Tag: UFC 169

The Pay-Per-View Buyrate Estimates for UFC 169 and UFC 170 Are Not Awesome


(Ronda Rousey might actually be the biggest star the UFC has. Unfortunately, that’s not saying much. / Photo via Getty)

According to Dave Meltzer’s latest pay-per-view buyrate column on MMAFighting.com, the first two UFC PPV events of 2014 didn’t exactly blow the doors down.

Let’s start with UFC 169: Barao vs. Faber 2 on February 1st, which featured two championship fights (including a featherweight title bout between Jose Aldo and Ricardo Lamas in the co-main event), and a solid heavyweight feature between Alistair Overeem and Frank Mir. That show took in just 230,000 buys, by Meltzer’s estimates — the lowest total for a UFC PPV since last summer, when UFC 161 and UFC 163 completely crapped the bed. It’s worth noting that the first time Urijah Faber and Renan Barao headlined a pay-per-view (UFC 149), it pulled in a nearly identical number. Maybe the California Kid isn’t quite the superstar we’ve made him out to be.

Holding an event on a weekend when so much attention was focused on the Super Bowl gives the UFC a convenient excuse as to why UFC 169 may have underperformed. But it still doesn’t bode well for the promotion’s ability to sell pay-per-views for events headlined by male fighters under 155 pounds. UFC 169 featured Renan Barao, Urijah Faber, Jose Aldo — the only absent sub-155 star was Dominick Cruz — and they still barely cleared the UFC Mendoza Line of 200k buys.

The good news (or bad news, depending on how you look at it) is that Ronda Rousey is a bigger draw completely on her own than Barao, Faber, and, Aldo put together…


(Ronda Rousey might actually be the biggest star the UFC has. Unfortunately, that’s not saying much. / Photo via Getty)

According to Dave Meltzer’s latest pay-per-view buyrate column on MMAFighting.com, the first two UFC PPV events of 2014 didn’t exactly blow the doors down.

Let’s start with UFC 169: Barao vs. Faber 2 on February 1st, which featured two championship fights (including a featherweight title bout between Jose Aldo and Ricardo Lamas in the co-main event), and a solid heavyweight feature between Alistair Overeem and Frank Mir. That show took in just 230,000 buys, by Meltzer’s estimates — the lowest total for a UFC PPV since last summer, when UFC 161 and UFC 163 completely crapped the bed. It’s worth noting that the first time Urijah Faber and Renan Barao headlined a pay-per-view (UFC 149), it pulled in a nearly identical number. Maybe the California Kid isn’t quite the superstar we’ve made him out to be.

Holding an event on a weekend when so much attention was focused on the Super Bowl gives the UFC a convenient excuse as to why UFC 169 may have underperformed. But it still doesn’t bode well for the promotion’s ability to sell pay-per-views for events headlined by male fighters under 155 pounds. UFC 169 featured Renan Barao, Urijah Faber, Jose Aldo — the only absent sub-155 star was Dominick Cruz — and they still barely cleared the UFC Mendoza Line of 200k buys.

The good news (or bad news, depending on how you look at it) is that Ronda Rousey is a bigger draw completely on her own than Barao, Faber, and, Aldo put together. Meltzer reports that UFC 170: Rousey vs. McMann on February 22nd collected an estimated 340,000 pay-per-view buys, with a much weaker supporting card than UFC 169 had. (Two words: Durkin Cummins.) When you consider that Rousey also helped UFC 168 become the first million-selling pay-per-view since 2010, it’s undeniable that the women’s bantamweight champ has become an essential part of the UFC’s business.

