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UFC: Will We Ever See Another Million PPV Buy Event?

For the past few years, UFC President Dana White and his fellow executives have been hyping up the UFC and mixed martial arts as a whole as the fastest growing sport in the world. With a new network television deal on FOX, top-level sponsors and a…

For the past few years, UFC President Dana White and his fellow executives have been hyping up the UFC and mixed martial arts as a whole as the fastest growing sport in the world.

With a new network television deal on FOX, top-level sponsors and a global marketing plan that has included events in seven different countries over the past six months, the sky seems to be the limit for this blooming sports organization.

However, lost in the success is a glass ceiling which the promotion hasn’t been able to break through as of late despite the popularity of the sport growing by leaps and bounds. I’m talking about pay-per-view buyrates.

UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez—this was the last time that a UFC pay-per-view event reached one million buys. Not coincidentally, it was also the last time that Brock Lesnar—the biggest pay-per-view name in the promotion’s history—held the UFC heavyweight championship.

With Lesnar now back with the WWE, it’s not surprising that the promotion has struggled to reach even close to those numbers.

In 2011, two events tied for the most pay-per-view purchases with 800,000—UFC 129 (St-Pierre vs. Shields) and UFC 141 (Lesnar vs. Overeem). While 800,000 is nothing to scoff at, it is definitely a significant drop-off from the numerous million-buy events that the company had, the majority of which were headlined by Lesnar.

So now with the former heavyweight champ out of the picture, it’s beginning to look as if the UFC might never get back to that magic number.

Perhaps the biggest test of this will come on July 7, 2012 when Anderson Silva battles Chael Sonnen at UFC 148.

The first Silva-Sonnen fight drew in over 600,000 buys and that was before the feud developed into the worldwide story that it is today. Now that the rivalry has grown to where it is today, it will be interesting to see whether the event can reach that historical 1 million mark.

Intense rivalries have been very successful in generating large buyrates in the past, even ones which were never as intense and long-lasting as the Silva-Sonnen feud. Both Rashad Evans vs. Rampage Jackson at UFC 114 and Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz at UFC 66 narrowly reached the 1 million buy milestone.

Then again, that was before the days when the UFC averaged more than one pay-per-view event per month.

UFC 148 was originally stacked with not only the Silva-Sonnen fight, but also the rubber match between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber. Unfortunately, with Cruz having been forced out of the event due to an injury, it is now unlikely that there will be that extra boost of buys from fans who are long-time fans of the former WEC stars.

Now SIlva and Sonnen are going to have to do it on their own.

Love them or hate them as a fan, pay-per-views are one of the biggest sources of revenue for the UFC and have been a staple of the organization for years. The buyrates are not something that the company takes lightly.

While they’ll be able to survive without hitting a million televisions again, it’s hard to believe that the executives at Zuffa won’t be intently waiting to see if their most-hyped fight in years is able to achieve a seven-digit buyrate.

If they can’t do it at UFC 148, it may never happen again.

For more MMA news, fighter interviews and opinions, follow Nick Caron: @NicholasCaron.

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UFC 148: Does the Change of Venue Help or Hurt Silva or Sonnen?

By now you’ve heard of the big change of venue that happened with UFC 147 as the Middleweight Championship bout was moved from a soccer stadium in Brazil to the fight capital of the world in Las Vegas, Nev. So does it hurt or help either of the co…

So does it hurt or help either of the competitors to change? The simple answer is both. It both helps and hurts.

For Silva, it actually helps because fighting in front of your home fans can really amp up pressure. He’s already going into this fight as a big favorite but the fact that he’s fighting at home brings expectations to a whole other level. So in Vegas, he can relax and focus in on his training and on defending his title.

The only thing it hurts with Silva is his feelings. It would’ve meant a lot to once again fight in front of his people and would’ve been his chance to create a memorable moment, but that simply won’t happen.

As for Sonnen, it helps tremendously because he doesn’t have to worry about his life being in danger in the event that he wins (or defends, if you hear him say it) the Middleweight Championship.

It’s no secret that the fans in Brazil can get very rowdy if the hometown guy or team doesn’t win. Just this March before a match between Brazilian Soccer teams Corinthians and Palmeiras, two people were shot in a brawl among 1,000 people.

So if they’re willing to shoot each other and riot, just think of what they would do if Sonnen walked out with the belt around his waist. It’s also apparent that the UFC knows this because even though there are scheduling issues, UFC 147 will go on as planned in Brazil, just not with Silva vs. Sonnen on the card.

