Russian promoters understand that most MMA fights are boring (some more than others).
If you don’t have the power of the UFC brand, which is the real selling point for stateside fans, gimmicks are the next best thing. That’s why you’ll routinely find combatants dangling from shipping containers, brawling atop hot air balloons, or throwing elbows inside a phone booth.
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One particularly wacky entry comes from Epic Fighting Championship, featuring Marvel’s Spider-Man against DC’s Superman. It’s hard to imagine the last son of Krypton losing to a college kid who got bit by a radioactive arachnid; but hey, it all comes down to the man inside the suit (this speech notwithstanding).
Here’s a longer version with a special run-in from Skeletor (seriously).
The mighty Spider-Man also laid waste to both Batman and Robin in this MMA fight.
If you think this sort of goofy matchmaking has no place in combat sports, just remember that UFC booked WWE wrestler CM Punk in not one, but two MMA fights and paid him $500,000 per loss. But “freak show” fights are acceptable under the UFC banner so long as they “make an example” out of the loser.
Maybe Spidey had dynamite Kryptonite in his hands?
