Fighting on the prelims doesn’t seem quite so bad when you have MMA legend Urijah Faber competing on the card.
Throughout UFC history, the preliminary portion of fight cards has always been treated as some dreaded black hole that fighters worked endlessly to climb themselves out of. Getting noticed in a crowd full of nobodies was about as likely as an icicle surviving a forest fire.
Sure, there have been instances in the past when a major UFC event toted an equally exciting undercard. But these events were typically only watched by hardcore fans with a clue of the goings on in the MMA world.
The vast majority of fans didn’t know or care about the preliminaries. Why dabble in a two-hour appetizer when a three-hour main card feast is just around the corner?
But lately, the UFC has made a habit of putting some of its top stars on the prelims.
On Saturday night, Faber, a former longtime WEC featherweight champ and current UFC contender, will be featured on the undercard for a second straight fight against Francisco Rivera at UFC 181.
When speaking with Submission Radio a few months ago, Faber put everything about prelim fighting into perspective.
“For me, it actually makes a little more sense,” Faber said. “It’s the main event on the free card, the Fox Sports 1 card, so, you know, I think as far as exposure goes, I’ll probably get a wider view for more viewers that don’t have to pay.
“I think the pay-per-view numbers haven’t necessarily been high like they used to be, so for me, it makes more sense. I’m the featured fight on the free card right before the pay-per-view, and I don’t get piece of that pay-per-view anyway, so I’d rather more people watched the fights.”
Fox Sports lends a golden opportunity for the UFC to flip wavering fans at the last second to click the buy button for a pay-per-view. Even if they don’t buy, an undercard featuring the likes of Faber would keep people coming back for more.
Arenas are even filling up earlier than usual when a top fighter like Faber fights on the undercard. You don’t even have to attend an event live to notice hundreds of empty seats before the pay-per-view goes live, and like magic, the arena is full of thousands of beaming, bright faces.
The point is that the prelims serve as an important cog in the pay-per-view process. It represents a promotion’s closing statements before a verdict is rendered in pay-per-view buys. The UFC 175 prelims, which featured Faber vs. Alex Caceres, drew 1 million viewers on Fox Sports 1, per Bloody Elbow.
The notion that the prelims are a black hole is quietly being eradicated thanks to the presence of Faber and various other top contenders and former champions.
Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon.
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