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The UFC: In Order to Rebuild It, We Must Destroy It

By CP Reader Scott Johnson

I rented my first UFC event from the local Blockbuster video store back in 1999. I had seen many of the commercials advertising this No Holds Barred spectacle where “Two men enter, one man leaves”, and as a lifelong pro wrestling fan, I was interested to see this new entity. I paid $3.74 and went home with my VHS copy of UFC VI with visions of barbarism and gore dancing in my head, expecting to see nothing short of legalized murder.

What I got wasn’t far off. Immediately after seeing a portly bar brawler by the name of David L. “Tank” Abbott take eighteen seconds to knock a 400 lb. John Matua into a living death, I was hooked. I would go on to rent every single tape that I could get my hands on and started purchasing every PPV event I could (Ok, technically my girlfriend’s dad was unknowingly purchasing them but whatever…)

I mention this only to establish that I am not someone who is new to the UFC brand, nor am I what the hardcore fans would consider a “TUF Noob.” I was there when Frank Shamrock was ending hopelessly overmatched Russians in a matter of seconds. I was watching when Matt Hughes performed an unconscious powerbomb on Carlos Newton, beginning a reign of domination not yet seen in what would be referred to as the “New Era of Mixed Martial Arts.” I spent many of hours passionately defending the intricacies of Jiu Jitsu to my friends, who laughed and referred to talented fighters like Pat Miletich and Mikey Burnett as “a bunch of pantie grabbers.”

That being said, I want you to understand how much it pains me to make my next statement. As a loyal fan of the UFC, I must make the “Ultimate” sacrifice in order to help what I have loved so much for so long. I have to stop watching what has become one of my favorite forms of entertainment.

I have to stop watching UFC. Why, you ask? Well, let me tell you…

By CP Reader Scott Johnson

I have to stop watching UFC. Why, you ask? Well, let me tell you…

The problems that currently plague the UFC have been well documented. Everything from shady drug testing practices to the embarrassing representation of the company stemming not only from its fan base but its key public figure in Dana White have taken its toll on the company and the sport as a whole. The promotion’s ever-depleting amount of star power (outside of Ronda Rousey), ever-increasing injury-plagued cards, and oversaturation of the market by holding a lackluster card every week?has tarnished?the reputation of this once great company.

It wasn’t so long ago that the UFC had seen an upward surge of momentum, which indicated that we were mere moments away from an era where it would be seen as one of the major sports leagues in the country. The Ultimate Fighter had convinced a large portion of the ever important demographic of males ages 18-35 to tune into the product. Brock Lesnar jumped from the WWE to the UFC to become the biggest draw the UFC had ever seen, headlining four of the top ten drawing Pay-Per-Views (including the #1 show, UFC 100) in the history of the company. FOX finally jumped on the UFC hype train in 2011, signing a seven year deal with the company. Everything was finally coming up Milhouse.

When looking at the company’s financial status today, however, it appears that the damage is finally starting to take its toll on the company. PPV numbers are in decline and the shows that are given away for free just aren’t drawing people to their television sets. Look at last weekend’s Fight Night 60, which inexplicably placed a fight between Dan Kelly and Patrick Walsh on the main card, resulting in one of the worst fights of the year. Look at this weekend’s Fight Night 61, the majority of which would be better placed on the undercard of a Bellator event. Look at UFC 184, a card so weak that it is arguably downgrading Ronda Rousey’s brand by forcing her to carry it. It’s 2015 and Fight Night: Maia vs. LaFlare is a thing that is happening.

So why isn’t anyone doing anything about this? It’s not like the evidence isn’t there, begging to be acknowledged by the powers that be. However, it seems that Dana white seems fit to make excuses for his terrible behavior by claiming that he knows better than the rest of us, much like the partner in an abusive relationship does when defending their behavior from last night’s dinner.

And much like the enabling partner in said relationship, we keeping coming back to that dinner table every night, hoping that one day the other will finally come to their senses. That if we just duck our heads and take our licks, our love and support for the promotion will finally shine through and convince them to make the changes necessary to heal the relationship.

