UFC on Fox 14 drew higher ratings than any other UFC on Fox event over the past two years. Saturday’s event drew 2.82 million viewers, based on preliminary overnight ratings reported Sunday on TV By the Numbers (h/t Dave Meltzer of MMAFighting.com). The fight card was headlined by a light heavyweight battle between Alexander Gustafsson […]
UFC on Fox 14 drew higher ratings than any other UFC on Fox event over the past two years. Saturday’s event drew 2.82 million viewers, based on preliminary overnight ratings reported Sunday on TV By the Numbers (h/t Dave Meltzer of MMAFighting.com). The fight card was headlined by a light heavyweight battle between Alexander Gustafsson […]
MMA reached its zenith at UFC 182 on Saturday, but if you looked at and listened to the crowd throughout the night you’d have hardly recognized that.
The audience was sparse and half-dead. They’d have done a wave to entertain themselves if the first four fights of the PPV — four decisions featuring unimpressive and sluggish performances — hadn’t already put them to sleep. An incessant stream of “this event sucks” tweets rolled in. This script has played itself out in the past. A card that’s supposed to be the pinnacle of the sport turns out to be a boring, uninteresting, overhyped amalgam of everything wrong with it, only this time we spent an extra $5. It appeared the poor showings, as well as the restless (and partially absent) audience would ruin one of the most anticipated UFC cards in recent memory.
MMA reached its zenith at UFC 182 on Saturday, but if you looked at and listened to the crowd throughout the night you’d have hardly recognized that.
The audience was sparse and half-dead. They’d have done a wave to entertain themselves if the first four fights of the PPV — four decisions featuring unimpressive and sluggish performances — hadn’t already put them to sleep. An incessant stream of “this event sucks” tweets rolled in. This script has played itself out in the past. A card that’s supposed to be the pinnacle of the sport turns out to be a boring, uninteresting, overhyped amalgam of everything wrong with it, only this time we spent an extra $5. It appeared the poor showings, as well as the restless (and partially absent) audience would ruin one of the most anticipated UFC cards in recent memory.
“Domination” and “breaking your opponent” are cliched phrases in MMA, but when fans and pundits originally coined them they had performances like Jon Jones’ in mind. Not only did Jones beat Cormier, he beat Cormier at what he was best at — wrestling…and he made it look easy. Jon Jones took an Olympic wrestler to the mat multiple times just for kicks, broke his will in the later rounds through the same fabled “grind” Cormier was supposed to be the master of, and made him cry at the post-fight press conference.
The in-cage martial artistry isn’t even the best part. That came after the phantasmagoric displays of violence. Jones taunted a dejected Cormier with a “crotch chop” circa late 1990′s WWE. When Joe Rogan conducted a rushed (the PPV was about to hit the end of the allotted time) interview with Jones, the reigning light heavyweight champ chided Cormier’s supporters by telling them to burn their “Break Bones” t-shirts and buy his “Unbroken” t-shirt. Already guffawing (or seething, depending on your alignment) at these antics? There’s MORE. In the post-fight show on Fox Sports 1, Jones continued to bash his defeated foe.
“I hope he’s somewhere crying right now,” Jones said. “I’m sure he is.” He continued on, saying Cormier is the kind of fighter who breaks when fights get tough. Jones also said Cormier is no king of the grind like people thought.
When asked about a possible reconciliation, Jones refused to let up on his verbal onslaught.
“I know if he would have won, he would have been up here, talking all types of trash,” Jones told MMAJunkie. “So I don’t feel sorry for him. This is combat.”
The hashtag #TheTimeIsNow became the butt end of many jokes on MMA Twitter during the last few weeks. The UFC used the hashtag to promote their embarrassing “omg big announcement” press conference where they announced they had no big announcement. People used #TheTimeIsNow to mock the UFC’s recent legal troubles as well as the grim state of their PPV business.
Jon Jones is the best MMA fighter that any of us will ever see in our lifetimes. You can claim Fedor Emelianenko was the GOAT while clutching your Pride VHS collection, but you’d be wrong. Jon Jones is capable of violence and technique on a level we’ve never seen before, nor will we likely ever see again if MMA continues its current descent in popularity.
