11 for 11: No. 4 Injuries plague PPVs; Buy rates down
December 27, 2011
Injuries have plagued 2011 as many of the UFC’s top stars have had to postpone or delay fights this year.
GSP, Brock Lesnar, Jon Jones, Frankie Edgar, Gray Maynard and Rashad Evans are just a sample of the fighters that were scratched from PPV cards due to injury. This does not even touch upon the number of fighters on the undercards that have been shuffled due to injury.
Lorenzo Fertitta acknowledged this fact in a recent LA Times interview.
Via the LA Times:
…but our biggest issue lately has been 11 of our last 14 main events have fallen out and required replacement fighters. It’s like there’s been a hex over us. So it’s been a challenge to run the business how we’ve planned to.
Fetitta indicated that if the UFC gets a run of of good health (and is able to book the fighters and fights it can), then the business will take off.
Injuries haven’t helped with the PPV buys for the UFC. This year we saw a decrease in PPV numbers and only two shows (UFC 126 and UFC 129) reached 500K PPV buys. In 2010, 11 PPVs scored 500K or better.
If the Brock Lesnar factor holds true, UFC 141 would be the only UFC PPV this year to go over 1 million PPV buys.
At the beginning of the year, Dave Metzler believed that 2011 would be a rebuilding year for PPVs. But, he cited the need to build up the bantamweight and featherweight divisions and building new stars as reasons for smaller PPV numbers. Jon Jones is a new star that the UFC hopes to build into a PPV attraction. However, the PPV numbers do not reflect the bantamweight, featherweight or lightweights gaining traction as main eventers. As an example, the third fight between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard at UFC 136 received only 225K PPV buys.
It will be interesting to see how 2012 will fare on the injury front. We already know Anderson Silva will not be available until mid-2012. This will delay a guaranteed PPV draw, a potential rematch with Chael Sonnen. Also, GSP will be out until late 2012 and the division will have an interim champion in the meantime.
We will see if the UFC tries to push Jon Jones to the forefront as a PPV draw. Also, how will the UFC utilize the flyweight division. And, will the lighter weight divisions draw. We shall see at UFC 142 as Jose Aldo fights Chad Mendes in the main event.
Of course another factor in addressing the PPV buys is PPV fatigue. There will be 16 PPVs this year with a PPV almost a bimonthly happening. Its hard for a fan to pay over $100 bucks a month in PPVs in addition to their normal cable/satellite bill. Couple the economic factor with the injuries to main events, and its a combination which likely led to the lower numbers.
Photo via LA Times
11 for 11: No. 9 UFC’s big shows in Toronto and Rio
December 22, 2011
UFC 129 in Toronto was the company’s first stadium show which set records for attendance, gate and bonuses. The bonuses were the biggest ($129,000) in recent memory. It also held the first of two UFC Expos held this year. In the end, the UFC had a substantial impact on the economy in Toronto.
The card featured the showdown between GSP vs. Jake Shields, Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick and Randy Couture (in his final match) vs. Lyoto Machida.
UFC 129 was the biggest PPV buy of this year (excluding UFC 141) with 800,000 buys. We will see how it does in January for UFC 142 as Aldo headlines the card.
UFC 134 in Rio De Jineiro, Brazil was a return for the company. The show was a sellout and similar to Toronto, the crowd was hot during the entire show. Anderson Silva headlined the show by defeating Yushin Okami. Notably, the UFC promoted that it would air the prelims on a digital screen in the Little Brazil section of Times Square to watch the prelims. Unfortunately, due to Hurricane Irene, this promotion was thwarted.
Silva scored major sponsors for UFC 134 including a soccer club, Burger King and Nike. He also starred in a Budweiser commercial that aired in Brazil.
Bonuses were huge as well with every category winner getting $100,000.
Unlike 129, UFC 134 did not score as well with PPV as it only garnered 335,000 buys.
The UFC’s return to Toronto this December did not garner as much fanfare as 129 but received a nice PPV number of 480,000 buys worldwide.
