UFC on Fox: Power Ranking the 4 UFC on Fox Fight Cards

UFC on Fox 4 featured a pair of light heavyweight contests between Mauricio Rua and Brandon Vera, and Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader.From an entertainment standpoint the night was a glowing success, showcasing no shortage of solid action and even produci…

UFC on Fox 4 featured a pair of light heavyweight contests between Mauricio Rua and Brandon Vera, and Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader.

From an entertainment standpoint the night was a glowing success, showcasing no shortage of solid action and even producing a title contender.

Now that it is in the books, let’s take a look at how the card stacks up against its network television predecessors.

To establish an order of best to worst, the undercard, main card and main event of each Fox installment will be ranked. A first-place rank will earn the event one point, second gets two points, third get one point and fourth gets zero.

Because UFC on Fox 1 had no main card (it was just a main event), I’ve taken the liberty of classifying the Ricardo Lamas vs. Cub Swanson, Dustin Poirier vs. Pablo Garza and Benson Henderson vs. Clay Guida fights as the event’s main card. The rest of the preliminary action will make up the undercard for the purpose of this ranking.

The rankings will be based on the entertainment value of each event, as well as the importance of the fights that comprised it.

Let’s begin, shall we? 

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Dana White: Shogun Would Rather Be Cut Than Have to Fight Glover Teixeira

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua could be playing a little “Duck, Duck, Goose” with UFC newcomer Glover Teixeira.The former UFC light heavyweight champion was initially scheduled to face Thiago Silva in the UFC on FOX 3 main event slated for August 4, but an inju…

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua could be playing a little “Duck, Duck, Goose” with UFC newcomer Glover Teixeira.

The former UFC light heavyweight champion was initially scheduled to face Thiago Silva in the UFC on FOX 3 main event slated for August 4, but an injury sustained during training forced Silva off the card.

With the main event in shambles, the UFC scrambled to find a suitable replacement to headline the always-important FOX card.

The UFC and Shogun eventually settled on Brandon Vera as a replacement opponent, but according to UFC President Dana White, Vera wasn’t the first name the promotion had in mind.

In a post-fight interview with Ariel Helwani at UFC on FX 3, White spilled the beans on Shogun’s camp turning down a proposed bout with Teixeira.

“[Shogun] said he’d actually rather be cut than have to fight [Teixeira]. Dude, nobody wants to fight this guy. Nobody wants to fight this guy. We’re trying to match this guy up with somebody, but he didn’t mind fighting Brandon Vera, so, he’s fighting Brandon Vera.”

White’s statements are a stark contrast to remarks made by Shogun’s manager, Julio Heller, who guaranteed to Tatame.com about a week ago that Shogun never turned down a fight with Teixeira.

“I just sent a message to the UFC,” said Heller. “I’m waiting on their call. It’s not true at all.”

It’s very true to White, who was admittedly surprised at Rua for turning down a fight. After all of Rua’s accomplishments, it’s shocking to see a fighter of his caliber pass on a bout against a possible future contender in the light heavyweight division.

“I don’t want to sound like I’m disrespecting Shogun because I’m not. I’m just telling the truth. It’s verbatim what his people said when we talked to him, and you know me, I tell it like it is. If you don’t want that out in public, then don’t say it to me, then don’t say it on the phone because I’m going to say what was said.

But Shogun’s a warrior. The guy has fought everybody from Pride to the UFC. His last fight with Dan Henderson was awesome, and yeah, it is what it is. I don’t think we’re rewarding him. It’s just one of those weird situations I’ve never seen a guy at the level that Shogun is at not want to fight a guy so bad.”

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UFC on FOX: Why the UFC Needs PPV-Quality Main Events on FOX Cards

Something has to be done.The first UFC on FOX event was set off with a huge main event of Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos for the UFC Heavyweight Championship and became the most watched MMA event in U.S. history with 5.7 million average viewers. …

Something has to be done.

The first UFC on FOX event was set off with a huge main event of Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos for the UFC Heavyweight Championship and became the most watched MMA event in U.S. history with 5.7 million average viewers.  

Fast forward to January, with the main event of Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis, and ratings take a slight dip, bringing in 4.7 million average viewers with a main event that doesn’t necessarily grab the attention of the casual fan.

Then there was the big fall.

UFC on FOX 3 with the main event of Nate Diaz vs. Jim Miller tanked in viewership, only doing 2.42 million average viewers, half of what UFC on FOX 2 did just a couple of months earlier.

What’s interesting about it is that viewership is exactly opposite of the quality of the main event. Hands down, Diaz vs. Miller was the best main event out of the three, followed by Evans dominating Phil Davis for five rounds.