But we all know that’s not how it works. If we as hardcore fans of the UFC want any real change to occur, we have to do what we hoped would never have to happen. We have to separate from the brand and stop supporting the behavior that has led us to where we are now. This is the only way that we can truly communicate to the UFC that enough is enough and it’s time for a change. We have to stop purchasing the pay per view events, no matter how bad we may want to see them or how well hyped the main event might be. We have to stop paying our monthly Fight Pass fees. We have to stop purchasing products from UFC sponsors. Most importantly, we need to contact said sponsors and let them know exactly why we won’t be buying their products no matter how bad our Dudes need Wiping.

Instead, we should spend the time and money that we would have normally invested elsewhere to continue to support MMA as a whole. Support the different MMA leagues around, be it your hometown group or one of the more known groups like World Series of Fighting or Bellator. Join an MMA gym and become one of the many hobbyists that populate the mats. Write an article for your favorite MMA blog who may be desperate for material allowing any blowhard to get posted (I’m looking at you, Cagepotato)

No matter how we decide to spend our extra time and money, it needs to not be anything that supports an organization who so willfully stares into the face of logic and reason and spits at it. As much as we all love MMA and its most widely known organization, the only way we will see any progress is if we stand up and say “I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!”

So will you join me?! Probably not, but it’s something worth considering.

The UFC Needs to Massively Scale Down The Amount of PPVs Each Year

(“PPV buys are higher than ever, dummies. These goofy Internet fucks know NOTHING. Everything is fine.”—Dana White doing his best impersonation of this guy. / Photo via Getty)

By Mike Fagan

Cain Velasquez became another victim (again) of the UFC’s so-called “injury bug,” pulling out of UFC 180 with a knee injury. This is great news for people who want to see a weirdo holding a UFC heavyweight title as Mark Hunt stepped in to fight original challenger Fabricio Werdum. This is bad news for fans who want to watch the greatest heavyweight talent in the sport since Fedor Emelianenko. It’s horrible news for the UFC, who set up this event in Mexico City to both help cultivate the Mexican market and provide a similar atmosphere for Velasquez that Conor McGregor received in Ireland earlier this year.

It’s another blow to the UFC’s pay-per-view business. UFC Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta told Sports Business Daily that “about 80 percent” of fights they wanted to put on have been cancelled. That’s probably an exaggeration (at least if we’re looking at the entirety of the UFC’s matchmaking), but the reality isn’t much better. Of the 14 events including and between UFC 168 and UFC 181 (including the cancelled UFC 176), only five have escaped an injury to a fighter in either the main or co-main event. That is, 64% of UFC PPVs within that timeframe have had alterations or cancellations to one of the featured bouts at the top of the card.

Combined with the loss of Georges St-Pierre (quasi-retirement) and Anderson Silva (wishboned leg), the injuries at the top of marquee events have led the UFC to its worst year on pay-per-view since 2005. In 2005, the UFC ran six pay-per-view events for a total of 950,000 buys and an average of 158,000 per event. This year hasn’t been that bad (2.22M total buys/277,500 per event), but that’s far below the “down years” of 2011-13. (It should be noted that those “down years” are in line with the total PPV business the UFC did prior to the 2009-10 Lesnar Era.)

(“PPV buys are higher than ever, dummies. These goofy Internet fucks know NOTHING. Everything is fine.”—Dana White doing his best impersonation of this guy. / Photo via Getty)

By Mike Fagan

The blame is often cast at “UFC oversaturation,” the idea that the UFC is flooding the market with too much content for their consumers. You can trace the oversaturation argument all the way back to 2010, when television ratings started to fall, and it’s only picked up steam as the UFC has expanded their product from 24 events in 2010 to 45 in 2014.

That comparison is a bit misleading, however. When you add in Strikeforce (15 events) and the WEC (8 events), you wind up with 47 shows between the three promotions in 2010. It seems only natural that the UFC would fill the void after assimilating the WEC and Strikeforce and inflating their roster. It was easier for Joe Casual to follow the UFC in 2010 because the promotional landscape helped delineate the sport. You had an A-show in the UFC and two solid B-products (with different niches) in Strikeforce and the WEC.

The problem isn’t that there is too many UFC events. The problem is that the UFC has done a bad job differentiating their products. There is, at times, little separating a pay-per-view event like UFC 177 (even before the Renan Barao fiasco) from one of the better Fox Sports 1 cards. This naturally leads people to ask questions like, “Why am I paying $54.95 to watch Beneil Dariush and Carlos Diego Ferreira?”

