Cynicism and the modern athlete
It is very fashionable to denigrate the modern sportsman. It is also very easy. We live in an age where contract negotiations often take precedence over on-the-field achievements; and where an athlete is just as likely to find themselves on the front pages as on the back. Even the most sympathetic of sport fans can, at times, find it hard not to be cynical about today’s breed of celebrity-athletes. Yet many of the twentieth century’s most compelling human stories have been drawn from the sporting world. Be it Lance Armstrong’s triumph in the 1999 Tour De France following a three-year battle with testicular cancer, Goran Ivanisevic’s wildcard victory at Wimbledon or a tearful Derek Redmond limping home – assisted by his father – at the Barcelona Olympics, great sporting moments still have the ability to transcend the realm of the athletic and touch something basic – something human – inside even the most jaded of viewers.
Humanising fighters – the UFC presentational style
It is a truth that UFC President Dana White understands more than most. Take, for example, the promotional hype that accompanied the UFC’s latest pay-per-view offering – UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez. On paper, the main event was already a strong one. A ferocious striker, Velasquez entered the bout undefeated, having knocked out former Pride FC Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria in Sydney, Australia. Lesnar had battled back from a potentially career-ending bout of diverticulitis to successfully defend his UFC Heavyweight Championship against number one contender Shane Carwin at UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin, winning with a dramatic second-round choke after a first round that saw Lesnar rocked by a barrage of heavy punches from a relentless challenger.
So, Lesnar vs. Velasquez was already shaping up to be an attractive bout for the average mixed martial arts fan. White, however, was determined to add more layers to an already intriguing contest, using the UFC Primetime television series to give fans a greater insight into the lives of each competitor. We saw the challenger depicted not just as a formidable mixed martial artist, but as a loving husband and a proud Mexican-American whose own father, Efrain, had crossed the border and toiled in the fields of the South to make a better life for his children. Lesnar, by contrast, was shown training relentlessly in his own private gym, as old family friends talked in glowing terms about the champion’s scary work ethic and relentless will to win. By the time that the series came to an end, casual fans that were not initially sold on the fight had become emotionally invested in the event and, consequently, were willing to spend their hard-earned dollars to see the outcome of the heavyweight title bout.