In addition to his fighting acumen, Jon Jones posses more personality and emotional magnetism than all the other UFC champions combined. Remember how MMA erupted when Ronda Rousey didn’t shake Miesha Tate’s hand after submitting her at UFC 168? What Jones did to Cormier after UFC 182 makes that look like a bro hug by comparison.
The best part is it’s not a gimmick. Jon Jones doesn’t caricature over-the-top professional wrestling promos from yesteryear. Jon Jones doesn’t exclaim that fighters from less fortunate countries mistake public transit for barnyard animals. Jon Jones breaks people. Jon Jones chokes people out and drops them on the canvas, limp and limbs quivering. Jon Jones makes people cry, then says he’s glad about it. Jon Jones is unabashedly himself. A large percentage of fans hate him for it — just look at the comments on any Jones-related article to see that. Hell, someone even tweeted to CagePotato last night saying they hope somebody shoots Jones. But despite the hate, they pay to see him. Estimates already state UFC 182 achieved over 750k buys. In an age where fighters who draw 400k are considered the company’s top stars, this is almost a miracle.
The time for watching the best MMA fighter of all time and the UFC’s current biggest star is right now. Jones is the light in the current dark age of MMA. Every second of watching Jon Jones display his craft is a gift from a Lovecraftian god of violence. Cherish this gift, even if you don’t like Jones as a person.
Brock Lesnar will likely return to the UFC in 2015, but it won’t usher in a new golden age for MMA.
The news of Lesnar’s UFC return came recently. Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer Newsletterreported that “within the [WWE], the belief is that he’s going back to the UFC, and his showing up lighter to TV last week confirmed that to people who thought it.”
Earlier this year, UFC President Dana White expressed openness to a Lesnar return, and even claimed Lesnar was willing to return. “We have a great relationship with him,” said White. “We’ll see what happens.”
Furthermore, Lesnar’s longtime friend Paul Heyman noted this summer that Lesnar still has an intense drive to compete in the Octagon.
Unlike every other time Brock Lesnar’s name has been in the headlines over the last few years, this round of “Is Lesnar coming back” speculation isn’t a gimmick to drive up pageviews during a slow news week. This appears to be the real deal. Lesnar is coming back. However, unlike conventional wisdom would have you believe, it won’t do a damn thing to turn the UFC’s fortunes around.
(Brock Lesnar flashes a rare smile after being informed he’s the highest-paid 5-3 fighter of all time. / Photo via Getty)
Brock Lesnar will likely return to the UFC in 2015, but it won’t usher in a new golden age for MMA.
The news of Lesnar’s UFC return came recently. Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer Newsletterreported that “within the [WWE], the belief is that he’s going back to the UFC, and his showing up lighter to TV last week confirmed that to people who thought it.”
Earlier this year, UFC President Dana White expressed openness to a Lesnar return, and even claimed Lesnar was willing to return. “We have a great relationship with him,” said White. “We’ll see what happens.”
Furthermore, Lesnar’s longtime friend Paul Heyman noted this summer that Lesnar still has an intense drive to compete in the Octagon.
Unlike every other time Brock Lesnar’s name has been in the headlines over the last few years, this round of “Is Lesnar coming back” speculation isn’t a gimmick to drive up pageviews during a slow news week. This appears to be the real deal. Lesnar is coming back. However, unlike conventional wisdom would have you believe, it won’t do a damn thing to turn the UFC’s fortunes around.
The UFC’s PPV buys plummeted throughout 2014, hitting an estimated low of 115,000 for UFC 174. The 2014 yearly average for PPV buys was only 256,000 — about 200,000 lower than the previous three years. The UFC’s business soured so much Standard & Poor’s downgraded Zuffa’s credit rating and financial outlook.
