UFC hints at two events in one night
September 30, 2011
Yahoo! Sports reports that the UFC may hold two events in one night according to UFC president Dana White. The UFC would rely on multiple UFC teams to logistically handle events on the same night.
While promoting UFC 139 in San Jose earlier this week, White let it be known of his vision for two UFC events in one night. “When we go to Japan next year, we are going to be putting on a show at the same time in Las Vegas,” he said.
White indicated that the UFC would be running multiple shows in the future. However, White did not elaborate on the details.
MMA Junkie reports that the UFC would have the capability to have two teams cover each event. Former WEC head Reed Harris hosted the UFC on Versus 6 pre-event press conference and touted the fact that the UFC’s multi-team approach makes hosting two events in one night possible.
There is still the question of airing both shows. The UFC wants to air both live and same-day-delayed shows in prime time slots. UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi is an example of this. While the PPV played in its usual prime time slot, it was offered live during the day.
Payout Perspective:
PPV saturation or a forward looking plan for global expansion of the UFC? At this point, holding a show in the US and in Japan seems to be hedging its bets. Simply put, if the Japan show does not go well, it could be overshadowed by the US show. And if Japan does well, then that’s the story. But, it seems like the plan is to expand the brand globally. The question is whether holding two shows in one night is too much. Will the UFC have two PPVs in one night or will it have one event free and the other on PPV? For an average UFC fan on a budget, purchasing two events in one month is expensive. Will we see a day where we may pay over $100 for one night of PPVs? The other question is whether its too much. There is not much being made about the fact that in three straight weeks, there will be three UFC title defenses. It seems like it may be too much for the casual UFC fan as there is lukewarm interest in UFC on Versus 6 and much skepticism in the PPV buy rate for UFC 136. Time will tell to see how the UFC executes two events in one night.
UFC 135: Payout Perspective
September 25, 2011
Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective. In the main event, Jon Jones defeated Quentin “Rampage” Jackson to retain the Light Heavyweight title.
Jones stops Rampage
Jon Jones handled Rampage Jackson to retain his Light Heavyweight title. Its becoming apparent that Jones’ length is his greatest attribute. Jackson looked motivated, in shape and had the correct game plan to deal with Jones. However, Jones was ready for Jackson and it was apparent that Jones could do whatever he wanted with Jackson. The 3rd round after the bell throw of Jackson and eventual choke served as notice that Jones is here to stay.
As for Jackson, it was weird for a loser of a bout to call out someone else. But, Rampage vs. Shogun Rua would help a UFC Japan card that has its share of skeptics.
Kos KOs Hughes
The fight was entertaining until the last few seconds of the first round when Koscheck poured it on and KO’d Hughes. For Hughes, the KO is the second of its kind as BJ Penn did the same to him last year. Its hard to say if Hughes will or should retire, but for a Hall of Famer to be knocked unconscious like that is not good for a legacy. For Koscheck, it was a nice return from December’s injury. The win should put him back into the welterweight title picture.
Attendance and Gate
Although not verified by the Colorado state athletic commission, Dana White announced the attendance at the Pepsi Center as 16,344 for a gate of $2 million. (h/t MMA Junkie)
Bonuses
MMA Junkie reports that the following fighters were awarded $75,000 each for their fights.
Fight of the Night – Jones vs. Jackson
KO of the Night – Koscheck
Submission of the Night – Nate Diaz
Diaz displayed his jiu jitsu proficiency in submitting Takanori Gomi. It was a textbook transition. Hopefully, in a push for an exciting fight, the UFC does not stray from its roots.
Promotion of the Fight
UFC Fight Night 25 featured a Jones-Rampage head to head debate. The same was done on ESPN. I have to say I am not a fan of these head to head debates. I know its supposed to draw heat but it seems forced.
More and more, UFC fighters are getting their chance on late night television. Jones and Rampage on Jimmy Kimmel to sell the fight.
It was a little weird to see the two sitting so comfortably close to each other and sharing their couch with Dr. Phil.
Press Conference
The Jones-Rampage press conference had its share of funny moments. The best being the picture of Rampage clowning Jon Jones’ “stare into the distance” when they both did the staredown at the initial press conference.
The drama of the alleged “spy” in Rampage’s camp brought some intrigue to the matchup. But, most people were interested in the matchup regardless of the “spy”.
Sponsorships
MMA Elite, Harley Davidson, MMA Authentics, Edge, Musclepharm, Xyience, Toyo Tires were all in the Octagon with Bud Light taking the center again. Video game Gears of War3 (for XBox 360) signage was also present in the Octagon. It also was the presenting sponsor for UFC 135. Noticeably a lot of different sponsors in the Octagon this time around.
