- WEC 48 heads to PPV with Aldo vs. Faber, Henderson vs. Cerrone on $44.99 card
- “Strikeforce: Miami” fighter salaries: Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler each earn $100,000
- Bankers Enter ‘Dungeon of Pain’ to Cut Stress in Ultimate Fight
- UFC welterweight Frank Trigg latest addition to “EA Sports MMA” videogame roster
- Current Trends in Sponsorship
WEC 48 heads to PPV with Aldo vs. Faber, Henderson vs. Cerrone on $44.99 card
As expected World Extreme Cagefighting is headed to pay-per-view.
The organization today announced via the AP that WEC 48, which retails for $44.99, takes place Saturday, April 24, at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, Calif.
Featured bouts include WEC featherweight champ Jose Aldo vs. Urijah Faber, lightweight champion Benson Henderson vs. Donald Cerrone, and former champ Mike Brown vs. Manny Gamburyan.
The WEC, which traditionally airs on Versus, has never previously aired a show on PPV. The WEC PPV fee is the same as charged by its sister promotion, the Ultimate Fighting Championship. (MMAJunkie)
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Reed Harris: WEC to PPV only for “major shows,” buyers will be satisfied
Additionally, in an exclusive interview with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), the WEC executive today said that the move to PPV came about only because the star-studded April 24 fight card warranted it, and that outside of a “major event or two per year,” the company’s focus will remain on its free Versus shows.
Harris also explained why the WEC chose a $49.99 price point, what it means for WEC fighters, and what kind of future expansion the additional revenue could create.
While calling from his offices at the WEC, which share a Las Vegas building and ownership group with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Harris said WEC 48 was chosen as a PPV event because the fight card was so strong. The WEC on Wednesday officially announced three intriguing fights for the five-bout PPV main card, which takes place at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, Calif.: WEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo vs. Urijah Faber, lightweight champ Benson Henderson vs. Donald Cerrone, and former title-holder Mike Brown vs. Manny Gamburyan.
“We talked about pay-per-view last year and actually had (Zuffa owners) Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta’s blessing,” Harris said. “But we decided to wait because we really wanted a (fight) card and main-event fight that reflected the WEC. And I wanted it to be a fight that people definitely wanted to see. I think we have that.
“Aldo vs. Faber could be the best fight we’ve ever heard in the WEC going back all the way to WEC 1.” (MMAJunkie) … [MMA Payout’s Perspective]
“Strikeforce: Miami” fighter salaries: Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler each earn $100,000
Newly crowned Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler, who scored a stunning come-from-behind win over Melvin Manhoef, each earned an event-high $100,000 payday at this past weekend’s “Strikeforce: Miami” event.
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) recently requested and today received the list of disclosed paydays from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which oversees the Florida State Boxing Commission.
The total disclosed payroll for the Jan. 30 event was $469,600.
The show, which aired on Showtime, took place at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla.
Diaz and Lawler both earned a base pay of $100,000 (with no win bonus). Other top earners included Jay Hieron ($65,000), Bobby Lashley ($50,000) and Strikeforce women’s lightweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos ($35,000).
Additionally, as MMAjunkie.com reported over the weekend, former NFL great and MMA newcomer Herschel Walker also earned “six figures” for his fight, according to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, though his disclosed pay was just $600. (MMAJunkie)
Bankers Enter ‘Dungeon of Pain’ to Cut Stress in Ultimate Fight
A black eye or row of stitches may grace John Cholish’s face when he meets with wealth-management clients at Merrill Lynch & Co.
Those injuries occur after Cholish, 26, leaves his midtown Manhattan office and heads for the gym. He spends a couple of hours most evenings at the Renzo Gracie Academy on West 30th Street, kicking, throwing punches and tackling opponents, as they train to compete in mixed martial arts.
“We get a lot of finance guys,” said Max McGarr, the gym’s program director and a professional fighter. “It’s a good release from their job. If you lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, it’s good to come here and get it out.”
Mixed martial arts is a contact sport combining aspects of wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, grappling, ground fighting, muay thai and other techniques, Cholish said.
“It’s a great stress reliever,” said Richard Byrne, chief executive officer of Deutsche Bank Securities, who practices jiu-jitsu and sparring at Renzo with Cholish and other professional fighters. “Talk about a great way to get aggression out, and it’s an unbelievable workout.”