The Heavyweight Championship bout was over before it ever got started, mostly due to the massive hype that the match received, and the 64-second knockout that left the casual fan wondering just what MMA truly was all about.

So how do you fix viewership issues? Put the big names on free TV.

Zuffa is hoping that just seeing the UFC logo will draw. It won’t. There are fans like me who’ll watch every UFC event regardless of who’s fighting just because they’re fight fans. Then there are the channel flippers and the occasional viewers who want to see the big names fight. They vastly outweigh the hardcore fans.

With that being said, UFC on FOX started out perfectly with a one-fight card with the UFC Heavyweight Championship on the line. What more could you ask for? A Heavyweight Championship on free TV? It’s unheard of.

Then they failed to capitalize. The main objective for the UFC should have been to put on some of the best fights on free TV for at least three or four events to make UFC on FOX a must-see event. By doing that, they not only would have grown their fanbase among casual fans, but they would also potentially see a spike in pay-per-view buys.

There are actually fewer FOX events than PPV events, so it should be treated like a must-see event with some of the biggest names out there.

To show how names truly drive views, look no further than Kimbo Slice vs. Josh Thompson in the now-defunct EliteXC promotion. Once the most watched MMA event on network TV, CBS drew 4.9 million viewers that wanted to see Kimbo fight. Fighters sell fights.

Now, I’m not saying that UFC on FOX should be the home of the Heavyweight Championship fights, but they should do more in putting the big names on display.

Believe it or not, MMA still has not surpassed boxing in the mainstream. The most talked-about fighters in the world are still Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. Not Jon Jones and Anderson Silva.

UFC has the biggest platform in all of combat sports to put mixed martial arts on the map. But to do so, you have to put the big fights in front of a free TV audience. The more big fights on free TV, the more eyeballs on the product and the more potential it is to launch MMA into mainstream.

Diaz vs. Miller and the 2.4 million viewers was not a blip. If Zuffa continues to put on fights that wouldn’t headline pay-per-views, this will become a trend.

 

Follow on Twitter @montiqued

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UFC on FOX: FOX Needs to Show Patience and Audience Will Grow

The television ratings from UFC on FOX 3 are bringing the worst out of the MMA community, and it’s all for nothing. Almost immediately after the fight, viewing numbers were tossed around. At the end, the show had managed to pull in 2.4 million vi…

The television ratings from UFC on FOX 3 are bringing the worst out of the MMA community, and it’s all for nothing.

Almost immediately after the fight, viewing numbers were tossed around. At the end, the show had managed to pull in 2.4 million viewers—a huge drop from UFC on FOX 1’s 5.7 million and UFC on Fox 2’s 4.6 million.

The speculation was prompt. Some critics argued that the card was lacking, especially on a weekend when two household names, Mayweather and Cotto, were also making a television appearance. UFC president Dana White argued that it was, after all, Cinco de Mayo, the film Avengers had just been released and the NBA playoffs were going on among other things, and that these meant less people were at home watching television in the first place.

More infamously, the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer argued that these ratings could mark UFC on network television a failed venture (via BloodyElbow.com). White snapped back with the aforesaid argument exhibiting his standard fervor in what was essentially an ad hominem attack.

As a result, fans are attacking both Meltzer and White, arguing that they knew this would happen or that it will get better, that this is what the UFC deserves and that it deserves much more, that we’re all doomed or no, no—this is only the beginning.

And so I’ve brought my match to the bonfire, but my argument is simple: if the UFC, FOX, and fans are patient, the audience—and viewer ratings—will only get bigger and better.

I’ve never seen Field of Dreams, but I’ve heard it speaks to the basic idea here. Besides, the history of UFC on FOX is only beginning to tell us what the greater viewership wants from the organization.

For a sport that was once some obscure pay-per-view sideshow sold on VHS like some suspect pornography (taglines included “UNEDITED! UNCENSORED! UNLEASHED!” and the warning “Violent Material: Mature Audiences”), the fact that it pulls in viewers at all on network television is—to be honest—not that surprising. Neither is the fact that the sport isn’t immediately jumping to the top of ratings lists or showing some consistency when it does.

But the UFC has been taking huge steps in the past years to make MMA a more popular sport both in America and abroad, and it’s been working. This run on network television is simply the next step. But the general television audience can be fickle, but with some patience and tact, they can be won over.

Each time the UFC showed up on FOX, they offered something a little different to the popular audience. Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos promised a heavyweight brawl for a belt on UFC on FOX 1, pulling in huge numbers. Rashad Evans and Phil Davis pulled in impressive but lower numbers for a contender’s spot in the light heavyweight division.

But UFC on FOX 3 gave us Nate Diaz and Jim Miller headlining a card that really only got established MMA fans excited. Here, I’ll disagree with the fans that say the card was weak—it wasn’t, you just can’t expect the majority of people to know that.

