Idea to try and help the HW division

[ChaosOverkill]

There are only 38 HW's on the roster, if they fight twice a year each, that's a maximum of 38 fights, not even one an event. Add injuries that's probably around half the events give or take, that can have a HW fight.

Some WILL fight 3 times this year but it is offset by the injuries.

People like HW's so getting to know them in TUF house is less important, people just like seeing big men that can pack a punch do their thing and it can make up for a lot of lackluster cards on paper to have them.

My suggestion is this:

Do another LIVE TUF season with a format that encompasses as many HW contestants as possible and scrap the house so they can train in their own camps and just show up to fight in regional bracket setups and make it live so the results cannot be spoiled. Make the brackets region as I said based and accomodate a setup week to week in that region where needed to make it work. Essentially do a March madness of HW fighters that can even slightly fight.

Also have a "Comeback" element to this, be it a bracket, or one in each region like a Hague (even though right now he deserves to come back anyway), and make a call out early enough that fighters in other organizations with only a few fights left on their contracts know it going to happen and can get involved.

They certainly have the money to do it.

Have MORE fights per episode and a larger tournament and take MORE guys to the finale. HW is least in need of TMZ house crap, right now you just need more darts thrown at the board.

 

[Wild]

Hmmmm...interesting. The production cost of this would probably be outrageous though, with guys spread all over the country/world.

 

[ChaosOverkill]

Hmmmm...interesting. The production cost of this would probably be outrageous though, with guys spread all over the country/world.

Well you don't have to have several setups at once, just fly the crew around and focus on one bracket for two weeks/month and move on. The other option is to fly that many fighters in or try and have training camps central for that many camps. If you just find small venues in each region, have the fights for that region, move to the next with the same crew it shouldn't be that crazy. Use a local camps cage if you have to, there has to be equipment in a litany of regions they can use, just travel with a camera crew and use the local commissions.

Then the semis you centralize it to vegas.

There's several ways you can do this to minimize the cost, the idea is to have as large of an array of fighters as possible in the same large tournament.

 

[ChaosOverkill]

They gotta do something HW is fading away.

 

[ChaosOverkill]

The idea would be similar to having a temporary feeder league that is region based, only focusing on HW for the time being.

 

[Wild]

^^^ They need to do something with the HW division because it's thin as hell. I wish they do a cruiserweight division at 235, HW @ 265, and Super HW above 265.

 

[ChaosOverkill]

^^^ They need to do something with the HW division because it's thin as hell. I wish they do a cruiserweight division at 235, HW @ 265, and Super HW above 265.

With only 38 guys to work with thin is a side effect, whether you can make the division packed with contenders or not it still is physically the one that has the most intrinsic appeal across the board, if you give yourself more HW fighters, you A. Give yourself more valuable card fillers B. Get more of a chance to find a diamond in the rough no one has seen.

THe only downside is obviously the cost of doing this but they have to do something to find the people, just structure the contracts to shed those that really don't give you anything once the finale is over.

 

[ChaosOverkill]

ANd yeah I've been a proponent of Crusierweight for a while, but they seem less into that idea then signing more guys into a division, which is why I suggest this.

Create a large more extensive feeder tournament and see how it goes.

 

[Priziesthorse]

The HW division is filled with old guys and theres not many young promising prospects. These MMA camps around the U.S need to take the Team Alpha Male approach. Faber recruited all these stud NCAA wrestlers(Dillashaw, Mendes, Palmer,etc) and taught them how to strike. Go to the NCAA Wrestling Championship and watch how athletic these heavyweights are and recruit those motherfuckers.

 

[ChaosOverkill]

The HW division is filled with old guys and theres not many young promising prospects. These MMA camps around the U.S need to take the Team Alpha Male approach. Faber recruited all these stud NCAA wrestlers(Dillashaw, Mendes, Palmer,etc) and taught them how to strike. Go to the NCAA Wrestling Championship and watch how athletic these heavyweights are and recruit those motherfuckers.

Yeah I don't disagree, I would just change the format of finding the best, this is what I mean by remotely fight, if they can wrestle very well or are boxers with pedigree, throw them in the tournament if they can find a local camp. Weed down to the best 16-32 and then make your finale and go from there rather than making it the best 4-8 through a single TUF.