Fortunately, it’s a problem the UFC is aware of. As Lorenzo Fertitta told Sports Business Daily:

It’s about segmentation of the product, and quite honestly, I don’t think we did a good job of it when we went into the deal with Fox. We didn’t take a deep breath and say, ‘OK, how are we going to do this?’ It wasn’t until two or three months later when we said, ‘We gotta think about this differently.’ We had to segment the product and package it differently.

Progress has been made on this front. The first few UFC on Fox cards felt like promotion and network were closing their eyes and throwing darts at the wall. Those cards are starting to gain an identity: meaningful fight on top, action fights on the undercard. They seemed to have figured out their Fight Pass strategy as well: feature a regionally relevant fighter and pack the card with other locals. The Fox Sports 1 (formerly FX) shows have largely continued where they left off at Spike.

It’s on the success of their television deals, both domestic and international, that the UFC has buoyed itself. As Dave Meltzer notes at MMA Fighting, pay-per-view and ticket sale revenue now accounts for only 30 percent of the UFC’s revenues, down from 75 percent “[n]ot all that many years ago.” And revenues “have grown 50 percent in the past five years.”

While oversaturation seems nebulous and overall business seems healthy, the UFC’s pay-per-view strategy is in need of fine tuning. Despite their awful year, Meltzer notes that the UFC will continue on a “one per month” schedule in 2015, per Dana White. On one hand, you have to admire White and co. for their commitment to process over results. On the other, you have to wonder what the hell they’re thinking.

Simply put, the current roster cannot support 13 pay-per-views. They have few consistent draws. Jon Jones is the guy they can most rely on over the next few years, but has yet to transcend like Georges St-Pierre or Anderson Silva. Silva will headline UFC 183 in 2015, but is on Retirement Watch. Ronda Rousey, Dana White-proclaimed biggest star in MMA history, was just scheduled for her third supporting-role duty at UFC 182. Chris Weidman and Johny Hendricks are unproven. Sub-170 has sold tepidly at best post-B.J. Penn.

In addition, the pace of the UFC’s schedule makes it difficult for the company to fill pay-per-view undercards with appropriate talent. Fighters like Michael Bisping and Urijah Faber, long mainstays of PPV undercards, are now being relegated to Fight Pass main events and free TV PPV lead-ins. This isn’t all bad – being able to watch “name” talent for free or on the cheap is great, but it detracts from the value of a pay-per-view. Dana White once admonished boxing promoters for stuffing club fighters and also-rans underneath Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. But the UFC quietly started to do the same thing with their biggest draws (Lesnar and St-Pierre), and it’s now become their norm.

The remedy is obvious: scale back pay-per-views to what the roster can support. Be dynamic. That’s what boxing’s done over the last decade. In 2006, HBO and Showtime put on 10 pay-per-view events drawing 3.7M buys for $179.5M in revenue. That number dropped to 8 for 2012 and 2013 combined. Thanks to two events a piece from Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, plus the emergence of Canelo Alvarez, boxing will end 2014 with seven pay-per-view events, none doing worse than 300,000 buys. Low-balling the final boxing PPV – headlined by Manny Pacquiao and Chris Algieri – for 600,000 buys, boxing will end up drawing somewhere in the neighborhood of 4.1-4.3M buys this year, which, barring a miracle, will outperform the UFC.

It’s obvious the UFC has noticed the problem. They stacked the UFC 178 undercard (which saved them from another atrocious buyrate when Jones went down), and they appear to be doing the same thing for UFC 182. And while they should bounce back some in 2015 (regression to the mean, y’all), they’re still playing a dangerous game with a full calendar of pay-per-view events.