Musclepharm – Not only did it announce its new partnership with the UFC earlier in the week, but its gym was featured during the UFC Countdown show as Rampage trained for the fight there. It also was the spot where Rampage discovered the “spy” from the Jones camp. Notwithstanding the implication that a MP exec was a spy, it was a good week of activation for MP. The MP gym was adorned with its memorable logo.
The US Marines maintained its Keys to Victory segment featuring Koscheck and Hughes.
FighterxFashion has a good rundown of the walk out wear from UFC 135 including Rampage “chains”. Just in time for Halloween…or your next street fight (j/k, I hope).
Interesting that Jon Jones did not have any special brand activation with any of his sponsors. If I missed it, let me know.
Odds and ends
- The high altitude coupled with the Heavyweight match-ups lead to two matches that slowed down considerably as the match progressed. Maybe some booking info to learn from in the future.
- Whenever Rashard Evans steps into the Octagon with a suit, he receives boos. It reminds me a little of Ric Flair. The pinstripes did add to the “heel” status he received last night. Notwithstanding, it was a little awkward for Evans after the stare-down with Jones since it looked like he wanted to leave but Rampage was still in the Octagon. It was like he was trapped a bit. It was a good spot but
- Don’t mean to talk about pro wrestling too much, but did Ben Rothwell come out to the Monday Night Raw theme?
- Did anyone notice Rampage’s corner-man whisper in his ear prior to his Rogan post-fight interview. It was like he reminded him to challenge Shogun in Japan.
UPDATE re PPV Buys
MMA Supremacy did an informal poll on the anticipated PPV buys for this pay per view. With Rampage, Jones, Hughes and Koscheck at the top of the card, many believed this to be between 500K-700K in buys with a smattering of people believing it to be 300-400K in buys. It will be interesting to see. Although Jones is the biggest rising star in the UFC, he has yet to become a PPV draw. The UFC hopes that this will change soon.
Is GSP the UFC’s biggest PPV star?
September 22, 2011
After the UFC 135 press conference yesterday, Dana White told reports that Georges St. Pierre is the biggest PPV star in MMA today. This, despite the numbers reflecting that Brock Lesnar should hold that distinction.
White did state that GSP’s fight style has changed. Nevertheless, White believes he’s the top draw regardless. White might be pushing this statement and its likely to hype GSP’s upcoming fight. But, the numbers reflect that Brock Lesnar is the top MMA draw when it comes to PPV.
Via the Blue Book:
Brock Lesnar
UFC 121 vs. Velasquez – 1,050,000
UFC 116 vs. Carwin – 1,160,000
UFC 100 vs. Mir – 1,600,000
UFC 91 vs. Couture – 1,010,000
UFC 87 vs. Herring – 625K
UFC 81 vs. Mir – 600K
GSP
UFC 129 vs. Shields – 800K
UFC 124 vs. Koscheck – 785K
UFC 111 vs. Hardy – 710K
UFC 100 vs. Alves – 1,600,000
UFC 94 vs. BJ Penn – 920K
UFC 87 vs. Jon Fitch – 625K
UFC 82 vs. Serra (GSP regains title) – 530K
The two have shared the same card twice: UFC 87 and UFC 100.
Payout Perspective:
Looking at the numbers, Brock Lesnar is the king of PPV buy rates for the UFC. We should see a huge spike in PPV buys as he takes on Alistair Overeem at the end of the year. But, I believe White is making the point that GSP is the standard for MMA. Definitely, losing to Matt Serra has caused a change in his style and while he is winning, he is not finishing off opponents. Could the GSP decisions reflect the PPV buy rate between the two fighters? Or, is it once again the fact that fight fans favor the heavyweights? In case you were wondering, Anderson Silva has not surpassed a 1 million PPV buys in any of his main events. The highest buy rate for The Spider was 725K last February against Vitor Belfort.
Alistair Overeem Signs with UFC, Set to Fight Brock Lesnar on December 30th
September 6, 2011
LA Times reports that Alistair Overeem has signed with the UFC and will be taking on Brock Lesnar on the December 30th NYE show being held in Las Vegas.
“Brock is a big name, a dangerous guy, and this is a dream matchup,” Overeem told The Times on Tuesday, just after signing a standard UFC fight contract in the office of Chairman Lorenzo Fertitta. “Brock’s a big guy, an exciting wrestler with his takedowns.
…
“I want to see this fight myself. Overall, I’m a different fighter. A striker, athletic, big. These are going to be two big trucks going at it on a collision course.”
VIDEO:
Payout Perspective:
Some notes from the announcement:
- The fight will be a 5-round non-title bout (PPV event). Overeem was stripped of the Strikeforce HW Title when he was released from Strikeforce just a few weeks ago.
- Alistair Overeem signed a multiple-fight standard contract, which means he is exclusive to the UFC and will not be allowed to participate in Kickboxing or Golden Glory events.
