Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective. In this edition, we take a look at the big 20th Anniversary Show of UFC 167 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Bruised and battered but GSP wins split decision
If you disagree with the decision review the 1st round because it appears that is the round where two judges scored it for GSP and 1 for Hendricks. The rest of the rounds the judges agreed. It was a close call, but ties go to the Champion. Of course that’s not how it’s scored but many probably came to that conclusion on Saturday night.
Who do we blame? The Nevada State Athletic Commission for the judges? The judges themselves? Hendricks’ corner for not telling him to keep pressing? Or do we chalk this one up to a bad decision? Then again, was it a bad decision?
While the judging may have been suspect, based upon how the 10-9 scoring system, it was a plausible outcome.
Two items from the actual match between GSP-Hendricks. There was the theory of a phantom tap by Hendricks during the match spotted by many. But GSP did not stop and did not argue a tap. Looking back at Bendo-Pettis, even if a tap is not detected by the referee, the fighters would likely have stopped themselves. You may recall that Bendo lost his title this past August when he verbally submitted to Pettis although the ref did not stop the fight immediately. It seems like guys like Hendricks and GSP would have the sportsmanship to admit if a tap had occurred.
Also, it appeared as though Hendricks had yelled out that GSP was either holding the fence or his shorts on the ground as a way to keep position during a scramble on the ground in the 5th round. Yet, there was nothing done in that instance. Perhaps this was some desperation by GSP in trying to keep position on Hendricks.
And now for the post-fight story. Give Joe Rogan credit for not giving the stock platitudes in the post-fight interview and actually pressing GSP. Even though he didn’t get the answer, Rogan saw GSP wanted to say something and followed up with questions.
One of the reasons Dana White was so hot at the post-fight press conference was that he was not given (official) notice that GSP was leaving. Thus, he was mad at the commission and its judges. If Hendricks won, White would not have been steamed. He would have had a new marketable champion and could give GSP the time off to do what he needed. According to reports, White was able to speak with GSP after the post-fight press conference (GSP was not at the press conference at the beginning). One might deduce their discussion was an attempt to get to the bottom of the cryptic statements GSP made in the Octagon and persuade him to not take a leave of absence. TMZ has reported the alleged personal issues of GSP (which is in part being denied according to a report picked up by Bloody Elbow). We shall see what becomes of this situation and how GSP will address what now is becoming a public story.
Evans pounds out Sonnen
It was quick work by Evans who destroyed Sonnen with a flurry of punches on the ground in the first round. There was a little hope that that this would be a good match considering Sonnen’s last outing against Shogun Rua. Then after Evans took Sonnen down there was little hope that it would last past round 1. Evans looked rejuvenated from a poor outing against Little Nog in February and a so-so performance in June. Does it mean he’s somewhere in the Light Heavyweight title picture? We’ll have to wait. As for Sonnen, he gets a TUF Brazil coaching spot and Wanderlei Silva.
Lawler jumps back into title picture after upset
Not a good night for the Tri-Star Gym. Not only is GSP out indefinitely, its “next in line” was upset by resurgent Robbie Lawler. MacDonald is still very young and will be back but for Lawler it was a definite step forward. Lawler is 3-0 since coming over from Strikeforce. As Lawler proposed at the post-fight press conference, maybe a Hendricks-Lawler fight could be in the future.
Attendance and Gate
As reported, the gate was the best since UFC 148 at the MGM. 14,856 were in attendance for a $5.7 million gate. Although not factored in the actual number, the secondary market had its biggest demand since 2009 with an average of $580 per ticket. But, it does show the demand for this event.
Bonuses
Bonuses were the standard $50,000 each and were GSP-Hendricks, Donald Cerrone for his sub of Evan Dunham and Tyron Woodley for his highlight reel KO of Josh Koscheck.