Looking back at the other FOX fights, the population has spoken. They want heavyweight brawls. They want characters like Rashad Evans. They still need something in the fight they’ll understand like knockouts and charisma.

However, if the UFC is patient and gives them these things, that audience will grow. The sport and the organization are still developing rapidly; but UFC on FOX 3 showed just how young it still is. Furthermore, this is a problem many sports face (e.g. the riveting regular season LSU 9-6 OT win over Alabama where not a touchdown was scored).

The plan from here is simple: the UFC needs to put more championship bouts and more heavyweight sluggers on network television. In doing this, it must also be patient. Look to its roots: early pay-per-view UFC bouts never promised to be what boxing is today. Now, I have to tip exceedingly to secure a table at a bar during a UFC event. The sport is huge, and it’s only getting bigger.

For now, though, we can’t jump at the failures of UFC on FOX 3 as damning for the sport’s growth. Instead, take note, keep calm, and let the sport and its audience develop.

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Mark Hunt Injures Knee, Replaced By Lavar Johnson Against Stefan Struve at UFC 146


(Mark Hunt, seen here at the moment he found out where Lavar Johnson got his nickname.) 

Shitty news for you “Super Samoan” fans, as it has been confirmed by none other than Mark Hunt himself, via his Twitter account, that he has suffered a knee injury in training and has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled contest against Stefan Struve at UFC 146. For those of you keeping track, this now means that every single main card fight has been altered from its original pairing, and we’re still over a week out. If you’re currently a ticket holder for UFC 146, we recommend you cross your fingers and stick your head in the sand until May 26th comes around.

Thankfully, replacing Hunt will be a similarly hard hitting and Jiu-Jitsu shy fighter in Lavar Johnson, who is coming off a big knockout over Pat Barry at UFC on FOX 3 just twelve days ago. Johnson told UFC.com that he accepted the fight almost immediately:

I heard last night there was a chance I could get this fight and I accepted right away. You don’t get chances like this too much in life, so when you are lucky, you got to make the most of it. I took one week off after last fight [May 5] and then went back to the gym.

So, Potato Nation, is anyone more stoked at the idea of Johnson/Struve than the original matchup? And who do you think takes this?

J. Jones


(Mark Hunt, seen here at the moment he found out where Lavar Johnson got his nickname.) 

Shitty news for you “Super Samoan” fans, as it has been confirmed by none other than Mark Hunt himself, via his Twitter account, that he has suffered a knee injury in training and has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled contest against Stefan Struve at UFC 146. For those of you keeping track, this now means that every single main card fight has been altered from its original pairing, and we’re still over a week out. If you’re currently a ticket holder for UFC 146, we recommend you cross your fingers and stick your head in the sand until May 26th comes around.

Thankfully, replacing Hunt will be a similarly hard hitting and Jiu-Jitsu shy fighter in Lavar Johnson, who is coming off a big knockout over Pat Barry at UFC on FOX 3 just twelve days ago. Johnson told UFC.com that he accepted the fight almost immediately:

I heard last night there was a chance I could get this fight and I accepted right away. You don’t get chances like this too much in life, so when you are lucky, you got to make the most of it. I took one week off after last fight [May 5] and then went back to the gym.

So, Potato Nation, is anyone more stoked at the idea of Johnson/Struve than the original matchup? And who do you think takes this?

J. Jones

Dana White Responds to ‘UFC on FOX 3? Ratings Criticism With Personal Attacks Towards Reporter

By Elias Cepeda

(The rant in question. Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

You might have read one of the many stories recently on the ratings of the UFC on Fox event that took place Cinco de Mayo weekend. Dave Meltzer probably penned the most significant analysis, given that he’s been providing great business coverage of the sport since 1993. He also had some of the harshest words to describe UFC on Fox 3’s downward-trending numbers.

The overall viewership numbers were down nearly 50% from the previous UFC on FOX broadcast — and significantly lower than other network television MMA broadcasts in the past — and UFC President Dana White didn’t appreciate Meltzer saying so, making his feelings clear in a new video that you can watch above. White argued that his “doom and gloom” report failed to mention the many demographic ratings successes the UFC earned that night.

According to Bloody Elbow’s summary of Meltzer’s piece, published through his subscription-based newsletter, the Wrestling Observer, the writer pulled no punches in characterizing UFC on Fox 3 as a ratings failure:

By Elias Cepeda


(The rant in question. Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

You might have read one of the many stories recently on the ratings of the UFC on Fox event that took place Cinco de Mayo weekend. Dave Meltzer probably penned the most significant analysis, given that he’s been providing great business coverage of the sport since 1993. He also had some of the harshest words to describe UFC on Fox 3′s downward-trending numbers.