These two shows paved the way for international expansion for the UFC. 129’s stadium show displayed the type of draw and economic impact it could have over an area when it comes to town and its Rio show spawned UFC 142 and the first international TUF.
UFC 140: Payout Perspective
December 15, 2011
Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective. This week we look at the UFC’s return to Toronto as the UFC made a stop at the Air Canada Center as Jon Jones defended his title against Lyoto Machida.
Jones chokes out Machida
Despite losing the first round, Jon Jones showed resolve to come back and defeat “The Dragon”. Jones used his size to complete a standing guillotine which rendered Machida limp. Up next for Jones will be the winner of Rashad Evans/Phil Davis in January. At this point, Jones looks like he is gaining confidence and looks real comfortable in the Octagon, something to worry about for those in his division.
Mir snaps Big Nog’s shoulder
Frank Mir broke Tim Sylvia’s arm for his black belt and may have earned another stripe for his kimura on Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera. Big Nog had Mir in trouble but Mir was able to gather himself to reverse Noguiera, grabbed his arm and locked in the kimura. The gruesome replay were shown over and over again with the crowd “ooing” each time the arm seemingly snapped.
Zombie surprises Hominick
It took only seconds for the Chang Sung Jung to defeat Canadian favorite Mark Hominick. A disappointing return for Hominick.
Attendance, Gate and Bonuses
As reported earlier in the week 18,303 fans attended for a gate of $3.9 million Canadian ($3.77 million U.S.).According to F4Wonline.com (subscription required), about 15,000 paid although it was not a sell-out. F4WOnline opined that the disappointing turnout may be due to the UFC coming back too fast.
MMA Junkie reported the bonuses for UFC 140 with each receiving $75,000.
KO of the night: The Korean Zombie
Submission of the night: Frank Mir
Fight of the Night: Jones-Machida
Sponsorships
The Octagon included Xyience, Toyo Tires, Dodge, TapouT, Musclepharm, the UFC’s Ultmate DVD Collection, StubHub, Batteflield 3 had the side pads (including graphics) and was on the mat, Bud Light was present on the ring pads and center.
Bony Acai, Harley Davidson and StubHub were presenting sponsors for UFC 140. The U.S. Marines had its usual “mini-fighter” matchup for Jones-Machida.
UFC.com Store owned the fighter prep point.
Harley Davidson is taking part in the UFC Hometown Throwdown promotion which had been previously promoted at other events as well as 140. Similar to the WEC version, it asks fans to pick a city in which they would want the UFC to hold an event. The promotion asks for fans to provide an email address in order to take part. The UFC will email the fans when the final cities are chosen.
Mark Hominick wore the CFL’s Hamilton TiCats gear once again.
Jon Jones wore his Form Athletics jacket in the back and during the walkout.
Brian Ebersole is now sponsored by TapouT as one witnessed via the logo shaved into his chest. He also was sponsored by BuyMMACards.com, which replaced MiddleEasy.com on his shorts.
Logistics company and fight sponsor Blue Grace made subtle changes to its logo including a visible web address for people to see.
Notably, EBX, which is a Brazilian investment company, sponsored the Nogueira brothers. We might expect more Brazilian and South American companies jumping into sponsorship with the upcoming card this January and with TUF: Brazil.
No Suffer on Mir this time as he sported a simple Jaco Hybrid Training Black t-shirt in his walkout.
The Korean Zombie did not wear his popular shirt but a white shirt with his Korean sponsors.
UFCstore.com had the Fighter prep point
More info on walkout wear here.
Jon Jones and Frank Mir broke out Xenergy drinks immediately after their win before their post-fight interview.
Not a lot of notable new sponsors here. The Octagon seemed UFC heavy. Perhaps this is due to the anticipated holiday shopping season. The UFC had indicated that new sponsors would not occur until the first quarter of next year.
Post-UFC 140 Headline
The only real headline coming out of this event is what’s next for Jon Jones. While some wish for a Jones-Anderson Silva matchup, its more likely that Jones face Rashad Evans provided he gets past Phil Davis and stays healthy enough to make it to the showdown.