Reported Salaries
The Nevada State Athletic Commission released the UFC 167 salaries and as expected Georges St. Pierre topped the payroll earning $400,000 with no win bonus although GSP earned a FOTN bonus making his total earnings $450,000. Johny Hendricks earned $50,000 for his split decision loss but did pick up another $50,000 to top out at $100,000.
UFC Primetime
While the viewership for the UFC Primetime series has been down since moving to FS1, they were well-done this time around as it introduced you to Johny Hendricks. I think the introduction of the challenger in these programs is important and Hendricks came off as a likeable guy. I also like the spotlight they did on Firas Zahabi as you don’t get to hear too much about the story behind some of the trainers.
Sponsors
The sponsors in the Octagon included Assassin’s Creed IV “Black Flag”, MusclePharm, UltimatePoker.net, Harley Davidson, Dodge, Toyo Tires, the movie Grudge Match, Alienware, MusclePharm and Bud Light in the center. Corn Nuts and MetroPCS had its usual placements within the PPV broadcast.
Reebok signed Johny Hendricks to wear its logo into the Octagon for UFC 167. Hendricks wore Reebok crossfit shorts and had a walkout shirt via Reebok. Also, Hendricks sported its shoes and promoted them via social media. A lot was made that Reebok paid the sponsor fee for Hendricks but did not for Rampage when it was announced Reebok would be sponsoring Hendricks. We will see if Reebok continues to sponsor Hendricks and/or other fighters.
Hendricks did have UFC official sponsors Corn Nuts and Alienware as his sponsors in addition to Bass Pro Shops and “Rags to Rick,” a Comedy reality show.
GSP wore his Hayabusa gi (no controversy this time) to the Octagon and his corner wore Affliction.
It was the first time that I’ve seen PS4 advertised during a UFC broadcast. This may not sit well with Mighty Mouse’s primary sponsor, Microsoft’s Xbox.
Robbie Lawler was sponsored by the Air Force Reserve. It’s an interesting sponsor considering that some pushed to curtail U.S. military sport sponsorships earlier this year.
Interesting sponsor of the night: Rick Story was sponsored by PaleoRanch.com.
Post-Fight Headlines
What’s going to happen without GSP? An interim title will likely happen if GSP is out for a prolonged period of time. In addition to Hendricks, Robbie Lawler, Carlos Condit, Matt Brown and maybe Nick Diaz will be names to look for in the welterweight division. The loss of GSP is a hit for the UFC which now may have 3 of its champions out for extended periods of time (GSP would join Dominick Cruz who plans to be back after a long absence from injury and the recently injured Anthony Pettis). This doesn’t even include what may be happening with Jon Jones. We shall see what the UFC plans to do with the welterweight division in GSP’s absence.
20th Anniversary
It was the 20th Anniversary show and with it came the UFC retrospective show last week on FS1. It was well done and gave some detail of the early years for those of us that picked it up in the Zuffa days. The weekend also included some notable fighters over the years in attendance. The UFC also bought a special advertising section in the Sports Business Journal which told the UFC’s story and gave it some added publicity.
Odds and Ends
-Erik Perez rocked the Lucha Libre mask once again.
-Was this the first time that they dropped the lights during a main event for Bruce Buffer to announce the fighters?
-GSP has been with the company for a while, shouldn’t the UFC have a French interpreter so that Georges doesn’t have to interpret for the entire room during press conferences.
-First time I recall FS1 insets on PPVs. Speaking of FS1, the Prelims did the double screen in between rounds with showing the corner at the top right hand of the screen during a commercial.
-Tyron Woodley made a statement with his KO of Josh Koscheck.
-Seemingly, Rory MacDonald had the most sponsors ever seen on shorts. If the UFC allowed for spats, he could have made a killing.
-Arnold Schwarzeneger was in the crowd…and to the benefit of Ali Bagautinov who admitted at the post-fight presser that he is a big fan.
-Boxing fans know Edwin Rodriguez? Despite getting docked $200K for missing weight in his fight with Andre Ward on Saturday he would be the second highest paid fighter on the UFC 167 card. This assumes GSP salary plus PPV upside. Rodriguez made $800K after the $200K deduction.
