God, I miss the good old days of MMA coverage where gems like this still got published every so often, probably (actually, very likely) written by Jordan Breen or one of the eclectic and very international MMA nerds he hung out with online. What a fun piece. I didn't realize I needed Baudrillardian analysis of the sport, but I'm so here for it.
To your point, I do think that UFC Freedom 250 was attempting to build upon some shaky modern conception of a muscular America because that's kind of what the people who own it *do*: TKO is led by Hollywood people (or at least, the parts of it that aren't led by private equity people). Except, I think maybe they phoned this one in.
As you put it, there's no substance beyond some vague gesture toward an idea of an echo of an aesthetic. They have no real, rooted-in-history cultural touchstones to refer to because they were too lazy to put in the effort to do even cursory research (there are many regions of the United States with distinct regional cultures worth celebrating, I think).
I think that they were (and will continue to be) lazy because, ultimately, they're not fight people and they think that MMA and its fans are beneath them--if, credulous and easy to leach money off of (what luck that they've allied themselves with a President who attracts a certain kind of mark). Why bother trying when some buzzy conservative social values and jingoism will do just fine? I think this is how and where TKO's marriage between Hollywood and private equity really becomes clear: there's not point in putting in effort when your end goal is value extraction and the bare minimum of maintaining a vibe is more than enough to part the fools from their money.
In all the coverage I've seen leading up to and in the aftermath of UFC Freedom 250, one of the most striking to me was Garbage Day's (https://www.garbageday.email/p/my-horrible-no-good-weekend-at-the-ufc-white-house-fight). They're mostly invested in studying internet culture and history, so they're not MMA folks at all, which ended up being helpful. Their angle covering UFC Freedom 250 was less "what a gauche and tawdry display by this disgraceful administration; let us pass judgment" and more, "what kind of fans show up to watch a UFC show at the Ellipse?"
What they found was a miserable 3-day event that was unbearably hot, incredibly boring (outside of the fights), and overall just kind of sad. The casual disregard of fans, treated more or less as afterthoughts to the people who paid $1.5 million+ to be cage-side on the WH lawn, was surprising to them. Like, "this is what $60 million buys the UFC and its fans?" Nevertheless, the fans still seemed to be happy with their crumbs, and not at all aware or concerned that the card was to celebrate Donald Trump's birthday. Sure, most of them identified as conservative, but they were here for the fights and just thought a UFC at the Capitol was a cool thing.
And so, this is how we get UFC Freedom 250 and its lazy Americana vibe because that's how TKO, justifiably or not, treats its fans and the UFC itself, and there's no popular outcry from either fighters or fans to stop it and make the product better for everyone.
I think you've touched on a very telling symptom of all of this. These lazy costumes are kind of like the canary in the coal mine.
LOVE!
God, I miss the good old days of MMA coverage where gems like this still got published every so often, probably (actually, very likely) written by Jordan Breen or one of the eclectic and very international MMA nerds he hung out with online. What a fun piece. I didn't realize I needed Baudrillardian analysis of the sport, but I'm so here for it.
To your point, I do think that UFC Freedom 250 was attempting to build upon some shaky modern conception of a muscular America because that's kind of what the people who own it *do*: TKO is led by Hollywood people (or at least, the parts of it that aren't led by private equity people). Except, I think maybe they phoned this one in.
As you put it, there's no substance beyond some vague gesture toward an idea of an echo of an aesthetic. They have no real, rooted-in-history cultural touchstones to refer to because they were too lazy to put in the effort to do even cursory research (there are many regions of the United States with distinct regional cultures worth celebrating, I think).
I think that they were (and will continue to be) lazy because, ultimately, they're not fight people and they think that MMA and its fans are beneath them--if, credulous and easy to leach money off of (what luck that they've allied themselves with a President who attracts a certain kind of mark). Why bother trying when some buzzy conservative social values and jingoism will do just fine? I think this is how and where TKO's marriage between Hollywood and private equity really becomes clear: there's not point in putting in effort when your end goal is value extraction and the bare minimum of maintaining a vibe is more than enough to part the fools from their money.
In all the coverage I've seen leading up to and in the aftermath of UFC Freedom 250, one of the most striking to me was Garbage Day's (https://www.garbageday.email/p/my-horrible-no-good-weekend-at-the-ufc-white-house-fight). They're mostly invested in studying internet culture and history, so they're not MMA folks at all, which ended up being helpful. Their angle covering UFC Freedom 250 was less "what a gauche and tawdry display by this disgraceful administration; let us pass judgment" and more, "what kind of fans show up to watch a UFC show at the Ellipse?"
What they found was a miserable 3-day event that was unbearably hot, incredibly boring (outside of the fights), and overall just kind of sad. The casual disregard of fans, treated more or less as afterthoughts to the people who paid $1.5 million+ to be cage-side on the WH lawn, was surprising to them. Like, "this is what $60 million buys the UFC and its fans?" Nevertheless, the fans still seemed to be happy with their crumbs, and not at all aware or concerned that the card was to celebrate Donald Trump's birthday. Sure, most of them identified as conservative, but they were here for the fights and just thought a UFC at the Capitol was a cool thing.
And so, this is how we get UFC Freedom 250 and its lazy Americana vibe because that's how TKO, justifiably or not, treats its fans and the UFC itself, and there's no popular outcry from either fighters or fans to stop it and make the product better for everyone.
I think you've touched on a very telling symptom of all of this. These lazy costumes are kind of like the canary in the coal mine.
i'm so glad you're doing this, man. looking forward to more.
This was great. Thank you.