Author: MattSaccaro

UFC 173 vs. Bellator 120: Which Did More Web Traffic?

By Matt Saccaro

Despite the UFC’s legal team being among CagePotato’s most avid readers, we can’t convince them to give us any insights into the UFC’s PPV business. We can only judge a card’s interest by the PPV estimates that circulate a few weeks after an event has passed.

There’s another way to judge fans’ interest in a particular fight card though: Web traffic.

In between discussions about which IFL team was the best (I’m a huge Quad City Silverbacks fan), we at CagePotato headquarters started opining about how Bellator 120: Rampage vs. King Mo would compare to a low-level UFC PPV. Some of us said it’d bury an event like UFC 173: Barao vs. Dillashaw in terms of traffic, some of us said it would get buried.

Now that fight week(end) is over, we can jump into AnalyticsPotato mode and see which fight card wowed the web more. And to be clear, I’m using unique page views as the primary metric to judge interest. And by “coverage” we mean articles before/during/after the card that are about the card. Seems obvious but it’s important to be clear.

Earlier in the week, we reported on the CagePotato twitter that Bellator 120 received about 34% more traffic, but that calculation was made in error. There were a couple of articles in our UFC 173 coverage that I forgot to include in the tally. However, even with these pieces added, Bellator 120 still wins out. Bellator 120’s coverage, on the whole, received 11% more traffic than UFC 173’s.

Other random insights:

By Matt Saccaro

Despite the UFC’s legal team being among CagePotato’s most avid readers, we can’t convince them to give us any insights into the UFC’s PPV business. We can only judge a card’s interest by the PPV estimates that circulate a few weeks after an event has passed.

There’s another way to judge fans’ interest in a particular fight card though: Web traffic.

In between discussions about which IFL team was the best (I’m a huge Quad City Silverbacks fan), we at CagePotato headquarters started opining about how Bellator 120: Rampage vs. King Mo would compare to a low-level UFC PPV. Some of us said it’d bury an event like UFC 173: Barao vs. Dillashaw in terms of traffic, some of us said it would get buried.

Now that fight week(end) is over, we can jump into AnalyticsPotato mode and see which fight card wowed the web more. And to be clear, I’m using unique page views as the primary metric to judge interest. And by “coverage” we mean articles before/during/after the card that are about the card. Seems obvious but it’s important to be clear.

Earlier in the week, we reported on the CagePotato twitter that Bellator 120 received about 34% more traffic, but that calculation was made in error. There were a couple of articles in our UFC 173 coverage that I forgot to include in the tally. However, even with these pieces added, Bellator 120 still wins out. Bellator 120′s coverage, on the whole, received 11% more traffic than UFC 173′s.

Other random insights:

The time spent on page, an important and overlooked metric, was “virtually identical” for both Bellator 120 and UFC 173. Referral sources, too, were identical, with much of the traffic coming from search (Google) and social (Facebook and a bit from Twitter). This isn’t terribly surprising.

What does all of this mean, then?

At a glance, people are probably saying “The best Bellator has to offer only barely edges out a lower-level UFC card!” And that’s fair to an extent. But it’s worth noting that before the card, most of our UFC 173-related content wasn’t doing too well. There was very little hype around the event. Fans had a “how dare the UFC charge us for this crap” attitude about it. Even the live-blog was sub-par during the event. Once it was updated to reflect the huge upset that was TJ Dillashaw defeating Renan Barao, however, traffic on it exploded. The massive upset could’ve definitely helped UFC 173.

However, the same could be said for Bellator 120 since Will Brooks and Tito Ortiz upset Michael Chandler and Alexander Shlemenko, respectively. King Mo calling Bjorn Rebney a dick-rider didn’t hurt Bellator traffic either.

Alas, web traffic means little in terms of PPV buys. It’s highly likely that many people who read our post-fight Bellator coverage wanted to see if the event was a train wreck without having to pay for it. Furthermore, we’re just one website. A sample size of one isn’t much to go on. When asked on Twitter, some sites reported that their Bellator 120 traffic was far below expectations.

So, to get a clearer picture, we ran a Google trends comparison:

Interestingly, the search term “Bellator 120″ peaked the day after the PPV, indicating our theory above about most of the traffic coming from people who didn’t watch the PPV. And UFC 173′s peak was slightly higher than Bellator 120′s.

If anything is to be taken from this, it’s that Bellator is capable of generating at least as much Internet-interest (even if it derives from schadenfreude) from the fans as the UFC. Whether that’ll hold true for their future PPV outings is impossible to tell.

