The final numbers are in for last weekend’s UFC on FOX 26: Lawler vs Dos Anjos, and while initial reports indicated low viewership, new factors have put it as the second-most watched TV-aired MMA event in 2017. The night’s main event was the peak with over three million viewers. The card was aired live on […]
The final numbers are in for last weekend’s UFC on FOX 26: Lawler vs Dos Anjos, and while initial reports indicated low viewership, new factors have put it as the second-most watched TV-aired MMA event in 2017.
The night’s main event was the peak with over three million viewers.
The card was aired live on FOX’s flagship platform, while many fight nights occur on FS1, which could factor into the availability of fans’ ability to watch it, but the event as a whole delivered and kept the momentum going from the prelims to the main card and all the way through a great main event.
Yet while it was one of the highest-watched live UFC cards during a 2017 where numbers were largely down overall, the news wasn’t all roses.
According to Dave Meltzer, the same-day ratings for Saturday night was 2,107,000 viewers, which actually makes it the fourth-lowest viewed FOX card in UFC history. However, it still ended up being the most watched event since January.
Initial reports put the event in a bad light, but the numbers including the entire main event as well as west coast viewership significantly increased the national numbers. It was number one on network TV for men ages 18-34 and 18-49.
In the grander scheme of things, Saturday night was a 34 percent drop compared to the UFC’s last FOX card in December of 2016. That card featured Michelle Waterson vs. Paige Vanzant as well as Urijiah Faber’s retirement fight.
The bar is quite high for FOX shows, so while the numbers may seem high, the card still underperformed in terms of FOX channel events throughout the promotion’s six-year business partnership of the network.
Overnight viewership numbers for the main card of UFC on FOX 26 have been released. The FOX broadcast drew just 1.78 million viewers overnight (via MMAFighting.com). It’s important to note that the final three rounds of the Rafael dos Anjos vs. R…
Overnight viewership numbers for the main card of UFC on FOX 26 have been released. The FOX broadcast drew just 1.78 million viewers overnight (via MMAFighting.com). It’s important to note that the final three rounds of the Rafael dos Anjos vs. Robbie Lawler main event were not taken into account with the overnight ratings. As it […]
MMA reached its zenith at UFC 182 on Saturday, but if you looked at and listened to the crowd throughout the night you’d have hardly recognized that.
The audience was sparse and half-dead. They’d have done a wave to entertain themselves if the first four fights of the PPV — four decisions featuring unimpressive and sluggish performances — hadn’t already put them to sleep. An incessant stream of “this event sucks” tweets rolled in. This script has played itself out in the past. A card that’s supposed to be the pinnacle of the sport turns out to be a boring, uninteresting, overhyped amalgam of everything wrong with it, only this time we spent an extra $5. It appeared the poor showings, as well as the restless (and partially absent) audience would ruin one of the most anticipated UFC cards in recent memory.
MMA reached its zenith at UFC 182 on Saturday, but if you looked at and listened to the crowd throughout the night you’d have hardly recognized that.
The audience was sparse and half-dead. They’d have done a wave to entertain themselves if the first four fights of the PPV — four decisions featuring unimpressive and sluggish performances — hadn’t already put them to sleep. An incessant stream of “this event sucks” tweets rolled in. This script has played itself out in the past. A card that’s supposed to be the pinnacle of the sport turns out to be a boring, uninteresting, overhyped amalgam of everything wrong with it, only this time we spent an extra $5. It appeared the poor showings, as well as the restless (and partially absent) audience would ruin one of the most anticipated UFC cards in recent memory.
“Domination” and “breaking your opponent” are cliched phrases in MMA, but when fans and pundits originally coined them they had performances like Jon Jones’ in mind. Not only did Jones beat Cormier, he beat Cormier at what he was best at — wrestling…and he made it look easy. Jon Jones took an Olympic wrestler to the mat multiple times just for kicks, broke his will in the later rounds through the same fabled “grind” Cormier was supposed to be the master of, and made him cry at the post-fight press conference.
The in-cage martial artistry isn’t even the best part. That came after the phantasmagoric displays of violence. Jones taunted a dejected Cormier with a “crotch chop” circa late 1990′s WWE. When Joe Rogan conducted a rushed (the PPV was about to hit the end of the allotted time) interview with Jones, the reigning light heavyweight champ chided Cormier’s supporters by telling them to burn their “Break Bones” t-shirts and buy his “Unbroken” t-shirt. Already guffawing (or seething, depending on your alignment) at these antics? There’s MORE. In the post-fight show on Fox Sports 1, Jones continued to bash his defeated foe.
“I hope he’s somewhere crying right now,” Jones said. “I’m sure he is.” He continued on, saying Cormier is the kind of fighter who breaks when fights get tough. Jones also said Cormier is no king of the grind like people thought.
When asked about a possible reconciliation, Jones refused to let up on his verbal onslaught.
“I know if he would have won, he would have been up here, talking all types of trash,” Jones told MMAJunkie. “So I don’t feel sorry for him. This is combat.”
The hashtag #TheTimeIsNow became the butt end of many jokes on MMA Twitter during the last few weeks. The UFC used the hashtag to promote their embarrassing “omg big announcement” press conference where they announced they had no big announcement. People used #TheTimeIsNow to mock the UFC’s recent legal troubles as well as the grim state of their PPV business.
