Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective. In this edition, we take a look at UFC 266 taking place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada as the promotion celebrated International Fight Week in September.
Volkanovski outlasts Ortega in defense of FW title
Alexander Volkanovski retained his UFC Featherweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Brian Ortega. It was a back-and-forth fight that saw Volkanovski escape several submission attempts from Ortega including a tight guillotine with the challenger on top of the Aussie. Yet, Volkanovski dominated in the striking and Ortega’s faced showed the damage.
Volkanovski’s title defenses reflects his toughness and durability as a fighter. Will we see another fight with Max Holloway if he gets past Yair Rodriguez in November or could we see a showdown with Giga Chikadze.
As for Ortega, he’s a tough fighter but takes a lot of damage in his tougher fights.
Brian Ortega has absorbed a combined 566 strikes in his last 3 fights. pic.twitter.com/DiZ67s1Pvg
— MMA On Point (@OnPointMMA) September 27, 2021
Shevchenko outclasses Murphy
Valentina Shevchenko ousted Lauren Murphy in the 4th round of her UFC Flyweight defense. The challenger had been on a roll and was deserved of the title shot, however, Shevchenko showed why she is the queen of this decision.
While Jessica Andrade had an impressive victory on the undercard of this event, Shevchenko already has a TKO victory over her. Frankly, the only matchup that would make sense is a third fight with Amanda Nunes who defends her bantamweight title in October.
Nick Diaz returns, loses to Robbie Lawler
Likely the most anticipated return at UFC 266 was Nick Diaz as he faced Robbie Lawler in a rematch of their first fight 17 years prior. Diaz provided the crowd with some memories of his past using his jab and pitter-pat punches that kept Lawler at bay. But eventually Lawler wore Diaz down and the Stockton-native succumbed to the pressure. Diaz was absent from most media and did not provide the Embedded crew with much to work with and it seems as though he is just fighting out his UFC contract. You can tell that Diaz does not have his heart in it and is just hoping to get some paydays before he calls it quits.
UFC 266 was a sell out with 19,029 fans at T-Mobile Arena with a gate of $5,609,906. It was just the second event with fans in Las Vegas.
The bonuses went to Merab Dvalisvilli and Chris Daukaus for their respective fights. Fight of the Night went to Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega. All received $50K bonuses.
Pre-Event Promotion
It was International Fight Week which included the standard Hall of Fame ceremonies as the UFC inducted more individuals highlighted by Georges St-Pierre. Also of note was the induction of the fight between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson. Unfortunately, we now know what happened to Jones that night.
Dana White made the usual media rounds. He also gave ups some interesting news on Pat McAfee’s appearance when he said that he has a deal with the Food Network for a show which will be based on his decadent Friday eating binges called, “F*ck it Friday.” Each Friday, White posts in IG some crazy food he has made up.
In addition, White let us in on his workout and home gym.
The UFC also featured Brian Ortega as he got a low-rider and Alexander Volkanovski as he discussed his background with Rugby.
Sponsorships
Australian sports betting outfit NEDS was prominently displayed in the Octagon on Saturday. The sports wagering/betting marketplace looks set to be big for the UFC as it becomes widely accepted worldwide. NEDS forged a deal with the company this past Summer.
Also in the Octagon was Jose Cuervo with one of its first forays with signage at a UFC event as the “Official Tequila of the UFC.” Another notable sponsor was for the movie, “Venom,” which shares a similar name as the uniform supplier Venum. Certainly, some trademark issues were hashed out by the UFC with Venum so as to avoid any likelihood of confusion.
Other sponsors in the ring include Crypto.com, DraftKings, Guaranteed Rate, Monster and Convenient store Casey’s, P3, Howler Head, Modelo, PariMatch, Devour, Toyot Tires, Fitness Coach, Stake.com, Body Armor, Nemiroff, Fitness Coach, Jimmy Johns and Monster in the center of the Octagon.
Ratings
Surprisingly no ratings for the Prelims were released this past week from Nielsen although one would expect that the UFC Prelims would have been one of the top telecasts on cable on Saturday.
Odds and Ends
Cool visual of Ortega and his crew coming out wearing masks like in The Purge.
Another cool visual, Nick Diaz walking into his dressing room to find an old nemesis and new friend, Georges St-Pierre there to shake his hand.
As we now know, Jon Jones was arrested early Friday morning before UFC 266 on suspicion of domestic violence. As the police report and 911 audio came out, its clear that despite being one of the greatest fighters in the company’s history, he is one of the most troubled.
Conclusion
No word on the buy rate for UFC 266, but you may expect it to do around 350,000-400,000 buys. The return of Nick Diaz likely drew some fans as did the two title bouts but no extreme buzz for this event which would have it go over the top of its standard base of PPV purchasers.
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