(That face you make when you realize that you’re an overpaid dinosaur who has long since worn out his welcome. And whatever facial expression Hulk Hogan is making.)
Considering that people already aren’t buying tickets to this show, I have to ask: Are any of our readers about to drop over thirty bucks on this card? Because as much as I hate to admit it, I’m not about to spend that much money on this. Maybe if it was stacked with the fighters who have made Bellator so much fun to watch over the past few years — guys like Alexander Shlemenko, Rich Hale, David Rickels and The Pitbull Brothers — I’d be able to justify dropping thirty bucks on it.
(That face you make when you realize that you’re an overpaid dinosaur who has long since worn out his welcome. And whatever facial expression Hulk Hogan is making.)
Considering that people already aren’t buying tickets to this show, I have to ask: Are any of our readers about to drop over thirty bucks on this card? Because as much as I hate to admit it, I’m not about to spend that much money on this. Maybe if it was stacked with the fighters who have made Bellator so much fun to watch over the past few years — guys like Alexander Shlemenko, Rich Hale, David Rickels and The Pitbull Brothers — I’d be able to justify dropping thirty bucks on it.
But $34.95 for two fights between UFC washouts I haven’t cared about since I was still in college, a completely pointless do-over, and only two fights that I’m willing to pay for?
The only reason that I’d buy this card is out of sympathy for Bellator. They’re sort-of banking on this thing working out, and I’d hate to see a promotion that has given us so many exciting fights go under. But if Bellator is going to continue to be a Station of the Cross for the UFC gatekeeper in decline, then, as much as I hate to type this, I can live without it.
That’s my two cents, guys. Feel free to add yours below.
(See, Viacom? There ARE some things that are too stupid for pro-wrestling fans to watch.)
Remember when we told you guys on Sunday that Bellator is going through some hard times before its (extremely misguided) inaugural PPV? Well, with a brand new episode of TNA Impact scheduled to air tonight, we decided to look into how Viacom’s other promotion is doing. Try not to act too surprised, but here’s the short version of the story:
Believe it or not, the professional wrestling outfit that’s been repackaged as an infomercial for an MMA PPV that no one cares about is in some pretty dire straights. Over the course of the past year, TNA Impact has been making some drastic budget cuts, which have included firing numerous young prospects and veteran wrestlers alike (leading to somehilarioussatiricalstories from Kayfabe News). Okay, no problem with trimming the fat, right? Well, once main players in the company start getting cut, it’s not exactly a good sign. Follow us after the jump, and we’ll explain…
(See, Viacom? There ARE some things that are too stupid for pro-wrestling fans to watch.)
Remember when we told you guys on Sunday that Bellator is going through some hard times before its (extremely misguided) inaugural PPV? Well, with a brand new episode of TNA Impact scheduled to air tonight, we decided to look into how Viacom’s other promotion is doing. Try not to act too surprised, but here’s the short version of the story:
Believe it or not, the professional wrestling outfit that’s been repackaged as an infomercial for an MMA PPV that no one cares about is in some pretty dire straights. Over the course of the past year, TNA Impact has been making some drastic budget cuts, which have included firing numerous young prospects and veteran wrestlers alike (leading to somehilarioussatiricalstories from Kayfabe News). Okay, no problem with trimming the fat, right? Well, once main players in the company start getting cut, it’s not exactly a good sign.
Two weeks ago, TNA Impact actually had to fire Hulk Hogan as a cost cutting measure. On the surface, Hogan’s dismissal from the company has been long overdue — he’s an overpaid sixty year old being used as an on-air authority figure because he physically can’t wrestle anymore. But for TNA Impact to finally part ways with the guy? Brother, that’d be like Dana White firing Chuck Liddell from his vaguely-defined job; even though it would make sense financially, it would never happen unless the company was circling the drain.
To make matters worse, the promotion’s first show without Hulk Hogan since 2009 only managed to bring in only 1.08 million viewers last Thursday, which is nearly an all-time low for the promotion. To put that into perspective, more people watched a midnight rerun of Pawn Stars than TNA Impact. But they did manage to pull in a few more viewers than an American Dad rerun that aired at 1:30 in the morning, so that’s a plus, I guess.
I’m not writing that the situation is hopeless, but I am writing that it may very well be hopeless if Bellator’s pay-per-view flops. Viacom has invested the futures of both promotions into this card. If it doesn’t end well, it’ll take more than Tim Sylvia to fix the ensuing fiasco.
That’s right kids, Luke Thomas recently passed along the word that some more UFC veterans are going to throw down for the right to challenge whoever Bellator’s current heavyweight champion is (I think it ends in “agrov” or “arinov”?) for the low, low price of 35ish dollars!
(That’s right, three consecutive posts anchored by gifs. Deal with it.)
That’s right kids, Luke Thomas recently passed along the word that some more UFC veterans are going to throw down for the right to challenge whoever Bellator’s current heavyweight champion is (I think it ends in “agrov” or “arinov”?) for the low, low price of 35ish dollars!