Of course, 340k buys doesn’t sound like a huge number — and it isn’t, if you compare it to, say, 2009, when every single UFC pay-per-view did 350k buys or better. Or, if you compare it to Rousey’s first UFC headliner against Liz Carmouche in February 2013, which pulled 450k buys, driven by the novelty value of the UFC’s first women’s title fight. But UFC 170′s PPV performance is more impressive when you compare it to recent UFC title fights featuring guys who are allegedly stars in allegedly marquee divisions. UFC 164: Henderson vs. Pettis did 270k buys. UFC 165: Jones vs. Gustafsson did between 300k-325k buys, and UFC 166: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos 3 drew “in the same range or very sightly up.” Ronda Rousey edged them all out, and she did so against a opponent (Sara McMann) who was a virtual unknown to casual fans, who Rousey had no personal rivalry with, in a fight that was thrown together on less than two months’ notice. That’s kind of amazing, actually.

So, is Ronda Rousey the biggest star the UFC has ever had, as UFC president Dana White likes to say after huffing gas? Well, she could have a solid argument for being the biggest UFC star that the UFC has right now. Although it should be mentioned that UFC 170′s live gate of $1,558,870 fell well below expectations.

Lets be real: 2014 is going to be a rough one for the UFC, pay-per-view wise. Anthony Pettis and Cain Velasquez won’t return until the end of this year, and Johny Hendricks will most likely be out until the fall. Ronda Rousey literally has nobody to fight right now, and the male featherweight/bantamweight/flyweight divisions simply don’t draw. UFC 173 has a cool poster, but probably not blockbuster potential. Anderson Silva won’t return this year, and Georges St-Pierre’s return depends on the UFC overhauling its drug-testing policies, which ain’t gonna happen any time soon.

And so, 340k buys represents a new high-water mark, which only a small handful of UFC PPVs will be able to clear this year. Most likely, the buyrate trend will continue to drop as the UFC shifts its attention to small-scale international shows, while the burned-out North American fanbase is content to watch the UFC’s free FOX/FS1/FS2 events and skip the ones that cost $55 simply because there’s a belt on the line in the main event.

The next UFC pay-per-view is UFC 172: Jones vs. Teixeira on April 26th — a light-heavyweight title fight that will probably pull around 300k buys. That’s just the way it is, now.

–BG

The ‘UFC Fight Night 38? Danavlog Further Highlights MMA’s Need to Embrace the Instant Replay

The recently-released ‘Fight Night 38’ Danavlog, which contains behind the scenes footage from both UFC 169 and 170, has all the makings of a classic Danavlog: nasty cuts and bruises, fighters breaking down backstage, and Matt Serra ripping on Ray Longo for the black eye that Kevin “mixed martial farts” James gave him. Toss in some classic Ronda Rousey mean-mugging, and you’ve got yourself a D-vlog (as the kids are calling them) right up there with “The gang finds a guy asleep behind the wheel.”

But about six and a half minutes into the video (6:24 to be precise), there’s a moment that displays something more than the usual mix of heartbreak and hilarity found in Danavlogs and actually warrants further investigation.

Referees Mario Yamasaki and Yves Lavigne are giving Daniel Cormier and Demian Maia, respectively, a few last-minute reminders about the rules, likely in an effort to avoid a Sims vs. Mir-level mishap. While Yamasaki simply reiterates to Cormier that covering up does not count as intelligent defense (seems like he should’ve saved that speech for Pat Cummins, amiright? *self-fives*), Lavigne informs Maia that even if his upcoming opponent, Rory MacDonald, were to tap, Maia should continue applying the submission until Lavigne pulls him off.

“I have to see the tap,” says Lavigne, “If I don’t see it and you let it go, and if he says ‘I didn’t tap,’ we’re screwed.”

Now, this should be concerning for a multitude of reasons…

The recently-released ‘Fight Night 38′ Danavlog, which contains behind the scenes footage from both UFC 169 and 170, has all the makings of a classic Danavlog: nasty cuts and bruises, fighters breaking down backstage, and Matt Serra ripping on Ray Longo for the black eye that Kevin “mixed martial farts” James gave him. Toss in some classic Ronda Rousey mean-mugging, and you’ve got yourself a D-vlog (as the kids are calling them) right up there with “The gang finds a guy asleep behind the wheel.”

