MMA Payout

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UFC 257: Payout Perspective

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Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective.  This time we take a look at UFC 257 taking place on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.

Poirier stops Conor in 2

It was the return of the kinder, gentler Conor McGregor.  The heavy favorite, many believed that McGregor would defeat Poirier as a second time.  However, this lightweight fight did not go the way that everyone expected.  Although McGregor likely won the first round with crisps strikes and octagon control, Poirier used leg kicks to soften the lead leg of McGregor and the plan worked.  He cracked McGregor in the second round sending to the mat and the double champ could not defend himself. 

For Poirier, it was a significant moment in his career as he makes himself the number 1 contender for the lightweight title.  He also avenges a loss to McGregor that was contested at 145 pounds.  It’s clear that if the title is vacated, he should be one of the competitors for the belt. 

As for McGregor, the jury is still out on how he is as a fighter.  He competed in just one full round in over two years and it looked like he could not defend Poirier’s leg kicks.  With the loss, any thought of a showdown with Manny Pacquiao went out the window.  If he wants to continue in the UFC, he should stick to the lightweight division.  A trilogy fight with Nate Diaz or perhaps a Tony Ferguson fight would be intriguing and a best-chance for a victory against a marquee opponent.

Michael Chandler debuts with impressive KO

Michael Chandler announced his UFC debut with authority after he knocked out Daniel Hooker in the very first round of their matchup.  Chandler’s KO was as impressive as his post-fight backflip off the cage. 

Chandler impressed with a post-fight interview in the cage cutting a pro-wrestling promo on Khabib, Conor and Dustin.  He should be on the short list of those fighters vying for the 155 crown this year.  Maybe a matchup with Justin Gaethje would be the fight with the winner taking on the Dustin-Charles Oliviera winner.

Attendance

Yes, there were fans in attendance as Fight Island allowed a limited number of individuals into the Sunday morning event in Abu Dhabi.  The commentary team seemed thrilled to have an organic ambience in the arena rather than have fighters hear their voices during a fight. 

Payouts?

It was reported that Conor McGregor received $5 million for the fight which presumably excludes any upside. Poirier was expected to make $1 million. These payouts were not verified and no other fighters’ pay was released. Its only speculation but you can guaranteed that both made more than this ‘base.’

Bonuses

Poirier received a $50K bonus for his stoppage of McGregor as did Chandler for his first round KO.  Also receiving bonuses were Marina Rodriguez for her upset  KO of Amanda Ribas and Makhmud Muradov for his third round KO of Andrew Sanchez.

Promotion of the Fight

The event was centered around the McGregor-Poirier battle.  Notably, there were a lot of excellent articles on Dustin and his background as he should be someone the company should promote.  As for McGregor, a lot of mainstream press was centered around his return. 

Not on the promotional menu was the lawsuit filed by a McGregor acquaintance in Ireland.  Also, another NY Times article which coincided with fight week about McGregor’s legal troubles.  Zuffa did a good job of protecting Conor from the bad press.  A subtle nod to this was the Embedded episodes which depicted Conor as a family man and more of a kind-hearted gentleman fighter.

Also of note was the $500,000 donation by Conor McGregor to Dustin Poirier’s Foundation.

Sponsorships

G42 was the big sponsor winner this week as Dana White wore the shirt at the ceremonial weigh-ins (yes, they had that too).  It is an Abu Dhabi artificial intelligence and cloud computing company. 

Also of note was Zappos.com, which announced a deal with the UFC wherein it would create officially licensed apparel for the company.

The Universal Pictures film, Nobody, was also advertised on the mat and during the broadcast. Howler Head sponsored the tale of the tape for the main event.

Toyo Tires, Hospital for Special Surgery, G42, Zappos.com, Hudson Shipping, Guaranteed Rate, Devour, Abu Dhabi Tourism, P3, BodyArmor, Howler Head, Geico, Manscaped, EA UFC 4, U.S. Army, T2 Tactical Gear and Monster Energy had the center of the Octagon.

Devour Frozen Foods had the fighter prep point.

Although not a lot of brand engagement during fight week, Celsius, an energy drink, announced a sponsorship with Dustin Poirier.  Speaking of the Diamond, he received a big boost to his hot sauce sales. 

Also, Guaranteed Rate also did a commercial featuring Poirier.

Odds and ends

Easily the weirdest story coming out of the week was the sudden firing of Ottman Azaitar after his team breached security protocol.  According to White, they cut off their security wristbands to provide to someone on the outside.  An individual scaled several balconies to provide Azaitar a bag.  White stated they did not know what was in the bag.  Obviously, the breach of the health and safety protocols is of the utmost importance and even though he had two knockouts in the UFC that earned him performance bonuses, it did not matter.

The big issue on Saturday was the technical difficulties.

With quarantine restrictions, the UFC held showings of the event in Drive-Ins instead of movie theatres.

Conor McGregor introduced a new collaboration with Roots of Fight.

Dana White vs. Streamers. He claimed he had found a guy and that individual decided to shut down his operation. But who really won? White did not reveal the individual they had identified and many people on social media said their piracy web site worked perfectly.

Eminem shot a video in which he and Dana swerve viewers with ESPN as a prop.

With a PGA event in Abu Dhabi, the UFC pulled tweets together for the telecast of multiple golfers watching the event primarily to watch Conor McGregor. Below is one with Rory McIlroy.

Joe Rogan was absent from the PPV telecast which seems kind of curious.  Apparently, he was set to do shows with Dave Chapelle in Texas.  However, that was put on pause when Chapelle tested positive for COVID-19. 

White indicated that the PPV was trending toward a 1.5 million PPV buy rate.  This number was provided prior to all the difficulties in purchasing the PPV. 

A bettor won a big bet on Saturday night and then rolled his earnings on the Bucs on Sunday. Yes, he had a good weekend.

Conclusion

The Sports Business Journal reported that the event drew 1.2M domestic buys and additional 400,000 in global purchases ending with 1.6M total. This makes it the second-highest PPV next to UFC 229 which also featured McGregor. The Prelims drew 1.4M viewers on ESPN and the viewership since last February’s PPV Prelims which featured Jon Jones-Dominick Reyes.

Clearly a lot of the clamor this week was for McGregor. He was the fan favorite in the arena and is a big international star as well as a known name in the U.S. The mainstream media covered the event without really mentioning too much on Poirier. This could be a concern if McGregor starts to lose more which almost makes his fight much more important than Poirier’s next fight.

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