MMAterial Facts (02/16/10)

• “UFC 109: Relentless” draws offical attendance of 10,753 for $2.27 million gate
• Mixed martial arts? Why not?
• Lake of the Torches Casino Inks Deal With King Of The Cage
• Bellator Returns to Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
• Sydney, Abu Dhabi, Vancouver, Montreal … What happened to UFC in the U.K.?

“UFC 109: Relentless” draws offical attendance of 10,753 for $2.27 million gate

The UFC’s second event of 2010, “UFC 109: Relentless,” drew 10,753 attendees for a $2,273,000 paid gate at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Of the total attendance, 3,321 tickets were issued complimentary. An additional 84 tickets went unsold.

Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer today emailed the official numbers to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

The attendance was slightly larger than the 10,687 attendees originally reported by UFC president Dana White at the evening’s post-event press conference, and the live gate was also slightly larger than the $2.27 million the UFC exec shared.

The revenue per ticket of the 7,432 tickets sold for UFC 109 equated to $305.84 each.  (MMAJunkie)

Mixed martial arts? Why not?

Gov. David Paterson has proposed legalizing and regulating mixed martial arts. Some New Yorkers, including some who have concerns about the safety aspects in this sport, disagree with that plan.

While I respect that position, I believe that legalizing these competitions presents an opportunity for regulating the sport while allowing the state to realize the economic benefits of hosting MMA competitions.

I believe this is a reasoned middle ground between retaining the ban on MMA and other “combative sports” — which is economically detrimental to us but beneficial to Connecticut, New Jersey and the other 40 states that have already legalized them — and abandoning that ban. That would open the door to unregulated fights that flout the existence of athletic commissions and the health and safety rules they enforce.

The governor’s proposal would build upon the New York State Athletic Commission’s strong track record of ensuring fair competition and a reasonable degree of safety in overseeing professional boxing. As with boxing, the commission would require pre-licensing and pre-fight and post-fight physical, neurological and psychological examinations for all MMA competitors. The commission would test for performance enhancing drugs — as done in boxing, baseball, football and the Olympics — and would require that protective gear be worn by all participants.  (Times Union) …  (MMA Payout’s Perspective: New York Secretary of State Backs MMA)

Lake of the Torches Casino Inks Deal With King Of The Cage

Lake of the Torches Resort Casino, the leading gaming and hospitality resort for northern Wisconsin, in conjunction with King of the Cage, announced today a multi-year deal to continue to bring world-class, MMA, cage-fighting action to the Northwoods of Wisconsin.

The recently signed, three year multi-fight deal includes three outdoor televised Pay-Per-View mega-shows in the summer months of 2010, 2011 and 2012, as well as a number of indoor shows to be held during the rest of the season, ensuring continuous action all year long. The next show, “King of the Cage: Turbulence II” is scheduled to be held inside the casino’s Hall of Nations convention center on April 24, 2010.

King of the Cage recently signed a three year contract to telecast monthly “Mark Burnett Presents: King of the Cage” live events on HDNet.

“Just as Mark Cuban said when the recent HDNet/King of the Cage deal was announced, ‘King of the Cage and Mark Burnett are pioneers in their respective fields’, and we are excited to renew our relationship with the King of the Cage brand as part of our commitment to being the home of MMA in Wisconsin,” said Michael J. Broderick, Lake of the Torches’ Director of Marketing. “Wisconsin fans, as well as MMA fans across the country, have enjoyed our national Pay-Per-View shows and we knew that this was something we had to continue and grow with. With Mark Burnett now involved, we feel the quality of the shows and opportunities for local fighters and fans were too good to pass up!”

“King of the Cage, like Lake of the Torches Casino, is committed to delivering a great show while developing the stars of tomorrow in MMA,” said Terry Trebilcock, President of King of the Cage. “Michael and the management of the casino have been providing the very best entertainment to the state of Wisconsin. We are very pleased and excited to have our future Wisconsin cards there.”

In their announcement of the HDNet deal, Mark Burnett remarked: “I am impressed with the quality of King of the Cage, and we look forward to bringing their brand to the next level in conjunction with Mark Cuban, who is one of the truly great entrepreneurs of media and sports.”  (Press Release)

Bellator Returns to Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

Bellator Fighting Championships and Redline Media Group have formed a strategic business alliance that will bring four of Bellator’s nationally televised events – including its Season 2 and 3 premieres – to Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood , Florida in 2010. The first of four mixed martial arts events at Hard Rock Live will take place on April 8 at 7 p.m. Tickets are on sale now.

Under the terms of this landmark agreement — which was completed in conjunction with Redline Media Group — Hard Rock Live will host the following Bellator events:

– Bellator XIII (Season 2 Premiere), April 8, 2010;
– Bellator XXII, (Season 2 Final Round Event), June 10, 2010;
– Bellator XXV (Season 3 Premiere), Aug. 12, 2010; and
– Bellator XXXVI (Season 3 Finale), Oct. 28, 2010.

In 2009, Bellator hosted its first-ever event on April 3rd at Hard Rock Live and then returned on June 19th for the Season 1 finale. Both events were hugely successful, drawing raucous, near-capacity crowds.