Odds and Ends
- Tito Ortiz is now calling himself “The People’s Champ.” I thought the Rock was “The People’s Champ?” Copyright issues? Of course, I thought that Marshawn Lynch would have copyrighted “Beast Mode” too.
- UFC Countdown show aired on the Fox Regional Sports Networks as early as Sunday before the fight (according to the Direct TV guide) but either I was not paying attention or there was a lack of notice, but I missed the Countdown show when it was on my RSN. It appeared on the Audience Network later in the week and was online so I was able to catch it. Not sure if anyone else had a problem finding it on their RSN.
Buy Rate
Early estimations on the buy rate for UFC 140 by the Wrestling Observer have it at 440,000 buys in the US and 480,000 buys worldwide. This is a positive considering the UFC’s string of sub-400 PPV buys. It also shows that Jones is beginning to grow as a PPV draw. Jones vs. Rampage did 475,000 buys and it has improved if you take the worldwide buy rate.
UFC coming to XBox Dec. 20th
December 1, 2011
The UFC is coming to XBox Live on December 20th. XBox announced via twitter the start date in which fans can purchase UFC PPVs on the XBox platform.
It was announced last summer at E3 by Dana White that UFC PPVs would be on XBox. Earlier this fall, it was announced that the UFC would be available on December 1st with the first live event available being UFC 140 on December 10th. It now looks like the first PPV available on the platform would be UFC 141 on December 30th.
Payout Perspective:
We will continue to follow this story and see if there was any reason behind what appears to be a delay in rolling out the UFC on XBox. The video above was posted by XBox on November 30th. Its a good promo featuring White and various UFC stars. It looks like the UFC on XBox will also include a social media component which will allow users to post things onto their Facebook pages. As we’ve stated before, the UFC-Microsoft relationship is a good thing. We will see how many people jump on their XBox to order UFC PPVs. With PPV buys down overall, it will be interesting to see what affect the UFC’s partnership with XBox does.
UFC 139: Payout Perspective
November 21, 2011
Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective. This week we look at UFC 139 at the HP Pavillion in San Jose, California where Dan Henderson defeated Maurico Rua in a 5 round battle.
Henderson defeats Rua in instant classic
It appeared that Dan Henderson would make short work of Mauricio Rua as it appeared that Rua was a goner in the first round. However, Rua survived, the referee did not stop it prematurely and fans saw an epic back and forth fight. Rua came back in rounds 4 and 5 but it wasn’t enough. While both fighters were gassed at different points of the fight, this is probably the reason why the UFC wanted main events to go 5 rounds. Both fighters showed a warrior mentality and left it all in the octagon.
Silva KOs Le
Sandstorm may be heard again in the UFC. Wanderlei Silva defeated Cung Le in front of Le’s hometown crowd. The win likely ensures that Silva will fight once again in the UFC. For Le, it appeared that he lacked the cardio needed to fight three rounds. A disappointing debut.
Faber submits Bowles; another rematch with Cruz next
Urijah Faber choked out Brian Bowles to earn another shot at Dominick Cruz. It seemed as though Faber’s presence on this card was undersold. Yet, there are rumors that Faber and Cruz will be the next TUF coaches. Based on Faber’s post-fight trash talk, this isn’t a bad idea considering the solid ratings this season’s TUF. The animosity between the two fighters and its debut on the FX channel should propel next season’s TUF.
Attendance and Gate
MMA Junkie reports attendance of 13,173 for a gate of $1.268 million. In comparison, Fedor vs. Werdum in June 2010 drew 12,698 fans for a gate of $1.1 million at the HP Pavillion in San Jose.
Bonuses
MMA Junkie reports the bonuses for UFC 139. Each fighter received $70,000. Interesting that there was a tie for Fight of the Night. In my opinion, Rua vs. Henderson was the clear winner for FOTN honor. If there was a tie, I would have given the bonus to Chris Weidman for Sub of the Night.