–Forbes ran a piece on GSP and how he makes $12 million a year. We will have more on that this week.
Conclusion
GSP is the company’s biggest draw. And while we cannot conclude that a higher gate will equate to a higher PPV buy rate, the rumors that GSP could be fighting in his last fight may have prodded folks to pay the money to watch one of the best in the sport in his last match. Additionally, the main event was well-supported on paper by Evans-Sonnen and Lawler-MacDonald. While the UFC had hoped the last four PPVs of 2013 would have done well, it will get 2 of the 4 doing a good number. I would say UFC 167 would do somewhere in the 800K range and GSP once again comes through for the company.
The problem here isn’t the judges. I wanted Hendricks to win and felt he did win after it was over. But I didn’t score the fight as it happened. But I did feel round 1 was a coin toss. And after the fight as a whole I felt Hendricks was clearly the better fighter. The reason it didn’t reflect in the end result is the scoring system sucks. 10-9 just doesn’t work. I have always wanted a decimal system so each round can be scored accurately. Get away from the scoring that says all 10-9 rounds are the same. That is a false statement that creates the problem.
If that first round was scored 10 to 9.9 for either guy. It would not have decided the fight. The fight would have been decided on the total margin of victory of all the rounds which would put an emphasis on the rounds that were clearly decided. No longer would fights be decided by coin toss rounds that can go either way.
Its really this simple. When it comes to 10-9 rounds. There should be a way to score it so it reflects a round that a judge might say:
“That was close but if I had to pick a winner I would go with__.”.
There should be another score for the rounds with a clear cut typical round winner. Then another score for the judge who says:
“That was close to a 10-8 round but not quite!”.
All 3 of those are completely different rounds and should be reflected in the score. Currently they all would be scored 10-9. How can a near draw be scored the same as a near 10-8?
About the decision. Like I said I felt Hendricks won. Typically in fights like this where it is very close and could go either way. I don’t complain even if it went to the guy I didn’t think won. But this fight I did complain and I think many others are doing so for much of the same reason. Normally when a fight is close and controversial. We know we are getting the rematch soon and everything will be settled. So I and many others just say “oh well lets settle it in 6 months”. The sport and the fans are all better off because they want to see the rematch and look forward to it. But GSP is denying us that rematch. So without the possibility of settling the issue. That makes people more angry the correct winner wasn’t chosen.
I also think GSP owes it to the fans and the sport to pass the torch. The so called “Going out on top” is the ultimate act of selfishness imo. GSP doing this would not only hurt the UFC badly. But it would all but kill the welter weight division. In fact his own legacy was only made possible by Matt Hughes passing the torch to him. Hughes could have retired as champ with a win over GSP and left no one fore GSP to beat to be credible. Hughes would have left as champ and his shadow would have loomed over the division for a decade as it wouldn’t appear credible because no matter who the champ was. There was a better fighter out there. GSP would have been like Rich Franklin. Franklin was champ and cleaned out his division at one time. People still called him a paper champ because Marlio Bustamante left with the belt and took all credibility from the division. So no one respected Tanner as champ, Franklin as champ, and it took almost Silva’s entire UFC career to get that respect and credibility back to the division.
Now I don’t think GSP would come out and take a ass kicking for the team. BUt he does owe it to the sport to compete until he loses his belt.
BS,
I think that’s complete BS! Fickle fans think their favorite fighters owe them something – when in fact they don’t. GSP owes absolutely nothing to the sport, the UFC, or the fans. He’s been gunning it in the UFC for nearly a decade, and trains full-time, year around.
If anything, GSP should leave while he’s on top: he has the money, the records, the legacy, and hopefully his health. Do you want him to go out like Liddell and get KOd 4 times in a row to end his career?
Ridiculolus how some fans have a sense of entitlement.
Cool story.