MMA fans have problems interpreting numbers, so let me spell it out plainly: The UFC’s domestic popularity hasn’t been this low since before the Ultimate Fighter boom. The PPV market is collapsing. The FOX deal is not the UFC’s catapult to mainstream super-stardom we all thought it would be. Casual fans have fled MMA, only to return sparingly for free television shows and almost never for PPVs. The resolve of hardcore fans, tasked with keeping the sport alive during its dark times, is withering. These problems are a result of Zuffa’s oversaturation approach as well as the fading/retirement of old stars. I’ve discussed both these problemsnumeroustimes so I won’t repeat myself suffice it to say one man can’t fix the MMA marketplace in the United States.
Brock Lesnar last fought at UFC 141 in 2011 against Alistair Overeem. Care to guess the buyrate? A mediocre 535,000. UFC 91 in 2008 — the first event Lesnar headlined, this time against Randy Couture for the UFC heavyweight title — drew 1,010,000 buys.
Only half as many people cared to see Lesnar in 2011 compared to 2009. So how many people will care in 2015, four years and thousands of brand-killing, generic, unfit-for-television-and-PPV fights (that still made it onto television and PPV) later? Furthermore, Lesnar is 37 now. The last memories people have of him in the cage are Alistair Overeem liquefying his intestines with a body kick and Cain Velasquez punching him so hard he did a hilarious pirouette across the cage. Even if the UFC matches Lesnar up against the Brendan Schaubs of the heavyweight division, it’s not likely given Lesnar’s age that his second UFC run will be longer than his first.
Think about it this way, MMA is in such a state that if Lesnar’s first PPV back draws 500k buys it’ll be a tremendous success. Four plus years ago that same number would’ve been an abject failure for someone of Lesnar’s name value.
Brock Lesnar’s return is not the salvation of MMA. It’s not the restoration of MMA’s golden age. It’s Zuffa throwing two or three fight’s worth of kindling onto a dying fire — LIVE for $59.99.
2014 has been a rough year for the UFC. Among the missing pieces have been fighters who can draw. In that time, one of the company’s premier talents has been women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. The talented bantamweight has drawn eyes from outside the MMA world to her fights, and with the UFC adding a […]
2014 has been a rough year for the UFC. Among the missing pieces have been fighters who can draw. In that time, one of the company’s premier talents has been women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. The talented bantamweight has drawn eyes from outside the MMA world to her fights, and with the UFC adding a […]
Benson “Smooth” Henderson is a talented fighter with a knack for winning the fights he loses. But on the oft-overlooked business side of MMA, Henderson is a dud.
As champion, he consistently failed to move the needle in terms of PPV buys and ratings. His rematch against Frankie Edgar at UFC 150 drew a paltry 190,000 buys—one of the worst buyrates in recent UFC history.
The UFC shipped Henderson off to FOX for his next two outings, presumably to build his name via fighting on a massive television network. Henderson headlined UFC on FOX 5 and UFC on FOX 7. They both earned modest numbers, with the former receiving an average of 3.41 million viewers (1.6 rating in the adult 18-49 demo) and the latter 3.3 million viewers (1.6 rating in the adult 18-49 demo).
Benson “Smooth” Henderson is a talented fighter with a knack for winning the fights he loses. But on the oft-overlooked business side of MMA, Henderson is a dud.
As champion, he consistently failed to move the needle in terms of PPV buys and ratings. His rematch against Frankie Edgar at UFC 150 drew a paltry 190,000 buys—one of the worst buyrates in recent UFC history.
The UFC shipped Henderson off to FOX for his next two outings, presumably to build his name via fighting on a massive television network. Henderson headlined UFC on FOX 5 and UFC on FOX 7. They both earned modest numbers, with the former receiving an average of 3.41 million viewers (1.6 rating in the adult 18-49 demo) and the latter 3.3 million viewers (1.6 rating in the adult 18-49 demo).
The exposure on FOX didn’t correlate into an increase in star power. Henderson remained a below-average PPV draw, with his fight against Anthony Pettis at UFC 164 garnering only 270,000 buys. After losing this fight, Henderson was sent to FOX yet again where he headlined UFC on FOX 10 opposite Josh Thomson. This was Henderson’s lowest-performing FOX card. Only 2.55 million viewers on average (1.1 rating in adult 18-49 demo) tuned in to this event. The live gate for this show was abysmal too. It was the lowest ever for a UFC card in Chicago and the second lowest for a FOX card. On the money side of the fight game, Henderson is anything but “smooth.”