Fight of the Night: Cung Le vs. Wanderlei Silva; Mauricio Rua vs. Dan Henderson
Submission of the Night: Urijah Faber
Knockout of the Night: Michael McDonald
Sponsorships
-The usual suspects were in the octagon for UFC 139. Xyience, Dodge, Tapout, Harley Davidson, MusclePharm and Bud Light had the center of the Octagon a well as the side pads. The UFC also advertised its Ultimate Fight Collection just in time for the holidays.
- Clinchgear was featured via Dan Henderson. I really like Henderson’s branded DH apparel.
- Tom Lawlor was sponsored by XBox as part of its Kinect Sports 2 launch. He sported a t-shirt at weigh-ins and XBox 360 on his shorts. It was the only sponsor on his shorts. According to an XBox rep, this is just a one-time opportunity as it was specifically for the launch. Pat Barry had a similar sponsor opportunity with XBox 360. Demetrious Johnson remains as the only UFC fighter to continually be sponsored by XBox 360.
Notably, Dan Henderson and Shogun were trending an hour after the PPV. In Brazil, Rua and Wanderlei Silva were trending topics after the PPV. The Henderson-Shogun battle received a lot of buzz via twitter. On another note, Bellator’s Chandler-Alvarez fight received its share of twitter buzz too.
Post-UFC 139 Headlines
- What’s next for Hendo? Does Dan Henderson fight at 205 or 185? Either division would present interesting title match-ups. At 205, Henderson would come up against Jon Jones, a guy almost 20 years his junior. At middleweight, Henderson could get a rematch with Anderson Silva. Or, a Team Quest alum fight with Chael Sonnen. Either middleweight match-up seems more attractive than Jones.
- Cruz-Faber trilogy. Can this rivalry assist the lighter weight divisions? Certainly this season’s TUF is helping draw a steady viewership. A possible TUF with the animosity of these fighters should propel next season’s version.
Odds and Ends
- Talking about a guy’s widow’s peak and hair gel is pretty personal Mr. Faber. This rivalry is heating up and that’s a good thing.
- I wrote about the interesting weigh-ins this time around and the opportunity for a fighter to create their own personal branding. It also helps to make weight.
- Was Stephan Bonnar’s post-fight apology attempting to mitigate any possible lawsuit from Josh Koshcheck about making t-shirts with his likeness?
- For as good as Hendo-Rua was Dana White stated that the fight would have been too violent if it had aired on Fox as the UFC is still in the “education process.”
-UPDATED: Fighter Wear and fighter entrance music here courtesy of FighterxFashion.
Conclusion
After the big UFC on Fox airing, UFC 139 seemed like an afterthought. It was a very good card but lacked the buzz. One reason may be that Fuel aired the one hour countdown show instead of Spike TV before Spike aired it late Thursday night. Second, many casual viewers may not know Dan Henderson or Mauricio Rua. Certainly, these guys showed that they could put on a good fight. Yet, they aren’t known names. Finally, there is a level of fatigue the casual viewer (or perhaps every viewer) has with these PPVs. It seems like every other week fans are spending money on fights. With the holidays coming up, some budgeting has to take place and that may mean a decline in PPV purchases. Based on the last couple of PPVs (UFC 136-225K buys, UFC 137-280K buys), it would not be out of line to state that UFC 139 is in the neighborhood of 250K buys. With that being said, it may be time to recalibrate how many PPV buys makes a card successful.
UFC 137: Payout Perspective
October 31, 2011
Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective. This time we take a look at UFC 137 coming from the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the main event, Nick Diaz convincingly defeated BJ Penn affirming the need for a showdown with Georges St. Pierre.
Diaz retires Penn; GSP next
So now its obvious why Dana White kept Nick Diaz on the Zuffa roster despite no-showing press conference after press conference. Diaz showed his boxing skills as well as his jiu jitsu proficiency. For Penn, it sounded like he is eyeing retirement. At only 32, it seems like Penn could still make one last run at a title. But, if he were to end his career, he was one of the most dominant fighters in the UFC.
While it appeared Penn acted like it was his last match in the UFC, he may just take some time off and reassess. At 32, he is still fairly young, but his dominant reign in the UFC is over.