Learn to read. I never said he had to lose 4 times. Just once! Also he does owe the UFC. Do you not realize what GsP had before he made it big in the UFC? If not for the UFC he would be George Saint Burger Flipper!
Well, I’m pretty sure that GSP made UFC more money, than UFC paid him, so he doesn’t owe them anything. What would be UFC in Canada without its biggest star? 🙂
The entire things is BS he is holding out for more money.
C’mon BS, don’t be a retard. Burger flipper? Just as math/facts render liberals’ opinions worthless, crap like that makes you lose a ton of credibility. (Ok ok, that injection of politics was uncalled for, but it does help illustrate the fact that I am no Che Guevara shirt-wearing, “everyone should be guaranteed a million dollar livable wage” retard. Your point is akin to saying MJ owes his life (and current 80M annual earnings post-retirement, I read on Forbes) to the NBA and the NBA nothing to him. It cuts both ways.
@ AK I thought his comment didn’t even merit a response it was so ridiculous. To assume GSP would be burger flipping is just plain non-sense.
GSP has sold MILLIONS of PPVs based on his brand and has made the UFC hundreds of millions of dollars. It’s absurd to think he owes them anything.
Good fight. I also thought Hendricks was the better fighter that night but he lost the scorecard, and that’s all that matters. 5 years from now, no one will look at his win and say, he lost that fight. They will simply see the “W”.
As for a rematch, as a fan I’d love to see it. But in the end its up to both fighters to decide what they want to do. Would definitely draw good business if they do put it on. Other than Hendricks, not really much in the division to give GSP fits.
Fact is GSP wanted to be a fighter because he saw a UFC. HE was training to be a fighter and had nothing. It is well documented what he was living in when he started training at Renzo’s. What if the UFC never allowed him in? HE would have had a miserable existence as a starving fighter. As for GSP making the UFC more than they made him. That’s hard to say. We know what it has done for him. We also know that the UFC would have sold tons of PPVs without him and whatever champ would have taken his place would have also drawn well just as Hughes did.
Also the UFC is a business. They are not in it to break even nor should they be. Whether GSP and anyone else thinks he owes the UFC anything or not is besides the point. HE should respect the sport and its fans and do the right thing. Give his fans and a new generation of fans someone to root for by passing the torch.
Michael Jordan was brought up. Go look up the NBA tv ratings after Jordan went out “on top”. Their ratings had a massive drop. Him leaving on top left a large number of fans disenfranchised and no one to follow. They complete were left out of the sport. It took the NBA like 10 years to recover.
Truth is most sports fans are not loyal. They are bandwagon sheep. This is a fact of sports. Everyone wants to be a part of the winning side. When GSP loses a large number of his fans who followed him because he was a winner. Will jump ship and follow the next guy in line. If GSP goes out on top. Many of those people no longer have an interest and get left out. Like I said there is not reason to go out of top except selfishness and cowardice!
Well, to imply, that greatest welterweight champion of all times is a coward… that really is something.
And I don’t know about most sport fans, but you are definitely a bandwagon sheep (of UFC presumably) and also selfish. YOU want him to pass torch, so he should do as YOU want. To me, it doesn’t matter.
If GSP goes out on top (and I would like it that way much more than if he stays one fight too long and lose because he is not into it anymore) then you simply will have new champion and new story. Deal with it. Same as when there are two big organizations with two big stars which will never fight against each other or when elite teammates don’t fight each other.
You have crucial problem with these situations, I do not. Who is selfish here?
You are a moron. Tell me how I am selfish? You seem to ramble on just fone. But when it comes to showing how I have anything to gain either way. You fail! I will be following the sport either way. Just as I have long before you ever thought about it. But the fact is. Passing the torch is the right thing to do for the industry that created him and he will be a legend in. Whether he is a legend in a sport followed by millions or a legend who used to be famous in a sport that used to be popular. Well that’s up to him. His decision has an effect on that. He can advanced the sport forward 10 years or he can take the sport back 10 years. The only reason to not do the right thing, like I said, is if he is to big a coward and selfish to do so.
