Although last night’s (Sat., March 4, 2017) UFC 209 didn’t necessarily deliver the most exciting pay-per-view (PPV) main event from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the two top fighters on the card still earned a solid purse for their effort. But they weren’t the highest-earning fighters on the card, however, as that honor went to
Although last night’s (Sat., March 4, 2017) UFC 209 didn’t necessarily deliver the most exciting pay-per-view (PPV) main event from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the two top fighters on the card still earned a solid purse for their effort.
But they weren’t the highest-earning fighters on the card, however, as that honor went to main card fighters Alistair Overeem and Mark Hunt for their exciting tilt, where “The Reem” scored an emphatic knockout with some singing Muay Thai knees in the third frame. Overeem and Hunt both out-earned welterweight champ Tyron Woodley and challenger Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson in the main event with $750,000 each according to the official salaries disclosed by the NSAC courtesy of ESPN’s Brett Okamoto:
Two other high-profile fighters on the card obviously did not, however, as scheduled interim lightweight title bout particiants Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson missed out some massive paydays.
“The Eagle” was forced of the awaited title fight due to complications with his weight cut, costing him a lofty $500,000 in the process, while “El Cucuy” could have earned the same if he won:
Khabib Nurmagomedov's disclosed purse would have been $500k/$0, Tony Ferguson $250k/$250k.
There’s no beating around the bush discussing UFC 209. Friday was a very, very disappointing day for the promotion.
The cancellation of the co-main event between Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson was devastating. Not only was it heartbreaking…
There’s no beating around the bush discussing UFC 209. Friday was a very, very disappointing day for the promotion.
The cancellation of the co-main event between KhabibNurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson was devastating. Not only was it heartbreaking for the Russian—who who was having weight-cutting issues and had to pull out of the bout—and Ferguson, it was also for the fans who have been dying to see this fight happen.
This marks the third—yes third—time this fight has fallen apart, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Dana White and the UFC hierarchy just decided to never make this fight again.
After all, who could blame them?
While the interim-lightweight title fight is off the card, there is still the main event between TyronWoodley and Stephen Thompson for the welterweight title. As annoyed and depressed as we all are about the co-main event, it’s important to remember that the sun will rise Saturday, there will still be fights and there will still be a great headlining bout regardless of what else happens in the other fights.
Thompson, coming in as the No. 1 contender, is entering Saturday’s fight in Las Vegas as the favorite to win at -140, according to OddsShark. The champion, Woodley, is the underdog at +120. While it may seem surprising that the welterweight champion is the slight underdog, the odds were worse for him.
Just a day ago, Thompson was favored at -160, and Woodley was sitting at +130. It’s not a drastic shift by any means, but maybe Woodley is finally getting some of the love from pundits and fans after all the complaining that he’s been doing in recent months.
Both fighters weighed in early on Friday and both made weight. Woodley came in on the dot at 170 pounds, while Wonderboy actually came in underweight at 169 pounds.
The hype surrounding this fight, and card in general, died down significantly over the past 24 hours, leading many to feel that it will have fairly low pay-per-view sales. While that is a fair argument, Thompson vs. Woodley is still the main event and a fight that everyone wants to see, even if it wasn’t as highly anticipated as Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov.
After a majority draw last November at UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden, New York, both fighters are looking to break the deadlock and have the belt around their waist. Leaving the bout in the hands of the judges is not something a fighter wants to see happen, especially after the UFC 205 confusion.
Woodley has been pretty expressive leading up to this fight about how confident he is, even making some rather, well, outlandish statements.
Woodley is coming into this fight looking to take Wonderboy‘s head clean-off, while Thompson is looking for a finish anyway he can get it.
Prediction
The last time Wonderboy and Woodley met, the fight was too close to call. This time around, however, there won’t be a doubt in anyone’s mind who the 170-pound champion is.
Thompson took Woodley‘s best shots on the chin and survived. The only thing Woodley could do any differently is to shoot for more takedowns, but he appears to gas out fairly early in fights, usually after the first or second round. Thompson, on the other hand, did not show anywhere near his full arsenal of karate and kickboxing skills, which makes this a very interesting fight for him.
Sure, Woodley has been training with Sage Northcutt to mimic Wonderboy‘s karate stance and kicks, but Thompson is a very elite karate practitioner who will showcase his full skill set on Woodley, leaving him gasping for air.
I see this fight going the distance for a second time except that Thompson will sweep the judges’ scorecards en route to a unanimous-decision victory, becoming the new UFC welterweight champion of the world.
There’s no beating around the bush discussing UFC 209. Friday was a very, very disappointing day for the promotion.
The cancellation of the co-main event between Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson was devastating. Not only was it heartbreaking…
There’s no beating around the bush discussing UFC 209. Friday was a very, very disappointing day for the promotion.
The cancellation of the co-main event between KhabibNurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson was devastating. Not only was it heartbreaking for the Russian—who who was having weight-cutting issues and had to pull out of the bout—and Ferguson, it was also for the fans who have been dying to see this fight happen.
This marks the third—yes third—time this fight has fallen apart, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Dana White and the UFC hierarchy just decided to never make this fight again.
After all, who could blame them?