Kongo dominates Mitrione
In the “co-main event,” Cheick Kongo defeated Matt Mitrione in a less than exciting match. For as much a personality Mitrione is, he could not handle Kongo. This fight was a main event in name only as a result of GSP’s injury. While it is written that this puts Kongo’s name in the heavyweight title picture, it seems like Kongo may need one or two more fights before he goes up against JDS or Cain.
Nelson defeats Cro-Cop
Nelson’s fat suit at the weigh-ins was pretty funny considering the fact that it initially looked like him. Still Nelson looked sharp. For Cro-Cop, it was his last fight in the UFC ring. He has been on the decline for a while at he gave a very nice post-match interview.
Attendance and Gate
MMA Junkie reports that the attendance of the event was 10,313 for $3.9 million.
Bonuses
MMA Junkie also had the bonuses for UFC. The bonuses were $75K each and were as follows:
Fight of the Night: Diaz and Penn
Submission of the Night: Donald Cerrone
KO of the night: Bart Palaszewski
Cerrone and Palaszewski were featured on the Spike TV Prelims.
Salaries
Salaries were released (via MMA Fighting)
Nick Diaz: $200,000 (no win bonus) def. BJ Penn: $150,000
Cheick Kongo: $70,000 ($70,000 win bonus) def. Matt Mitrione: $10,000
Roy Nelson: $20,000 ($20,000 win bonus) def. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic: $75,000
Scott Jorgensen: $16,500 ($16,500 win bonus) def. Jeff Curran: $8,000
Hatsu Hioki: $15,000 ($15,000 win bonus) def. George Roop: $8,000
Donald Cerrone: $27,000 ($27,000 win bonus) def. Dennis Siver: $27,000
Bart Palaszewski: $18,500 ($10,000 win bonus) def. Tyson Griffin: $25,500*
Brandon Vera: $60,000 ($60,000 win bonus) def. Eliot Marshall: $15,000
Ramsey Nijem: $10,000 ($10,000 win bonus) def. Danny Downes: $4,000
Francis Carmont: $6,000 ($6,000 win bonus) def. Chris Carmozzi: $8,000
Clifford Starks: $6,000 ($6,000 win bonus) def. Dustin Jacoby: $6,000
* Griffin was scheduled to earn $34,000 for his fight against Palaszewski; Palaszewski was scheduled to make $10,000. Griffin missed weight, however, and was penalized 25 percent ($8,500) of his show money, which was added to Palaszewski’s show money total.
Diaz’s salary likely would have been the same if he had fought GSP. Also, I’m wondering how much of a locker room bonus BJ Penn received for fighting Diaz instead of Carlos Condit. Its also interesting that Brandon Vera made $120,000 despite having his fight on Facebook (and almost breaking his arm).
I am in favor of how the UFC penalizes those that don’t make weight. In the case of Tyson Griffin, who missed by 3 pounds, he forfeited his scheduled salary and that amount was given to Palaszewski. Also worked out for Palaszewski considering he picked up a KO bonus as well.
Pre-Fight Promotion
Initially a Primetime series was going to follow GSP and Nick Diaz for their showdown. However, with Diaz being reassigned, the Primetime series was scrapped. The UFC Countdown show for 137 was only 30 minutes as opposed to the normal hour edition. Still, I thought it did a good job in telling the Nick Diaz backstory as well as including his hobby of triathlons.
The re-revised promos for UFC 137 featured the infamous “Don’t be scared homie” quote. It’s weird to think that Bill Goldberg was the interviewer in the middle of Diaz and KJ Noons (the recipient of the Diaz trash talk).
Sponsorships
The UFC Octagon did not have any new sponsors with the exception of signage for UFC Undisputed 3 which was in the Octagon and had the checkpoint area.
When it was announced that Nick Diaz would be facing BJ Penn, Metal Mullisha announced its sponsorship deal with Diaz. Diaz has worn the brand in Strikeforce. In addition, Diaz was to have a sponsor for his walkout music.
The UFC announced that the BJ Penn-UFC branded Gym in Hawaii would be taking memberships about a week before 137.