“We are thrilled to be returning to the Seminole Hard Rock during our second and third seasons,” said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “As we discovered during our inaugural season, the Hard Rock Live is one of the finest, most state-of-the-art venues for MMA and the fan response was spectacular. We’re looking forward to bringing four world-class MMA events to South Florida and some of the country’s most devoted and die-hard MMA fans.”

Cima Georgevich, CEO of Redline Media Group stated: “Redline Media Group is proud of its association with Bellator. We were delighted with the success that we experienced during last year’s events and we are sure that the fans will be equally excited to have Bellator back in South Florida four more times in 2010. Any true MMA fan knows that the fights were phenomenal, producing some of the most exciting submissions and knockouts of the year. With the tremendous success that MMA has experienced internationally, we anticipate an overwhelming response here in South Florida , which has become a true hotbed, training destination and home to some of the world’s greatest fighters. Fight fans get ready, Bellator’s greatest hits and submissions return for 2010.”

Each of the four Bellator events being held at the Hard Rock Live (as well as the 20 additional Bellator Season 2 and 3 events) will be distributed live in prime time to 92 million homes by FOX Sports Net and its regional sports network affiliates. In addition, top moments from each week’s live events will then be condensed into an action-packed 30-minute highlight show broadcast every successive Saturday night, late night, on NBC. A one-hour Saturday night highlight show will air nationwide in Spanish on Telemundo. (Press Release)

Sydney, Abu Dhabi, Vancouver, Montreal … What happened to UFC in the U.K.?

Anyone remember what a breakthrough UFC 59 in Anaheim, Ca. was way back in 2006? It marked the promotion’s first time in California and opened the door for MMA to start hitting bigger markets around the United States. Before that, 18-of-22 events were held in Las Vegas.

Less than four years later, spreading the MMA love around the U.S. isn’t enough. The UFC is slated to hit Sydney, Abu Dhabi, Montreal and Vancouver in the next 15 weeks.

The first step to international expansion was putting an office in the U.K. and holding six events there in 2008 and 2009. UFC has also added three television partners in the U.K. It’s been a huge success story.

So where are the 2010 events for places like London, Dublin (we know, not part of the U.K.) and Manchester? UFC U.K. chief Marshall Zelaznik says that the Brits, Welsh, Scottish and Irish may not get an event until the close of 2010.

“We’re all motivated by the same things, to grow the sport,” Zelaznik told Cagewriter. “The way you grow it is by bringing events to other markets. In a perfect world, we’d be doing an event every weekend [in the U.K.]. That’s not realistic, so we have to pick and choose.”

Zelaznik says the U.K. is still hungry for fight cards.

“Everything’s positive there [but] I think we need more fights. They’re important for the market, for the media, for the fans. The fans understand it deep down. It’s okay to want more. So we’re going to try to deliver it.”  (Cage Writer)

QUICK HITS

• Bellator champ Eddie Alvarez meets Josh Neer in May “Super Fight” at 160 pounds (MMAJunkie)
• WEC Confirms Bouts for March 6 (Press Release)
• Josh Barnett Says He’ll Fight in 2010 (MMAFighting)
• World Champion Boxer Vic Darchinyan Considering Move to MMA (MMAFighting)
• Iowa Senate Passes Bill to Regulate Amateur MMA (MMAFighting)
• Ohio commission turns down Sims vs. Sylvia at “Adrenaline MMA IV” (MMAJunkie)
• Yoshihiro Akiyama wants Wanderlei Silva in Japan but may be Vancouver-bound (MMAJunkie)
• WEC 47 Lineup Finalized (Sherdog)
• Koscheck-Daley Official for ‘Machida vs. Shogun 2’ (Sherdog)
• Alabama Nudges Closer to MMA (Sherdog)
• MMA tag teamer James Te Huna debuts at UFC 110 (Cage Writer)
• DAVIS VS. GUSTAFSSON SET FOR UFC 112 ABU DHABI (MMAWeekly)
• Alvarez vs. Neer Announced For Undisclosed Bellator Card (Heavy)
• TUF 11 Exclusive: Brad Tavares joins The Ultimate Fighter Season 11 (FiveOuncesOfPain)
• Nigerian embraces ‘blessing’ in WEC  (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
• The argument against tenure in MMA (ESPN)

IMAGE OF THE DAY

TV LISTINGS

• HDNet Fights Presents K-1 Classics (HMC, Nortje, Schilt, LeBanner) at 8 PM ET on HDNet (02/19/10)
• InsideMMA (Eddie Alvarez, Greg Nelson, Mark Decascos) at 9 PM ET on HDNet (02/19/10)
• HDNet Fights Presents Champions & Challengers Vol. 3,  at 10 PM ET on HDNet (02/19/10)
• Best of Pride FC at 10 PM ET/PT on Spike (02/19/10)
  

UPCOMING EVENTS

• 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)
• UFC on Versus: Vera vs Jones at 10 PM ET on Versus (3/21/10)
• Strikeforce Challengers: Johnson vs Mahe at 11 PM ET/PT on Showtime (03/26/10)
• UFC 110: GSP vs Hardy at 10 PM ET on PPV (03/27/10)
• UFN 21 : Florian vs Gomi at 10 PM ET on Spike (03/31/10)
• The Ultimate Fighter 11 Debut after UFN 21 on Spike (03/31/10)