But about six and a half minutes into the video (6:24 to be precise), there’s a moment that displays something more than the usual mix of heartbreak and hilarity found in Danavlogs and actually warrants further investigation.

Referees Mario Yamasaki and Yves Lavigne are giving Daniel Cormier and Demian Maia, respectively, a few last-minute reminders about the rules, likely in an effort to avoid a Sims vs. Mir-level mishap. While Yamasaki simply reiterates to Cormier that covering up does not count as intelligent defense (seems like he should’ve saved that speech for Pat Cummins, amiright? *self-fives*), Lavigne informs Maia that even if his upcoming opponent, Rory MacDonald, were to tap, Maia should continue applying the submission until Lavigne pulls him off. “I have to see the tap,” says Lavigne,

“If I don’t see it and you let it go, and if he says ‘I didn’t tap,’ we’re screwed.”

Now, this should be concerning for a multitude of reasons…

#1: Holding onto a submission after an opponent taps is exactly what got Rousimar Palhares fired, if I remember correctly. (That he would sometimes hold onto subs after *the ref* had grabbed him could also be part of the reason he was let go.)

#2: “If I don’t see the tap, we’re screwed?” I’m sorry, but isn’t this the kind of problem that instant replay was/is supposed to solve?

We’ve previously argued that the addition of instant replay in MMA would create more questions than answers, questions relating to how/when it would used and how much it would affect the momentum or outlook of a fight. But a situation like the one Lavigne just presented is exactly one that could easily be solved by instant replay. Besides the fact that ignoring the tap all but contradicts the point of a tap in the first place, it seems rather risky to give such advice to Maia, a ground wizard who could easily end a career in such a span, of all people. If a situation arose where Maia claimed MacDonald had tapped and the “Ares” claimed otherwise (defying all previous conceptions of the Canadian Honor System in the process), it would only take a glimpse at one of the dozens of super slo-mo Phantom cams to determine who was telling the truth.

And if not an instant replay, then why not just a replay in general? (I refer to the Sakuraba-Silveria example noted in our previous article on the subject.) If Yves blew the call or thought he saw a tap that he didn’t, MacDonald shouldn’t have to file an appeal and maybe get the result overturned months down the road when the evidence is sitting right in front of all three of them mere moments after the incident occurred. Far too much emphasis is being placed on MMA referees, who range from highly experienced to unjustifiably incompetent even at the highest levels of the sport, and while an instant replay could slow things down from an excitement standpoint, there’s no need for our sport to continue acting like a referee’s call is the be all end all. Especially when…

#3 – Do all referees give the same pre-fight reminders as Lavigne?

There’s been a lot of discussion in recent years about the discrepancies amongst MMA referees when it comes to their understanding of things like what constitutes a “back of the head” strike, what constitutes “intelligent defense,” and what constitutes a tap (it just so happens that both Yamasaki and Lavigne have found themselves at the center of such controversies), so I ask: Do guys like Herb Dean and Big John McCarthy agree with Lavigne’s assessment? Or do all refs even give pre-fight reminders to the fighters?

In a sport that is plagued by inconsistency in the judging and reffing departments, this is perhaps the most important distinction to make. Because while a big part of MMA refereeing is knowing the limitations of the individual fighters you are presiding over, a bigger part of it establishing a set of guidelines that do not change from fight-to-fight.

I’m probably making a mountain out of a molehill again, but I just find it interesting that ignoring the tap has apparently become standard protocol amongst the sport’s best referees. What I’m trying to say is: BRING BACK PAUL HARRIS!! #Thrillofdafeet #RallyforPaulHarris #MikePierceisaDramaQueen

–J. Jones

Liveblogger Narrowly Survives Starvation While Covering Endless ‘UFC Fight Night 36? Prelims

(“I eventually had to start eating my fingers for sustenance,” recounts horrified blogger from hospital bed.)

