In a few days the UFC will be back from its three-week break. The fight card the promotion will offer fans of mixed martial arts will be headlined by one of the most eagerly anticipated bouts of the year, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva versus top-ranked challenger Chris Weidman. The four other fights on the […]
In a few days the UFC will be back from its three-week break. The fight card the promotion will offer fans of mixed martial arts will be headlined by one of the most eagerly anticipated bouts of the year, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva versus top-ranked challenger Chris Weidman. The four other fights on the […]
To buy, or not to buy? That is the question facing the modern MMA fan when pay-per-view events roll around one or two Saturday’s out of the month.The sport is in a time where the number of free UFC events outnumber the ones which require a cost, in the…
To buy, or not to buy? That is the question facing the modern MMA fan when pay-per-view events roll around one or two Saturday’s out of the month.
The sport is in a time where the number of free UFC events outnumber the ones which require a cost, in the form of a one time pay-per-view payment. Whether that is an effort to gain attention from casual fans or a persuasive method to convince fans to drop their cash on PPV events is purely up to speculation.
One thing is for sure, however: The free events are, by and large, more entertaining than the PPVs, at least from a stoppage standpoint.
Just take a look at the amount of stoppages each of the 15 events have delivered this year.
As the data displays, the free events put on by the UFC—whether on Fuel TV, FX or Fox—have delivered more finishes than pay-per-views more often than not.
Out of the 15 UFC events this year, nine were free. Of those nine events, seven of them featured stoppages in more than 50 percent of fights.
Here are those free events and the stoppages/fights on the card:
UFC on FX 7: 6/11
UFC on Fox 6: 6/11
UFC on Fuel 7: 3/12
UFC on Fuel 8: 3/11
UFC on Fuel 9: 7/13
TUF 17 Finale: 9/12
UFC on Fox 7: 8/12
UFC on FX 8: 7/13
UFC on Fuel 10: 10/12
The nine events combined for a stoppage rate of 55 percent (59 finishes in 107 fights), a statistic brought up by the 83-percent stoppage rate of UFC on Fuel 10, which took place earlier this month.
The six UFC PPVs have not been able to match those numbers. Here are those cards:
UFC 156: 5/13
UFC 157: 5/12
UFC 158: 5/12
UFC 159: 5/11
UFC 160: 6/12
UFC 161: 2/11
Looking at those numbers, just one of the six PPV events had a stoppage rate of 50 percent. All six combined for just 28 finishes out of 71 fights (39%).
Those numbers focus on events as a whole and, of course, when one drops $50 for a PPV event, they are only paying for five out of the 12 or 13 fights.
But PPV main cards in 2013 haven’t delivered either.
Out of 29 main card fights, just 12 of them have ended by way of stoppage, good for a 41-percent stoppage rate. Nine of those stoppages came by way of (T)KO, making up 31 percent of the outcomes, while the mere three submissions make up 10 percent of the total outcomes.
A decision outcome is the most likely, accounting for 59 percent of PPV main card wins.
Also, three of the six PPVs of 2013 had just one stoppage each (UFC 156, UFC 158 and UFC 161). Those same three cards featured main events that went to the judges.
The main cards of free events have been notably more stoppage riddled. Out of 44 main card fights, which were free on Fox, Fuel or FX, 26 have been ended inside the allotted time (59%). And six of those nine cards saw headliners end by way of stoppage.
15 of the 44 free main card fights have ended by way of (T)KO, good for 34 percent of outcomes, while the submission finishes, numbering 11, account for 25 percent. With a 59 percent stoppage rate, a fight on a free main card is, in fact, more likely to end by way of stoppage than decision. The opposite is true for PPV main cards.
However, none of this data or analysis is meant to suggest a finish is the only way a fight can be entertaining. In fact, some fights in the past which ended by way of knockout were brutal to watch (looking at you, Frank Mir and Mirko Cro Cop). However, when gauging the entertainment-value of a given card (especially a PPV card), the amount of stoppages normally dictate whether or not that event was a success in the eyes—and in the wallets—of the fans.
Thus, for all intents and purposes, the free events of 2013 have outdone the PPV events on a very consistent basis in terms of entertainment.
Of course, one must pony up some cash to watch Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, Georges St. Pierre and the rest of the sport’s elite. Fans won’t see any of those guys for free on Fox, FX or Fuel TV. And if you want to see Silva take on Chris Weidman at UFC 162 next month, there will be a cost of admission from your cable provider.
But when PPV events fail to live up to the hype—even if the main event ends with a dominant finish (see UFC 159: Jon Jones vs. ChaelSonnen)—fans struggle to find $50 in value from the card. Silva has certainly headlined his fair share of lackluster cards, even if they were only lackluster due to the fight he was apart of (see UFC 97, UFC 112).
The safe bet, considering the first half of 2013, is clear: Free events will, more often than not, deliver the more entertaining, stoppage-filled cards, while the cost of PPV events will more than likely continue serving as a talking point amongst fans.
UFC 161 is fast approaching, and barring some last-minute injury, the fight card is locked in. The main event may not be the fight that was originally scheduled for the June 15 event, but fans should still be very happy with the fact that Rashad Evans and Dan Henderson are now occupying the headlining spot. […]
UFC 161 is fast approaching, and barring some last-minute injury, the fight card is locked in. The main event may not be the fight that was originally scheduled for the June 15 event, but fans should still be very happy with the fact that Rashad Evans and Dan Henderson are now occupying the headlining spot. […]
Gilbert Melendez got robbed on Saturday night! Or did he?Fans who attended UFC on Fox 7 in San Jose were very vocal about their disagreement with the judges decision to award Benson Henderson a split-decision victory.The controversy grew even more when…
Gilbert Melendez got robbed on Saturday night! Or did he?