Who it hurts are the fans of Brazil and to a lesser extent, everybody else. It would’ve truly been a spectacle to see Brazil’s biggest MMA star shine in his home country, and there’s no doubt that waves of fans would have filled any stadium that the UFC put them in. However, that fight is not one they will get a chance to see up close and personal.

For us sitting at home or watching at a bar, either way we will be treated to a great fight. The atmosphere in Brazil would have been insane and would have made what’s going to be a great fight into an amazing fight, so that brings down the match a notch. However, I think the security risk was more than the UFC could stomach and thus the fight was moved.

In Brazil, this fight would have had one of two lasting images. Either Silva would have been in the crowd celebrating with the pumped up Brazilian fans, or Sonnen would’ve run through the tunnel with security surrounding him, his newly won championship around his waist, and all sorts of bottles and trash being rained upon him.

We won’t get that. But we will all be treated with one hell of a Mixed Martial Arts match.

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Dana White Says Urijah Faber Will Still Fight for Interim Title

Dominick Cruz may be out of UFC 148, but Urijah Faber and the bantamweight title will still be in, according to UFC President Dana White.In an episode of UFC Tonight on Fuel TV, White addressed the state of the bantamweight division.Cruz was set to def…

Dominick Cruz may be out of UFC 148, but Urijah Faber and the bantamweight title will still be in, according to UFC President Dana White.

In an episode of UFC Tonight on Fuel TV, White addressed the state of the bantamweight division.

Cruz was set to defend his UFC title against Faber on July 7 in the co-main event of UFC 148, but a serious knee injury suffered during training forced him to withdraw from the highly anticipated rubber match.

Given the severity of Cruz’s injury, White has decided to crown an interim champion to fill in for the time being.

“The answer is yes,” said White, when asked about an interim title bout. “So what’s going to happen is Urijah Faber will, he’s going to fight still. He’s going to fight on the same card. Now, I’m looking for the right opponent. The guy who deserves this shot at Urijah Faber.”

There are plenty of worthy contenders at 135-pounds, but the most notable has to be Renan Barao, who hasn’t lost in seven years. Ivan Menjivar and Michael McDonald have also come up in the conversation for an interim title shot.

McDonald is a name that should especially be fresh on people’s minds. The 21-year-old prodigy wiped the floor with former WEC champion Miguel Torres with a highlight reel first round knockout at UFC 145.

Even though Faber longs for another shot at Cruz, he believes the UFC is doing the right thing in crowning an interim champion. Cruz’s injury could keep him sidelined for a minimum of nine months, and he hasn’t defended his title since October 2011.

“I think that’s the best idea,” Faber told UFC Tonight. “Dominick’s been out since his last fight. He had his hand surgery. Now, he’s out with another surgery, so a year and a half, and I think Renan Barao or Ivan Menjivar or maybe Michael McDonald, but I’m not sure.”

As fate would have it, Barao was already slated to compete at UFC 148 against Menjivar. If the fighters agree, it wouldn’t be hard for the UFC to do a little shuffling to set the wheels in motion for a world title bout.

Faber is already sizing up Barao as a possible opponent. He believes the Brazilian is even more dangerous than Cruz.

“He’s as tough an opponent as Dominick, but a little more dangerous. A little bit slower on his feet, but he has a lot of ways to win,” said Faber.

Looking for some more MMA news, and perhaps a couple of laughs? Follow me on Twitter @JordyMcElroy.

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Update: Urijah Faber to Fight for Interim Belt, Dominick Cruz Staying on as TUF Coach

(Former featherweight champion Urijah Faber will get another crack at the bantamweight title.)

UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz may be out of his UFC 148 fight with Urijah Faber on July 7th, but “The California Kid” will still get a title bout that night, according to UFC President Dana White. “So what’s going to happen is Urijah Faber will, he’s going to fight still. He’s going to fight on the same card. Now, I’m looking for the right opponent. The guy who deserves this shot at Urijah Faber,” White said on Tuesday’s episode of UFC Tonight, according to MMA Weekly.

Faber, who was also interviewed on UFC Tonight, said he imagines that either Renan Barao, Ivan Menjivar or Michael McDonald will get a crack at him but does not know for certain. Barao is riding a seven-year win streak and is currently slated to face Menjivar at UFC 148. McDonald knocked out former champion Miguel Torres last month.

(Former featherweight champion Urijah Faber will get another crack at the bantamweight title.)

