Sam Caplan, CBS Sportsline

Originally published to Sports911.com April 23, 2007 10:36 pm ET

Many diehard MMA fans around the world have suddenly been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following upsets at UFC 69 and UFC 70.

First, it was Matt Serra stunning Georges St. Pierre at UFC 69 several weeks ago, which ranks as the greatest upset in the history of mixed martial arts.

Then it was Gabriel Gonzaga's surreal victory this past weekend against Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 70. Gonzaga was nowhere near the underdog that Serra was. However, seeing a motionless Cro Cop lying on the mat in Manchester following a textbook high-kick delivered by a Jiu-Jitsu black belt of all things was almost as shocking.

The upsets have also created heated debate within the MMA community as to whether parity is good for the sport, or if the lack of dynasties could cause MMA's popularity growth to plateau.

My initial reaction while perusing Internet message boards following Cro Cop's loss was, why is this even an argument?

Parity in MMA is good.

No, scratch that.

Parity in MMA is great!

Why is it so great? It's great for the same reasons why the NFL is the most watched sport in North America. And it's great for the same reasons why the NCAA Tournament is considered by many to be the best concept in sports today.

The NCAA Tournament was built on upsets. Not to mention the unpredictability of its games is why so many people who don't watch college hoops during the regular season are glued to the tube once March comes around.

Unpredictability makes for great entertainment. When things become stagnant, interest wanes. I mean, Jerry Bruckheimer movies were cool at first but his style of filmmaking is now mocked by many. Who doesn't like surprises? What if Darth Vader wasn't Luke Skywalker's father, and instead was just some evil dude who merely wanted Luke dead?

Yes, I understand the argument that without dominant megastars who can be marketed to audiences over a prolonged duration that it's hard to build gate attractions. My counter, though, is that the sum of MMA is bigger than its parts. MMA's raw concept is the primary reason the sport has grown so big as opposed to the warriors who participate in its battles.

Stars in this business have always come and gone, and it's an aspect of MMA that will never change. Getting to the top in MMA is hard. Staying on top might be harder.
 

Read the full article here