Welcome to UFC 200’s Part 2 of Payout Perspective. We are once again recapping the weekend that was in the UFC.
UFC Sold to WME | IMG
The news came out on Sunday that Zuffa, LLC had sold the UFC to an investment group spearheaded by William Morris Endeavor and International Management Group. As we learned the sale price was approximately $4 billion.
While Jeremy Botter’s report was met with denials as well as a lawyer letter, the news was true. The Fertitta Brothers, Dana White and Flash Entertainment sold its shares in the UFC.
Prior to Sunday’s news, Los Angeles Times and TMZ both ran articles refuting the stories of a sale which were backed by Zuffa executives. The TMZ story did not cite names but quotes from Zuffa execs while the Times ran a piece which included sit downs with White and Lorenzo Fertitta
More Promotion
UFC 200 introduced its main event of Jones vs. Cormier (after McGregor-Diaz was scrapped) on ABC’s Good Morning America. The event included Dana White, Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, Miesha Tate, Chuck Liddell and Frankie Edgar. It was the second time that a fight was announced on GMA. This time around, the UFC was front and center on the show. It was good exposure for the company. Too bad the main event didn’t stick.
Forbes ran a piece on the marketing behind those crazy graffiti posters. Apparently part of the idea was based on Conor McGregor’s tirade at the pre-fight press conference at UFC 197. McGregor was promoting his fight against Rafael dos Anjos. Imagine if RDA did not get injured.
Bud Light offered limited edition UFC bottles. Guess who promoted them:
How cool are these Limited Edition @BudLight @UFC bottles? Pick yours up at participating stores today! pic.twitter.com/lCjAPcIk3u
— Ronda Rousey (@RondaRousey) June 6, 2016
Payouts
The complete list of salaries from UFC 200 as disclosed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission is as follows (via MMA Junkie):
Amanda Nunes: $100,000 (no win bonus)
def. Miesha Tate: $500,000
Brock Lesnar: $2,500,000 (no win bonus)
def. Mark Hunt: $700,000
Daniel Cormier: $500,000 (no win bonus)
def. Anderson Silva: $600,000
Jose Aldo: $500,000 (includes $100,000 win bonus)
def. Frankie Edgar: $190,000
Cain Velasquez: $300,000 (no win bonus)
def. Travis Browne: $120,000
Julianna Pena: $64,000 (includes $32,000 win bonus)
def. Cat Zingano: $35,000
Kelvin Gastelum: $86,000 (includes $33,000 win bonus and $20,000 from Hendricks’ purse)
def. Johny Hendricks: $80,000(Hendricks forfeited 20 percent of his original $100,000 show money to Gastelum for missing weight)
T.J. Dillashaw: $50,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus)
def. Raphael Assuncao: $42,000
Sage Northcutt: $100,000 (includes $50,000 win bonus)
def. Enrique Marin: $13,000
Joe Lauzon: $108,000 (includes $54,000 win bonus)
def. Diego Sanchez: $80,000
Gegard Mousasi: $110,000 (includes $35,000 win bonus)
def. Thiago “Marreta” Santos: $28,000
Jim Miller: $118,000 (includes $59,000 win bonus)
def. Takanori Gomi: $55,000
The Reebok Clothing payouts are here via MMA Junkie. Notably, Aldo and Edgar both made $30,000 each as “challengers” since they were vying for the interim(?) Featherweight title.
Odds and Ends
What has happened to Johny Hendricks?
Early weigh-ins did not help Johny Hendrick as he yet again had issues with weight cutting. Notably, Kelvin Gastelum has had problems in the past and just made the limit. Miesha Tate had to disrobe to make the championship weight.
UFC 200 Prelims scored the highest rated show ever on FS2 as the first 31 minutes was switched to the network due to MLB going extra innings on FS1. Despite the delay due to baseball, FS1 was the highest-rated prelim ever in the adult 28-49 demo. The prelims on FS1 peaked with over 2 million viewers in the last quarter hour.
The last hour of the prelims went head-to-head with the first hour of PBC on ESPN. PBC scored 442,000 viewers for its 2-hour plus event on Saturday night.
UFC offered the event in 4K. It was the first time that a PPV was offered in 4K by any sport organization.
I missed Jon Jones’ press conference but I cannot say I feel sorry for him. Whether or not he took PEDs, he’s been given chance after chance to succeed, but continues to fail.
Think about how much Jon Jones cost the UFC for them to tear down his posters and take his likeness off of the T-Mobile Arena. There’s also the unsold t-shirts and posters. He also cost UFC employees a night’s sleep to re-do all of the promotion centered around the Jones-Cormier main event. Now that’s selfish.
International Fight Week
If you’ve never been to International Fight Week, it’s sort of like the NFL Experience at the Super Bowl. If you have never been to that, think big convention hall with tons of sponsor/vendor booths, interactive areas and talks from special guests. It’s a great thing to go and see if you’re a big UFC fan. I realize that over the years this event may have lost steam, but once again, it’s something for the true UFC fan.
While UFC 200 and International Fight Week may have been much bigger with Ronda Rousey and/or Conor McGregor on the card, the event and week is a good opportunity for the UFC and its partners to engage with its fan base.
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