Also him being the “greatest WW of all time” has nothing to do with whether or not someone is a coward. There isn’t a person around who would sign up to beat people down. But being a fighter takes much more than that. You have to be tough and take your lumps mentally as well as physically. Until now GSP has been gifted enough to play the role of the bully and not have to take those lumps. Now that he has taken some lumps in his recent fights, just as Jon Jones did recently, we are starting to see their true colors as they look for a way out. You seem to not realize that you can have all the skill in the world and still be a pussy! I guess GSP is making the decision now whether he is one or not. We wait with baited breath!
@ BS
Your ranting is just digging yourself a deeper hole (which of course has lots of BS in it).
1) You do not speak for all MMA or even a minority of GSP fans in deciding whether he is a “pussy” or not, to quit now. You only speak for yourself. You are being selfish in your wants – you just can’t see it.
2) Many fans, including myself, would like to see a fighter retire on top of his game for once. I would be happy if GSP retired tomorrow or fought next July. But that’s just me.
**3) “There isn’t a person around who would sign up to beat people down.”
…. Wow, more non-sense. There are billions – in fact the vast majority of this planet – of people who do not watch combat sports, or subject mater with violence. Where do you get this material lol?
You should learn to have a little more respect for one of the greatest champions of all time no matter what his decision may be.
GSP should bow out before he inevitably loses (again) a la Anderson Silva. GSP is the most dominant welterweight (not greatest, that honor is reserved for Matt Hughes) and should retire while he is on top, and start acting or doing commentary for FS1.
FYI: in regards to gsp “leaving a shadow” looming over the division by exiting on top. Dana white could just pull a Frank Shamrock and pretend he never existed hahaha.
BS, what the EFF then is your point about Jordan and the NBA? It is completely contradictory to everything you’re saying about the GSP-UFC situation. I understand GSP’s no MJ, but it’s the same principle of the massive loss a company can have with the loss of a megastar. Geeeez, ridiculous.
What about the Jordan example do you not understand? Jordan went out on top and retired as champion. All his fans, which there were TONS, were left without a favorite player to watch and no reason to tune in. So the NBA struggled with poor ratings for a long time. The champs while he was gone had no credibility. To be the champ you have to beat the champ. Going out on top assures no one can beat the champ. They are looked at as paper champs.
Sherm
That doesn’t work. I works on Frank because the era he fought in. I was one of the few fans who followed the sport back then. When Frank Shamrock was in the UFC. There was only 20,000 people or so following the UFC then. It was banned from cable and only Direct TV had it.So when Dana erased him from the UFC. It worked because no one knew him anyway. GSP is known and seen by way to many people. He cant be erased. BTW, I remember when the UFC and Frank were in talks to bring him back. I also remember his BS demands. He deserves to be erased.
Leon
You might want to look up the definition of Selfish! Me not receiving any person benefit from something means I cant be selfish. Then in the same sentence you claim I am selfish you start saying what you would like to happen. Which is the definition of selfish. You admit it would give you great pleasure of he went out on top. Is your IQ really that low?
I do believe GSP will retire. If not now it will be in his next 2-3 fights. He is just not a very tough fighter. He will not ever keep fighting if he has to get beat up. We all knew he would look for the door if he ever started getting beat up. Win or lose. So even if he takes a few weeks off and then hits the gym and feels great and convinces himself he can win. He might fight again. But once he gets beat up or loses he will quit.
I believe the whole retirement talk come about because he knows his next fight has to be Hendricks and due to the styles. There is no way not to take a beating. He cant steamroll Hendricks and has a fight on his hands. He doesn’t look forward to it and wants to quit. Even though before the fight he shot down the rumors he was retiring. But an ass kicking changed that real fast. He wanted no more of Hendricks. He was a beaten man IMO!