Talk is cheap.
On second thought, maybe not. Maybe that’s the furthest from the truth. Well, at least when it comes to pay-per-view buys. Though UFC 148 failed to become the biggest buy-rate in UFC history, Chael Sonnen set the new standard for hyping fights.
And though Jon Jones is one of the UFC’s brightest stars, there’s no way his fight with Dan Henderson tops Sonnen’s fight with Anderson Silva in terms of buys. In fact, UFC 151 would have to score over a million buys to top UFC 148, and if the past is any indication of the future, a million PPV buys are hard to come by.
Including UFC 148, a total of nine UFC PPVs have succeeded over a million buys, so obviously reaching that destination is much easier said than done.
But why can’t the UFC’s biggest superstar do as well as Silva and Sonnen? Well, it’s all about the drama, baby. Five out of those nine PPVs had heated rivals pitted against one another in the main event.
Rivalries always sell to the casual fans, and with Jones and Henderson being respectful and relatively quiet heading into their bout, that’s going to hurt buys.
But then again, this should be a better fight than Sonnen and Silva II, or at least on paper. Sure, Sonnen brought it to the champion in their first bout, but if Sonnen was going to win the rematch, he was going to win it by smothering Silva on the ground, and that’s not exactly the most exciting form of fighting.
At least with Jones and Henderson, you know someone’s most likely getting knocked out or submitted.
But then another question arises—is one fight worth paying $55 for? If you look at the rest of the card, there are very few fights for the casual audience to get excited about.
Sonnen and Silva were backed by Forrest Griffin vs. Tito Ortiz III and Cung Le vs. Rich Franklin, while Jones and Henderson are supported by Jake Ellenberger vs. Jay Hieron and Dennis Siver vs. Eddie Yagin. Not exactly household name material.
But, hey, Jones’ PPV numbers are ever-growing. His last fight with Rashad Evans averaged around 700,000 buys, while his fight with Lyoto Machida fell just below the 500,000 mark.
But will fans be willing to pony up the dough after Jones has pretty much dominated every fight he’s been in with the exception of Machida and Evans?
It remains to be seen, but there’s no chance this fight surpasses UFC 148 in terms of buys, especially with football season getting underway with Alabama taking on Michigan that same night.
Actually, a Jason “Mayhem” Miller return to the Octagon would be more likely.
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