MMA Fighting reports initial indications that Saturday’s UFC 157 PPV buy rate are very strong. The PPV featuring women for the first time in the UFC is said to have done 40% better than UFC 156 Super Bowl Weekend.
Now all we have to do is to figure out that number. The LA Times Lance Pugmire tweeted that UFC 157 was 40% better than UFC 156.
Strong pay per view numbers for UFC due to @rondarousey. I’m told Saturdays fight was 40% better than the Super Bowl card. #UFC157
— Lance Pugmire (@latimespugmire) February 26, 2013
Based on the information, UFC 156 did about 330K PPV buys which means that UFC 157 is a little north of 450K PPV buys. Bear in mind that the PPV buys for 157 is unofficial but the UFC should be happy with the initial number.
Payout Perspective:
It’s interesting that Pugmire’s tweet came out without providing an actual estimated number. There is speculation that the buys could be up much more than 450K but we will just have to wait to see. If the 450K number holds true (or goes up), the UFC is probably happy as well as breathing a sigh of relief. With the amount of promotion it undertook to get coverage for the event, it looks like the media and public relations worked. In my opinion, Rousey, more than women’s MMA, pushed the PPV sales. We will see how this will affect how the UFC will market a women’s match in the future.
Meltzer said 400k which it would have done with Machida-Henderskn as the main event minus any women spectacle
Meltzer said 400-450k and if you actually believe that card with Hendo/Machida does 400k you are an idiot.
considering Reem, Aldo, Edgar, Rashad, Lil Nog, Creepy, JB, Fitch and Maia on a card didnt even hit 400k, Hendo’s last card he headlined did 290k.
That card without Ronda does 250-300k tops.
UFC was shooting for 250-300k according to Meltzer so they hit it out of the ballpark with this event and that number.
Huge success for the UFC, congrats to the UFC, wmma and Ronda the superstar.
Sampson is pissed.
Yeah Im SO pissed that some forgettable womens fight generated an extra 100k buys when they tried so hard to sell the garbage. Hahahahaha!!!
Simple Sampson is butthurt.
Why dont we see you in the Bellator 700k viewer articles anymore?
LOL, UFC is doomed, DOOMED.
Hey simple sampson did Ronda smack you?
You women sure do love womens MMA
Machida was lucky to break 400K as champ verses aother big Draw. Without the Belt vs Hendo was never going to break 400K.
I also wouldnt trust any numbers released by the LA times guys. The guy has never given any numbers to judge his credibility by. So he claims 40% of something he has no clue of. One thing we do know from Dave is it takes time for the cable companies to get thier shit together and report all their numbers from the many different branches of cable providers. No way this guy knows the numbers yet.
That said i knew the numbers would be good. To many mainstream media members from ESPN were talking up the fight and saying they were buying the fight. This has a huge effect not to mention the effect of just being on just about every ESPN show to promote the fight. ESPN has always had a huge effect on every UFC PPV marketed on the network. From Tito/Ken, Brock at UFC 100, Rampage/Evans, Chuck/Tito, etc.
BS, looking into Machidas past he fought a champ in Rashad when they were both unbeaten, he fought Shogun twice, all those fights were in the UFC PPV peak days. Nobody can deny that MMA has declined in the US the last two years. Then he fought on GSP/Shields card vs Randy and fought the next big star in mma Jon Jones.
So in this PPV climate with no belt Machida is far from a big time draw.
That same card with Hendo/Machida in a month with another PPV that card wouldnt do more than 300-325k buys tops. Actually I think that card would probably do 250-275k honestly.
We need to wait for Dave “the scammer” Meltzer to give us numbers. Then we need to wait another 3-6 months so he can adjust them up or down by 30-40%.
Chris, i think you are saying the same thing as me. I was saying Machida without a belt wouldnt break 400K. I do think he would break 300K though. But i agree with you for the most part.
Random Turd
He has only “adjusted” a few events in the hundreds he has reported on. You just bring those few events up so tyou can disregard his numbers for 3-6 months and count each even for half of what it really did.
If correct, that’s the highest PPV buyrate in history for any combat sports athlete at 135 pounds or less. Folks at that weight and below just don’t sell pay-per-views. So this is huge if true. I agree, though, with those that say it’s more a sign of Ronda’s popularity than that of women’s MMA. If she quits tomorrow I don’t think any other female fighter on roster could make huge money for the company.
Weezy = pure ridiculous statement
Henderson-Machida brought 75 percent of the buys at LEAST
This incentive to buy this PPV was the women’s fight. End of story. A sexist attitude doesn’t change that fact.
*The incentive
“Weezy = pure ridiculous statement”
You are incorrect, based on what I’ve been able to find so far. What professional boxing eventin history, headlined by fighters 135 pounds or less, had as many PPV buys as Rousey-Carmouche?
De La Hoya headlined two PPV events at 135 and didn’t come close to this number. Neither did Chavez-Taylor, etc… Let me know when you find confirmation on one that did.
Rousey pulled in 100k after millions of dollars spent to promoter her. HIlarious really
Simple Sampson you need to stop dude, your trolling was amusing at first but you are trying way too hard now, it got old and corny real fast.
If you are a gonna troll atleast do it well.
Machida-Henderson is worth 300k buys. Rousey pulled in 100k on top of that, not hard to understand idiots
That fight wasnt even promoted much. So you cant say it was responsible for anything. The UFC brad is good for 200K buys and the Hendo fight did little except give people more bang for their buck. So even if you didnt give her credit for the UFC brand she still drew 300K. Now if her fight was so bad and people didnt want to see it. It would have turned off the 200K that the UFC brand pulled in. So apparently they liked the fight too which makes here responsible for that 200K as well.
Yeah I know… Machida-Henderson is worthless like most UFC matchups. Seriously I agree with you.
It doesn’t have the same effect as it would as the Main Event. YOu just claim Rousey was the product of a large marketing push. Well how does the Dan/la Ida fight draw like you say whe. They have no marketing at all? It wasn’t them on the commercials or making rounds at ESPN. So how do you give them the credit? Never mind I know. You are just trolling or a retard one. More than likely both!
yeah you are right. Machida is a nobody and the same with Henderson. Its not like they are real draws like Chavez Jr. or Cotto.
Boxers have their own drawing power while UFC just owns worthless pawns