Sean O’Malley Questions UFC PPV Price Raise: ‘What The Hell Are We Doing?’

Sean O'MalleySean O’Malley was feeling like all of us following the UFC’s announcement that they were increasing the cost of pay-per-view again. Fans argue now that the price is already extremely high and therefore this will only cause more displeasure within the MMA scene, with the new cost of PPV being set at $74.99. O’Malley who […]

Sean O'Malley

Sean O’Malley was feeling like all of us following the UFC’s announcement that they were increasing the cost of pay-per-view again. Fans argue now that the price is already extremely high and therefore this will only cause more displeasure within the MMA scene, with the new cost of PPV being set at $74.99.

O’Malley who is most recently coming off the success of his 1st round TKO victory against Raulian Paiva at UFC 269 reacted to the announcement during an episode of TheBroMalley Show.

“Dana White raises pay-per-view by five dollars. What the hell are we doing here Dana?”

“No, I doubt it, but could be. It is just so easy to stream it illegally. Not talking from experience, but just saying it. Whoever is in control of legal streams at the UFC, they need someone that is good enough at hacking (them) right before the main event starts. Every single time that they just shut it right before the good stuff.”

O’Malley would also mention how he believes increasing the price for PPV will only result in more individuals attempting to illegally source the fights. He also commented on fighter pay, as he is one of few fighters to show support to Dana White regarding this.

“Dude, like I don’t even blame (Dana). It’s like some of these f*cking people have zero following. They’re not making the UFC one hundred thousand. I mean they’re not making the UFC fifty thousand. They’re not making the UFC any money, really. But that’s just from a business perspective. From Dana’s business perspective and I can see that.” (transcribed by BJPenn.com)

Sean O’Malley Shuts Down Cody Garbrandt Matchup

Cody Garbrandt has openly expressed an interest in taking on Sean O’Malley in his next outing, the former bantamweight champion suffered another setback at the hands of Kai-Kara France at UFC 269, and O’Malley who has no interest in the fight claims Garbrandt could be suffering from CTE.

Who would you like to see Sean O’Malley fight in 2022?

UFC Will Stage Same Amount Of PPV Events Under New ESPN Deal

Don’t expect less pay-per-view cards under the new UFC/ESPN deal…

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The UFC signed a new media content deal with ESPN, breaking off from FOX after nearly seven years, but don’t expect any less pay-per-view (PPV) events under the new ESPN deal.

The world’s leading MMA promotion will hold their Fight Night events under the ESPN brand but will continue its yearly PPV quota as well.

A recent Bloomberg report about the ESPN deal she some light about the UFC’s plans moving forward:

“The UFC is free to negotiate with other partners for the rest of its live rights. Those include 12 pay-per-view events, 12 pay-per-view prelim events (being offered separately in this round of talks) and about 15 other events per year, according to Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Epstein.”

The UFC has been a PPV-based company since it’s inception in the early 1990s. Said PPVs now cost $64.99 USD, so be prepare to dig deep in your pockets in 2019 for premium UFC content.

If anything, fight fans can expect to have a slight increase in UFC events next year. 2017 saw 39 shows, with 41 events for 2015 and 2016.

2014 still holds the record for most events in a year with 46, but that happened to coincide with the advent of UFC Fight Pass.

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UFC 220 PPV Buyrate On Par With UFC 219

The heavyweight title fight that seemingly everyone was talking about prior to it happening brought in pretty disappointing in PPV sales. Well, maybe not in this era of low pay-per-view sales. With the numbers now available, Dave Meltzer of MMA Fighting reports that UFC 220 did a measly 340,000 to 380,000 PPV buys, with UFC […]

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The heavyweight title fight that seemingly everyone was talking about prior to it happening brought in pretty disappointing in PPV sales.

Well, maybe not in this era of low pay-per-view sales.

With the numbers now available, Dave Meltzer of MMA Fighting reports that UFC 220 did a measly 340,000 to 380,000 PPV buys, with UFC 219 doing similar numbers.

Much has been made lately about the UFC in a post-ZUFFA world, as talent mega-agency WME-IMG’s new ownership has taken the promotion in a different direction. With less superstars readily available, they seem to stack a card with belts, of varying significance, like they did with UFC 219 which featured a women’s featherweight title fight between Cyborg and Holly Holm.

A co-main event between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Edson Barboza was incredible but clearly didn’t add to any kind of draw for UFC 219.

UFC 220 featured the aforementioned heavyweight title fight between Miocic and Ngannou as well as light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier running roughshod on Volkan Oezdemir. But Cormier has never been the draw that Jon Jones was when he held the belt, and Miocic has always been a bit stale on the mic, meaning he lets his fists do the promoting; you won’t hear much trash talk or hype coming from Miocic.

That said, there seems to be a continued trend of abysmal pay-per-views lately. Is it just a blip or is it a sign of things to come?

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Five Reasons UFC Has To Pay Conor McGregor Whatever He Wants

In many ways, the UFC has created a monster it can no longer control in current lightweight and former featherweight champion Conor McGregor. As their biggest draw and their only superstar following Jon Jones’ third failed drug test and Ronda Rousey’s departure from the sport, the newly-bought promotion is at the mercy of the one […]

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In many ways, the UFC has created a monster it can no longer control in current lightweight and former featherweight champion Conor McGregor.