White also confirmed that Cruz will stay on to complete his tenure as coach on TUF 15 despite his knee injury. “Cruz will stay on. Cruz has done a phenomenal job coaching his team,” White said.

This is Cruz’s second consecutive injury requiring surgery. After his successful title defense over Demetrius Johnson last fall, Cruz needed to have his right hand repaired after ligament and tendon damage. He injured his left hand a similar manner after his fight prior to that one, against Faber.

Now Cruz faces a long road to recovery after blowing out his ACL, allegedly at the hands of a woman. Should Faber manage to walk away with the interim bantamweight belt, the eventual rubber match between he and Cruz will hold even more significance.

– Elias Cepeda

UFC 148 Preview: Bleacher Report Hangs out with the Real Chael Sonnen

It’s closing in on midnight on a Thursday at the posh Hilton Hotel in downtown Atlanta. As a married guy with two young kids, this is uncharted territory. If I can make it up through Sunday Night Football, I consider it an accomplishment worth tel…

It’s closing in on midnight on a Thursday at the posh Hilton Hotel in downtown Atlanta. As a married guy with two young kids, this is uncharted territory. If I can make it up through Sunday Night Football, I consider it an accomplishment worth telling the world about.

But I’ve got my game face on. One of many high-end hotels in an area that features local watering holes like Hooters and the Hard Rock Cafe, a strip mall made up of skyscrapers and absolutely lacking the slightest charm, it stands out for one reason—it’s fight week and this is the fighter hotel of choice.

My colleagues and friends are all about half a dozen drinks in and flying high. Professional fighters are seemingly everywhere, signing autographs and chatting up the press.

Tony, the Bleacher Report cameraman I’ve dragged out of bed for a $20 unmetered cab ride of about six city blocks, and I are the sober ones, with eyes for none of it. We’re waiting for UFC middleweight star Chael Sonnen.

It All Begins

It started with an interview. Not just any interview, but one of the worst of my whole career. I had spent a lot of time working with Sonnen’s camp, helping the Team Quest guys with a college course they were teaching, offering my own brand of often unsolicited advice and helping their young fighters get their names out to the world.

So when I asked for a favor, something I almost never do, I was expecting the best. The real Chael Sonnen.

Instead, I got Chael P. You know Chael P. He’s the guy who holds the title belt he bought online up in front of the cameras and calls himself the champ. The guy who lambasts journalists like my buddy Jon Lane. The guy who never met a ridiculous soundbite he didn’t fall immediately in love with.

Now, don’t get it twisted. I like Chael P. He’s a throwback to my youth as a wrestling fan. He’s Nick Bockwinkle, Ric Flair and Ted DiBiase rolled into one amazing package. Best of all? He’s real.

At that moment, however? After investing my time in hard-hitting interviews with Sonnen’s training team and longtime friends like Olympic silver medalist Matt Lindland, I didn’t want any part of Chael P.

I certainly didn’t want a watered down, tired, rehashed version. To say I was displeased with our interview is a bit of an understatement. I was livid.

Half Irish and half Welsh, I don’t do livid well. I called to let Chael have it, leaving a message I assumed would not just burn any bridges I’d built, but torch them beyond all repair.

It was not the smooth play—but what can I say? When my blood is up, I’m not a smooth man. And my blood is always at a near boil.

I was shocked when I heard back from Sonnen. Doubly shocked at his message. He agreed with me. “I owe you one buddy.” And so here we were, traveling to UFC 145 to collect.

After settling in with Chael, his lovely girlfriend Brittney and one of his close confidantes, we got a little of both Chaels. Chael Sonnen, the remarkably smart and articulate guy with a wide range of interests, and Chael P. Sonnen, a man interested only in kicking butt and taking names.

I enjoyed my time with both. I hope you do too.

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Chael Sonnen: After 2 Years of Talk, What Happens After UFC 148?

Chael Sonnen, perhaps more than anyone else, has had his entire career built around a losing effort. That is not to diminish Sonnen’s accomplishments. He has wins over some of the best middleweights in MMA today. But ever since beating Nate Marquardt a…

But ever since beating Nate Marquardt at UFC 109 in February 2010, Chael Sonnen has been about one thing; he wants to destroy Anderson Silva in every possible way. His legacy, his person, his fame.

It is important to keep the roots of this rivalry in mind.