Video: Comedian Russell Peters Says the UFC ‘Will Play Itself Out’ Due to Oversaturation

(Props: @JayRussellMMA)

Standup comedy superstar and Last Comic Standing judge Russell Peters went on SiriusXM’s Todd Shapiro Show last week, and spent a minute discussing his love of boxing and MMA. As Peters sees it, boxing is about to enjoy a resurgence, but the UFC brand is struggling due to oversaturation. I mean, we’ve been saying the same thing about UFC oversaturation since 2012, but we’re just a bunch of keyboard warriors and haters, right? Russell Peters is a guy who’s actually done something with his life. Here’s what he had to say:

“I always said the UFC will play itself out, they’ll oversaturate the market and they’ll lose their event status. And that’s what’s happening lately. They’ve got a lot of cards on, but you don’t know what you’re watching. Am I watching an old fight, a rerun? Is this UFC, is this TUF, is this Fight Night? I don’t know, they’ve changed it all, they’ve given it all these different titles, so you don’t know what you’re watching anymore…[it’s on] every night, and you don’t if it’s old, new, live, taped. You don’t know anymore.“

(Props: @JayRussellMMA)

The UFC needs to get in front of this crisis by kicking out whatever That ’70s Show leftovers they still have left in their celebrity pit and inviting Peters out to watch UFC 178 from cageside. A relevant celebrity who publicly admits to watching cage-fighting is a resource that should be cultivated. (We’re not saying that Anthony Kiedis is no longer relevant. Heavens no, we would never say that.)

Keep in mind that the next three weekends will feature four different UFC events airing via three different methods of broadcast: Fight Pass, Fox Sports 1, and pay-per-view. Casual fans are tuning out due to thin cards and utter confusion, and you can’t really blame them.

The Unsupportable Opinion: I’m Watching Bellator Instead of UFC This Friday, And You Should Too

(Bobby Lashley has swelled up to Guy on the Right proportions. That’s worth your attention, right there.)

By Shep Ramsey

Unless you’ve been trapped in your basement savoring celebrity nudes for the past few days, you can’t ignore the UFC vs. Bellator showdown this Friday night. Both MMA organizations are going head-to-head, and to make the pot even sweeter, both events take place in the not-so-glorious state of Connecticut.

Are Dana White and Scott Coker both there to lobby for MMA regulation in nearby New York, or petition for the return of the Hartford Whalers? No.

Not since Donovan Bailey and Michael Johnson’s match of “Who Can Run Faster, You or Me” has the sporting world been on the edge of their seats for something of this magnitude. But first, a brief rundown of what’s been happening in each promotion.

Let’s begin with Bellator, the little-brother league that used to hold tournaments not only for its fighters to earn title shots, but also to give champions 14-month periods of rest between fights. Viacom, the mega broadcast company that currently pulls the strings, recently axed Bjorn Rebney from his presidential post for being a “dickrider,” and brought former Strikeforce mastermind Scott Coker into the fold to run this promotion before it runs itself into the ground. I mean, who else brought you the demise of Fedor Emilianenko, premiere women’s MMA battles, Frank Shamrock getting his arms broken by kicks, a post-fight brawl involving Californian gangs, and Gus “Call of the Century” Johnson?

As for the UFC, the promotion started out as an addictive source of violence after two casino heirs-turned-bodybuilders used their papa’s money to hire King Kong Bundy in a dress, and revolutionized the sport of MMA. Nowadays, UFC head honcho (and the sole reason why MMA exists) Dana White, has turned on the fans, media, and even fighters because nobody is watching the 2,034 shows his company puts on a year. Basically, it’s your fault that the UFC is watered down, and if you don’t like it, don’t watch it, but keep in mind, you’re a piece of trash for not watching and supporting fighters who are away from their families for six weeks. And fuck the media for telling you otherwise, because if they’re not with UFC, they have no business writing editorials or opinion columns that their employers pay them for.

So here we are on the eve of UFC Fight Night 50 (which really feels like 250) and Bellator 123 (which feels like 123, considering we have no idea what happened from 1 to 81). You have to pick one, and this writer is going to pretend that dual television sets, DVR, or sketchy Internet streams don’t exist. Which one is it going to be?

You bet your ass we’re watching Bellator…well, at least I am.

(Bobby Lashley has swelled up to Guy on the Right proportions. That’s worth your attention, right there.)

By Shep Ramsey

Are Dana White and Scott Coker both there to lobby for MMA regulation in nearby New York, or petition for the return of the Hartford Whalers? No.

You bet your ass we’re watching Bellator…well, at least I am.

You see, Bellator doesn’t really force me to watch its show; the broadcast is just there. After watching a Spike TV schedule of seven hours and realizing you’ve only seen three shows called Cops, Jail, and World’s Wildest Police Videos, it’s refreshing to see two guys who used to be really good fighters engage in a fight that if were food, would be the sloppiest of Joes. They even put on glorious title fights now and then.