While the interim-lightweight title fight is off the card, there is still the main event between TyronWoodley and Stephen Thompson for the welterweight title. As annoyed and depressed as we all are about the co-main event, it’s important to remember that the sun will rise Saturday, there will still be fights and there will still be a great headlining bout regardless of what else happens in the other fights.
Thompson, coming in as the No. 1 contender, is entering Saturday’s fight in Las Vegas as the favorite to win at -140, according to OddsShark. The champion, Woodley, is the underdog at +120. While it may seem surprising that the welterweight champion is the slight underdog, the odds were worse for him.
Just a day ago, Thompson was favored at -160, and Woodley was sitting at +130. It’s not a drastic shift by any means, but maybe Woodley is finally getting some of the love from pundits and fans after all the complaining that he’s been doing in recent months.
Both fighters weighed in early on Friday and both made weight. Woodley came in on the dot at 170 pounds, while Wonderboy actually came in underweight at 169 pounds.
The hype surrounding this fight, and card in general, died down significantly over the past 24 hours, leading many to feel that it will have fairly low pay-per-view sales. While that is a fair argument, Thompson vs. Woodley is still the main event and a fight that everyone wants to see, even if it wasn’t as highly anticipated as Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov.
After a majority draw last November at UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden, New York, both fighters are looking to break the deadlock and have the belt around their waist. Leaving the bout in the hands of the judges is not something a fighter wants to see happen, especially after the UFC 205 confusion.
Woodley has been pretty expressive leading up to this fight about how confident he is, even making some rather, well, outlandish statements.
Woodley is coming into this fight looking to take Wonderboy‘s head clean-off, while Thompson is looking for a finish anyway he can get it.
Prediction
The last time Wonderboy and Woodley met, the fight was too close to call. This time around, however, there won’t be a doubt in anyone’s mind who the 170-pound champion is.
Thompson took Woodley‘s best shots on the chin and survived. The only thing Woodley could do any differently is to shoot for more takedowns, but he appears to gas out fairly early in fights, usually after the first or second round. Thompson, on the other hand, did not show anywhere near his full arsenal of karate and kickboxing skills, which makes this a very interesting fight for him.
Sure, Woodley has been training with Sage Northcutt to mimic Wonderboy‘s karate stance and kicks, but Thompson is a very elite karate practitioner who will showcase his full skill set on Woodley, leaving him gasping for air.
I see this fight going the distance for a second time except that Thompson will sweep the judges’ scorecards en route to a unanimous-decision victory, becoming the new UFC welterweight champion of the world.
Dana White isn’t thrilled with how Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team handled his illness. The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President woke up to the news that “The Eagle” was in the hospital. The problem White has with Nurmagomedov’s team is how they went about sending their fighter to the hospital. White said instead of calling the UFC’s doctor […]
Dana White isn’t thrilled with how Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team handled his illness. The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President woke up to the news that “The Eagle” was in the hospital. The problem White has with Nurmagomedov’s team is how they went about sending their fighter to the hospital. White said instead of calling the UFC’s doctor […]
By now the full burden of today’s disappointing news that the interim lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson in the co-main event of tomorrow’s (Sat., March 4, 2017) UFC 209 from Las Vegas had been cancelled, and none felt the harrowing situation’s weight more than the surging “El Cucuy.” No. 2-ranked Ferguson, who was
By now the full burden of today’s disappointing news that the interim lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson in the co-main event of tomorrow’s (Sat., March 4, 2017) UFC 209 from Las Vegas had been cancelled, and none felt the harrowing situation’s weight more than the surging “El Cucuy.”
No. 2-ranked Ferguson, who was the consensus top contender along with Nurmagomedov for champion Conor McGregor’s belt thanks to nine consecutive wins, could have blasted Khabib after their bad blood-hyped buildup to the fight. But “El Cucuy” actually did the opposite, offering the following classy tweet that seemed to have the most genuine of intentions:
Ferguson seems extremely understanding after both of them had each pulled out of one of their two previously scheduled meetings. He was set to finally capitalize on his biggest-ever UFC fight by far, and now it remains uncertain if he will ever get his bout with “The Eagle.”
But he’s not going to let that get him down. Ferguson appeared at today’s UFC 209 ceremonial weigh-ins to address the situation to Octagon commentator Joe Rogan courtesy of MMAFighting.com:
Ferguson kept up with his positivity, saying everything happens for a reason and urging fans to still respect Nurmagomedov, the UFC, and the rest of the fighters on UFC 209 tomorrow night:
“I thought it was just a nightmare man; something worse than ‘El Cucuy.’ It’s just some shitty stuff we had to go through. No disrespect to Khabib or the UFC, but everything happens for a reason. This is a fighters’ sport, so I want everyone of you to give love for the UFC and give love to Khabib, and I really want you guys to buy this pay-per-view, because the rest of the fucking card is amazing!”
In case you’ve been out of the loop, an interim lightweight title bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson is not happening tomorrow night (March 4). “The Eagle” and “El Cucuy” were set to throw down inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada in the co-main event of UFC 209. Nurmagomedov struggled to make […]
In case you’ve been out of the loop, an interim lightweight title bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson is not happening tomorrow night (March 4). “The Eagle” and “El Cucuy” were set to throw down inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada in the co-main event of UFC 209. Nurmagomedov struggled to make […]
There’s no beating around the bush discussing UFC 209. Friday was a very, very disappointing day for the promotion.