While Silva is as popular as ever, he was truly approaching pariah status in 2010. What seemed to be an absolute lack of effort or interest in fights against Patrick Cote, Thales Leites and Demian Maia had inspired a lot of hate from fans and fighters alike. Sonnen tried to capitalize on the growing anti-Silva sentiment by employing inordinate amounts of smack talk.

He called Silva names, said he was going to get fired and on and on. As much talk as possible. Non-stop.

That was all well and good. The thing was, and this surprised many, Sonnen backed up his talk when they fought at UFC 117.

Sonnen took Silva down at will.

He pounded him mercilessly, landing 289 hits according to Compustrike.

He out-grappled him with no effort, keeping Silva on his back for almost the entire fight.

Truly, he made Silva look like he had no clue what he was doing. Then, in the waning minutes of the last round, Sonnen lost by triangle choke.

Talk of an immediate rematch boomed, but was silenced when news hit that Sonnen had tested positive for an extremely abnormal T/E ratio (which, during appeals, was alleged to be due to self-administered but doctor-prescribed, TRT). The delay was lengthened after he was suspended further due to legal trouble in an alleged mortgage fraud case.

At this point, Sonnen brilliantly kept himself relevant in the MMA by constantly seeking the spotlight. He appeared on a variety of MMA news shows and used his new reporter gigs to deliver even more smack talk about a wider variety of fighters, but he always found time to take shots at the middleweight champion.

Eventually, Sonnen returned to fighting an even bigger personality than himself. His first fight back was a title eliminator against Brian Stann. Sonnen used his superior wrestling to dominate the fight; after being declared the winner, Sonnen delivered one of the most memorable post-fight interviews ever, calling Silva out to a match and saying that he must leave the division if he won, while Sonnen himself would leave the UFC if he lost.

At this point Silva had already reclaimed his former glory, with three fights separating him from his last yawn-inspiring bout against Demian Maia, courtesy of two knockouts (including the wildly popular front-kick KO of Vitor Belfort) on top of submitting Sonnen. He was no longer the magnet for controversy he had been, and those three ugly fights were officially a footnote in Silva’s history.

Talk of Silva vs. Sonnen II swirled, but quieted once again after Silva declared he needed surgery on an injured shoulder. Sonnen returned to name-calling and, as has become common in the fight game, claimed that Silva was faking and, once again, avoiding a fight with him.

Sonnen once again had to fight for the chance to face Silva, this time against Mark Munoz in the co-main event of UFC on Fox 2. Munoz had to withdraw from the bout after elbow surgery and was replaced with Michael Bisping. In the press events building up to the fight, Sonnen still focused on Silva more than his actual opponent.

Sonnen won a semi-controversial unanimous decision, but still offered another hilarious post-fight interview. He then changed his strategy when it came to smack-talking Silva, and began insisting that the fight was not going to take place while taking potshots at some of the Brazilian fighters that had taken issue with him like the Nogueira brothers and Lyoto Machida.

Still, everything he was doing was all about ensuring that rematch. That brings us to today, where Sonnen has now spent two full years of his life entirely dedicated to getting the chance to fight Anderson Silva.

With a date set, the question must be asked. What is Chael Sonnen going to do after fighting Anderson Silva?

He has not made many friends with his endless jawing, so if he wins that makes things easy.

He has plenty of prospective opponents. Mark Munoz and Vitor Belfort (assuming he beats Wanderlei Silva) both have the resumes to step into a title fight with Sonnen. There are also a few guys that could get into place for a title bout in the near future like Hector Lombard, Tim Boetsch and Alan Belcher. The possibility of an immediate rematch with Silva should also be mentioned.

If Sonnen loses, though, question marks start popping up. Will Sonnen really go gently into that good night? It is hard to imagine him fading back into the middleweight pack when he worked his way into becoming one of the best-known fighters in the UFC.

Will his ruthless mockery of Silva stay fresh and funny if he loses again? Will he even be able to be taken seriously if he talks smack, but loses in a more convincing fashion? What of the appearances he makes on ESPN’s MMA Hour and Fuel TV?

It is hard to say, but regardless of how the fight goes, it is hard to believe Sonnen will maintain the same level of stardom if he loses. Even if he brutalizes Silva en route to another late submission loss, there is no way Sonnen stays this popular if he does not come out on top.

This is do or die for him because if he loses, we are likely to see a lot less Chael Sonnen in the future. Obviously, he will not completely fall off the map. He will still be a top three middleweight.

Sonnen’s popularity is from his claims of being the best fighter in the world, though. Claiming he is one of the better guys in one division just does not hold the same appeal.

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