- It is expected that the winner of this bout will challenge the winner of Cain Velasquez vs Junior Dos Santos for the HW title.
- Overeem was offered a title shot against the Velasquez/JDS winner but Overeem didn’t want to wait that long.
- This event will take place on a Friday night, outside of the norm for the promotion who usually holds PPV events on Saturday nights.
- The UFC was looking to run the NYE show from Abu Dhabi this year from that same Friday night, but instead moved the event to Las Vegas on that same day.
- Yesterday night, the UFC announced that they would be heading back to Japan on February 26, 2012 and would be holding their event at Saitama Super Arena, which will be configured to seat 20,000 fans. Alistair Overeem would be be one of their biggest draws if they could get him on that card along with “Kid” Yamamoto and Yoshihiro Akiyama to name a few. Yushin Okami could also be used, but will have to bounce back after a crushing defeat to Anderson Silva in Brazil at UFC 134.
- With the addition of Lesnar vs Overeem, the UFC will most likely host a 1 million PPV buy event this year. The last time they went through a year without hitting one was back in 2007. Last year, the UFC hosted 3 1 million PPV buy events, two which were headlined by Brock Lesnar.
UFC 133: Payout Perspective
August 8, 2011
Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective! This week we look at the much-maligned UFC 133 event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the main event, Rashad Evans took out Tito Ortiz to cement his spot as the number one contender in the Light Heavyweight division.
Evans knees Ortiz for win
Rashad Evans looked phenomenal and displayed no signs of rust after a 14 month layoff. Tito Ortiz looked good too but Evans was too much for Tito and a knee to the chest ended Tito’s night. This was a fight that no one really lost. Evans secured his title shot and Ortiz spun his loss as “taking one for the team.”
Belfort takes care of Akiyama
Vitor Belfort made quick work of Yoshihiro Akiyama as he knocked out Akiyama in the first round. An impressive showing coming off of being KO’d by Anderson Silva. Interesting the finish came when Akiyama attempted and missed a front kick similar to that of Silva.
Ebersole KO’s Hallman and speedo
While most thought that Brian Ebersole’s “harrow” would be the quirky story of this match, it was Dennis Hallman wearing a speedo that convinced Dana White to award Ebersol a special KO bonus as well as banning all speedos from UFC competition. When I saw Hallman’s short shorts I immediately thought of what boxer Bernard Hopkins was thinking. As some may know, BHop used to hate MMA until the pubicity came to Philadelphia. He did get off one of the best takes about the sport on the Jim Rome show when he said he would lose to any MMA guy since he had notfought like that since “he was in prison or a kid.”
Ebersole received a “special” bonus as a result of his KO. For better or worse, the short shorts received mainstream notoriety from Deadspin and ESPN’s Page 2 created a list of “Worst Looks in Sports History” in honor of Hallman’s shorts.
Attendance and gate
11,583 were in attendance for a gate of $1.5 million according to MMA Junkie. The number of complimentary tickets were not provided. In comparison, 2009’s UFC 101 was a sellout with 17,411 in attendance for a gate of $3.55 million. The event, held in the same building as UFC 133, featured Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin.
Bonuses
MMA Junkie reports the following bonuses for UFC 133. There were no submissions, so no submissions of the night were awarded. However, White awarded Ebersole a $70,000 bonus for getting Hallman’s speedos off of PPV. Other $70,000 award winners included:
Fight of the Night – Evans vs. Ortiz
KO of the Night – Vito Belfort
PR for UFC 133
Rashad Evans workouts were featured on Yahoo! Sports. Evans and NFLers Maurice Jones-Drew and Larry Fitzgerald were featured in a weekly series on elite athlete workouts.
Many Philadelphia celebrities were in attendance including Charles Barkley and Bernard Hopkins. Interesting that Hopkins was in attendance considering that he had bad mouthed MMA for some time.
White and Ortiz appeared on the Jim Rome Show. Similar to NASCAR, the Rome show has embraced the sport by having UFC fighters on as well as talking about it on his show.
White gave away tickets for UFC 133 through its #Hunt4UFC twitter contest where White sent out tweets to locations of where to go if fans wanted free tickets.
Sponsorships
SafeAuto Insurance sponsored its usual band of UFC fighters as well as a contest, “VIP at the UFC.” The brand activation integrated social media into its fan contest. When fans “liked” the SafeAuto Facebook page and filled out a contest form they had the opportunity to win a trip to UFC 133.
Tapout had a similar contest for UFC 133 in which followers either liked the Tapout Facebook page and tweet out “#TapoutTickets” in order to qualify. The winner was announced during the appearance of Skyscrape and Punkass on The MMA Hour last Monday.
