“The Unknown Beatles”

This Saturday, February 23, 2008, Bob Sapp will fight before his hometown Seattle, Washington fans for the first time in his professional career. Sapp fighting in Seattle is akin to The Beatles playing in Liverpool, England – if The Beatles were essentially unknown in their home country. Easily one of the most recognizable MMArtists in all of Japan, Sapp is more of a rumor in America. I’m sure it’s somewhat surreal for Sapp as at home he’s just a giant man walking around town; in Japan he’s a celebrity whose likeness has been featured on everything from gaming machines to sex toys. Sapp will be fighting Jan “The Giant” Nortje in the main-event of a card promoted by Strikeforce.

Praise should be given to Strikeforce. It is a promotion that learned the lesson of don’t be too big for your britches. While countless companies, from bodogFIGHT to the IFL, have tried to be the next UFC and so far failed, Strikeforce has been content to use a tried and true formula to make money – a shocking concept, I know. Strikeforce tends to focus on local draws, concentrating their promotional efforts on the regional rather than national level. As a result, Strikeforce has been successful promoting Frank Shamrock, Cung Le, Phil Baroni, and others as headliners, all without ever really having a television outlet. Companies with infinitely more money and exposure haven’t done nearly as well when it comes to the bottom line as Strikeforce, and that is to be commended. And, since there’s no need to fix something that isn’t broken, Strikforce will keep with that strategy concerning Sapp.

The thing about Sapp is that he’s a difficult long-term sell to the United States. He has an undeniable charisma but at an easy 350 lbs there just aren’t that many opponents for him to fight. Best-case scenario, Sapp can become a modern day Andre the Giant, someone that comes to town every so often and people flock to the arena just to see him and him alone. You’re simple unlikely to find a counterpart to Sapp, someone he can play off of ala Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz, Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock, or Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre. People might come out to see Bob Sapp, but they’re probably not going to get the chance to see Sapp feud with anyone specifically, and it’s in the feud that money is typically found.

However, Strikeforce will probably draw 5,000-8,000 people to watch Sapp fight someone even hardcore fans could barely pick out of a lineup. And since this is Strikeforce, I have every confidence that the company won’t be banking on Sapp to carry them to the promised land of Zuffa-like status. Instead, they’ll make money promoting Sapp, Sapp will make money being promoted, and everyone will be happy. They may use him again in the future, but I’d bet dollars to donuts that Strikeforce’s future plans don’t hinge on Sapp’s success.

The wonderful thing about showcasing Sapp is that the fans usually get what they paid for. No one pretends that Sapp is a technical wizard – I doubt you could get him to lie about his own skills in that regard – nor do I think anyone will watch expecting … anything, to be frank. When Bob Sapp is involved you know it’s going to be something, you’re just not sure what. It can be everything from one of the greatest fights you’ll ever witness (his MMA fight against Nogueira) to a freak show with questionable ref stoppages, odd maneuvers by the doctors, and everyone involved walking away saying, “WHAT did I just watch?” (His kickboxing match against Kimo – ok, really most of his fights are like that.)

So, this Saturday, The Unknown Beatles come to Liverpool; Bob Sapp fights Jan Nortje. No one pretends that you’ll care about Norte. He’s just a giant body there to get punched by Sapp. My suspicions are that the fight won’t last a minute, that Sapp will bum-rush Norte, bull him to the ground, and pound the South African into oblivion. Or, maybe it’ll turn into some sort of boring grab fest with both men badly gassing and unable to do a thing for 10 straight minutes. Perhaps Sapp will be knocked out by one punch (Nortje has knocked out people before – really, I swear). No matter what happens, if there’s one thing a Bob Sapp fight promises, it’s that you’re not going to forget what you saw.

Mike Coughlin is the host of Five Star Radio, found exclusively at f4wonline.com. He’s also raising money through Relay For Life to help fight cancer at http://main.acsevents.org/mikecoughlin {plug}