Tag: UFC Fight Night 109

UFC Fight Night Glasgow Nets Brutally Low Ratings

In a week full of all-out hype and buzz surrounding Conor McGregr’s anticipated boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, Sunday’s (July 16, 2017) UFC Fight Night 113 from the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, got lost amidst a sea of promotional overload when it aired two days after the exhausting world tour ended. That lead to some […]

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In a week full of all-out hype and buzz surrounding Conor McGregr’s anticipated boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, Sunday’s (July 16, 2017) UFC Fight Night 113 from the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, got lost amidst a sea of promotional overload when it aired two days after the exhausting world tour ended.

That lead to some dismal ratings for the Europe-based card, as MMA Fighting’s Dave Meltzer reported that UFC Fight Night Glasgow averaged a paltry 402,000 viewers throughout its 3:00-6:00 p.m EST afternoon slot, a number that ranked significantly lower than the most recent afternoon card on foreign soil, May 28’s UFC Fight Night 109 from Stockholm, Sweden which did 496,000 viewers.

That card went head-to-head with the Indianapolis 500 over Memorial Day weekend in the United States, with top-ranked light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson outlasting Glover Teixeira over the course of a brutal, scintillating five-round affair. The Glasgow event featured Gunnar Nelson vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio in the featured fight, a bout that was solid enough but brought little casual name recognition. Meltzer stated that the fact the UFC Fight Night 109 headliner lasted into fifth allowed it to build an audience compared to Ponznibbio’s shocking 82-second knockout of Nelson.

Per Haljestam for USA TODAY Sports

The prelims for UFC Fight Night Glasgow featuring the retirement bout of longtime Scottish veteran Neil Seery, did 284,000 viewers compared to 353,000 for the preliminaries at UFC Fight Night 109.

As noted, UFC Fight Night Glasgow suffered from being an otherwise less-than-ballyhooed card in the days directly following the circus – or “s**show,” as Dana White dubbed it – that was the Mayweather vs. McGregor world tour, in addition to be ing in an odd time slot on Sunday afternoon.

While the UFC obviously has a huge payday coming (in conjunction with SHOWTIME) in Mayweather vs. McGregor on August 26, their own ratings have definitely been in the swamp this year. July 8’s UFC 213 preliminary card did the lowest ratings since 2014, a number that certainly effected by the pay-per-view (PPV) card losing its main event incredibly late in the game due to Amanda Nunes becoming ill and pulling out of her fight against Valentina Shevchenko.

Those numbers simply don’t bode well for the WME-IMG promotion, which has seen a disturbing turnaround in PPV sales and obviously overall ratings after several buy records were set during a blockbuster 2016 slate. It’s safe to say that a card airing from Scotland on a Sunday afternoon not involving any major stars is not the clearest reason or cause for concern, but at some point in 2017, the promotion has to start picking up some sort of momentum in 2017.

That should start with July 29’s packed UFC 214 from Anaheim, California, a stacked event featuring three title fights, the main of which being the anticipated Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones light heavyweight title rematch. If that doesn’t get some ratings numbers rising, it could be hard to imagine what will.

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Jon Jones Absolutely Brutalizes Alexander Gustafsson On Twitter

No. 1-ranked UFC light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson put on a brilliant performance this past weekend (Sun., May 28, 2017), stopping No. 2-ranked Glover Teixeira in the fifth round of their UFC Fight Night 109 main event. Gustafsson’s movement was on point and his boxing, which was highlighted by a multitude of vicious uppercuts, was […]

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No. 1-ranked UFC light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson put on a brilliant performance this past weekend (Sun., May 28, 2017), stopping No. 2-ranked Glover Teixeira in the fifth round of their UFC Fight Night 109 main event. Gustafsson’s movement was on point and his boxing, which was highlighted by a multitude of vicious uppercuts, was crisp.

With the win, Gustafsson firmly established himself as a the division’s top contender, which will likely earn him a rematch with the winner of UFC 214’s title fight between champion Daniel Cormier and ex-champion and former pound-for-pound king Jon Jones.

“The Mauler” has previously done battle with both men, losing to Jones in a back-and-forth slug fest at UFC 165 in 2013 and dropping a split-decision to Cormier in another instant classic at UFC 192 in 2015.

As far as who he’d like to win in the upcoming title fight, Gustafsson recently said that he hopes Cormier comes out on top because he doesn’t view Jones as a good person.

To be fair, Jones has indeed had his issues outside of the cage, from drug test failures to legal issues that have kept him on the sidelines and had previously forced the UFC to strip him of his long held 205-pound title.

Either way, “Bones” recently took to Twitter to fire back at Gustafsson, taking a shot at “The Mauler’s” heart in the process:

What do you make of Jones’ comments and who would you rather see Gustafsson rematch next?

