Tristen Critchfield Joins Press Row

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Every Wednesday, Administrative Editor Jordan Breen welcomes a member of the mixed martial arts media into “Press Row” on the Sherdog.com blog. This week, Breen is joined by Sherdog.com news editor Tristen Critchfield.

This Sunday, the UFC returns to cable with a Fox Sports 1 card, headlined by a fantastic pairing of emerging featherweights, between Max Holloway and Charles “do Bronx” Oliveira. Yet, the biggest MMA star of the night, Brock Lesnar, will be doing battle with The Undertaker at WWE “SummerSlam.” Breen and Critchfield discuss how this particular little occurance is an instructive sign of the times, as both the UFC and Bellator MMA have taken to strategies of “stacking” major cards, trying to author more extravagent events that garner greater MMA and mainstream media attention.

Breen and Critchfield examine Lesnar's and Ronda Rousey's unique cultural profiles, the irony of using card-stacking strategies to combat charges of a diluted product, the UFC's history of creating “hot streaks” with major PPV events and how Bellator MMA can try to capitalize on its tentpole events while not having the likes of Lesnar, Rousey, Conor McGregor, Jose Aldo and others. To boot, the duo even discuss in-depth Lesnar's recent claim that WWE boss Vince McMahon is a better promoter than the UFC's Dana White.

Grab your credential and get a seat in “Press Row.”

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