By Jared Jones

A mixed martial arts fight blogger lies in critical but stable condition after succumbing to the effects of a brutal 4-hour “liveblog” that nearly took his life Saturday.

Reports say that 31-year old Chip Chessworth, a quote unquote “MMA journalist” for FistFighter.com, sat down at his Brooklyn, NY apartment at 7:30 EST last night, with the assignment of “liveblogging” – or rapidly typing grammatically challenged round-by-round fight recaps — the UFC Fight Night 36: Machida vs Mousasi prelims for his website. A six pack of Red Stripe at his side, Chessworth was looking to shake off the memory of UFC 169, a “ten-decision, record-setting catastrophe” (as UFC President Dana White called it) that had claimed the lives of over 1,500 livebloggers earlier in the month, as well as report on what he hoped would be “a decent night of fights.”

“I had just spent my fourth straight Valentine’s Day alone, so I was really looking for some vicarious retribution in the form of a few sweet knockouts,” said Chessworth. Little did the lonely writer know that by the time the preliminary card was over, he’d be in a fight of his own. For his life.

Looking back on the ordeal, Chessworth says he should have realized that something was…off from the very first fight of the night. In a bout between UFC newcomers Douglas Silva de Andrade and Zuba…Zubariai Somethingorother, the liberal arts major said he could feel “a weird energy” in the crowd while watching the event on his 13” laptop screen.

“When Bruce Buffer is only spinning 90 degrees during the intros, you know you’re going to be in for a long night,” lamented Chessworth.


(“I eventually had to start eating my fingers for sustenance,” recounts horrified blogger from hospital bed.)

By Jared Jones

A mixed martial arts fight blogger lies in critical but stable condition after succumbing to the effects of a brutal 4-hour “liveblog” that nearly took his life Saturday.

Reports say that 31-year old Chip Chessworth, a quote unquote “MMA journalist” for FistFighter.com, sat down at his Brooklyn, NY apartment at 7:30 EST last night, with the assignment of “liveblogging” – or rapidly typing grammatically challenged round-by-round fight recaps — the UFC Fight Night 36: Machida vs Mousasi prelims for his website. A six pack of Red Stripe at his side, Chessworth was looking to shake off the memory of UFC 169, a “ten-decision, record-setting catastrophe” (as UFC President Dana White called it) that had claimed the lives of over 1,500 livebloggers earlier in the month, as well as report on what he hoped would be “a decent night of fights.”

“I had just spent my fourth straight Valentine’s Day alone, so I was really looking for some vicarious retribution in the form of a few sweet knockouts,” said Chessworth. Little did the lonely writer know that by the time the preliminary card was over, he’d be in a fight of his own. For his life.

Looking back on the ordeal, Chessworth says he should have realized that something was…off from the very first fight of the night. In a bout between UFC newcomers Douglas Silva de Andrade and Zuba…Zubariai Somethingorother, the liberal arts major said he could feel “a weird energy” in the crowd while watching the event on his 13” laptop screen.

“When Bruce Buffer is only spinning 90 degrees during the intros, you know you’re going to be in for a long night,” lamented Chessworth.

The next fight, between Ildemar Alcântara and Albert Tumenov, was similarly lackluster. Eerily similarly lackluster, you might even say. There were a few decent exchanges here, a decent scramble there, but the Brazilian crowd, know the world over for their fierce and uproarious nature when in group settings, seemed uncharacteristically calm. Not quiet of course, but restrained. Subdued even. It was a crowd not unlike the lethargic arena full of New Jersians present at UFC 169, and as the saying goes, “If it reminds you of Jersey, it’s probably terrible.”

At the start of fight 3, Chessworth placed an order to Ho-Tung’s Garden Palace. “Like I said, Valentine’s Day had just happened, so I had been binge-eating take out for a good six days. Last night, I had a hankering for Szechuan dumplings. Maybe some crab rangoons.”

