MMA Payout takes another look at the prior PPV history of UFC 160’s main event fighters. The quick conclusion is that the UFC Heavyweight Division is a big draw for fans.
Bigfoot Silva
| EVENT | OPPONENT | DATE | BUY RATE/Rating |
| UFC 156 | Alistair Overeem | February 2, 2013 | 330,000 PPV buys |
| UFC on FX | Travis Browne | October 5, 2012 | 1.1M viewers |
| UFC 146 | Cain Velasquez | May 26, 2012 | 560,000 PPV buys |
It’s a surprise that Silva is in this position – a shot at the Heavyweight title and a rematch with Cain Velasquez. Everyone thought that Alistair Overeem would have destroyed Silva and we would be looking at a dream matchup with Overeem vs. Cain this weekend. But, Overeem gassed and Silva’s humongous hands spelled the end to the Demolition Man. Silva will have to avoid a rerun of last year’s bloodbath where Cain mauled him.
Cain Velasquez
| EVENT | OPPONENT | DATE | BUY RATE/Rating |
| UFC 155 | Junior dos Santos (W) | December 29, 2012 | 590,000 PPV buys |
| UFC 146 | Bigfoot Silva (W) | May 26, 2012 | 560,000 PPV buys |
| UFC on Fox 1 | Junior dos Santos (L) | November 12, 2011 | 5.7M viewers |
| UFC 121 | Brock Lesnar (W) | October 23, 2010 | 1,050,000 PPV buys |
| UFC 110 | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (W) | February 21, 2010 | 240,000 PPV buys |
Disregard UFC 110 and you can see that Cain is a top tier draw for the UFC. He’s averaged 733,000 PPV buys since UFC 121. Factor in the great ratings for the UFC’s first network show and its obvious he’s slightly behind GSP and Anderson Silva in drawing power.
Junior Dos Santos
| EVENT | OPPONENT | DATE | BUY RATE/Rating |
| UFC 155 | Cain Velasquez(L) | December 29, 2012 | 590,000 PPV buys |
| UFC 146 | Frank Mir (W) | May 26, 2012 | 560,000 PPV buys |
| UFC on Fox 1 | Cain Velasquez (W) | November 12, 2011 | 5.7M |
| UFC 131 | Shane Carwin | June 11, 2011 | 325,000 PPV buys |
| UFC 117 | Roy Nelson (W) | August 7, 2010 | 600,000 PPV buys |
JDS falls in the Cain Velasquez category of UFC fighters that can draw. UFC 117 was more Silva-Sonnen than dos Santos and UFC 131 was going to be JDS-Brock except for Brock having to bow out due to his diverticulitis. So, perhaps that’s why 131 did not do as well. Still, JDS averages about 583,000 PPV buys excluding UFC 131 (518K if you include the Carwin fight).
Mark Hunt
| EVENT | OPPONENT | DATE | BUY RATE/Rating |
| UFC on Fuel TV: Silva v. Stann | Stefan Struve (W) | March 3, 2013 | 485,000 viewers(record for Fuel TV) |
| UFC 144 | Cheick Kongo (W) | February 26, 2012 | 325,000 buys |
| UFC 135 | Ben Rothwell (W) | September 24, 2011 | 520,000 buys |
| UFC 127 | Chris Tuschscherer (W) | February 27, 2011 | 260,000 buys |
| UFC 119 | Sean McCorkle (L) | September 25, 2010 | 295,000 buys |
Hunt’s rise to semi-main event status came in part due to an impressive knockout of Stefan Struve. The fight card, headlined by Wanderlei Silva versus Brian Stann from Japan garnered the biggest rating for a UFC on Fuel TV event.
Hunt defeated Cheick Kongo in Japan at UFC 144. One recalls that was the return of the UFC to Japan and featured a 4 hour PPV with Benson Henderson defeating Frankie Edgar for the Lightweight title. UFC 127 featured Jon Fitch v. BJ Penn from Australia in what turned out to be a draw. We may want to throwout UFC 119 as the headliner was the ill-timed Mir v. Cro-Cop fight in which everyone was a loser.
Payout Perspective:
The numbers reflect the popularity of the Heavyweight division. JDS and Cain are at the top of this list as attractive draws for the UFC. With Hunt and Bigfoot looking to make inroads into the top tier of the Heavyweight division, the recent signing of Josh Barnett and Daniel Cormier and Alistair Overeem still around we can see another resurgence of this division. This annual Memorial Day card is a great way to feature this division and a good way to kick off the Summer.
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