Are you buying UFC 310?

t’s another PPV weekend in the #UFC but how excited are you about it. The main event is for the UFC flyweight title with Alexandre Pantoja taking on newcomer, Japanese star Kai Asakura. The card has some notable fights for the hardcore fans. Bryce Mitchell takes on Kron Gracie in an interesting fight among interesting characters. Also, Dominick Reyes takes on Anthony Smith in a fight that would have been attractive 5 years ago. Former featherweight beltholder Aljamain Sterling returns on the Prelims agaisnt Movsar Evloev.

But after a big year on PPV, this one lacks the attraction for the casual viewers. Lat month’s UFC 310 had Jon Jones’ return and the Donald Trump lovefest. Earlier in the year, we saw some great performances from Alex Periera (Fighter of the Year) at UFC 300, 303 and 307. There was the UFC 306 Sphere card which was a spectacle for fans despite the less-than-stellar fights. But this fight card is a hardcore fan’s delight. There hasn’t been a card that had less star power than maybe UFC 250 in June 2020 when Amanda Nunes easily handled Felicia Spencer with an undercard that left a lot to be desired. According to Tapology UFC 250 registered just 85K PPV buys back when that was easily obtained. The Prelims did draw 950K viewers, it just did not translate.

Another less-than-stellar card was UFC 221 in Perth which featured Luke Rockhold-Yoel Romero. Another was 2014’s UFC 177 PPV featuring TJ Dillashaw and Joe Soto although Soto was an injury replacement.

While 177, 221 and 250 were duds, I would expect more from the UFC this time around. Certainly, Belal Muhammad was going to be the headliner for this card before he was injured but the jury is still out on his ability to draw fans. In fact, next week’s event featuring Colby Covington might be viewed by more casual fans simply because he is a love him or hate him figure.

With Championship Saturday in College Football taking on less importance due to the expanded playoff, the UFC might catch a break. But spending $80 on the Featherweight division is a hard ask especially during the holiday