Fans who attended UFC on Fox 7 in San Jose were very vocal about their disagreement with the judges decision to award Benson Henderson a split-decision victory.
The controversy grew even more when Fox commentators ChaelSonnen and Brian Stann both told the home audience that they scored each of the first three rounds for Melendez.
However, thanks to the stat-counting website FightMetric, we can take a look at the numbers and see whether or not the judges got it right.
In terms of strikes attempted, we can see that Melendez was the more active fighter in four of the five rounds, but he did not outscore Henderson in terms of landed strikes in any of the rounds.
Let’s take a look at the scoring criteria for UFC contests:
Effective striking
Effective grappling
Octagon control
Effective Aggression
Of the strikes that technically scored for Benson Henderson were his series of leg kicks that were thrown in all five rounds. However, Melendez did a fantastic job of countering those kicks by catching the leg and countering with a trip or strike.
For that reason, it’s difficult to suggest that Benson clearly won any of the early rounds, despite his margin of victory in significant strikes.
In terms of effective grappling, we see that Henderson went 0-for-4 in takedown attempts throughout the fight. Meanwhile, he was taken down by Melendez in Round 1 and tripped at several points. That leans us towards Melendez in terms of effective grappling throughout the contest.
Then when you consider that Melendez spent a healthy portion of the contest pushing the pace and going toe-to-toe with the champion, it’s hard to justify El Nino not pulling ahead in the areas of Octagon control or effective aggression.
However, the numbers dictate that Henderson did enough to earn the victory by allowing Melendez to score less than 10 significant strikes in each of the final three frames. In a fight that was largely contested on the feet, that is fairly damning evidence.
What do you think about the decision? Tell us in the comments below.
It’s been a pretty wild ride over the past few days for the UFC on Fuel 9 fight card, but it seems like things have settled down. Barring any last-minute craziness, we have a locked-in fight card. The card may not feature the main event that many were looking forward to due to a training […]
It’s been a pretty wild ride over the past few days for the UFC on Fuel 9 fight card, but it seems like things have settled down. Barring any last-minute craziness, we have a locked-in fight card. The card may not feature the main event that many were looking forward to due to a training […]
After being told that Fuel TV seems to feature some of the worst UFC cards, I found myself wondering if there was any validity in that statement.I can recall being a bit underwhelmed by UFC on Fuel TV 6 and 7, but outside of that I don’t immediat…
After being told that Fuel TV seems to feature some of the worst UFC cards, I found myself wondering if there was any validity in that statement.
I can recall being a bit underwhelmed by UFC on Fuel TV 6 and 7, but outside of that I don’t immediately recall any overtly miserable events.
Curiosity got the better of me, and I found myself gazing at statistical numbers provided by Sherdog.com. After some research, I’m not entirely certain I agree with my buddy (who will remain nameless out of simple respect) and his harsh assessment.
That said, his statement isn’t completely outlandish. Fuel TV has had a few lackluster cards that produced far more drawn-out distance fights than dynamic finishes.
In fact, When combined, the first eight UFC on Fuel TV events have yielded a total of 49 decisions (50 excluding the categorization of a “no contest” in this article’s instance) in 87 matches. That’s a 56.3 percent decision rate, 57.4 if you categorize UFC on Fuel 7’s no contest between Matt Riddle and Che Mills a decision.
That’s a lot of fights landing in the ever-unreliable judges’ hands.
UFC on Fuel TV 3, 7 and 8 make up for a sizable chunk of that figure, as the three events combined produced a total of 24 decisions for 27.5 percent, or 28.7 if you work Riddle’s no contest against Mills into the equation.
In contrast, a total of 20 fights (for a 22.9 percentage) have ended via technical knockout or knockout.
16 total fights (18.3 percent) ended by way of submission.
Check out an individual event breakdown as well as total number breakdown and a few fun facts from the first eight UFC on Fuel TV events.
Total Fights: 87 Total Decisions: 49 (56.3 percent) Total (T)KOs: 20 (22.9 percent) Total Submissions: 16 (18.3 percent) Total No Contest: 2 (2.2 percent)
Random Facts
Brad Tavares has fought on three Fuel events. He’s undefeated in the process (3-0). All three fights went the distance.
Of the eight Fuel events broadcast thus far, four main events (UFC on Fuel TV 3, 5, 6 and 8) have ended in upset victories.
All four of those upsets came via stoppage. Chan Sung Jung submitted Dustin Poirier at UFC on Fuel TV 3, Stefan StruveTKOdStipeMiocic at UFC on Fuel TV 5, Cung Le knocked Rich Franklin out at UFC on Fuel TV 6 and tonight Wanderlei Silva rendered Brian Stann unconscious with strikes.
UFC on Fuel TV 8 gave way to the first defeat for Stefan Struve in three Fuel TV appearances. The defeat also brought a four-fight winning streak to a sudden and violent halt.
Wanderlei’s third win in five fights was also his third consecutive upset victory. In addition to tonight’s upset, he also shocked Cung Le at UFC 139 and Michael Bisping at UFC 110.