As luck would have it, his dinner would arrive just as Felipe Arantes vs. Maximo Blanco was wrapping up. That coincidence would mark the only time that good luck would rear its head in Chip’s ensuing crawl to Hell and back. Chessworth rushed down the five floors that separated him from his deep fried, soy-glazed payday, made sure to tip the delivery driver, and returned to his Ikea floor model of an apartment moments later.

The Chinese food would have to wait, however, as the 4th prelim between Iuri Alcantara – brother of Ildemar – and Wilson Reis was already underway.“The worst part was knowing how soggy the rangoons were going to get if the fight lasted more than a couple of minutes,” Chessworth told reporters from his hospital bed.

And soggy would the rangoons get. The Alcantara-Reis fight would last fifteen long, excruciating minutes, rendering the wontons wrapped bits of deliciousness all but inedible. Although Chessworth was forced to discard half of the meal he so desperately needed, he was confident that the dumplings would be enough to save his already underwhelming fight-viewing experience.

Of course, one cannot properly eat Szechuan dumplings and liveblog at the same time, or vice versa. So despite the rumbling of his stomach and his mind’s insistence that no one was actually reading his crappy little liveblog anyway, Chessworth forged ahead. “Surely this Trinaldo-Ronson fight will end inside of two rounds,” Chessworth said to himself, his body already beginning to shutdown due to lack of sustenance.

The beer-drinking, cheese-pretzel consuming audience in attendance at Fight Night 36 would have the benefit of being able to call the ensuing fifteen minutes “boring and forgettable” in hindsight. Chessworth, however, could only stare out the window of his hospital room when asked to recount it later. “By the time it was over, calluses the size of golf balls had formed on four of my fingers,” said Chessworth while rapidly pressing his morphine button.

And by the time the judges scorecards for the next fight — a lightweight tilt between Rodrigo Damm and Ivan Jorge — were being read, Chessworth’s fingers had been stripped to the bone – partly because of all the typing, partly because Chessworth had been forced to consume them to stay alive. The dumplings were so close, yet so far out of reach for the liveblogger, who had now been glued to his chair for nearly three and a half hours.

The seemingly never-ending string of decisions had left Chessworth cold to his core and on the verge of starvation. His six-pack of Red Stripes gone, Chessworth knew that he could not turn back. For some reason, a fight between unknowns Joe Proctor and Cristiano Marcello had been selected as the featured fight of the prelims, and there was simply no way that Chessworth could skip what is considered “a marquee matchup” in today’s UFC landscape.

Chip awoke at Our Lady of Peaceful Slaughter hospital in Brooklyn some eight hours later. “I was told I made it halfway through the second round before I passed out due to blood loss,” said Chessworth. “I heard the main card was…OK.”

The $50 dollars Chessworth had received from Fist Fighter for covering the event would surely ease the pain, but the $10,000 it had taken to replace the blogger’s middle and index fingers with cadaver ligaments would be “a hefty expenditure moving forward to say the least,” added Chessworth.

A lawsuit with the UFC appears to be inevitable as well. Chessworth told reporters after the incident that he’d be willing to forgive the promotion if it “cancelled my Fight Pass subscription and reimbursed me the 10 dollars,” but when asked about the likelihood of that happening, UFC President Dana White was quoted as saying, “He wants his [expletive] ten dollars back?! Tell that [expletive] [expletive] I’ll see him in [expletive] court….[expletive].”

Seven fight. Seven decisions. Four and a half hours of Hell. And now, a battle in court on the horizon. All in the name of what Chessworth still refers to as “the most exciting sport on the planet.”

UFC Fight Night 36 Results: Does Bellator Have a Better Product Than the UFC?


(Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

Fans didn’t think it could get worse than UFC 169. Then they watched UFC Fight Night 36—a night of fights so horrid even the technical artistry in the main event bout between Lyoto Machida and Gegard Mousasi couldn’t save it.

The negativity ran deeper than the amount of decisions on the card—which was the most common criticism. A decision doesn’t necessarily equate to a bad fight. But a decision that lacks action and is fought between C and D level fighters who aren’t even known by everyone at their respective gyms, let alone the fans, does equate to a bad fight.

