The announcement of Invicta FC’s move to the broadcast streaming service of UFC’s Fight Pass was largely heralded as a positive development for the all-pro women’s MMA league. And for much of the organization’s debut on Fight Pass on Saturday night during Invicta FC 8, it was a rousing success.
Then came the third round of the main event between champion Michelle Waterson and challenger Yasuko Tamada.
Just minutes before the TKO finish came from the brutal assault by Waterson, the Fight Pass service stopped working on many devices, but especially desktop and laptop computers. In fact, the ending sequence by Waterson was not available to see for many subscribers after the fact even though Fight Pass typically offers customers this immediate recording service.
At the event’s post-fight press conference, Ant Evans, the UFC official leading the Fight Pass service, spoke to the media about the incident, acknowledging what happened and pledged to make it right with consumers.
“Fight Pass did experience a slight drop in the stream during the course Michelle’s main event for several minutes. I’d like to be very clear this is a Fight Pass issue and we have never have experienced it before,” Evans said. “It was definitely not an Invicta issue. We’d liked to apologize to Shannon for that.
“We’re going to do a make up for this for all of our great subscribers.”
Fight Pass users were encouraged to email Fight Pass support if they experienced any problems.
For her part, Invicta President Shannon Knapp said she was pleased with how the event turned out and how well it did on Fight Pass. She answered questions from the media about the streaming issues by underscoring what she described as the strong bond between her organization and the UFC.
“I think they’re very happy with us just like we are very happy with them,” she told the media. “I think the support they give us definitely shows you how happy they are with us. It was a great event. It’s very positive feedback and as Marshall [Zelaznik] said, there’s big things happening and more to come.”