(That’s right, three consecutive posts anchored by gifs. Deal with it.)
On Friday, MMAJunkie’s John Morgan tweeted that the PPV had sold only approximately 1,700 tickets, with another 2,000 on consignment. Matt Roth of MMAMania noted just how dire the situation really is. He pointed out that the venue can hold over 13,000 people, meaning that Bellator would have to sell in the neighborhood of 10,000 tickets in less than 20 days to secure a sellout. That probably isn’t going to happen — not even if Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson became giants like in the awful trailer for the PPV.
Bjorn Rebney better be prepared to get a job at his dad’s Winnebago dealership; winter is coming for Bellator. Nobody is going to attend their PPV, and it’s probable that, at an expected price between $35-45, nobody is going to purchase their PPV either. Nobody gives a fuck about their product and their titles are considered worthless. If the UFC stacked three title fights on a card, you’d expect success, even if it were the titles for the three lightest weight classes. But with Bellator, which is offering three title fights on its PPV (although one is a dubious interim title), nobody knows or cares. Hell, we’re a site whose fanbase is comprised pretty much of entirely hardcore fans, and judging by the front page poll, a third of you never even watch Bellator. If they can’t get the hardcores, what fucking chance do they have at getting the casual fans to drop money on this PPV?
Even more concerning is a recent report from MMAPayout about Bellator 102, which UFC “star” Cheick Kongo headlined. The show’s gate was only $73,410.43. A paltry 1,482 people attended the show but nearly half of those tickets (604 of them to be precise) were comped. Now, are you ready to be really amazed? Let’s look at the salaries…
On Friday, MMAJunkie’s John Morgan tweeted that the PPV had sold only approximately 1,700 tickets, with another 2,000 on consignment. Matt Roth of MMAMania noted just how dire the situation really is. He pointed out that the venue can hold over 13,000 people, meaning that Bellator would have to sell in the neighborhood of 10,000 tickets in less than 20 days to secure a sellout. That probably isn’t going to happen — not even if Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson became giants like in the awful trailer for the PPV.
Bjorn Rebney better be prepared to get a job at his dad’s Winnebago dealership; winter is coming for Bellator. Nobody is going to attend their PPV, and it’s probable that, at an expected price between $35-45, nobody is going to purchase their PPV either. Nobody gives a fuck about their product and their titles are considered worthless. If the UFC stacked three title fights on a card, you’d expect success, even if it were the titles for the three lightest weight classes. But with Bellator, which is offering three title fights on its PPV (although one is a dubious interim title), nobody knows or cares. Hell, we’re a site whose fanbase is comprised pretty much of entirely hardcore fans, and judging by the front page poll, a third of you never even watch Bellator. If they can’t get the hardcores, what fucking chance do they have at getting the casual fans to drop money on this PPV?
Even more concerning is a recent report from MMAPayout about Bellator 102, which UFC “star” Cheick Kongo headlined. The show’s gate was only $73,410.43. A paltry 1,482 people attended the show but nearly half of those tickets (604 of them to be precise) were comped. Now, are you ready to be really amazed? Let’s look at the salaries.
Kongo made $60,000 for his fight against Mark Godbeer, who made $15,000. So the main event alone accounted for more money than the entire show made in ticket sales. The total salary payout for the entire card, including Kongo and Godbeer, was $308,000.
Subtract the gate from the salaries and you get $234,589.57 — that’s what Bellator lost on the show, or at least that’s the amount of money that Bellator needs to make up through sponsorships and other deals. “Well Viacom is rich and can take a loss on Bellator,” you say? True enough, it seems at first that Viacom could pull off the whole Ted Turner-WCW thing, but Viacom already paid $50 million for an inferior product and a Dana White lookalike. And that product is proving that it’s not financially sustainable. How much longer will Viacom decide to keep the sick man of MMA on life support?
It’s rare, but we’re going to have to agree with Dana White here: There’s no value to Bellator. The promotion still features some insanely talented fighters, but financially, they’re worse in the shit than Enron or WaMu. Get ready for Dana to add another name to the tombstone.
(The many faces of Terry Etim. / Photos via Getty)
There was a brief moment in time when Terry Etim was considered a future title contender in the UFC lightweight division. After a shaky 1-2 start in the Octagon, the Liverpool native went on a 4-0 run in 2008-2009 where he was just smoking people. Notably, Etim picked up back-to-back Submission of the Night bonuses for his choke-outs of Justin Buchholz and Shannon Gugerty, which led to horribly premature Anderson Silva comparisons being thrown around.
But these days, most UFC fans associate the name “Terry Etim” with one of the most incredible knockouts in UFC history — a KO that he was on the losing end of, unfortunately. His spectaular loss to Edson Barboza at UFC 142 defined him, and after a follow-up decision loss to Renee Forte in February, Etim was released from the UFC.
