Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective – the second of what will be three in a row in the month of November.
This week we’ll be taking a look at UFC 105 held Saturday, November 14th from the Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester, England. The card featured a light heavyweight bout between Randy Couture and Brandon Vera, but also showcased the talents of British stars Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy.
UFC 105 by the Numbers
Attendance & Gate Figures
The UFC announced an attendance of 16, 693 for a live gate of over $2 million.
Spike Television Ratings
The show drew an average 2.9 million viewers for a 1.9 HH rating. It also scored well in the M18-34 and M18-49 demographics with a 3.45 and 2.84, respectively.
Overall, not a stellar performance, but still good enough for sponsors. Expect the next Spike fight, if it does indeed feature Kimbo Slice, to draw far more viewers.
Disclosed Fighter Bonuses
Fight of the Night: Michael Bisping and Denis Kang ($40,000 each)
Knockout of the Night: Denis Siver ($40,000)
Submission of the Night: Terry Etim ($40,000)
*Note: Traditionally, the payouts for fights in the UK are not disclosed.
Business Story Lines:
– Couture survives legitimate scare, intriguing match-ups ahead: Couture was hurt badly by a series of punishing attacks to the body, and at one point looked to be in serious danger of losing the fight. The fact that he persevered is a testament to his warrior spirit, and part of what makes him so popular.
Ignoring the issue of the decision itself – the fight probably could have been scored in favour of Vera – the UFC has to be happy that Couture earned a victory at 205. They’ve now got some interesting match-ups at that weight class – ones that don’t necessarily have to impact the title situation right away: Couture vs. Anderson Silva, Couture vs. Tito, or Couture vs. Coleman.
It’ll be interesting to see the ratings for this SpikeTV show. They really didn’t do a lot of promotion for the event – it kind of got lost in the 104 and 106 hype – but Couture has earned a lot of respect in the last few months and his appeal on free television could be quite large.
– Hardy demonstrates power and chin in victory, earns shot at GSP: Dan Hardy demonstrated good punching power, a solid chin, and excellent takedown defense in his victory over Mike Swick. He’ll need all of those attributes, and more, if he’s going to have any shot at usurping Georges St-Pierre.
The fight doesn’t have much appeal on paper right now, but that could all change if Hardy brings his typical trash talking ways to the fold in helping to hype the fight. Hardy told the press earlier in the week that he was a true “fighter” where as GSP was just an “athlete,” and that would be the difference if they ever fought.
GSP is the classiest – and perhaps, now, the most mentally tough fighter – in MMA. It’s unlikely that Hardy’s mind games will work. But, it’s certainly possible that his mind games are effective in hyping his own image as the new, loud-mouthed gunslinger in the division. At that point, fans might jump on board in hopes of seeing the good guy crush the bad guy.
– UFC bit by injury bug, again: If the UFC were a professional sports team, they’d be having a record year for games missed due to injury. Dana White reported this weekend that Lesnar remains quite ill, although sources within the Lesnar campare downplaying the “career threatening” reports. It was also revealed that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is suffering from a staph infection that will prevent him from facing Cain Velasquez at UFC 108 in January.
Luckily the organization will be getting its 170, 185, and 205 pound champions back to start the new year, which should help the organization to put on some solid PPV cards to begin the year.
– Weakening USD could benefit UFC abroad: The UFC did over $2 million in live gate revenue for UFC 105, which translates into 1.2 million GBP. In February, when the dollar was considerably stronger, the same live gate revenue for UFC 95 would have traded back at roughly $1.6 million USD. That’s a sizable difference when you’re paying the bulk of your expenses in American funds.
– UFC 105 puts in an average performance:It was probably what you’d expect from a free card on Spike TV, but definitely not the calibre deserving a PPV. It was a near sell-out in Manchester though, and with Bisping and Hardy both grabbing victories the MMA community has good reason to be quite bullish on the future of the sport in the UK.
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