On the other channel (which shows a high volume of Nascar and other crap) you’ve got the legendary Gegard Mousasi against Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza battle in a middleweight rematch for the ages. You also have Alistair Overeem potentially ruining a man’s kidney or falling straight to hell after a tap to the chin, Matt Mitrione getting his brain shattered by THE BLACK BEAST, Call of Duty veteran Joe Lauzon going to war, and a bunch of preliminary fights that start right after your morning coffee.

Belltor’s counter-programming effort (because Lord knows THEY should be blamed for this coincidental booking) is another rematch involving Pat Curran vs. Patricio Pitbull for the featherweight title, “The Cheick Kongo Nut Shot” drinking game, the return of the sport’s only royalist, “King Mo,” and a TNA World Heavyweight Championship match featuring Bobby Lashley vs. ‘Merican Samoa Joe.

Look, man…I don’t know about you, but that’s far more tempting than hearing two blokes and a football panel go at it for four hours with an hour of scraps in between. UFC has become the brand Kurt Cobain couldn’t stand, or more so, Metallica after …And Justice For All. Inviting friends over to watch a UFC card basically turns into a sleepover an hour and a half in, shutting your eyes after you reminisce about the high school girls you’re contemplating liking on Tinder. It’s too freaking long, boring, and more importantly, you’re doing them a service by tuning in. In the end, all you get for it is backlash because you aren’t a real fight fan if you didn’t particularly enjoy what you just saw.

With Bellator, I know for a fact it’s going to be a total shit show; they go live from places I’d only stop for Burger King while on tour with my off-kilter punk-folk three-piece band, and truthfully, I have no idea what the process is to attend these fights. That’s what makes it so fun. It’s mysterious, and so goddamn trashy you’ll never stop loving it. Seriously, do the partisans even know where they are?

Also, they don’t bombard me with hours of programming that is deemed necessary viewing while I would love nothing more than to spend my evening in pajamas listening to my wife berate me while on the phone with her friend for two hours. Also, they’re not secretly trying to tell me that Tony Ferguson and Danny Castillo move the needle.

More importantly, they come around every so often, and when their new season hits, I could skip shows without feeling like a worthless peon. Maybe it’s because every event for them isn’t the most stacked show they’ve ever done with the top pound for pound fighter in the world?

If we’re going to do our part to put an end to these slimy corporations stealing the sport we love, we have to fight for our cause. Do your part. We can’t change the world in a day, but eventually, we could rebuild Rome, where organized combat could or could not have first started.

UFC doesn’t care about you more than they do money. And if you’re not making them money — even if it’s a free card — then you’re not on board with the machine. How many UFC events have you watched on ~~Fart~~ Fight Pass wondering who in the hell was fighting? Do these motherfuckers care about mixed martial arts? They care about the growth of their own, and it’s happening at your own expense. If you seriously paid for UFC 177, close your computer, take a walk outside, and sit down in a park for three hours (minimum) to ask yourself what you want to do with your life.

Bellator doesn’t really give a nickel if you watch or not; it’s simply there. And if you’re on board, they’ll tell you it’s the greatest show on earth. The difference is, they say it followed by a smirk, and a big-ass swig of black label.

That’s what I want fighting to feel like.

UFC 175 Proves the UFC Can Still Be the “Super Bowl of MMA” When It Wants To Be

(Two of the best fighters on earth about to enter unarmed combat. / Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

Oversaturation. Lack of stars. Declining interest. Record-low numbers. An ephemeral casual fanbase. A hardcore fanbase that doesn’t care anymore. A resurgent competitor with a new, well-liked, adept president backed by a financial titan.

Those topics have all been under substantial discussion in the past few months–as they should be. Those are the very real, very pressing problems the UFC faces as we enter the second half of 2014.

But last night at UFC 175, the MMA world was able to forget all that–specifically because of the PPV’s main and co-main events.

The co-main event featured UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey taking on challenger Alexis Davis. As Rousey headed to the cage, I took to CagePotato’s Twitter and presciently stated Rousey-Davis would be the most one-sided fight we see all year. That’s exactly what it turned out to be. Rousey vs. Davis made Chad Mendes vs. Cody McKenzie seem well-booked and competitive.