I discussed the recent plague of decisions at length after UFC 169. I concluded that the UFC faced three issues:

1. Fighters that are so evenly matched they negate one another.

2. Fighters have become risk-averse—fearful that one loss will send their contract to the paper shredder. Removing submission and knockout of the night bonuses probably didn’t help spur such fighters on to accomplish great in-cage feats.

3. The baseline quality of the average UFC fighter is far lower than it used to be. The days of elite athletes fighting in the “Super Bowl of MMA” are long gone. Welcome to the age of lowered standards; The UFC needs warm bodies to fill out a Fight Pass card in Djibouti. The term “UFC caliber” means nothing.

For the time being, the UFC seems content to ignore these problems to focus on “World Fucking Domination.” They don’t realize marketing what amounts to UFC-branded regional shows in other countries is losing them their fans in the United States. Just look at TUF’s most recent ratings. Fans simply don’t care about the UFC like they did in the halcyon days days of SpikeTV, Brock Lesnar, and PPVs that didn’t hearken to boxing’s age-old strategy of a good main event preceded by an army of no-names. Fans don’t care because what’s there to care about? The product is, to put it simply, lacking. The few remaining big names are islands in a sea of wiki-less, generic UFC fighters™.

This is the situation Bellator finds the MMA landscape in as the Viacom-0wned promotion starts its 10th season…


(Photo via Getty)

By Matt Saccaro

Fans didn’t think it could get worse than UFC 169. Then they watched UFC Fight Night 36—a night of fights so horrid even the technical artistry in the main event bout between Lyoto Machida and Gegard Mousasi couldn’t save it.

The negativity ran deeper than the amount of decisions on the card—which was the most common criticism. A decision doesn’t necessarily equate to a bad fight. But a decision that lacks action and is fought between C and D level fighters who aren’t even known by everyone at their respective gyms, let alone the fans, does equate to a bad fight.

I discussed the recent plague of decisions at length after UFC 169. I concluded that the UFC faced three issues:

1. Fighters that are so evenly matched they negate one another.

2. Fighters have become risk-averse—fearful that one loss will send their contract to the paper shredder. Removing submission and knockout of the night bonuses probably didn’t help spur such fighters on to accomplish great in-cage feats.

3. The baseline quality of the average UFC fighter is far lower than it used to be. The days of elite athletes fighting in the “Super Bowl of MMA” are long gone. Welcome to the age of lowered standards; The UFC needs warm bodies to fill out a Fight Pass card in Djibouti. The term “UFC caliber” means nothing.

For the time being, the UFC seems content to ignore these problems to focus on “World Fucking Domination.” They don’t realize marketing what amounts to UFC-branded regional shows in other countries is losing them their fans in the United States. Just look at TUF’s most recent ratings. Fans simply don’t care about the UFC like they did in the halcyon days days of SpikeTV, Brock Lesnar, and PPVs that didn’t hearken to boxing’s age-old strategy of a good main event preceded by an army of no-names. Fans don’t care because what’s there to care about? The product is, to put it simply, lacking. The few remaining big names are islands in a sea of wiki-less, generic UFC fighters™.

This is the situation Bellator finds the MMA landscape in as the Viacom-0wned promotion starts its 10th season—which features some pretty intriguing tournaments. In fact, I’m looking forward to these tournaments playing out more than I’m looking forward to the slew of upcoming UFC Fight Night cards. True, many of the Fight Night cards have more talent in their main events, but their undercards and prelims are lacking. I have more interest in watching Bellator hopefuls like Goiti Yamauchi, Marcin Held,  Liam McGeary and Bubba Jenkins than I do in watching many nameless fighters hired only to fill air time on prelims and on televised portions of UFC cards.