According to Bloody Elbow, Rory MacDonald’s fight banner never made it behind him before introductions. A faux pas if you want to keep sponsors. Here it is:
Training Mask made a big splash with the sponsorship of many of the fighters on the card including Rashad Evans. And, it also sponsored the front of Hallman’s shorts. Training Mask put out what seemed to be a tongue in cheek tweet about its sponsorship of Hallman stating that it has no control of what its fighters wear.
Middle Easy sponsored Brian Ebersole. It was interesting to note that at the end of the fight, Joe Rogan referred to Ebersole’s “Bloody Elbow” after pummeling Dennis Hallman. Coincidence?
The fighter fashions are detailed in this post. Notably, Evans sported a white Jaco track suit top with a subtle Jaco logo. Yet, he wore a Tapout shirt post-fight. Nam Phan wore a gi that he took off in the entryway so that his t-shirt sponsor, Throwdown, got the visibility during the walkout.
Conan 3D had the fighter checkpoint sponsorship. Fortunately, no interview with its star this time around.
Harley Davidson, Dodge, Gamefly.com, Xyience, Edge, Boost Mobile and Bud Light had the center of the ring.
Post-UFC 133 Headlines
Evans vs. Jones/Rampage Super Bowl Weekend 2012. Book it. Nobody get hurt.
Rory MacDonald. Probably the most impressive young fighter out there. It will be interesting to see what fights are ahead of the Canadian.
Tito Ortiz. Although he lost, he put on a good fight and it didn’t look like he was mailing it in. He’s regained respect with the UFC and will likely have a fight or two left with the company.
Despite many alterations to the card, UFC 133 had some entertaining, albeit short fights. If you wanted to see knockouts, UFC 133 gave it to you.
Odds and ends:
Did Shane Victorino help promote UFC 133 by starting a bench-clearing brawl Friday night?
Does everyone have Beats by Dre headphones that Evans wore at weigh-ins and walkout?
Joe Rogan mentioned Diamond MMA, a company specializing in compression shorts that hold cups in place to prevent groin shots, during the fights giving the company some good publicity.
The main card fights ended with almost an hour to spare. This happens when there are 4 KOs during the PPV. This was a night with lots of filler fights. It was a good chance to show the Facebook fights live.
UFC 132: Payout Perspective
July 3, 2011
Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective. This time we look at UFC 132 from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The featured bout was Dominick Cruz defending his Bantamweight title againt Urijah Faber.
Cruz defeats Faber in entertaining matchup
Welcome to the UFC Dominick Cruz. A back and forth bout saw Cruz take control of Faber in the end to earn his first UFC win and successful title defense. As we discussed here, the UFC will need to start actively promoting its Bantamweight champ. An example of this can be found in last week’s print edition of the Sports Business Journal. The UFC has a full page ad on the back page were it shows its current champions: Velasquez, Jones, GSP and Edgar. It neglects to include Jose Aldo and Cruz. Last night’s action was fast-paced and entertaining. The UFC can get behind the lighter divisions and sell this type of action. We will see what happens in the future. Certainly, a Faber win would have made life easier marketing this division.
As for Faber, a rematch could happen sooner than later. But, he has lost his last four shots at a title. How many more chances can he get?
Axe Murderer KO’d by Leben, career over?
As predicted, the Wanderlei Silva-Chris Leben matchup featured a big knockout. It was a little surprising that it happened in the first minutes of the fight but Chris Leben took a couple haymakers and returned his own to KO Silva. Dana White essentially stated that Silva’s career is over in the UFC. Similar to Chuck Liddell, Silva will have to have someone tell him to stop fighting. Although he has an exciting fight style, the years are catching up to him and a body just can’t sustain that many shots.
Ortiz upsets Bader, keeps job
The gravedigger celebration was brought out once again as Tito Ortiz submitted Ryan Bader in the upset of the night. For as much heat Ortiz receives, the arena seemed to be at its loudest. Bad news for Bader as he will need to regroup after two straight losses.
Attendance and gate
MMA Junkie reports that UFC 132’s attendance was at 12, 947 for a gate of $2.3 million. The numbers are in line with its other Vegas shows this year: UFC 125 (12,753, $2.57M) and 130 (12,874, $2.174M) (h/t MMA Supremacy).
Bonuses
MMA Junkie reports the bonuses for UFC 132. Each received $75K.
Fight of the Night: Cruz vs. Faber
KO of the night: Carlos Condit
Sub of the night: Tito Ortiz
There were several KO of the night candidates including Chris Leben, Melivn Guillard and Rafael dos Anjos.
UFC Programming
Spike TV debuted the UFC’s Countdown show during the day Wednesday of fight week instead of its regular primetime spot. While subsequent airings were shown at night, it could be seen as passive aggressive programming as a result of the looming hole the UFC will leave Spike when/if it goes to another network.