 

[ChaosOverkill]

HW is the one division, in need, but also where you can test gimmicky/new recruitment ideas because the potential for KO's is the highest. Which also makes needing to feed us long background promos and "get to know you" elements a lot less important.

A raw contender tournament with every top 25/50 ranked NCAA wrestler or boxer that is into doing MMA if that's what you're left with is enough to me as a start. Make the production values what they have to be and just do it.
Commit 6 months to this if you have to both broadcast it and give the fighters lots of camp time and training between the amateur bracket fights.

Make the ratings focus less important, make it a fight pass lure, whatever works.

 

[ChaosOverkill]

HW boxing is always the ongoing proof about HW worth. People obsess over the state of HW boxing to the point of ignoring far better stories below them.


If GGG was doing his work at HW, the Boxing world would be going mental to get him on PPV fights right now, same with Thurman. Even to just feed them as many mid level chumps as possible. The show elements on a HW fight and potential for superhuman KO's and damage drives the demand and why people also hate Klitchkos, because they see the physical gifts, yet have seen the evidence that they will never get the HW perks of fight with those guys. If Mayweather wasn't undefeated the air is deflated from that tire as well.

 

[Wild]

The HW division is filled with old guys and theres not many young promising prospects. These MMA camps around the U.S need to take the Team Alpha Male approach. Faber recruited all these stud NCAA wrestlers(Dillashaw, Mendes, Palmer,etc) and taught them how to strike. Go to the NCAA Wrestling Championship and watch how athletic these heavyweights are and recruit those motherfuckers.

I hope that we see more NCAA HW wrestlers jump into MMA. Those guys have tons of potential, and the most important base to start out with anyway.

 

[ChaosOverkill]

I hope that we see more NCAA HW wrestlers jump into MMA. Those guys have tons of potential, and the most important base to start out with anyway.

Absolutely, and if you give them a long tournament style they are familiar with from college to ease them into MMA and a direction for training with a camp I think you can get some fast results in less than year with potentially 10-20 highly skilled specialists with high ceilings and then mix in the strikers you find and it could bear great fruit.

 

[La Paix]

I'd be happy for anything directly targeted to grow the HW division. Any type TUF or show at all would be so much better set up like a documentary mini series. Have the show really focus on everything these guys do in their day to day routine and not a drama filled house with booze.

I like Op idea to have it a tourney set up regionally but have no real idea on if the cost would ve worth it. I get that the drama is what sells to the casuals but it seems its the more invested fans are due for se better coverage. The first few episodes could be scouting at NCAA wrestling meets, ADCC, ammy boxing, kick boxing and pretty much any arts big events. I see no need to bring them all into the house away from their gym and family.

 

[Pitbull9]

We need some more all HWs cards dammit!! So many lighter weight classes going we need the big boys to come out and play!

 

[Zeph]

I like the comeback element to it. There are tournament formats which have a winners bracket and then a losers bracket. So if you are eliminated from the winners bracket, you'd drop down to the losers bracket and carry on until you lost again. Eventually the winner of the winners bracket and the winner of the losers bracket face off for the ultimate winner.

 

[lookoutawhale]

I like the tournament idea. I think they should have it for all divisions. So if you lose a fight in a normal match you still have the tournament to look forward too. And you then know who will fight who in a tourney so a fight means something.

 

[ChaosOverkill]

We need some more all HWs cards dammit!! So many lighter weight classes going we need the big boys to come out and play!

I know, the problem is only having 38 of them and injuries prevents it right now. My solution is for filling the ranks with young talent in order to be able to do those type of cards, or at least having one per event minimum.

 

[ChaosOverkill]

I like the comeback element to it. There are tournament formats which have a winners bracket and then a losers bracket. So if you are eliminated from the winners bracket, you'd drop down to the losers bracket and carry on until you lost again. Eventually the winner of the winners bracket and the winner of the losers bracket face off for the ultimate winner.

Yup. It could determine who makes the finale ON PURE MERIT, not who shit in who's salad or replaced the conditioner with jizz... although I have to admit that last prank would get my attention.