UFC Fight Pass Adds Pancrase and Seven Other Promotions, Still Kind of Sucks As a Digital Service

(“What was your question? Are we looking to buy the entire Internet? I mean, yeah, we’ll see what happens.”/Photo via Getty)
UFC’s digital subscription service, Fight Pass, has its fair share of pros and cons. The cost isn’t all that damaging to the wallet, but it’s not exactly the game-changer promotion officials thought it would be.

Without knowing too much about subscriber info and profits, the network allows you to watch free UFC cards, including FOX Sports 1 events, preliminary fights, and exclusive Fight Pass broadcasts that usually take place outside of North America. It also has an extensive UFC library, containing an abundance of full main cards from UFC, Pride, WEC, EliteXC, and those two Affliction MMA cards that were surprisingly fun.

(“What was your question? Are we looking to buy the entire Internet? I mean, yeah, we’ll see what happens.”/ Photo via Getty)

UFC’s digital subscription service, Fight Pass, has its fair share of pros and cons. The cost isn’t all that damaging to the wallet, but it’s not exactly the game-changer that promotion officials thought it would be.

The network allows you to watch free UFC cards, including FOX Sports 1 events, preliminary fights, and exclusive Fight Pass broadcasts that usually take place outside of North America. It also carries an extensive UFC library, containing an abundance of full main cards from UFC, as well as Pride, WEC, EliteXC, and those two Affliction MMA cards that were surprisingly fun, among others.

After reports surfaced that hackers stole login info and credit card numbers from tens of thousands of subscribers late last month (which confirms that early security concerns were never fully addressed), fight fans were met with a better announcement, as Zuffa announced hours before UFC 182 it has acquired eight fight libraries from well-known international and regional promotions, including legendary Japanese outfit Pancrase, as well as King of The Cage, HookNShoot, TKO, Cage Rage, Extreme Challenge, UCMMA, and XFO.

UFC Chief Content Officer Marshall Zelaznik announced the news in a press conference on Saturday, revealing that over 13,000 individual bouts are slated to be added to Fight Pass this upcoming spring. The content comes from the brain of UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, who apparently made his own list of what promotions he wanted to see on the digital service (according to MMA Fighting).
After news broke that hackers stole login info and credit card numbers from tens of thousands of subscribers a few days ago (which really speaks volumes about the lack of security), fight fans were met with a better announcement, as Zuffa announced hours before UFC 182 it has acquired eight fight libraries from renown and regional promotions, including legendary Japanese promotion Pancrase (complete library), King of The Cage, HookNShoot, TKO, Cage Rage, Extreme Challenge, Ultimate Challenge MMA (UCMMA), and XFO.

But there’s still a lot to complain about, after the jump:


(“What was your question? Are we looking to buy the entire Internet? I mean, yeah, we’ll see what happens.”/ Photo via Getty)

UFC’s digital subscription service, Fight Pass, has its fair share of pros and cons. The cost isn’t all that damaging to the wallet, but it’s not exactly the game-changer that promotion officials thought it would be.

The network allows you to watch free UFC cards, including FOX Sports 1 events, preliminary fights, and exclusive Fight Pass broadcasts that usually take place outside of North America. It also carries an extensive UFC library, containing an abundance of full main cards from UFC, as well as Pride, WEC, EliteXC, and those two Affliction MMA cards that were surprisingly fun, among others.

After reports surfaced that hackers stole login info and credit card numbers from tens of thousands of subscribers late last month (which confirms that early security concerns were never fully addressed), fight fans were met with a better announcement, as Zuffa announced hours before UFC 182 it has acquired eight fight libraries from well-known international and regional promotions, including legendary Japanese outfit Pancrase, as well as King of The Cage, HookNShoot, TKO, Cage Rage, Extreme Challenge, UCMMA, and XFO.

UFC Chief Content Officer Marshall Zelaznik announced the news in a press conference on Saturday, revealing that over 13,000 individual bouts are slated to be added to Fight Pass this upcoming spring. The content comes from the brain of UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, who apparently made his own list of what promotions he wanted to see on the digital service (according to MMA Fighting).

Now, the Pancrase library certainly gets us giddy, seeing that their current events are pretty difficult to find, without the availability to download those events after they take place. The rest is a nice treat, yet we’re still holding out for Yamma and Rhode Island Vale Tudo. With that said, Fight Pass is starting to shape up as definitive library of MMA fights from the most important promotions, and it’s apparently still growing.

This comes not too long after UFC’s inclusion of Invicta FC events, providing streaming of live events and past showcases from the leading all-female MMA promotion. We could really do without exclusive shows like The Ultimate Fighter: Whatever Country We’re In and MMA Mindset, but variety is never a bad thing.

On the other hand, this also means a boatload of free content will likely be pulled from YouTube and other free streaming sites. Zuffa legal teams will be out in full force and prohibiting fans from watching some old Bas Rutten and Frank Shamrock Pancrase fights because they now own that material.

In spite of that, it still feels like Fight Pass is “under construction,” since the search tool is fairly problematic; you’d think the service could at least rank the bouts you’re looking for in chronological order. It’s also incredibly glitchy, with a lot of complaints about getting bounced out of a live broadcast, only to have to sign back in. There are rewind functions, but it’s kind of annoying to be asked to log in again after the site freezes and have to reenter your password during the critical moments of a fight.