Sponsorships
Bud Light Lime, MusclePharm, Dodge, TapouT, Harley Davidson and Xyience were in the Octagon. Bud Light Lime branding utilized the lime color as the ring girls donned lime attire at the weigh-ins and during the PPV. Also at the weigh-ins Bud Light Lime owned the space in front of the scale fo the weigh-in.
In the leadup to UFC 132, Form Athletics, a company co-founded by Faber, held an autograph session featuring Anthony Pettis and Mark Munoz and other UFC fighters to promote Faber’s main event. Pettis and Munoz also appeared at a Las Vegas ABC Store to sign autographs on behalf of its sponsor Xyience.
The movie Conan took over the Harley Davidson check point. It also made a mistake by having its star, Jason Momoa, try to hype the film. The Goldberg-Momoa interview was as awkward as the man-hug at its conclusion.
Matt Wiman sported a PETA-inspired sponsor on his shorts: Meet your Meat.com.
Twitter trends
Notably, Faber trended during and after UFC 132 but Dominick Cruz’s name did not. . Also trending were “Crippler” for Chris Leben and “Siver” for Dennis Siver. (h/t MMA Supremacy)
Also, Justin Bieber was at the fights and posted it on twitter. Pretty good mainstream publicity considering Bieber has over 10 million followers.
Post-UFC 132 Headlines
-More small guys? Saturday’s main event showcased the reason why fighters 155 and under should be on more PPV cards. While most are relatively unknown, hopefully Jose Aldo, Mark Hominick, Brian Bowles, Might Mouse Johnson and Dominick Cruz will become regulars on PPV cards.
-Melvin Guillard looks like he has resurrected his career. The Young Assassin looks poised to make a run at the Lightweight title
-Losing Faber. Urijah Faber is one of the most marketable faces in the UFC. His looks and athleticism have earned him mainstream appeal from the likes of Rosie O’Donnell and Jim Rome. The UFC would have loved to see Faber win the title as it would lend notoriety to the division. Despite losing, he still can be the face for the small guy in the UFC. It will be interesting to see how the UFC will book Faber because an upset loss in his next fight could be damaging .
Odds and ends
- Watching the replay, you can see Faber’s muay thai coach, Master Thong, peek over the shoulder of Bruce Buffer as he was announcing the judge’s scores. He saw the score before it was announced.
-Dominick Cruz was awarded his blue belt after his title defense. Cruz has to be the toughest blue belt around. Ironically, Faber was awarded his brown belt after his last fight against Eddie Wineland.
-If we saw Wanderlei Silva’s last fight in the UFC, someone must pick up his entrance music.
A second straight week of solid fights from the UFC. The night saw some great action, a W for Tito Ortiz and a great five round fight from Faber and Cruz.
Will Faber vs. Cruz carry UFC 132?
July 1, 2011
UFC 132 will be the first PPV headlining the Bantamweight division since the UFC-WEC merger. The big question will be whether or not Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz will be able to attract the UFC audience.
The matchup has some heat considering it is for Cruz’s UFC-WEC Bantamweight title. In addition, there is bad blood between the two and Cruz is looking to avenge a lost to Faber. The Countdown show did a great job in detailing their history. Unfortunately, the debut ran on Spike TV during the day Wednesday. Regardless, the big question will be whether viewers buy the PPV?
You could call Faber “Mr. WEC” as he was the face of the organization prior to its merger with the UFC. Many of the big WEC events occurred in Sacramento, Faber’s hometown, and many of the main events involved “The California Kid.”
Taking a quick glance at Faber’s draw in the WEC:
WEC 52: Faber vs. Mizugaki: Versus rating – 570K
WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber: WEC’s PPV – 175K buys
WEC 41: Brown vs. Faber: Versus rating – 1.3 million
WEC 36: Faber vs. Brown: Versus rating – 497K
WEC 34: Faber vs. Pulver: Versus rating – 1.5 million
Compared to Faber, the champion does not have the same appeal. Of course, he has had limited chances:
WEC 50: Cruz vs. Benavidez 2 – Versus rating – 316K
WEC 47: Bowles vs. Cruz – Versus rating – 373K
Prior to the WEC merger, few lightweight fighters found themselves at the top of a UFC PPV card. Aside from BJ Penn, the Lightweight division does not have the following as other heavier divisions. The last UFC PPV with lightweights as headliners was January 1st when Frankie Edgar defended his Lightweight title against Gray Maynard. While the contest was an exciting 5 round war, it did not equate into a high PPV buy rate. Notably, half of the people in attendance were comped tickets. Obviously, there were factors which could explain the less-than stellar buy rate (college football bowl games, recovering from New Year’s Eve) and comped tickets (hotels buying tickets for its high limit players that came for NYE).
