UFC 177: Payout Perspective

Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective  This time we take a look at UFC 177 which took place at the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, California where T.J. Dillashaw defeated his bantamweight title against Joe Soto.

Dillashaw KO’s Soto in 5^th round

It was not Renan Barao, but T.J. Dillashaw was able to end the fight in the 5^th round again as he disposed of a game Joe Soto.  Dillashaw described himself as a “company man” and there was no issue about whether he’d take the new opponent on a day’s notice.  For Soto, it was a solid effort in his debut fight in the UFC.  Both fighters are likely in the good graces of the UFC.  Who is not on the UFC’s good side?   Renan Barao for not making weight.  The former champ, who just this past May was praised by Dana White, is now on the outs with the organization for not making the 135 pound limit.  White’s distaste toward Barao may be fueled by the already anticipated lack of buzz in this event.

Attendance and gate

Although the initial thought was that this event would pull a small attendance and gate, it actually exceeded the amount of fans that saw Dillashaw-Barao this past Memorial Day weekend.  The secondary market reflected the fact that demand was low.  But, the amount off walkups and discounted tickets helped with the attendance and gate figure.

Bonuses

As reported, bonuses of $50K each went to Dillashaw, Yancy Medeiros, Carlos Diego Fierra and Ramsey Nijem with the last two awarded Fight of the Night.  Despite a slick first round sub on the first fight of the UFC Prelims on FS1, Chris Wade was shut out from reported bonuses.

Sponsorships

Sponsors in the Octagon tonight were Las Vegas.com, video game Assassin’s Creed Unity, Fram, Musclepharm, Harley Davidson, Toyo Tires, Corn Nuts, Alienware, MetroPCS, Xyience and Bud Light had the center.

MetroPCS and Harley Davidson were the most notable sponsors with activation surrounding the event.  MetroPCS did its usual social media promotion including its “Tale of the Tweet” app. Harley Davidson  launched the Hometown Throwdown III promotion in which fans could win the opportunity to have the UFC come to their town as well as throw a tailgate party before the event.  The fighters that won their fights on the main card of 177 received a Harley Davidson.

Promotion of T.J. DIllashaw

While many have criticized the card, the one thing that may be overlooked is the great job the UFC did in building the T.J. Dillashaw brand.  It’s understandable for the cynical UFC fan to say if the UFC was doing such a great job, this would not be “overlooked.”  But, regardless of the fights on the card, the UFC’s shoulder programming has done a great job in building Dillashaw.

In watching the Countdown show and the Embedded vlogs the UFC has introduced people to Dillashaw and you get to see someone deal with all of the responsibilities of being champion.  The one plus from my perspective is that Urijah Faber was not used as the bridge to introduce Dillashaw.  This may seem absurd, but since Faber is a name and trains with Dillashaw it would make sense for Faber to be the one to introduce him.

Can Dillashaw be a draw? As it currently stands, fans are underwhelmed with the lighter weight divisions.  Despite being one of the best in the business, Demetrious Johnson has not sparked the interests of the UFC universe.  Jose Aldo has not been healthy enough for anyone to remember how vicious he once was and despite banking blue chip sponsors; Anthony Pettis has not been in the Octagon in ages.  If Dillashaw can string some wins together and defeat a guy like Dominick Cruz, I could envision the UFC marketing him much more.

Odds and ends

While I just praised the shoulder programming in the previous section, one of the scenes in the Embedded vlogs was Team Alpha Male doing a ticket giveaway for UFC 177 which foreshadowed the issues with selling this event.

If you were watching the Embedded episodes, Dillashaw did a lot of post-workout work in a hyperbaric chamber and dreamed of having one in his home.  I’m sure Dillashaw got his Hyperbaric chamber in his home after this event.

Barao and Cejudo were not paid per Heidi Fang’s tweet and Jorgenson and Anthony Birchak (who was scheduled to face Joe Soto)  were given show and win purses despite not fighting per MMA Junkie.  Tough time for Birchak who found his home robbed after coming back from Sacramento.

Bethe Corriea’s quest to run through the Horsewomen continues.  Really, if the four ladies are going to go through with this gimmick, someone else has to be good in the group aside from Flair.  The good news for Corriea, this “Horsewomen” thing has Rousey wanting to fight her.  So, yes, pro wrestling is seeping into your pure MMA sport.

Bellator decided to release Soto’s fight against Joe Warren prior to Saturday night.

FULL FIGHT: @JoeWarrenMMA knocks out Joe Soto. Relive a #BellatorMMA classic: http://t.co/cmJY8e9Ugf pic.twitter.com/wn8COSm7zz

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) August 30, 2014

Just a thought, but as a way to entice or say thank you to those that ordered UFC 177, it could offer them a month’s free use of UFC Fight Pass.  I understand that it tacitly admits that the card was not PPV-worthy but if you were to offer something like that, it would build a lot of good will with a loyal fan base.  If they have Fight Pass, they tack an extra month for free and if you don’t it gives them a chance to try it for free.  I know, probably a lot of administrative headaches with deciphering who ordered the PPV, but it still seems like a good PR move.

Expect a low number for the prelims on FS1.  There was one fight in the first hour and lots of filler due to a first round sub.  Also, with Henry Cejudo pulling out of his fight with Scotty Jorgensen, there were only three fights set for the two hour time block.

With the first full weekend of college football coupled with the multiple problems with the card, it was the perfect storm for folks to actually “boycott” this card.

Earlier in the week, Dana White landed on a list by GQ naming him one of the sleaziest people in sports.  Let’s be honest, any combat sports promoter could be found on this list.

Conclusion

It was likely that if UFC 176 was not cancelled, this event would not have gone forward.  But, the UFC could not take the PR hit of cancelling two events in a row.  Most importantly, the UFC does not want to confirm what most fans and pundits know; there are too many events.  Also, at such a late time for Barao pulling out, it was too late to pull out of the PPV and/or cancel the event.  This buy rate will rival that of UFC 174 and maybe even do worse.  As an interesting and random note, the first UFC did slightly over 86,000 PPV buys.  It would not be surprising that the actual buy rate would rival this number.  My take is that we’ll never receive an official number for this event although a range will be given around 90-110K PPV buys.