Jaco ran a deal for Brandon Vera fans with a special coupon code on Vera’s fight gear. Vera also was sponsored by Toyo Tires for his Facebook fight.
Matt Mitrione sported new fight shirt company Traumma. Strikeforce heavyweight Daniel Cormier is also sponsored by the company as he wore the shirt on a recent episode of InsideMMA.
Mitrione also wore a Chris Lytle for Senate shirt at weigh-ins. Its the first political shirt of campaign season.
Donald Cerrone wore SafeAuto and Tapout stickers on his cowboy hat during his post-fight interview. Once again, a great use of the hat by the Cowboy.
Post UFC 137 storylines
GSP-Diaz next. Carlos Condit, meet Anthony Pettis. Although, Dana White stated Condit “stepped aside” for GSP-Diaz. Condit’s manager, Malki Kawa, states otherwise. It would be disappointing if Condit does not get a shot through no fault of his own. But, let’s face it. He will have another fight before his “promised” title shot against the GSP-Diaz winner. If he loses, its almost certain he loses his shot as well. Certainly, GSP-Diaz is the match everyone wants to see. In fact, I think they made it before.
Odds and ends
-Pink gloves by the refs. I understand the intent and the cause, but do we really need it in the octagon. The NFL has jumped on the branding for Breast Cancer Awareness month, but it seems like its overdone.
-Donald Cerrone. I believe “The Cowboy” is one of the best fighters coming out of the WEC merger. I like the personal branding. Wearing jeans, cowboy hat and cowboy boots at the weigh-ins distinguishing him from others. Plus, he’s a pretty good fighter. The Cowboy will be the co-main event on PPV for UFC 141.
-Speaking of personal branding, Ramsey Nijem embracing a Chippendale’s gimmick at weigh-ins with bow-tie and no-shirt. Did we not learn anything from Dennis Hallman?
-Brandon Vera arm was nearly broken by Eliot Marshall but he still won by unanimous decision.
-I really liked Hatsui Haoki’s Dethrone “bird” shirt. FighterxFashion has the rest of the walkout shirts.
-The UFC sent a press release of video of the Penn-Diaz weigh-in which it described as a “scuffle.” Not sure if its done this before or sent to hype the card due to concern about the drawing power.
-Alex Rodriguez was in attendance. Does this help or hurt the UFC’s popularity?
PPV Numbers
The top of this card was hurt first by Diaz’s no-shows, the card reshuffle and GSP’s injury. The UFC first touted UFC 137 as being Champion vs. Champion. Despite the removal of GSP from the main event, the UFC indicated that the show was a sell-out. After GSP’s injury, the card took a big star power hit despite BJ Penn in the main event. The co-main event featured mid-card level talent (Nelson, Mittrione, Kongo and Cro-Cop). Cro-Cop is past his prime while the other 3 are not top of the card caliber. It would be hard to foresee the buys for this card exceeding 350K.
Payout Blue Book Update
October 24, 2011
The MMAPayout.com Pay-Per-View, Television, and Live Gate & Attendance sections of the Blue Book have been updated to include all events in 2011. Reminder: you always access the information via the tab on the menu bar of every page.
The sponsorship portion of the Payout Blue Book will be the next big project we will tackle. If anyone has any preferences, feedback, or ideas, please let us know. We will keep you updated on the progress of the project and will inform you when that goes live.
Thanks for reading as always,
MMAPayout Staff
UFC PPV Start Time Comparison
October 17, 2011
News broke last week that the UFC was planning to move the its PPVs back to a 7pm/10pm start time starting with December 30th’s UFC 141. In April at UFC 129, the UFC moved the start times up to 6pm/9pm to accommodate the east coast viewers.
In Jason’s perspective yesterday, he asked the question, “It would be interesting to know if the breakdown in PPV buys this year led the UFC to conclude that the 6pm start time did not influence PPV buys“.
I wondered the same thing, so I though I’d take a closer look at the numbers and try comparing buyrate averages leading up to the April 30th change to the subsequent events that followed.
So here I compared the buyrate averages from the 7 events prior to the change to the 7 events that followed.
