behaviour (that “u” is for you Mike D because we all know how much you secretly wish that you were a Canadian) over these past few weeks is—disgraceful.

He is arrogant, cocky, disrespectful, borderline racist, and he possesses character traits entirely unbecoming of a true Champion.

Perfect!

After all, wrestlers like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Brett “the Hitman” Hart, taught us all that the traditional storyline of the good guy vs. the bad guy was no longer relevant in twenty-first century society.

The fans seemed to be the ones who had evolved, and as such, they loved to cheer on the “heel” and boo against the “hero” (and yes—Brett Hart was quite pissed about it).

In the meantime, throughout all of Sonnen’s disparaging remarks, Silva has remained quiet, humble, and respectful. Best of all, he has promised to do the one thing that every MMA fan has been begging him to do—fight his best fight.

If Silva puts on a great performance this weekend, the UFC will automatically win because then they will finally have the Champion that the fans want, expect, and will pay big money to see fight.

If Sonnen becomes the new Champion, the UFC still comes out on top because as evidenced by the Lesnar vs. Carwin bout, the fans will turn out in droves just to watch a man lose.

In either $cenario, the UFC win$ and that’$ all that matter$ I gue$$.

Enjoy the fights this weekend.

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These are my opinions. If you don’t like them…I have others. Check them out at www.mrjamesryan.com

Best of luck to Roy Nelson and Clay Guida (click to read interviews).