“But Bellator has a bunch of no-names too,” you say? Fair enough. Bellator’s shows and UFC Fight Night cards are, at the worst of times, both regional events with more pomp; the quality of fighter is, to make a tired reference, virtually identical. But I can watch Bellator’s prelims for free. They aren’t forcing me to buy a half-finished, poorly put together, potentially dangerous digital network to watch fights that belong in a strip club parking lot in Raleigh-Durham.  And, at the risk of dozens of CagePotato commenters calling me “Mat Sackofshit,” I think that free Bellator cards are in some ways more interesting to watch than free UFC cards. Sure, as I mentioned, the UFC’s free cards almost always have better main events than Bellator’s, but the undercard on Bellator’s free events are tournament bouts—and unlike many undercard matches on Fight Night cards, they actually have implications.

And now Bellator might have Gilbert Melendez, giving the organization some much-needed credibility.

Furthermore, Bellator actually encourages their fighters to stand out and develop personalities. Meanwhile, the UFC is trying to generify their fighters as much as possible—not letting them wear masks (unless you’re from a market the UFC wants to reach) and putting them all in uniforms. Case in point: David Rickels’ caveman-themed walkout would’ve never happened in the modern-day UFC.

This isn’t to say that Bellator doesn’t have problems. They have loads. They can’t sell tickets. Their reality show was a bust. Their PPV last year became one of MMA’s most cringeworthy failures, as was their acquisition of Tito Ortiz (signing Rampage Jackson was frowned upon too but at least he made it into the cage). It’s unlikely that any future Bellator PPV will reach any notable or even average heights. Their matchmaking doesn’t correspond with the supposedly sacrosanct tournament system, and they’ve pulled some pretty shady stuff in the past.

Still, Bellator isn’t out of the fight. They’re closer to the UFC’s level than they’ve ever been—and not necessarily because they upped their game, but because the UFC diluted and lowered theirs to the point where a Friday night SpikeTV Bellator card matched (and in some cases exceeded) the entertainment value of a UFC Fight Night card on Fox Sports 1 (or Fox Sports 2, or UFC Fight Pass).

UFC Shuts Down Illegal Streaming Site, Seizes Database & Vows to Come After Users [EVERYBODY PANIC]

Everything about this image of Dana White, from the Rage Against the Machine shirt to the heated finger point of disapproval, so perfectly sums up the news item I am about to discuss that I was seriously considering just posting it along with the headline and moving onto the next item on the agenda (watching quicksand porn and taking a nap). But seeing as BG has left the weight of the CP Nation on my shoulders for the day, I might as well try to deliver you Taters some newsworthy info.

Mainly, that EVERYONE WHO HAS EVER STREAMED A UFC PPV IS GOING TO JAIL.

Alright, it might not be that bad, but if you streamed UFC 169 through cagewatcher.eu, let’s just say that you might want to kiss your loved ones goodbye, pack a small suitcase, and get on the first bus to Tijuana. Actually, that sounds even worse (via a UFC.com press release):

As part of the on-going initiative against online piracy, Zuffa, LLC, owner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) organization, successfully took down and seized the records of www.cagewatcher.eu, a website that illegally streamed two UFC pay-per-view events.

UFC has obtained details of the streaming site’s userbase, including email addresses, IP addresses, user names and information pertaining to individuals who watched pirated UFC events including UFC 169. Also recovered were chat transcripts from the website. Using this data, UFC will work with Lonstein Law Office to prosecute identified infringers.

Lonstein Law Office has successfully prosecuted hundreds of claims for the UFC organization for sites illegally streaming content and individual users since 2007. UFC’s status as the industry leader in pay-per-view television has helped it become a leader in cracking down on companies and individuals watching and facilitating the watching of pay-per-view events online, without paying.

Everything about this image of Dana White, from the Rage Against the Machine shirt to the heated finger point of disapproval, so perfectly sums up the news item I am about to discuss that I was seriously considering just posting it along with the headline and moving onto the next item on the agenda (watching quicksand porn and taking a nap). But seeing as BG has left the weight of the CP Nation on my shoulders for the day, I might as well try to deliver you Taters some newsworthy info.