Ultimate Fighting Championship has been the primary driver of the sport’s popularity, promoting and staging fights around the world during the past eight years, said Marc Ganis, president of Sportscorp Ltd., a consulting firm in Chicago. Gate receipts at the UFC 100 in Las Vegas in July were $5.1 million, according to information handouts provided by the company. Tickets sold for $100 to $1,000, and competitors were paid $5,000 to $400,000. (Business Week)
UFC welterweight Frank Trigg latest addition to “EA Sports MMA” videogame roster
UFC welterweight and former PRIDE and Strikeforce fighter Frank Trigg is the latest addition to the “EA Sports MMA” videogame roster.
EA Sports marketing executive Randy Chase made the announcement while a guest on tonight’s “PRIMETIME” edition of MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio).
The game, available on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms, is expected to be released in late summer 2010.
Trigg, who re-signed with the UFC in 2009 after a four-year break from the organization, negotiated the “EA Sports MMA” deal prior to the new UFC contract. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be allowed to be part of the game since UFC president Dana White allows UFC fighters only to be part of the rival game, THQ’s “UFC Undisputed” title, which has already sold 3.5 million units.
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“His college roommate is actually on the [development] team developing the game,” Chase said of Trigg. “He’s been very helpful and supportive. … He’s definitely a friend of the project.” …
Trigg joins a quickly growing list of other confirmed “EA Sports MMA” fighters, which includes Strikeforce, DREAM and other fighters including Bobby Lashley, Shinya Aoki, Hidehiko Yoshida, Cung Le, Gilbert Melendez, Robbie Lawler, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Matt Lindland, Scott Smith, Josh Thomson, Nick Thompson, Brett Rogers, Jake Shields, Frank Shamrock, Fedor Emelianenko, Randy Couture, Renato “Babalu” Sobral, Gegard Mousasi, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Tim Kennedy and Jay Hieron. (MMAJunkie)
Current Trends in Sponsorship
MMAPayout.com has been pretty vocal about the importance of corporate sponsorship in the future development of mixed martial arts; both on the promotional and fighter front. We’ve taken a look at rudimentary ways to value sponsorships in MMA, means of increasing ROI, and how sponsorship could conceivably be used to support an online business model.
Now it’s time for an update that takes a look at some of the current trends in the overall sponsorship industry and how those trends will likely impact MMA business in the future. (MMA Payout’s Perspective)
QUICK HITS
- WEC 48 tickets on sale Saturday, start at just $40 for ARCO Arena event (MMAJunkie)
- Herschel Walker Fires Back at Canseco (MMAFighting)
- Is Hourglass Running Out on Couture? (MMAFighting)
- Couture & Coleman are ‘Relentless’ for UFC 109 (Sherdog)
- King Mo: ‘Dreamcatcher is About to Catch a Nightmare’ (Sherdog)
- 10 February Tussles Worth Watching (Sherdog)
- YOSHIDA VS GUYMON ADDED TO UFC 113 PRELIMS (MMAWeekly)
- STRIKEFORCE MEDICAL SUSPENSIONS HANDED DOWN (MMAWeekly)
- SHINE FIGHTS SIGNS NICK THOMPSON TO NEW DEAL (MMAWeekly)
- Can Sonnen trash talk his way to the top? (Yahoo! Sports)
IMAGE OF THE DAY
TV LISTINGS
- HDNet Fights Presents K-1 Classics (2005 World GP Finals) at 8 PM ET on HDNet (02/05/10)
- InsideMMA (Brendan Schaub, Matt Mitrione, & Dermontti Dawson) at 9 PM ET on HDNet (02/05/10)
- HDNet Fights Presents “Furious Finishes III” at 10 PM ET on HDNet (02/05/10)
- Best of Pride FC at 10 PM ET/PT on Spike (02/05/10)
- UFC 109 at 10 PM ET on PPV (02/06/10)
UPCOMING EVENTS
- UFC 109: Couture vs Coleman at 10 PM ET on PPV (02/06/10)
- HDNet Fights: King of the Cage – Vengeance at 10 PM ET on HDNet (02/12/10)
- UFC 110: Nogueira vs Velazquez at 10 PM ET on PPV (02/20/10)
- Strikeforce Challengers: Prangley vs Amoussou at 11 PM ET/PT on Showtime (02/26/10)
- WEC 47: Bowles vs Cruz on at 10 PM ET on Versus (03/06/10)
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