As their biggest draw and their only superstar following Jon Jones’ third failed drug test and Ronda Rousey’s departure from the sport, the newly-bought promotion is at the mercy of the one and only name who can truly drive a top-selling pay-per-view (PPV) card.

Now in the wake of his blockbuster boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, it’s fair to say that McGregor is calling his own shots. If the UFC wants any shot at delivering the numbers they absolutely need, they’re going to have to bend the knee to McGregor and pay him what he wants or risk driving the UFC further into the depths of the slog that their absolutely atrocious 2017 has wrought.

We broke down why that is and how McGregor came to be his own boss in the UFC. Check out our five reasons the UFC simply has no choice but to pay the Irishman.

5. Sinking PPV Sales

There is a common argument that the quality of UFC pay-per-views has gone down considerably since Zuffa sold the promotion to WME-IMG in 2016.

Whether due to constant injuries, weight-cutting issues, failed drug tests and the like, fans have voiced their displeasure with the UFC’s product as of late.

For whatever reason, PPV sales have been in a slump for some time now with the exception of July’s UFC 214, which is likely the last time we see Jon Jones in the octagon for years to come.

The only fighter that consistently draws PPV buys is McGregor, and with that distinction comes great power, power which “Notorious” uses wisely to his advantage.

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UFC 207 Reportedly Trending Towards 1.1M PPV Buys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUw2nW7IbZk

After ratings for the preliminary card on Fox Sports 1 proved promising, this should come as no surprise. The return of Ronda Rousey appears to have cracked one million orders. UFC 207, as reported by Forb…

ufc-207-nunes-rousey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUw2nW7IbZk

After ratings for the preliminary card on Fox Sports 1 proved promising, this should come as no surprise. The return of Ronda Rousey appears to have cracked one million orders. UFC 207, as reported by Forbes, is trending towards the 1.1 million buy mark. That’s great news for the UFC’s year end show, and puts the cap on a huge year for the promotion.

While the UFC does not release official PPV numbers, UFC 207 would be the fifth PPV event to surpass the million buy mark in 2016. Based on estimates by Dave Meltzer of MMAFighting and MMAPayout, UFC 196, 200, 202, and 205 all brought in a million or more buys. The rematch between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz at UFC 202 ruled the roost. With an estimated 1,650,000 buys, it topped the promotion’s previous record of 1,600,000 buys at UFC 100. UFC 205, the promotion’s debut in New York, looks as if it will come in around roughly the same buyrate.

Never before has the UFC had so many million plus PPV events in a calendar year. The UFC 207 number is made more impressive by the fact that Rousey avoided almost all media leading into the fight. However, there is cause for concern. Although the UFC had a tremendous year at the box office, aside from UFC 200 it was entirely based off of Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey. Rousey’s career is now up in the air. Conor McGregor, meanwhile, may be out for as long as ten months as he’s expecting his first child. The UFC will be hard pressed to replace their stars, and equaling the year that just passed may prove difficult.

UFC Pay-Per-View In Dublin May Be Closer Than You Think

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor may just get his wish of a future title defense it his hometown of Dublin, Ireland in the near future. In a recent interview, UFC Executive James Elliot spoke on a possible Dublin pay-per-view (PPV) event in Croke Park or Aviva Stadium: “Croke Park and the Aviva Stadium are two

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UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor may just get his wish of a future title defense it his hometown of Dublin, Ireland in the near future.

In a recent interview, UFC Executive James Elliot spoke on a possible Dublin pay-per-view (PPV) event in Croke Park or Aviva Stadium:

“Croke Park and the Aviva Stadium are two places that we’ve looked at, we’ve made no secret about that,” Elliot said during an interview with News Talk Dublin.

“Conor (McGregor) has certainly made no secret about the fact that he wants to fight in Dublin. It’s something that’s on the agenda.

While Elliot stated that some moving parts still need to fall into place, the UFC may not be that far off from the long awaited Dublin PPV event:

“The numbers are getting closer in terms of how we could make it work, there’s still a lot of moving parts … I feel we’re not that far away, certainly within the 18-month time frame, that’s something that we’re focused on,” he said.

Given Dublin’s history of record setting ticket sales, UFC brass was moved to make the big push for what should be a massive Dublin event according to Elliot:

“We’ve sold out the two shows in Dublin in record time, even when the card was decimated through injuries in October — the fans still turned out and supported us really well,” Elliot said.

“That did not go unnoticed by everybody in Vegas. We certainly understand how big the fanbase is in Ireland, and how big it could be.”

While it’s no secret the UFC has been adamant on expanding it’s European market, the presence of ‘The Notorious One’ certainly will play a huge factor in the promotion’s Dublin pitch:

“It would be a fantastic brand play for us to have a big numbered event in Europe.” Elliot said. “It’s something that we’re definitely focused on. It’s very easy for us to see what it could do for our business — we just need to convince the right people that it’s the right thing to do at the right time.”

A PPV event in Dublin would no doubt do huge numbers, and the possibility of having McGregor defend his 145-pound strap on the card would certainly be the UFC’s targeted headliner. That is considering he remains in the featherweight division…

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