Quote:
Originally Posted by loveminuszero
Sorry 4thstrete but I knew everything you posted
People quickly realized how crucial it would be afterwards and were already predicting that it would be the catalyst for a boom of the sport, which proved to be absolutely correct. But find me an article or forum posts from before the event that the fight was anticipated at a level that Fedor vs Cro Cop was or, for example, a GSP vs Silva would be, and I'll be happy.
Griffin vs Bonnar stole the spotlight, because it wasn't on them in the first place. It wasn't even the Main Event. The whole "ratings increased as people called their friends to come watch" is indicative of the fact that people weren't interested in the fight until the found out that it was exciting.
The event as a whole was vastly important, but no one placed their sights directly on the one fight, rather the 3 broadcast fights
On topic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0K3mAUObrI
Not disagreeing with you here. No one said it was the most anticpated fight of all time. At that time no one cared about MMA and for that matter no one was watching. A lot of people consider Leonard Garcia vs The Korean Zombie a great fight and the fight of the year. But was that an anticipated fight at the level of Cro Cop vs Fedor?
No, but that didn't stop people loving that fight.
rmthawk64 asked about the most important fight in MMA history and it was. It was also unquestionable a great fight, which it was as per the topic of this thread.
Not to mention that fight was over 7 years ago, that's a lifetime in MMA. Look how far Forrest Griffin has evolved as a fighter. You also can't look at it from today's eyes and say that it was a great technical fight so it wasn't good.
For you, a highly anticipated fight like an Anderson Silva vs GSP would make a great fight but for many people a Tank Abott slugfest is all they need for a great fight.