I know what you’re saying, “Why is the UFC-sponsored cash cow Ronda Rousey winning a squash match something to get pumped up about?”

(Two of the best fighters on earth about to enter unarmed combat. / Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

Those topics have all been under substantial discussion in the past few months–as they should be. Those are the very real, very pressing problems the UFC faces as we enter the second half of 2014.

But last night at UFC 175, the MMA world was able to forget all that–specifically because of the PPV’s main and co-main events.

I know what you’re saying, “Why is the UFC-sponsored cash cow Ronda Rousey winning a squash match something to get pumped up about?”

If you paid any attention to the NFL in the late 90s/early 2000s, you might remember “The Greatest Show on Turf.” That’s what everyone called the record-breaking offense for the St.Louis Rams. At the time, there was nothing like it. Watching their games, even the one-sided blowouts, was incredible because you had the sense that watching such artistry was a privilege. You didn’t care about the 48-3 score, you cared about witnessing the spectacle, the athleticism, and the talent.

If the St.Louis Rams were the Greatest Show on Turf, Ronda Rousey is the Greatest Show on Canvas (or the Greatest Show in a Cage or whatever gimmicky honorific you’d like to use). There is quite literally nothing in MMA like watching Ronda Rousey fight–the legendary scowl she sports while “Bad Reputation” blasts in the background, her in-cage dominance, her justifiably matter-of-fact air of superiority, and the deluge of discussions that pours over the MMA community after she wins a fight.

Ronda Rousey is…unique, gifted, special, or any other similar term you prefer to use. There is not a second Ronda Rousey in MMA right now in terms of the interest–whether due to adoration or loathing–she’s capable of generating. As long as the UFC has her, they have something the fans will care about, something that’ll make the promotion worth following.

There was more to UFC 175 than just Ronda Rousey.

UFC middleweight champ Chris Weidman defended his title against Lyoto Machida in the card’s main event. While Weidman dominated the first three rounds, the last two were ferociously contested. Machida almost pulled off a Gregor Clegane-level comeback as Weidman tired and opened himself up to numerous flurries. Just as it seemed Weidman might be running on empty, the Long Island native met Machida’s whirlwind of offense with his own.

The last two rounds of Weidman-Machida were everything an MMA competition should be–contested in several areas of fighting, dramatic, enjoyable, competitive, and fought between two highly skilled fighters who are among the elite of the elite. It’s this last bit that’s most important.

Any two fighters can throw their fists and dramatic have reversals of fortune. Too many fans are content with just that–random regional-level fighters closing their eyes, sticking their chins out, and throwing hooks from their waists–”banging.” While fans accept such a product because it’s branded “UFC,” it’s not something the UFC has a monopoly on. Any MMA promotion on the planet can offer that. However, top fighters like Chris Weidman and Lyoto Machida in a brutal struggle for the only title in the MMA world that matters is something unique to the UFC.

Bellator, even with Scott Coker and Viacom’s apparent renewed interest, can’t create a card like UFC 175–nor a spectacle like Ronda Rousey, nor a fantastic fight where the MMA world hangs in the balance like Weidman-Machida. None of the UFC’s competitors can.

UFC 175 was an example of what makes the UFC special, what makes it the “Super Bowl of MMA.” The UFC would do well to remember that, lest it continues lowering its own standard and falls into ruin.

UFC 175 and TUF 19 Finale to Be Held on Same Weekend in Las Vegas, July 5-6

(Once, they were champions. Now, they’ve got the Sunday night shift, headlining a semi-pro card for a crowd of townies with comped tickets, as sanitation workers dutifully sweep up the mess that the tourists left behind. / Photo via Getty)

I don’t know what’s more insane — the UFC holding two events on the same day on two different continents, or the UFC holding two events on the same weekend in the same city, in the same damn venue. Yesterday, the UFC announced that UFC 175 (headliner TBA) and the TUF 19 Finale (which will be headlined by Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn 3) will take place on Saturday, July 5th, and Sunday, July 6th, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

The events will conclude UFC International Fight Week 2014 (July 1-6), which will feature a UFC Fan Expo and many other related activities. Besides Edgar vs. Penn, no other bouts for either card have been reported yet. We’ll keep you posted as this sprawling UFC double-album fills up.