UFC 132 will take place during a holiday weekend but shouldn’t experience the same distractions as UFC 125. The only competition for viewers would be the heavyweight boxing match between David Haye and Wladimir Klitschko but since the fight occurs during the day (the fight is in Germany), UFC 132 has the fight community’s attention.
132’s undercard should support the main event as it provides some compelling matchups. The Leben-Silva matchup should be a slugfest and its almost guaranteed that one man will be knocked out. Also, fans may see the very last fight in the UFC for Tito Ortiz.
Payout Perspective:
It will be interesting to see the buy rate for the PPV. Despite Cruz being the champ, most fans are cheering for Faber. Faber is a marketable figure as exemplified by many of his endorsement deals which include a mainstream ad campaign for K-Swiss and regular appearances on the Jim Rome radio show. Cruz is a relative unknown and if he defeats Faber, the UFC will need to ratchet up the marketing efforts to sell Cruz against other bantamweights. Certainly there are other quality fighters in his division, but aside from Faber, could the casual viewer name one?
With the infusion of the WEC lighter divisions and the introduction of the 125 pound division, one can only wonder whether these divisions will ever headline a PPV. Or, will they just be support for a PPV card. It could be that the divisions will be used for Fight Nights and other televised events with the UFC’s next TV partner (or its own network).
Mosley-Pacquiao Payout Perspective
May 10, 2011
Welcome to a special edition of Payout Perspective as we take a look at Saturday’s fight between Sugar Shane Mosley and Manny Pacquiao taking place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas Nevada.
Pacquiao dominates Mosley
A simple equation can explain Saturday night’s performance:
Pacquiao >Mosley = Joshua Clottey
Although Mosley told everyone that he was going to take the fight to Pacquiao, he looked more like Joshua Clottey throughout the fight: backing up and unable to use combinations.
While each fighter scored knockdowns, Mosley’s was more of a push than a punch. This only angered Pacquiao who attempted to end the fight in the last two rounds although he was ahead by a huge margin. Whatever you think of the strategy, Pacquiao does not lie when he says he wants the fans to see a good show.
The crowd booed Mosley’s effort and the sportsmanship each fighter possessed as it seemed that the fighters touched gloves at each pause in the action.
It looks like Pacquiao has a November 2011 date set with…Juan Manuel Marquez. This may be the most competitive bout for Pacquiao in a couple years…or we may get another older fighter finding away to escape a barrage of Pacquiao combinations.
Unlike other boxing PPVs, this card had two exciting undercards. First, we had the return of Kelly Pavlik in an entertaining fight against Alfonso Lopez. Next, Jorge Arce defeated Wilfredo Vasquez, Jr. when Vasquez’s corner threw in the towel. According to the scorecards, Vasquez may have had the narrow lead. I was under the impression that the corner cannot stop the fight be throwing in the towel (see Yuri Foreman vs. Miguel Cotto). Regardless, it was an entertaining fight.
Attendance and Gate
As with every Pacquiao fight, it was a sellout. This time 16,412 fans went to the MGM Grand. Dan Rafael of ESPN tweeted that the final gate was $8,882,600. In comparison, Rafael pointed out Pac-Mosley was the 14th biggest gate in Nevada history but $3.85 million more than the #1 UFC gate in Nevada history.
The weigh-ins garnered 4,000 people and turned away another 2,000. Who says boxing is dead? Well, maybe its just the Pacquiao effect?
Twitter
Pacquiao, Jinkee, Mosley, Jim Gray and (undercard fighter Jorge) Arce all trended worldwide throughout the night. Also, Mosley’s girlfriend, Bella Gonzalez trended on twitter.
Showtime and estimated buys
This was the first boxing PPV put on by Showtime since Bob Arum left longtime partner HBO. Similar to HBO’s 24/7 series, it aired Fight Camp 360, a four-part series featuring the camps of Mosley and Pacquiao. While the episodes ran on CBS and Showtime, ratings-wise, it did not fare well. Despite low ratings for Fight Camp 360, it served its purpose in promoting the match.
The CBS exposure was one of the reasons Arum chose Showtime over HBO. Fight Camp 360 aired the day of the Final Four and in prime time a week before the fight. It also aired commercials throughout CBS programming.
Bob Arum told the NY Times that he expects the buys for Saturday’s fight to be roughly around 1.2 million. This would be the same as Pacquiao’s fight with Antonio Margarito. While this may not be as many buys as Arum would have wanted, the opportunity to get his product in front of more eyes on network television and for it to one day be back on CBS would be an ideal goal.
Sponsors
The main sponsors for Saturday night were O’Reilly Auto Parts, Mortal Kombat (also at UFC 129), AT&T and Smart – the leading wireless service provider in the Philippines. Nike also was prominent sponsor. As always, Tecate was big on fight night and leading up to the fight. It was able to do more this Pacquiao fight than others since the fight was announced sooner than past Pacquiao fights.