Also, for those that think pro wrestling isn’t direct competition to MMA, think again. Fight Pass was overshadowed by the WWE Network days after its launch, which isn’t doing so good itself, according to pundits. The reason WWE stole the glory was their inclusion of the 12 PPV events they put on a year (including WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and Survivor Series), not to mention countless hours of WCW and ECW footage. By comparison, the UFC didn’t even have their complete fight library posted at first (nor did they have as much Pride material, which is sort of a deal-breaker if you’re going to monopolize the online MMA world). For what it’s worth, Japan’s top wrestling promotion, New Japan Pro Wrestling, launched its own digital network a few weeks ago, called NJPW World. The cost is similar, and since Puroresu is rising in North America, it’s a lot more compelling to watch old Antonio Inoki contests from decades ago, instead of an Ultimate Bigfoot Silva collection.

If that’s not enough, there’s no indication the new additions will help generate more subscribers. It’s a nice bonus for the MMA diehards who are already staying up all night to watch international UFC cards on the Internet, but is it a true selling point for those who are still on the fence? If the UFC was willing to take a little bit of a pay cut to include a couple of PPV events on the network, then the service would be a must for your typical UFC enthusiast. But apparently, PPV isn’t dead, despite more and more people cancelling their cable subscriptions in favor of laptops and HDMI wires.

Oh, and one other thing … word on the streets is that UFC had geoblocked the prelims for Canadian fans this past weekend, presumably in attempt to get Canucks to sign up for specialty channels like The Fight Network. Stemming from the new deal UFC signed for their Canadian broadcasts, this would absolutely suck if you had to pay extra to watch a handful of prelim bouts that you used to watch for free when the UFC was on Sportsnet.

I’d like to think all these issues will be resolved this year, but pessimism is one of my favorite pastimes.

Alex G.

Renan Barao: From ‘Pound-for-Pound Best’ to Cable Co-Main Event

Renan Barao must’ve thought he’d live forever. After all, the young man had it all. He was the three-time defending UFC bantamweight champion. He had a nine-year, 34-fight unbeaten streak. At the tender age of 27, he had earned global fame and adoration in the combat sports-o-sphere. It all hit its peak this past May. […]

Renan Barao must’ve thought he’d live forever. After all, the young man had it all. He was the three-time defending UFC bantamweight champion. He had a nine-year, 34-fight unbeaten streak. At the tender age of 27, he had earned global fame and adoration in the combat sports-o-sphere. It all hit its peak this past May. […]

Fox Sports 1 Reaches Deal With Time Warner Cable, DirecTV, and Dish Network in Time for Tomorrow’s Launch

Just a few days ago, tens of millions of fight fans might have been wondering if they’d be able to watch Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 26 event. The fight card will help launch the new all-sports cable channel Fox Sports 1, but the new network had yet to reach deals with major television distributors like Time Warner Cable, DirecTV, and the Dish Network.

At the 11th hour, however, FS1 has reached a distribution deal with all of those providers, expanding the reach of tomorrow’s “Shogun vs. Sonnen” card by about forty million viewers. MMA Junkie has more details.

“You can check FOX Sports 1’s availability in your area at foxsports1.com. The channel now will be available in approximately 90 million homes for its heavily promoted launch.

“The channel, which will become the primary cable home of the UFC (along with the also-launching FOX Sports 2), replaces the organization’s previous broadcasts on FX and FUEL TV. The UFC will contribute to 5,000 annual hours of live programming, which also will include NCAA basketball and football, NASCAR, soccer, boxing and other sports.”

This news hits home for this writer. Before the announcement, I was facing the horrible prospect of either having to go watch the fight with people outside of my basement lair or being forced to actually make other plans for a Saturday night other than watching fights *shudder*.

Close call. How many of you taters does this development affect and what were you planning to do if you couldn’t have watched Shogun, Chael, Alistair, McGregor, JLau, UrijahCole and the rest of ’em?

Elias Cepeda

Just a few days ago, tens of millions of fight fans might have been wondering if they’d be able to watch Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 26 event. The fight card will help launch the new all-sports cable channel Fox Sports 1, but the new network had yet to reach deals with major television distributors like Time Warner Cable, DirecTV, and the Dish Network.

At the 11th hour, however, FS1 has reached a distribution deal with all of those providers, expanding the reach of tomorrow’s “Shogun vs. Sonnen” card by about forty million viewers. MMA Junkie has more details.

“You can check FOX Sports 1′s availability in your area at foxsports1.com. The channel now will be available in approximately 90 million homes for its heavily promoted launch.

“The channel, which will become the primary cable home of the UFC (along with the also-launching FOX Sports 2), replaces the organization’s previous broadcasts on FX and FUEL TV. The UFC will contribute to 5,000 annual hours of live programming, which also will include NCAA basketball and football, NASCAR, soccer, boxing and other sports.”

This news hits home for this writer. Before the announcement, I was facing the horrible prospect of either having to go watch the fight with people outside of my basement lair or being forced to actually make other plans for a Saturday night other than watching fights *shudder*.

Close call. How many of you taters does this development affect and what were you planning to do if you couldn’t have watched Shogun, Chael, Alistair, McGregor, JLau, UrijahCole and the rest of ‘em?

Elias Cepeda