The overall viewership numbers were down nearly 50% from the previous UFC on FOX broadcast — and significantly lower than other network television MMA broadcasts in the past — and UFC President Dana White didn’t appreciate Meltzer saying so, making his feelings clear in a new video that you can watch above. White argued that his “doom and gloom” report failed to mention the many demographic ratings successes the UFC earned that night.

According to Bloody Elbow’s summary of Meltzer’s piece, published through his subscription-based newsletter, the Wrestling Observer, the writer pulled no punches in characterizing UFC on Fox 3 as a ratings failure:

Meltzer called it “a genuine XFL caliber ratings disaster,” comparing the UFC on FOX to Vince McMahon’s cursed football league from 2001. Meltzer also wrote that “FOX didn’t pay the money it did for the ratings it’s getting,” and brought up the possibility that the UFC has overexposed itself. “If the issue is that UFC has burned out its audience with too much product, and this is just an example of this, along with the TUF ratings, then it’s disastrous. The reason is, overexposure is a killer that it takes a long time to recover from,” Meltzer wrote.

Dana White is nothing if not passionate, and he tends to take criticism of himself or anything related to him very personally. That is understandable, to a point. White has spent the last decade fighting against the current to get his product – and, by extension, the entire sport of MMA – out in the mainstream. To say that the UFC is his baby and that White has a vested interest in its success is a huge understatement.

I happen to think that White’s accessibility and candor trickles down to fighters and how open they are to fans, and, collectively, that is what makes covering this sport for a living so much fun. So I’m personally glad that when White is upset about something he talks about it, instead of hiding behind prepared statements like the heads of other professional sports organizations/leagues.

So it isn’t surprising or necessarily bad that White decided to respond directly to Meltzer, but the way White did it was all vitrol and with no sense of proportion. In the short tirade that White recorded and had initially and inconceivably planned to originally have aired on FUEL’s UFC Tonight show — it makes very little sense to give a paid subscription newsletter that amount of exposure if you don’t agree with it — the Prez brings up good points that the media has wrongly painted the UFC on Fox 3 card as a ratings loser.

White pointed out that the card was the number one program of the night among many key male demographics and that during the last quarter hour they were the number one program among all adult and male demographics. No doubt, these are the demographics that Fox hoped to hit by buying UFC programming.

Shows that performed better that night at times had a much higher median age, while the UFC on Fox did better with younger adults – a coveted demo. White also said that the UFC on Fox beat the Spurs playoff game when they went head to head.

Problem is, White sandwiched those and other important ratings facts with personal attacks directed at Meltzer. White literally begins and ends his lil’ speech by making fun of Meltzer. “First of all, Dave,” Dana says in the video. “You know I like you, you know I respect you, but you just lost your job at Yahoo! And you want to give us business advice? I’m actually writing a story…of all the things I think you could have done to keep your job at Yahoo!”

Yeah, Dana took things there. Without making the same mistake as White and talking about people’s situations that I had no direct involvement in, it’s worth mentioning that the recent layoffs at Yahoo! Sports’ boxing and MMA pages had nothing to do with performance. Meltzer and his colleagues at Yahoo! Sports had been kicking everyone’s asses in traffic for years, and still were, when Yahoo! Management decided to change their level of investment in covering combat sports. So, that’s that.

Any way you cut it, it’s a jerk move from White to say something like that just because he doesn’t like a single article of Meltzer’s. But Dave Meltzer is a big boy and fended just fine for himself in responding to White.

Here’s the plain truth – Dana White has a legitimate argument for the UFC on Fox partnership being a success thus far. He is also right that the media has not, on the whole, been giving their readers a well-rounded account of the ratings story (though Meltzer did a better job than anyone else).

But White completely obscures his valid points by surrounding them with childish insults. He’s done this before.

In 2009 Loretta Hunt wrote a pretty poor story on the UFC’s credentialing policies concerning managers, which infuriated White. He could have poked holes in the story and brought up near limitless context and background talking about the history between Hunt, and the UFC on the topic of credentialing specifically, in order to make a case that she might have had an agenda against him. Instead, he vomited out a bunch of ugly misogynistic and homophobic slurs directed at her and others on camera. Guess how many people remembered his points about that story being inaccurate after that? Not many.

BLAF, we love you (and any writer that says they don’t love a quote-factory like Dana White is lying) but chill out. Meltzer had sharp words that obviously hit close to home for you but he didn’t personally insult anyone. He was giving his analysis on a business situation involving the UFC, which is his job.

Of course you disagree with his analysis and are pissed off, so go ahead and make a counter argument, as you did. Just leave the trash out. People might just see things your way more often if you do that.