PageviewPotato: See Floyd Mayweather In a Real Street Fight

Here’s a video of Floyd Mayweather apparently engaging in a brawl with some rapper called TI at a Las Vegas Fatburger. We say apparently because all you can really see is Mayweather yelling and then a bunch of chairs and tables flying around. It’s a shame the video is inconclusive regarding Mayweather’s street fighting acumen, we were legitimately dying to know how he’d fare against Ronda Rousey. You can also see Mayweather’s sweet ride at the end of the video. According to TMZ, a restaurant employee was “slashed” during the melee.

Here’s a video of Floyd Mayweather apparently engaging in a brawl with some rapper called TI at a Las Vegas Fatburger. We say apparently because all you can really see is Mayweather yelling and then a bunch of chairs and tables flying around. It’s a shame the video is inconclusive regarding Mayweather’s street fighting acumen, we were legitimately dying to know how he’d fare against Ronda Rousey. You can also see Mayweather’s sweet ride at the end of the video. According to TMZ, a restaurant employee was “slashed” during the melee.

This has nothing to do with the sport we cover, but a mid-tier MMA blog’s gotta get those pageviews somehow, right? It’s just a shame this footage leaked after we finished compiling a list of the greatest fights that took place at fast food joints.

Will UFC 173 Force the UFC to Learn Its Lesson About Promoting Fighters?


(Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

Regarding Renan Barao and the bantamweight division, the UFC had a promotion problem. Barao was one of the sport’s greatest fighters, yet he couldn’t fill a bar showing the PPV if they gave away free food and free beer.

Fans didn’t care about Barao, and there was nothing the UFC could do to change that. While Barao’s inability to speak English, rugged good looks, and total apathy regarding the salesman part of being a prize fighter certainly didn’t make promoting him easy, building Barao was still the UFC’s job. And they continuously failed.

MMA Junkie’s Ben Fowlkes analyzed this issue in the days before UFC 173 [Editor’s note: Hilariously, Dana White grilled Fowlkes for the article but admitted to not reading it…]:


(Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

The UFC had a promotion problem with Renan Barao. He was one of the sport’s greatest fighters, yet he couldn’t fill a bar showing the PPV if they gave away free food and free beer.

Fans didn’t care about Barao, and there was nothing the UFC could do to change that. While Barao’s inability to speak English, rugged good looks, and total apathy regarding the salesman aspect of being a prize fighter certainly didn’t make promoting him easy, building Barao was still the UFC’s job. And they continuously failed.

MMA Junkie’s Ben Fowlkes analyzed this issue in the days before UFC 173 [Editor’s note: Hilariously, Dana White grilled Fowlkes for the article but admitted to not reading it…]:

First Barao was a “monster.” Then he was a “killer.” Now he’s “the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world,” according to White, and just in case you aren’t buying that, he’ll go ahead and bury you with stats. Because nothing gets fans fired up for a title fight quite like math.

It’s hard to blame the UFC too much. On paper, Barao should be a superstar. His unbeaten streak is legitimately impressive, even if the first few years of it came against regional nobodies, and even if White apparently felt the need to fudge some of those numbers when touting Barao’s stats (“The kid hasn’t lost a fight in 35 fights,” said White, which isn’t exactly true, since Barao is 32-1 according to Sherdog and 28-1 according to MMA.tv).

But if Barao’s struggle to go big time tells us anything, it might be that skill doesn’t sell as much as we’d like to pretend it does. Not by itself, anyway. Not if it comes wrapped up in the package of a 135-pound fighter who doesn’t speak much English, doesn’t have much in the way of an identifiable personality, and – let’s just be real here – looks a little bit goofy.

Leading up to UFC 173, The Washington Post ran a story about the UFC. Renan Barao’s name wasn’t mentioned once. Instead, the article was a thinly veiled hagiography of Dana White. The Renan Barao situation, in addition to the above, was also the result of promoting the brand and the figurehead over the fighters. The question most casual fans asked during fight week was “Who the fuck is Renan Barao?”

Furthermore, the “this guy is a pound-for-pound monster, buy our shit” line has been trotted out far too often lately. According to MMA Owl’s Mike Fagan, Dana White—and the UFC’s promotional efforts by extension—have touted as many as five pound-for-pound kings in the last year. Exaggerations lose selling power as they become more common.

But the UFC got lucky last night. Instead of a champion with zero marketability thanks to the language barrier and a lemur-like face, the UFC now has TJ Dillashaw to work with—a conventionally attractive American who won the title via complete domination. Hopefully the UFC has learned its lesson, and will promote Dillashaw as something other than a great fighter, because it has been proven time and time again that greatness alone doesn’t sell.