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UFC Fight Night 109 Sees Big Drop In Viewership Numbers

Although the UFC put together a solid main event, the viewership numbers for the event were not impressive. The promotion as well as FOX Sports might be surprised with how the viewership numbers were when they were made available on Wednesday morning. The main card drew 496,000 viewers on FOX Sports 1, which is down […]

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Although the UFC put together a solid main event, the viewership numbers for the event were not impressive. The promotion as well as FOX Sports might be surprised with how the viewership numbers were when they were made available on Wednesday morning.

The main card drew 496,000 viewers on FOX Sports 1, which is down from the UFC Fight Night 108 event’s main card that did 745,000 viewers. The prelims drew 353,000 viewers, which was up from UFC Fight Night 108 prelims that drew 320,000 viewers. The prelim numbers are still good as the average UFC Fight Night prelims on the TV Network were 730,000.

A light heavyweight bout between former title challengers Alexander Gustafsson and Glover Teixeira served as the main event. Volkan Oezdemir vs. Misha Cirkunov in a light heavyweight bout served as the co-main event. Rounding out the main card was Peter Sobotta vs. Ben Saunders in a welterweight bout, Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Omari Akhmedov in a welterweight bout, Oliver Enkamp vs. Nordine Taleb in a welterweight bout and Jack Hermansson vs. Alex Nicholson in a middleweight bout.

The pre-fight show pulled in 109,000 viewers. The post-fight show did 277,000 viewers, which is a sign that people were not interested in sticking around for fight analysis or interviews.

Fight fans will not have to wait long to see more UFC action as the promotion returns in a big way with a major PPV event. UFC 212 takes place on Saturday, June 3, 2017 at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Three bouts will take place on UFC Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. ET while four bouts will take place on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET. Six bouts will take place on PPV at 10 p.m. ET. A UFC Featherweight Championship unification bout between current two-time champion José Aldo and current interim champion Max Holloway will serve as the main event.

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UFC Fight Night 109 Sees Big Drop In Viewership Numbers

Although the UFC put together a solid main event, the viewership numbers for the event were not impressive. The promotion as well as FOX Sports might be surprised with how the viewership numbers were when they were made available on Wednesday morning. The main card drew 496,000 viewers on FOX Sports 1, which is down […]

The post UFC Fight Night 109 Sees Big Drop In Viewership Numbers appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Although the UFC put together a solid main event, the viewership numbers for the event were not impressive. The promotion as well as FOX Sports might be surprised with how the viewership numbers were when they were made available on Wednesday morning.

The main card drew 496,000 viewers on FOX Sports 1, which is down from the UFC Fight Night 108 event’s main card that did 745,000 viewers. The prelims drew 353,000 viewers, which was up from UFC Fight Night 108 prelims that drew 320,000 viewers. The prelim numbers are still good as the average UFC Fight Night prelims on the TV Network were 730,000.

A light heavyweight bout between former title challengers Alexander Gustafsson and Glover Teixeira served as the main event. Volkan Oezdemir vs. Misha Cirkunov in a light heavyweight bout served as the co-main event. Rounding out the main card was Peter Sobotta vs. Ben Saunders in a welterweight bout, Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Omari Akhmedov in a welterweight bout, Oliver Enkamp vs. Nordine Taleb in a welterweight bout and Jack Hermansson vs. Alex Nicholson in a middleweight bout.

The pre-fight show pulled in 109,000 viewers. The post-fight show did 277,000 viewers, which is a sign that people were not interested in sticking around for fight analysis or interviews.

Fight fans will not have to wait long to see more UFC action as the promotion returns in a big way with a major PPV event. UFC 212 takes place on Saturday, June 3, 2017 at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Three bouts will take place on UFC Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. ET while four bouts will take place on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET. Six bouts will take place on PPV at 10 p.m. ET. A UFC Featherweight Championship unification bout between current two-time champion José Aldo and current interim champion Max Holloway will serve as the main event.

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UFC Fight Night 109 Adds New Life To Struggling Light Heavyweight Division

The light heavyweight division was once the UFC’s marquee weight class. Home to stars such as Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, the 205 pounders once presented must see action for fight fans. That, however, is no longer the case. In fact, it’s far from it, as the light heavyweight division […]

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The light heavyweight division was once the UFC’s marquee weight class. Home to stars such as Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, the 205 pounders once presented must see action for fight fans. That, however, is no longer the case. In fact, it’s far from it, as the light heavyweight division has been struggling for quite some time now.

Jon Jones, the very best light heavyweight on the planet, has only competed once since January 2015 due to his own actions outside of the cage. Multiple drug test failures as well as legal issues have not only kept “Bones” out of action, but also caused the UFC to strip him of his long held light heavyweight strap in 2015.

Jones’ issues outside of the cage led former Olympian Daniel Cormier, who Jones beat quite handily at UFC 182, to seize an opportunity and secure the vacant 205-pound title at UFC 187 with a submission victory over Anthony Johnson. Since then, “DC” has defended the title just twice, beating No. 1-ranked Alexander Gustafsson in a five round war at UFC 192 and once again submitting Johnson, who retired after the rematch, at UFC 210 earlier this year.

