Welcome to another addition of Payout Perspective. This time we take a look at UFC 129 held at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario Canada. The three and a half hour PPV set records in attendance, gate and bonuses. It was the organization’s biggest event in its history.
In the main event, Georges St. Pierre outclassed Jake Shields to retain the welterweight title. Canadian Mark Hominick may have gained the most in a loss to Jose Aldo. Randy Couture was retired by Lyoto Machida with a front kick. Steven Seagal had his hands (or should we say feet) all over this one.
GSP downs Shields
In the highly anticipated matchup, St. Pierre stuffed all of Shields’ takedown attempts and defended the welterweight title despite losing vision in his left eye. At no point did Shields have an opportunity to use his dreaded jiu jitsu. It was a GSP-dominated match although many have criticized GSP’s performance.
Aldo downs Hominick
Mark Hominick fought valiantly with a huge hematoma on his head but lost to a superior Jose Aldo. Despite Joe Rogan selling the 5th round, it did not seem like Aldo was in any danger. We learned after the fight that Aldo may have been sick. During the telecast, Rogan surmised that it may have been the repercussions of a bad weight cut.
Many believed that the fight would end due to the hematoma, but the ringside doctor determined that he was fine to continue. This actually brought praise from Dana White after the fight.
Seagal strikes again
First Anderson Silva, now Lyoto Machida. Machida used a front kick reminiscent of the Karate Kid to knock out Randy Couture. The Natural was gracious in defeat in what looks like his last fight. Machida claims that the kick should be attributed to his training with Steven Seagal.
Sponsorship Watch
Due to the enormity of fans at UFC 129 and the many ordering the PPV, we saw more mainstream sponsors participating at UFC 129.
The Hamilton Tiger Cats sponsored Mark Hominick. Unfortunately for the Ti-Cats, the hematoma on Hominick’s head was so huge; he could not properly put on his cap during the post-fight.
Amor All sponsored Fightmetric’s Fantasy MMA Tournament on Rogers Sportsnet.
Sailun Tires sponsored Kyle Watson and Vladimir Matsushenko.
Dodge sponsored the UFC Fights on Facebook. A sponsor on The Ultimate Fighter, it’s nice to see Dodge having more of a presence. For the UFC, having a sponsor for its Facebook fights is the exact reason for airing fights on Facebook.
Blue Grace Logisitcs, a transportation, logistics and technology provider, represented Ben Henderson and indicated that it would sponsor more fighters in the future.
1-800-Radiator was the sponsor for the front of Jake Shields’ shorts and DC Solar Systems sponsored the back. As I stated in the UFC 128 Payout Perspective, the last two fighters that won titles had tool manufacturers as its sponsor. DC Solar Systems is a renewable energy system company. Sorry, no go.
Post-UFC 129 Headlines
GSP vs. Silva Nick Diaz next?
Dana White seemed open to Diaz fight although the underlying issue would be the demise of Strikeforce. Having its champion fight the UFC champion would be a great PPV fight. Diaz would sign on considering it would mean a big payday which he craves. For GSP, it’s another challenge in his chosen weight division. If you can take anything from his comments after the Shields fight, he was hesitant to commit to a fight at 185. Without going further, GSP seemed the only way he would fight Silva would be at a catchweight lower than 185.
What’s next for Jake Shields?
Two UFC fights and two disappointing efforts for the man brought to the UFC to dethrone GSP. UFC Primetime and Countdown really helped UFC fans get to know Shields. He seems like an all-around good guy. But, one thing not seen from the UFC Primetime or Countdown shows was practicing takedowns. GSP is world-class, but Shields lacked the skill to take down GSP and perform his famed jiu jitsu. Maybe Shields takes an in-between fight before matching up with a Jon Fitch or BJ Penn.
Aldo defense good news for lighter weight divisions
The fight showed off the lighter divisions of the UFC. With Edgar-Maynard III headlining later this month and Cruz-Faber topping the card in July, the future seems bright for fighters 155 and under.
Will the UFC make the Stadium Show a regular event?
The UFC marketed around the 55,000 fans in attendance in Toronto. Despite a fan brawl that is making the rounds on Youtube, it sounded like the arena experience was amazing. Watching the PPV, the crowd seemed into all of the fights. We will see if the UFC will try to make the stadium show an annual event. It knows that it can do it in Toronto and we will see if it will try to replicate this in the U.S.
Fan Expo
It was announced this week that the next UFC Fan Expo will take place October 7th and 8th. The Toronto Fan Expo drew tons of fans and it was an opportunity for MMA sponsors/vendors to get in front of its audience. MMA Elite and Round 5 were just a couple of the companies that took advantage of the expo to roll out new products.
GSP and Machida were trending worldwide an hour after the PPV had ended. It was natural for GSP to be trending and Machida’s incredible kick got people talking.
Odds and Ends
- Biggest non-sponsor featured at UFC 129: Costco water. The Kirkland brand of water was used throughout and received a lot of airtime when GSP doused his eye with water. In prior UFC events, the water bottles were either sponsored or covered the true manufacturer. In the arena of monetizing every inch of real estate, I was surprised the water bottles did not receive one.
- Sponsors are taking advantage of the weigh-ins as Kyle Watson and Rory MacDonald sported undershorts with logos specific for the weigh-ins (i.e., logos in the groin area).
- Rory MacDonald’s suplexes were reminiscent of Chris Benoit/Kurt Angle in pro wrestling.