What do you do with a fighter like him? He wins fights, but the decisions are so controversial they’re off-putting. His victories are rarely decisive and the bulk of fans refuse to pay to see him. The rest only watch him for free, but judging by the slump in viewership even those fans are losing interest.
Henderson is a promoter’s worst nightmare. He’s a decision-prone fighter who prizes points above punishment. He fights for the almighty decision, not for submissions or knockouts. Dana White himself noted this recently. He’s an anchor on the division—a perennially victorious athlete who nobody wants to see yet is too high profile to just be buried on prelims like Jon Fitch was back in the day. What if Henderson wins his next fight? Do you give him yet another rematch against Pettis? Or do you keep pairing him off with contenders until he loses? It’s a conundrum.
Benson Henderson is a competitor, not a fighter. That’s fine so long as you draw money and entertain the masses, but Henderson has never done either in the UFC. His style isn’t conducive to converting casual FOX viewers into hardcore MMA fans—fans who purchase PPVs and subscribe to the UFC Fight Pass. Yet there he was in all his banality, presented in the main event of a FOX card for all to see…and for all to loathe, malign, and ultimately forget about.
If you subscribe to this narrative, UFC 168 represents a chance for the UFC to slow their decline. If Silva prevails, the UFC has a bankable champion again; the crisis of the UFC’s future isn’t averted per se but at least it’s delayed.
This is the wrong way to look at it.
First, Anderson Silva is 38 years old. Despite his ten-fight deal, he likely won’t be around much longer. Even if he does stay for a while, he won’t be the same fighter. UFC 162 taught us that. Silva was just a 1/2 second too slow against Weidman. How much slower will he be a year from now? Two years from now?
If you subscribe to this narrative, UFC 168 represents a chance for the UFC to slow their decline. If Silva prevails, the UFC has a bankable champion again; the crisis of the UFC’s future isn’t averted per se but at least it’s delayed.
This is the wrong way to look at it.
First, Anderson Silva is 38 years old. Despite his ten-fight deal, he likely won’t be around much longer. Even if he does stay for a while, he won’t be the same fighter. UFC 162 taught us that. Silva was just a 1/2 second too slow against Weidman. How much slower will he be a year from now? Two years from now?
If Silva continues, we won’t be getting the real-life Neo we’re used to. We’ll be getting a watered-down, dilatory, depressing Anderson Silva—a 2009 Chuck Liddell-esque Silva that makes us want to give the Brazilian a cup of coffee and a hug rather than our pay-per-view dollars. “Remember how great Silva used to be?” will replace “Holy shit! Did you just see what Silva did?” throughout bars and dens across the world.
Excluding his two fights against Sonnen (UFC 117 and UFC 148), Silva didn’t bring in jaw-dropping numbers. Over the last three years, he’s garnered an average of just over 400,000 PPV buys each time he headlined a card. Silva needs the right opponent to draw. Silva-Weidman II will draw well because of the rematch angle, but the initial fight only drew 550,000 buys—respectable but not a “this guy is a superstar” level of success. It’s doubtful the UFC will find a new, profitable rival for Silva in the tired crop of “I respect him, he’s a great opponent” fighters.
The UFC wins if Silva loses. They gain a new, younger champion to promote in Chris Weidman. They’re also getting their middleweight division back. What was once a predictable slaughterhouse will now be the wild west—a lawless weight class in which a multitude of gunslingers have a chance at the title. It’ll be a division where nothing is a given; number one contender fights will actually matter and predicting who will hold the belt in a year will be challenging.
Conversely, the UFC loses if Silva wins. A triumphant Silva is a victory for a past-its-prime generation of competitors. A generation that, like a price sticker on a picture frame, refuses to be peeled away so that the beauty underneath can be seen. A Silva victory means the UFC can continue relying on its fading past, while Weidman winning forces the UFC to build its future.