With the announcement (or soon to be) of Marquez-Pacquiao III, expect Tecate to make a huge promotional push for November 2011.
With the restructured Pacquiao management team, Hewlett Packard signed a deal with Pacquiao to endorse its new line of tablet computers. The NY Times had an interesting piece on the woman behind it all. Hopefully this works out for Team Pacquiao. Did anyone else notice that after Manny’s post-fight interview he ended with the talking point of checking out his web site, mpboxing.com?
Top Rank offers fight online
Top Rank signed a deal with NeuLion, Inc. to offer the fight online. NeuLion is the same company that worked with the UFC to upgrade UFC.tv. In addition, the Top Rank web site offered other streaming in lead-up to the fight. Its a step in the right direction for boxing to reach out to a younger demographic.
Odds and Ends
Before I forget, did any other DirecTV subscribers notice that if you ordered UFC 129 online, you could not watch on other televisions in your home as you normally could. For Mosley-Pacquiao, I was able to watch on multiple televisions when ordering online.
The Showtime broadcast crew was decent, although the HBO crew of Lampley, Kellerman, Steward, et al is better. Gus Johnson is still a better basketball announcer than anything. He did reference MMA when describing one of Pacquiao’s punches as a “Superman Punch.”
Jim Gray or Larry Merchant?
Best dialogue during the Fight Camp 360 series was when Manny Pacquiao told former champ Manny Tapia that he liked the “purse” better than the “belt”. Referring to the payout rather than his championship belt.
UPDATE – 5/11/11
Forgot to include EA Sports’ participation which included this odd interaction between Teddy Atlas and video game likenesses of Pacquiao and Mosley. EA was promoting its game Fight Night Champion.
Top Rank offers Pacquiao-Mosley online
May 7, 2011
MMA Junkie reports that Top Rank Boxing is partnering with NeuLion, Inc. to offer fight fans an enhanced online PPV stream. NeuLion, a company specializing in live and on demand video via the internet, is the same company that has worked with the UFC.
This past February, the UFC entered into a working relationship with NeuLion to upgrade its UFC.tv web site. Todd duBoef, Top Rank’s president, stated that boxing is adapting to new media and believes that boxing and MMA have room to grow online.
duBoef told MMA Junkie:
“Because they [MMA] weren’t getting traditional media coverage early on, I think MMA was at the forefront for their sport at understanding the new-media perspective of where the fans are, who’s engaged there, who’s dialed in there, who’s interacting there. I think we’ve all learned a lot from seeing how that fanbase works.”
Boxing enthusiasts will have access to these things and more with the Pacquaio vs. Mosley stream, which is being offered at Top Rank Boxing’s official website, as well as Yahoo! Sports’ boxing page, for $54.99.
In lead-up to tonight’s fight, Top Rank has streamed online a Manny Pacquiao workout, press conference, the weigh-ins among other events. In the past, Top Rank, in collaboration with Yahoo! began airing undercard fights online. But this will be the first time that the main event will be shown online.
Payout Perspective:
Top Rank’s move online validates what MMA fans already knew: the UFC is ahead of the game when it comes to new media. The move by Top Rank makes sense considering the perception that boxing is losing ground to MMA in the world of combat sports. While it is believed that boxing’s demographic is older than the MMA target audience, a claim duBoef refutes in the article, it will be interesting to see how many fight fans pay for the online version of the fight tonight.
UFC 129: Payout Perspective – Part 2
May 4, 2011
Welcome to the second part of UFC 129’s Payout Perspective.
PPV Buy Rate trending at estimated 800K-900K (Updated 5/5)
Dave Metzler at the Wrestling Observer (subscription required) stated that the trending buy rate for UFC 129 will be between 800-900K. It was estimated to be around 1 million buys earlier. The explanation between trending numbers and estimate numbers is here.
While an early estimate had PPV buys at 1 million, the 800-900K range is not bad considering GSP’s last showing in December grabbed 785K. The last 3 PPVs going over 1 million was Lesnar-Velasquez last October, Lesnar-Carwin in July and Evans-Jackson last May. UFC 129 was a strong card at the top with GSP and Couture. It also had a title fight between Aldo and Hominick as well as former WEC lightweight champ Benson Henderson.
UFC Programming
UFC Primetime Series
In addition to the traditional UFC Countdown show, the UFC ran its “Primetime” series. The three-part series featuring the fight camps of GSP and Shields did not receive big ratings as Primetimes of past, but it was on more channels than past Primetimes. The big news was that UFC Primetime showed up unannounced on ESPN2 the same night the second episode ran on Spike TV. As fight week came to a close, the UFC Primetime and Countdown series appeared on ION, Versus, ESPN2 and Fuel TV. Certainly the goal was not receiving a big rating for one showing, but to have multiple eyeballs on the programming on multiple networks.