UFC Booking Alert: Michael Bisping to Face Cung Le in August, Hector Lombard vs. Dong Hyun Kim Booked as Well


(We don’t regret choosing this image. / Photo via Getty)

Michael Bisping has been booked to fight Cung Le on August 23rd, in the main event of a Fight Night card that takes place at the Cotai Arena in Macau. This booking was announced at the UFC 173 post-fight presser.

Le won his last match with a sudden, dramatic KO victory over Rich Franklin. Despite such a win, the 42-year-old isn’t exactly a threat to Bisping, who’s coming off a disappointing decision loss to Tim Kennedy. Looks like the UFC wants its British meal ticket back in the win column as soon as possible.

Get the details on the co-main event, and where the fight card will air after the jump.


(We don’t regret choosing this image. / Photo via Getty)

Michael Bisping has been booked to fight Cung Le on August 23rd, in the main event of a Fight Night card that takes place at the Cotai Arena in Macau. This booking was announced at the UFC 173 post-fight presser.

Le won his last match with a sudden, dramatic KO victory over Rich Franklin. Despite such a win, the 42-year-old isn’t exactly a threat to Bisping, who’s coming off a disappointing decision loss to Tim Kennedy. Looks like the UFC wants its British meal ticket back in the win column as soon as possible.

The co-main event of this Fight Night card will feature a bout between Dong Hyun Kim and Hector Lombard. Kim is on  a four-fight winning streak. Most recently, he knocked out John Hathaway with a gorgeous spinning back elbow. Lombard is only on a two-fight win streak but has looked equally if not more impressive. Since dropping to welterweight, he’s smashed Nate Marquardt and sent Jake Shields out of the UFC.

It’s a shame these matches will only air on Fight Pass.

Martial Arts Fail of the Week: Pagan Ninja Prostitute Teaches You How to Make a Smokescreen

We really wish we had more to say about this week’s Martial Arts Fail, PotatoNation. But the video and the headline sort of speak for themselves. It’s a ninja who happens to be a witch, a pagan, and an escort (according to her extremely NSFW twitter). In the above video she does some cool ninja moves of dubious real life effectiveness and teaches you how to make a smokescreen.

The below video has some more intense ninja training (sword fights, fire, scaling buildings, throwing stars, and even an arm-bar) and it can be seen after the jump.

We really wish we had more to say about this week’s Martial Arts Fail, PotatoNation (which, by the way, was submitted to us by one Rob Harris. Thanks, Rob!). But the video and the headline sort of speak for themselves. It’s a ninja who happens to be a witch, a pagan, and an escort (according to her extremely NSFW twitter). In the above video she does some cool ninja moves of dubious real life effectiveness and teaches you how to make a smokescreen.

The below video has some more intense ninja training (sword fights, fire, scaling buildings, throwing stars, and even an arm-bar).

I guess she seems legit as far as Ninjitsu goes, but Ninjitsu itself isn’t really worth all that much. What more is there to say?

If you see any video that’s good (or bad) enough to make the cut, let us know! Send it to [email protected].

Is Gina Carano Training at Black House?


(via r/MMA)

This picture of Gina Carano has been making its rounds on the Internet this weekend. As you can see, it depicts Gina Carano either pre-workout or post-workout holding a Black House t-shirt within a Black House gym.

Carano, herself, hasn’t announced anything. It’s entirely possible that she’s just visiting the gym. If that’s the case, this photo will no doubt lead to tons of errant speculation.

However, it’s possible that Carano is starting to get back into fighting shape. After all, UFC president Dana White said that Carano in the UFC was simply “a matter of getting a deal done.” But Dana is known to be among MMA’s greatest prevaricators, so we won’t put too much stock in what he says.


(via r/MMA)

This picture of Gina Carano has been making its rounds on the Internet this weekend. As you can see, it depicts Gina Carano either pre-workout or post-workout holding a Black House t-shirt within a Black House gym.

Carano, herself, hasn’t announced anything. It’s entirely possible that she’s just visiting the gym. If that’s the case, this photo will no doubt lead to tons of errant speculation.

However, it’s possible that Carano is starting to get back into fighting shape. After all, UFC president Dana White said that Carano in the UFC was simply “a matter of getting a deal done.” But Dana is known to be among MMA’s greatest prevaricators, so we won’t put too much stock in what he says.

We’re not saying she’s going to fight in the UFC. We’re just saying there’s a picture of her at a serious MMA gym. Maybe she’s just getting in shape for the summer, but maybe there’s something more to it. Maybe she’ll fight Ronda Rousey at the end of the summer in a blockbuster PPV. Or maybe she’s slimming down for a role in Razor Fight II: The Slashening. All explanations are equally likely at this point.

Until then, let’s preemptively cringe about how awful any potential Carano-Rousey fight trailers will be.