Now, Cormier and Jones, two elite level athletes who possess one of the deepest rivalries the sport has ever seen, are finally scheduled to rematch at UFC 214 on July 29, 2017 in Anaheim, California. Whether or not the rematch actually comes to fruition this time is of course up in the air, but it remains one of the most anticipated bouts the UFC could put on.

After that fight, however, the light heavyweight division appears to be quite dull, lacking in legitimate contenders and recognizable stars. In reality, it has seemed that the gap between Cormier, Jones and the rest of the division is simply too large for any legitimate threats to emerge. And that may be the case, but UFC Fight Night 109, which took place yesterday (May 28, 2017) from Stockholm, Sweden, certainly added new life to a division in desperate need of it.

The main event featured a pivotal bout between Gustafsson and No. 2-ranked Glover Teixeira, with the winner likely earning himself a shot at the winner of UFC 214’s main event between Cormier and Jones. And the result? A one-sided showcase for Gustafsson in front of his hometown fans. “The Mauler”, using fluent movement and effortless combinations, picked the Brazilian apart with a barrage of brutal uppercuts and straight right hands, finally finishing off the resilient Teixeira with a vicious combination in the fifth and final round.

Photo by Per Haljestam for USA TODAY Sports.

In a year where not only the light heavyweight division is struggling, but the UFC as a whole is as well, the outcome of UFC Fight Night 109’s main event was likely a beneficial one for the UFC.

Sure, Gustafsson has lost to both Cormier and Jones, but his fights with both men were instant classics. “The Mauler” gave Jones the stiffest test of his career at UFC 165, pushing “Bones” to his limits in a five round slug fest. In fact, many still consider the bout to be the best title fight in divisional history and if it weren’t for a late comeback from Jones, the Swedish striker would’ve walked away with the title. The same could be said for Gustafsson’s fight with Cormier, as “The Mauler” had “DC” badly hurt before losing a closely contested split-decision.

The silver lining here is that a rematch between Gustafsson and either man would be an intriguing fight. Specifically, a rematch between Gustafsson and Jones, as it’s been clamored for for years now.

Perhaps the division is led by a three man race, but there are signs that things may be headed upward. For example, No. 5-ranked Volkan Oezdemir scored a brutal knockout victory over the previously surging Misha Cirkunov yesterday, calling out No. 3-ranked Jimi Manuwa, who’s scored back-to-back stoppage victories of his own, in the aftermath. Manuwa has also stirred up a rivalry with Cormier in recent memory.

In the end, UFC Fight Night 109 was a win for the light heavyweight division. With two huge rematches looming and a few contenders slowly emerging, the 205-pound class has gained some new life for the time being.

Whether or not this results in a complete resurrection for the division remains to be seen, but the light heavyweights could once again provide fight fans with an intriguing attraction in the near future.

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UFC Fight Night 109 Reebok Fighter Payouts: Alexander Gustafsson & Glover Teixeira Top List

UFC Fight Night 109 is in the books, and now it’s time for Reebok to pay the fighters their sponsorship money. UFC Fight Night 109 took place on Sunday, May 28, 2017 at Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden. The prelims aired on UFC Fight Pass with two bouts at 10 a.m. ET while four bouts […]

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UFC Fight Night 109 is in the books, and now it’s time for Reebok to pay the fighters their sponsorship money.

UFC Fight Night 109 took place on Sunday, May 28, 2017 at Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden. The prelims aired on UFC Fight Pass with two bouts at 10 a.m. ET while four bouts aired on FOX Sports 1 at 11 a.m. ET. The main card aired on FOX Sports 1 at 1 p.m. ET with six bouts.

A light heavyweight bout between former title challengers Alexander Gustafsson and Glover Teixeira served as the main event. Volkan Oezdemir vs. Misha Cirkunov in a light heavyweight bout served as the co-main event. Rounding out the main card was Peter Sobotta vs. Ben Saunders in a welterweight bout, Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Omari Akhmedov in a welterweight bout, Oliver Enkamp vs. Nordine Taleb in a welterweight bout and Jack Hermansson vs. Alex Nicholson in a middleweight bout.

The full payouts include:

Alexander Gustafsson: $10,000 def. Glover Teixeira: $10,000

Volkan Oezdemir: $2,500 def. Misha Cirkunov: $2,500

Peter Sobotta: $5,000 def. Ben Saunders: $10,000

Omari Akhmedov: $2,500 def. Abdul Razak Alhassan: $2,500

Nordine Taleb$5,000 def. Oliver Enkamp$2,500

Jack Hermansson$2,500 def. Alex Nicholson$2,500

Pedro Munhoz: $5,000 def. Damian Stasiak: $2,500

Trevor Smith: $10,000 def. Chris Camozzi: $15,000

Joaquim Silva: $2,500 def. Reza Madadi: $5,000

Bojan Velickovic: $2,500 def. Nicholas Musoke: $2,500

Darren Till: $2,500 def. Jessin Ayari: $2,500

Damir Hadzovic: $2,500 def. Marcin Held: $2,500

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