Welcome to another episode of Payout Perspective. This time we take a look at UFC 309 taking place from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Jones retires Stipe
Jon Jones defeated Stipe Miocic to stake claim to the UFC Heavyweight title. At heavyweight, Jones seems oddly heavy but still has superior grappling and reach which helped with Miocic. The former UFC champion, Miocic looked slower than Mike Tyson the night before, and while we all revere the Cleveland champion, there was no path to victory. Miocic retired after the fight and he will go down as one of the best heavyweights in the UFC of all time.
Jones is calling for Alex Periera in his “superfight.” But, the specter of Tom Aspinall looms as many of Aspinall’s fans have desired that Jones is ducking him. Certainly for division conformity, it would make sense to unify the heavyweight titles.
Perhaps the good news is that barring any injury or legal issues, Jones should be back in the UFC Octagon by July’s International Fight Week (we hope).
Oliveira defeats Michael Chandler
In the end it was not worth the wait for Michael Chandler. Two years of waiting for Conor McGregor, he took a fight with Charles Oliveira with the hopes of either getting McGregor or challenging for the lightweight title. He will not get either.
Oliveira was far superior utilizing his jiu jitsu and almost submitted Chandler in the first round. He had control until round 4. In round 5, Chandler was able to get some shots in and Oliveira looked stunned and turtled up. However, Chandler seemingly hit Oliveira 20 times in the back of the head which is illegal. He was not warned for his actions. Earlier in the fight, he had grabbed the fence twice which is also illegal.
Promotional Guidelines Compliance Pay:
Via MMA Junkie
Jon Jones: $42,000
Stipe Miocic: $32,000
Charles Oliveira: $21,000
Michael Chandler: $6,000
Viviane Araujo: $11,000
Karine Silva: $4,500
Bo Nickal: $4,500
Paul Craig: $16,000
Mauricio Ruffy: $4,000
James Llontop: $4,000
Jonathan Martinez: $11,000
Marcus McGhee: $4,500
Jim Miller: $21,000
Damon Jackson: $11,000
David Onama: $6,000
Roberto Romero: $4,000
Marcin Tybura: $21,000
Jhonata Diniz: $4,000
Mickey Gall: $11,000
Ramiz Brahimaj: $6,000
Bassil Hafez: $4,000
Oban Elliott: $4,000
Eduarda Moura: $4,000
def. Veronica Hardy: $6,000
Sponsorships
The biggest news of the week was the UFC’s latest sponsorship deal with IBM. IBM gets designations as UFC’s initial “Global AI Partner” and “Official Technology Partner,” along with exclusivity with the B2B “Enterprise AI” category. The report inferred that the deal is big for the UFC which means a lucrative deal although no monetary terms were attached.
There were multiple activations for this event that came from non-traditional sponsors. Couture brand Warren Lotas came out with specially designed shirts which went for $120 per piece.
The Octagon included the official wine of the UFC 19 Crimes on the Octagon mat, GovX, Howler Head, Toyo Tires, Jose Cuervo, Stake, Prime, HSS, Bud Light, Budweiser, VeBetter.com, Wingstop, the movie Gladiator II, Crypto.com, Black Rifle Coffee Company, True Classic, Draft Kings, 2 shots per can, easypost, Call of Duty, Dav.org, and Monster Energy in the center of the Octagon.
UFC Embedded was presented by Thorne.
The fighter prep point had two sponsors with Wingstop and DraftKings.
Odds and Ends
Some initial thoughts I wrote on my Substack, which I would be happy if you followed.
Trump took his usual entrance at UFC events. This time flanked by his whole team.
The TKO Family was in attendance with HHH and Stephanie McMahon taking the event in. Also in attendance was Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest.
Chris Weidman’s fight against Eryck Anders was called off last minute which is unfortunate for the native New Yorker.
Chandler made an appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America.
Bruce Buffer teamed with Black Rifle Coffee Company to auction off a UFC 309 suit with proceeds going to Special Operations Warrior Foundation’s Children with Disabilities Program. In addition, Black Rifle Coffee Company announced a direct $250K donation to the foundation.
During the UFC 309 fight week, Daniel Cormier moderated a panel about UFC sponsor Airestech’s sponsorship. In my opinion, I remain skeptical about this sponsorship and the utility of its devices.
Conclusion
It was a big weekend of fights starting with Netflix’s foray into combat sports with Jake Paul and Mike Tyson. Netflix reported that the telecast on Friday drew 65 million viewers at its peak. The return of Jon Jones and the specter of Trump’s anticipated appearance to take a victory lap probably had many UFC fans wanting to check it out. If they do reveal buy rates, I would surmise this one did around 350K-400K buys.
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