UFC 121 to 128 covered the period between November 23 2010 and March 19 2011. The estimated average number of buys over this stretch was approximately 576,000. In comparison, UFC 129 to 135, which covered a time period between April 30 2011 through to September 24 2011 had an estimated 414,000 buys. That’s a decrease of 28% after the start time was moved up to 6pm/9pm at the end April.
NOTE: If we exclude UFC 121, we see a drop of approximately 17% after the change to 6/9pm (498k pre/414k post)
Payout Perspective:
It’s hard to say for certain if this is the primary reason for the drop. There was a rash of injuries and health issues in the spring which effected main events and many argue that an over saturation of the product is causing consumer fatigue. But the move by the UFC signals they feel strongly that the change is having enough of an impact on their product that they are willing to revert back to the original start time less then a year after making the change.
UFC moving back PPVs start time starting with UFC 141
October 11, 2011
Dave Metzler at F4Wonline.com is reporting that the UFC is returning its PPVs back to the 7pm/10pm start time starting with December 30th’s UFC 141. The UFC moved up the start time starting with UFC 129 in Toronto to accommodate its east coast viewers.
As we noted when the announcement to move the PPVs up one hour, it would hurt west coast viewership. Considering the fact that prelim fights on Facebook would start mid-afternoon for west coast viewers, most west coasters would still be out and about. The theory was that the 6pm move made sense from the perspective that the UFC wanted as many east coast viewers to see the PPVs. Now, it appears that the UFC’s experiment is over.
Payout Perspective:
The sagging PPV buys are the likely reason why the UFC is moving back the start times. It would be interesting to know if the breakdown in PPV buys this year led the UFC to conclude that the 6pm start time did not influence PPV buys. Certainly, the UFC is hoping for a big spike in buys for 141 considering its PPV bell cow, Brock Lesnar, is on the card.
UFC 136: Payout Perspective
October 9, 2011
Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective. This time we come to you from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas where fans saw one of the best cards of this year.
Edgar bullies Maynard
The first round of Edgar Maynard III looked a lot like Edgar Maynard II. Instead, Maynard remained composed throughout the rest of the round. However, Maynard seemed too lax in the second and Edgar got to Maynard in the fourth.
Maynard looked stunned after the match. Not sure who looked more crestfallen: Maynard or Kenny Florian.
Aldo outlasts Florian
Jose Aldo controlled the match and defeated a game Kenny Florian. When the final round ended, Florian had a look of a defeated fighter and someone that knew his career (at least trying to win UFC gold) was over.
Sonnen outclasses Stann
Chael Sonnen returned to the Octagon to beat Brian Stann. This was a definite step up in competition for Stann and it showed. Sonnen had his way with Stann and used the arm triangle to choke him out.
But what was more interesting than the fight was the post-fight interview. Short, brief and concise. Sonnen challenged Anderson Silva (who was in attendance and sitting next to Charles Barkley) to a loser leaves match (Silva leaves division or Sonnen leaves the UFC). A textbook pro wrestling promo: 1) Insult opponent, 2) challenge said opponent to a fight, 3) state when the fight is happening, 4) state stipulations and 5) leave.
Silva thought the promo was hilarious and the UFC attempted to diffuse the situation by panning the camera to Barkley.
Phan outlasts Garcia – Third fight upcoming?
In the fight of the night, Nam Phan defeated Leonard Garcia in another entertaining slugfest. How is it that Leonard Garcia got more post-fight interview time than Nam Phan? It seems like the UFC is trying to package these guys together. Initially, Phan said in the post-fight interview he didn’t want another fight with Garcia but seemed more receptive later. I think Phan is thinking about moving up and on but the UFC may sign them up for another fight.
Garcia will never be cut by the UFC although he really must try something different. All of his fights look like he’s swinging like a guy in a bar at last call. He’ll be in the same category as Pat Barry and Dan Hardy. Entertaining fighters but not successful.
Attendance and Gate:
MMA Fighting’s Mike Chiappetta reported attendance of 16,164 for a gate of $2.3 million. According to the Toyota Center web site, the arena houses 18,300 for basketball and 19,000 for concerts. Not sure The attendance figure is better than the UFC’s last event at the arena, UFC 69. However, 69 produced a bigger gate: $2.8 million.