UPDATED: Here is the breakdown of ratings for the UFC Primetime series:
Episode 1: 610,000 viewers
Episode 2: 475,000 viewers
Episode 3: 384,000 viewers
These numbers are well below prior Primetime series. The low numbers are a little surprising since prior Primetimes featuring GSP have done well.
The UFC Countdown show on 4/26 did 390,000 viewers. Pretty bad although the first running of the show was on a Tuesday at midnight ET/9PM PT.
UFC Prelims scored a strong 1.5 million viewers even though it aired an hour earlier.
Promoting UFC 129
The initial promotion of the event featured GSP vs. Shields. However, the key driver for the marketing of 129 was the 55,000 fans that attended the event. The UFC amended the opening of its PPV to mention the historic nature of the event.
The growth of the UFC and the 55,000 number was a key talking point in all of the media interviews that Dana White participated in for UFC 129. It is a pretty big deal to see how much the UFC has grown since its beginnings. It will be interesting to see how much farther the UFC can take MMA.
In addition to the GSP/Shields and 55K promos, the UFC included a pretty nice spot including Machida-Couture and Aldo-Hominick. It was a takeoff on an action movie trailer entitled, “The Cast of UFC 129.”
UFC Central on UFC.tv
The UFC introduced UFC Central as a way to attract more viewers online to UFC.tv. UFC Central introduced a pre-fight and post-fight show for fans. It also gave fans the option to purchase the PPV online and take advantage of the differing camera angles of UFC.tv. Prior to the ending of the PPV, it segued into the post-fight show on its broadcast to give viewers the opportunity to move over to their computers to watch online.
Time Change
Although moving up the PPV an hour, it did not seem to affect buys for the PPV (based on the trending buy rate) and the ratings for the UFC Prelims. We do not have information on the Facebook live streams, but we may assume that it received its share of viewers as the fights on Facebook were very entertaining. While it’s not expected that the UFC will receive 1 million buys, it appears that fans got the word that the PPV started an hour early.
More Sponsors
The usual suspects ruled the Octagon including BSN, Harley Davidson, Xyience, Toyo Tires and Bud Light in the center.
Tapout was the presenting sponsor as well as on the mat in the Octagon
It was a nice touch having Mortal Kombat sponsoring the Tale of the Tape for the main event.
Interesting that GSP included his twitter handle on his Affliction shorts. I can only recall Rampage Jackson having his twitter account that prevalent on his shorts. It would be interesting to see how the GSP brand monetizes its twitter account.
Brand Activation
Apply online to be a UFC fighter at Jobbi.com
The UFC offered people the chance to apply to be a fighter online with UFC sponsor Jobbi.com. Even though I believe the chances of applying and being picked to fight in the Octagon are slim, it’s a novel way for the UFC and Jobbi to work together.
Xyience Ultimate Access with Jon Jones
It was interesting that this contest was promoted prior to Jones winning the title which made the contest much more attractive. The crux of the promotion was that two fans would attend UFC 129 and then hang out with Jon Jones and two Xyience models.
Round 5 offers GSP collectible and chance to be a figure
Round 5 gave fans attending the UFC Fan Expo the chance to purchase a limited edition GSP figure. It also gave purchasers of the GSP figure an opportunity to have their likeness made into a figure.
MMA Elite new sports drink
The clothing brand company rolled out its new sports drink at the UFC Fan Expo. BJ Penn made an appearance at the booth to promote the drink.
More Odds and Ends
Super 7 appear together for first time
The seven current UFC Champions appeared on stage for the first time ever. It was a nice touch by the UFC for all of the champs to gather together. The gathering gave look at the present and glimpse into the future of the UFC.
UFC introduces UFCLatino.com
Not only did the UFC launch UFC Central during the runup to UFC 129, but it launched UFCLatino.com. Catering to the Latino community, it will feature the likes of Cain Velasquez and Dominick Cruz on its site.
Couture comments spur thoughts of fighter’s union
In an interview with ESPN, Randy Couture stated that he’d like to see fighters with health care and some sort of pension after their career in the Octagon ends. Although Couture stated that he would be against a union, he believed that a compromise could be worked out with Zuffa.
Zuffa sued
A local convention operator sued Zuffa for its UFC Fan Expo mark. Despite the lawsuit, the fan expo went on without a hitch.
Overall, UFC 129 was a great card. While some debate the quality of the main event, the overall product receives a thumbs up. From the Facebook fights until the main event, the quality of fights were entertaining and exciting. It seemed like the fighters stepped up their game for the moment. Airing all of the fights on Facebook, Spike TV or PPV was a good choice by the UFC. For such a monumental event, all of the fights deserved to be seen.