- Perhaps we should think of Steven Seagal’s martial arts pedigree rather than his three-word titled movies (e.g., Above the Law, Hard to Kill, Out for Justice, Marked for Death).
- Anyone else notice the fan winner that put the belt on GSP almost gave away the result before Buffer’s announcement. White had to hold the guy back. Yes, we knew who won, but it was a funny moment.
MMA Payout will have a Part 2 of the Payout Perspective which will cover much more on UFC 129.
The fact that these Black House fighters are giving Seagal credit for ANYTHING having to do with their fights tells me that he practices black magic and has put a spell on them. It’s a ridiculous notion.
Just curious, but the debut of UFC Central is a big deal, no? The UFC experimenting with a college Game Day like show could be a big draw for pre-event build ups.
As for his martial arts pedigree, last time I checked Aikido is about using your opponent’s offense against them (redirecting their motions), not throwing Karate Kid kicks. Machida has a much, much better karate pedigree.
3 word titles for that string of Seagal flicks was always funny.
I also attended the event live. Zuffa did a great job with the arena and I don’t think there was a bad seat in the place. The screens were also crystal clear and visible. I was one of those who thought the GSP fight was a let down. I suppose we knew that coming based on past fights, but somehow I thought he would be a little more energized to finish this time fighting in front of 50K+ fans.
At the end of the night my friends and I went to the Rol San Restaurant on Spadina. Who came walking in? None other than Steven Seagal and Lyoto Machida. Spoke to them briefly. Lyoto was very geniune and Seagal was also approachable.
This was the third live event I went to. The pop from the crowd in Montreal was a lot bigger for GSP than in Toronto even though it was 1/2 the crowd. I also found the Montreal fans to be a bit more energized. All in all I would give the event a B+.
Would I go again? Not sure. I think I would rather go to Montreal or Vancouver as smaller arenas make for a more intimate experience.
The_DS,
Stick around for Part 2.
MV, et al.
Does anyone think that this is a giant inside joke by the BlackHouse fighters or genuine respect? I listened to Silva on The MMA Hour and when asked about Seagal, he seemed to be real serious about Seagal working with him on creating an angle for that kick. At first, I thought it was a publicity stunt for Seagal’s NO cop show, but I’m not sure what to think.
Jason,
I think it’s legitimate. Seagal was an aikido instructor in Japan years ago. He was the first American to do so. I would not take his knowledge lightly.
Does this mean Seagal’s fighters put on more exciting fights than Greg Jackson fighters?
Is Seagal filming a movie involving Silva and Machida? I am just wondering why they are giving him credit for teaching these kicks when i know for a fact Silva had already been using it for years. He even smashed Hendo with it. Lucky for him he wasn’t washed up with a diminished chin so he didn’t get KO’ed. I dont understand why Silva lied and they go out of their way to give him credit or why the public gets carried away and blindly believe this PR stunt for Seagal.
http://i32.tinypic.com/33equlg.gif
People want to jump on a the Seagal band wagon just as they jumped on the Machida karate bandwagon. Just people longing for the days of lame traditional Martial Arts who will believe anything. The man makes the fighter not the pathetic actor trying to be relevant in Martial Arts again. TMA’s and Seagal are still worthless. Some people have a combination of skills and abilty to make anything work so Machida gets by with it. But Silva could use slap boxing and beat Thales and Maia in their fights and its not because Slap Boxing is effective.
“I am just wondering why they are giving him credit for teaching these kicks when i know for a fact Silva had already been using it for years.”
Anderson Silva has already stated several times that he has been practicing that kick for years. He said that Seagal helped him tweak it with some pointers to make it better, which apparently he did.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXIUoKO-L4U
6:32-7:45
That is still BS. He landed the kick on a fighter who had recently tried to change his style to fight like Machida. Vitor is a mental midget to try something like that. Also Vitor hadnt been hit in 3-4 years. He was also coming off a year and a half inactivity. This is why the kick finally landed. Machida landed because he was going against a 47 year old man who is slow as hell. At least Machida is now back peddling and taking away the credit he gave Seagal and claiming his father taught him the move. Why did he say it to begin with? Both these guys were trying to impress their caleb friend. These kicks landed because the fights were huge mismatches and for Silva the huge amount of attempts he has had. He throws it every fight. I just saw him throw it again the other night in the Franklin rematch. You keep throwing it it is bound to land eventually.
They gave Segal credit because they knew how it would rile up the forums.
And in this episode of “BrainSmasher Knows Best”:
“Vitor is a mental midget…”
Yes, how absurd that a fighter would try to change up his style and show more movement. Ridiculous. Well spotted as usual Brain.
So Vitor was “moving” when he got kicked in the face? Dont be a dumbass! A veteram fighter dont chance his fighting style and stance at the highest level of the sport. Vitor has always been a head case. You would know that if you watched MMA before TUF started. BTW, since when does taking a karate stance show movement? lol
Since it is clear that you have next trained in the sport i will educate you a little. The defense for front kicks is circling and not giving them and still target to “poke at” this is what boxers do. Karate doesn’t do this so much thats why they use side kicks and front kicks because their competitions comprise of standing across from each other throwing moves. Vitor is a great boxer and stylistic was a good fight for Silva. But Viotr has never been a confident fighter. You can see that in the way he tries to be like others when he tried to be like Machida for the Franklin fight.