Etim vs. Cenoble will be featured on the Spike TV prelims leading up to the 11/2 PPV card. The current lineup is after the jump…
(The many faces of Terry Etim. / Photos via Getty)
There was a brief moment in time when Terry Etim was considered a future title contender in the UFC lightweight division. After a shaky 1-2 start in the Octagon, the Liverpool native went on a 4-0 run in 2008-2009 where he was just smoking people. Notably, Etim picked up back-to-back Submission of the Night bonuses for his choke-outs of Justin Buchholz and Shannon Gugerty, which led to horribly premature Anderson Silva comparisons being thrown around.
But these days, most UFC fans associate the name “Terry Etim” with one of the most incredible knockouts in UFC history — a KO that he was on the losing end of, unfortunately. His spectaular loss to Edson Barboza at UFC 142 defined him, and after a follow-up decision loss to Renee Forte in February, Etim was released from the UFC.
Etim vs. Cenoble will be featured on the Spike TV prelims leading up to the 11/2 PPV card. The current lineup is after the jump…
Pay-Per-View Main Card
Light Heavyweight: Rampage Jackson (32-11) vs. Tito Ortiz (16-11-1)
Lightweight Title: Michael Chandler (12-0) vs. Eddie Alvarez (24-3)
Light Heavyweight Interim Title: King Mo Lawal (11-2) vs. Emanuel Newton (21-7-1)
Featherweight Title: Pat Curran (19-4) vs. Daniel Straus (21-4)
Spike TV Preliminary Fights
Fight Master Finals: Joe Riggs (39-14) vs. Mike Bronzoulis (15-5)
Lightweight: Terry Etim (15-5) vs. Patrick Cenoble (9-2)
Spike.com Preliminary Fights
Welterweight: Joe Williams (10-3) vs. Jesse Juarez (20-8)
Light Heavyweight: Brandon Halsey (4-0) vs. Hector Ramirez (9-5-1)
Lightweight: Mike Guymon (14-6-1) vs. Aaron Miller (14-8)
Featherweight: Joe Camacho (13-18-3) vs. Cleber Luciano (8-5)
Lightweight: Darren Smith (4-3) vs. Josh Smith (8-5)
(The many faces of Terry Etim. / Photos via Getty)
There was a brief moment in time when Terry Etim was considered a future title contender in the UFC lightweight division. After a shaky 1-2 start in the Octagon, the Liverpool native went on a 4-0 run in 2008-2009 where he was just smoking people. Notably, Etim picked up back-to-back Submission of the Night bonuses for his choke-outs of Justin Buchholz and Shannon Gugerty, which led to horribly premature Anderson Silva comparisons being thrown around.
But these days, most UFC fans associate the name “Terry Etim” with one of the most incredible knockouts in UFC history — a KO that he was on the losing end of, unfortunately. His spectaular loss to Edson Barboza at UFC 142 defined him, and after a follow-up decision loss to Renee Forte in February, Etim was released from the UFC.
Etim vs. Cenoble will be featured on the Spike TV prelims leading up to the 11/2 PPV card. The current lineup is after the jump…
(The many faces of Terry Etim. / Photos via Getty)
There was a brief moment in time when Terry Etim was considered a future title contender in the UFC lightweight division. After a shaky 1-2 start in the Octagon, the Liverpool native went on a 4-0 run in 2008-2009 where he was just smoking people. Notably, Etim picked up back-to-back Submission of the Night bonuses for his choke-outs of Justin Buchholz and Shannon Gugerty, which led to horribly premature Anderson Silva comparisons being thrown around.
But these days, most UFC fans associate the name “Terry Etim” with one of the most incredible knockouts in UFC history — a KO that he was on the losing end of, unfortunately. His spectaular loss to Edson Barboza at UFC 142 defined him, and after a follow-up decision loss to Renee Forte in February, Etim was released from the UFC.
Etim vs. Cenoble will be featured on the Spike TV prelims leading up to the 11/2 PPV card. The current lineup is after the jump…
Pay-Per-View Main Card
Light Heavyweight: Rampage Jackson (32-11) vs. Tito Ortiz (16-11-1)
Lightweight Title: Michael Chandler (12-0) vs. Eddie Alvarez (24-3)
Light Heavyweight Interim Title: King Mo Lawal (11-2) vs. Emanuel Newton (21-7-1)
Featherweight Title: Pat Curran (19-4) vs. Daniel Straus (21-4)
Spike TV Preliminary Fights
Fight Master Finals: Joe Riggs (39-14) vs. Mike Bronzoulis (15-5)
Lightweight: Terry Etim (15-5) vs. Patrick Cenoble (9-2)
Spike.com Preliminary Fights
Welterweight: Joe Williams (10-3) vs. Jesse Juarez (20-8)
Light Heavyweight: Brandon Halsey (4-0) vs. Hector Ramirez (9-5-1)
Lightweight: Mike Guymon (14-6-1) vs. Aaron Miller (14-8)
Featherweight: Joe Camacho (13-18-3) vs. Cleber Luciano (8-5)
Lightweight: Darren Smith (4-3) vs. Josh Smith (8-5)