Bonuses
MMA Junkie reports that the bonuses for UFC 136 were $75,000 each.
Fight of the Night: Nam Phan vs. Leonard Garcia
Submission of the Night: Joe Lauzon
KO of the Night: Frankie Edgar
Promotion of UFC 136
The UFC had an off beat promo for UFC 136 entitled, “The Great Debate.” It currently has over 191,000 views on YouTube.
The UFC also held another #Hunt4UFC, where White gave hints on places around Houston to be at for fans to win tickets.
UPDATE 10/10: Forgot to include this great interview on CNN with Frankie Edgar.
Sponsorships
Upcoming movie release, Immortal, Tapout, Dodge, UFC Trainer, UFC.com store, Xyience, SafeAuto Insurance, Toyo Tires and Bud Light with the center were in the cage tonight. Is it me or is the UFC.com store being promoted much more.
Fighter walkout shirts are here. I like the track jackets that some fighters are using. Although its hard to pull over the gloves, its still another piece that clothing brands can market.
We saw for the first time the video game cover for the UFC video game, “Undisputed 3”. As reported by USA Today, Anderson Silva was voted to be on the cover after THQ conducted a poll to see which UFC champion should be on the cover.
Xyience took the fighting check point. It appears that its a revolving sponsor although Harley Davidson had the checkpoint for some time.
There was a huge push for the movie Immortal. Chael Sonnen wore it on his fight trunks and had an Immortal hat on during a taped interview in the pre-fight hype package.
UFC Fan Expo
The UFC held another fan expo in Houston which gave fans, sponsors and fighters the ability to interact. No word on attendance at the expo but we will follow up. With the first one going on in Toronto for 129 and this one happening for 136, we should expect at least a couple expos in 2012.
Post-UFC 136 storylines
Sonnen vs. Silva – Super Bowl Weekend. The event is not on the schedule yet but I guess we have our first fight. This will be a big event and should help jumpstart 2012 with a big buy rate. Sonnen will be in full promo mode and with the help of Fox, we’re going to be seeing Sonnen’s face all over the Fox networks. There are talks of this being in Cowboys Stadium although that seems like talk at this point.
Aldo vs. Mendes – An interesting matchup but what will be more interesting will be how much longer Aldo will stay in the Featherweight division. He’s had trouble with the weigh cut and an Aldo-Edgar, Aldo-Melendez fight would bring some spark to the lighter weight divisions.
Edgar vs. Melendez or Aldo? – The worst kept secret is that the Strikeforce lightweight champion is coming to the UFC to “unify” the titles. The matchup makes sense and would draw interest. But when will it happen. Melendez is slated for a Strikeforce title defense in December. But, Dana White is bullish on Melendez in the UFC lightweight division. White also said that he’s interested in Edgar going up against Jose Aldo.
PPV Buys
Last night marked the end of a three week period where four UFC titles were up for grabs. UFC 136 was one of the best, if not the best card the UFC has put on this year. Top to bottom, the card was exciting. It will be interesting to see what the PPV buys will end up at. Does anything lower than 400K say anything about fan perceptions of the lower weight divisions? Or is it just that there are too many PPVs going around that fans just can’t buy them all?
Odds and ends
Rashad Evans got booed again when the camera panned to him. What was funny is when the camera widened fans cheered for Forrest Griffin who was sitting next to him. Griffin looked back at Evans and playfully laughed at him. Pretty funny considering these two fought for the title a couple years ago.
Chad Mendes was announced as the newest member of Team Edge. Good for him considering he may get the next title shot against Jose Aldo.
Another loss by Tiequan Zhang. He was thought to help garner interest from Chinese fans. But, his losses are mounting and it seems like the UFC may have to look to someone else to make inroads into the Chinese market.
The Spike Prelims featured Anthony Pettis and Demian Maia. Good match-ups which should mean another good rating.
Among the writeups for UFC 136, there was this one on Nam Pham.