Mainly, that EVERYONE WHO HAS EVER STREAMED A UFC PPV IS GOING TO JAIL.

Alright, it might not be that bad, but if you streamed UFC 169 through cagewatcher.eu, let’s just say that you might want to kiss your loved ones goodbye, pack a small suitcase, and get on the first bus to Tijuana. Actually, that sounds even worse (via a UFC.com press release):

As part of the on-going initiative against online piracy, Zuffa, LLC, owner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) organization, successfully took down and seized the records of www.cagewatcher.eu, a website that illegally streamed two UFC pay-per-view events.

UFC has obtained details of the streaming site’s userbase, including email addresses, IP addresses, user names and information pertaining to individuals who watched pirated UFC events including UFC 169. Also recovered were chat transcripts from the website. Using this data, UFC will work with Lonstein Law Office to prosecute identified infringers.

Lonstein Law Office has successfully prosecuted hundreds of claims for the UFC organization for sites illegally streaming content and individual users since 2007. UFC’s status as the industry leader in pay-per-view television has helped it become a leader in cracking down on companies and individuals watching and facilitating the watching of pay-per-view events online, without paying.

Yikes. Looks like the UFC is making good on its promises to go after fans who stream pay-per-views, which date back to at least 2012. Thankfully (*starts packing clothes*), I’m sure that none of you (*rips phone cord out of wall*) Taters would ever engage in such a despicable practice as (*ties bedsheets together*) stealing UFC pay-per-views, which are a steal at just $55 a pop (*repels down apartment complex*).

The trials of said illegal streamers are set to begin next month, and will air exclusively on Fight Pass (not really, but maybe).

–J. Jones

Ricardo Lamas Shows off Left Leg After UFC 169 Battle with Jose Aldo

Jose Aldo kicks hard, ladies and gentlemen. 
The UFC featherweight champion carved his spot in the sport of MMA by overwhelming his opponents with a speedy, powerful and precise striking game, and his best offensive weapon might just be his choppi…

Jose Aldo kicks hard, ladies and gentlemen. 

The UFC featherweight champion carved his spot in the sport of MMA by overwhelming his opponents with a speedy, powerful and precise striking game, and his best offensive weapon might just be his chopping, damaging low kicks. 

Just ask Ricardo Lamas. 

Lamas, the most recent challenger to Aldo’s throne, came up short in his bid for the 145-pound title at UFC 169, and his only consolation prize was a battered and bruised leg, courtesy of Aldo’s sledgehammer kicks. 

Check it out, via Lamas’ Instagram: 

I’m not sure that Lamas is human. 

Comparing this to what Aldo did to Urijah Faber at WEC 48, it is clear that Lamas is either The Wolverine or he was much better prepared for Aldo’s kicking attack. 

While Aldo certainly scored with several ferocious low kicks throughout the bout, Lamas never appeared to slow from them. He was not checking them particularly well, either. 

He was just…eating them. 

Aldo may have taken a bit off his low kicks after shattering his foot at UFC 163, but given the speed and intensity with which he whipped his kicks into Lamas’ thigh, I personally do not see that as a likely explanation. 

No limping, barely any bruising…Lamas is just a tough, tough dude, which is great, given that he can toss himself back into the mix at featherweight in short order. 

Stealing one round and nearly equaling Aldo’s total striking output proved that Lamas is an elite featherweight, and now, he gets to work his way back up the ladder and try again for the coveted belt. 

Aldo appears to be leaving the division for a lightweight title fight with Anthony Pettis, and UFC President Dana White recently said that it would “make sense” if Cub Swanson and Chad Mendes slugged it out for the vacated 145-pound strap, via MMA Junkie.

For Lamas, that means that one less invincible Brazilian stands in his way of UFC gold. 

Do you think Lamas can eventually become champion, or will Mendes and Swanson keep him from reaching the top? 

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