Jon Jones is the best MMA fighter that any of us will ever see in our lifetimes. You can claim Fedor Emelianenko was the GOAT while clutching your Pride VHS collection, but you’d be wrong. Jon Jones is capable of violence and technique on a level we’ve never seen before, nor will we likely ever see again if MMA continues its current descent in popularity.
In addition to his fighting acumen, Jon Jones posses more personality and emotional magnetism than all the other UFC champions combined. Remember how MMA erupted when Ronda Rousey didn’t shake Miesha Tate’s hand after submitting her at UFC 168? What Jones did to Cormier after UFC 182 makes that look like a bro hug by comparison.
The best part is it’s not a gimmick. Jon Jones doesn’t caricature over-the-top professional wrestling promos from yesteryear. Jon Jones doesn’t exclaim that fighters from less fortunate countries mistake public transit for barnyard animals. Jon Jones breaks people. Jon Jones chokes people out and drops them on the canvas, limp and limbs quivering. Jon Jones makes people cry, then says he’s glad about it. Jon Jones is unabashedly himself. A large percentage of fans hate him for it — just look at the comments on any Jones-related article to see that. Hell, someone even tweeted to CagePotato last night saying they hope somebody shoots Jones. But despite the hate, they pay to see him. Estimates already state UFC 182 achieved over 750k buys. In an age where fighters who draw 400k are considered the company’s top stars, this is almost a miracle.
The time for watching the best MMA fighter of all time and the UFC’s current biggest star is right now. Jones is the light in the current dark age of MMA. Every second of watching Jon Jones display his craft is a gift from a Lovecraftian god of violence. Cherish this gift, even if you don’t like Jones as a person.
Brock Lesnar will likely return to the UFC in 2015, but it won’t usher in a new golden age for MMA.
The news of Lesnar’s UFC return came recently. Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer Newsletterreported that “within the [WWE], the belief is that he’s going back to the UFC, and his showing up lighter to TV last week confirmed that to people who thought it.”
Earlier this year, UFC President Dana White expressed openness to a Lesnar return, and even claimed Lesnar was willing to return. “We have a great relationship with him,” said White. “We’ll see what happens.”
Furthermore, Lesnar’s longtime friend Paul Heyman noted this summer that Lesnar still has an intense drive to compete in the Octagon.
Unlike every other time Brock Lesnar’s name has been in the headlines over the last few years, this round of “Is Lesnar coming back” speculation isn’t a gimmick to drive up pageviews during a slow news week. This appears to be the real deal. Lesnar is coming back. However, unlike conventional wisdom would have you believe, it won’t do a damn thing to turn the UFC’s fortunes around.
(Brock Lesnar flashes a rare smile after being informed he’s the highest-paid 5-3 fighter of all time. / Photo via Getty)
Brock Lesnar will likely return to the UFC in 2015, but it won’t usher in a new golden age for MMA.
The news of Lesnar’s UFC return came recently. Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer Newsletterreported that “within the [WWE], the belief is that he’s going back to the UFC, and his showing up lighter to TV last week confirmed that to people who thought it.”
Earlier this year, UFC President Dana White expressed openness to a Lesnar return, and even claimed Lesnar was willing to return. “We have a great relationship with him,” said White. “We’ll see what happens.”
Furthermore, Lesnar’s longtime friend Paul Heyman noted this summer that Lesnar still has an intense drive to compete in the Octagon.
Unlike every other time Brock Lesnar’s name has been in the headlines over the last few years, this round of “Is Lesnar coming back” speculation isn’t a gimmick to drive up pageviews during a slow news week. This appears to be the real deal. Lesnar is coming back. However, unlike conventional wisdom would have you believe, it won’t do a damn thing to turn the UFC’s fortunes around.
The UFC’s PPV buys plummeted throughout 2014, hitting an estimated low of 115,000 for UFC 174. The 2014 yearly average for PPV buys was only 256,000 — about 200,000 lower than the previous three years. The UFC’s business soured so much Standard & Poor’s downgraded Zuffa’s credit rating and financial outlook.
MMA fans have problems interpreting numbers, so let me spell it out plainly: The UFC’s domestic popularity hasn’t been this low since before the Ultimate Fighter boom. The PPV market is collapsing. The FOX deal is not the UFC’s catapult to mainstream super-stardom we all thought it would be. Casual fans have fled MMA, only to return sparingly for free television shows and almost never for PPVs. The resolve of hardcore fans, tasked with keeping the sport alive during its dark times, is withering. These problems are a result of Zuffa’s oversaturation approach as well as the fading/retirement of old stars. I’ve discussed both these problemsnumeroustimes so I won’t repeat myself suffice it to say one man can’t fix the MMA marketplace in the United States.
Brock Lesnar last fought at UFC 141 in 2011 against Alistair Overeem. Care to guess the buyrate? A mediocre 535,000. UFC 91 in 2008 — the first event Lesnar headlined, this time against Randy Couture for the UFC heavyweight title — drew 1,010,000 buys.
Only half as many people cared to see Lesnar in 2011 compared to 2009. So how many people will care in 2015, four years and thousands of brand-killing, generic, unfit-for-television-and-PPV fights (that still made it onto television and PPV) later? Furthermore, Lesnar is 37 now. The last memories people have of him in the cage are Alistair Overeem liquefying his intestines with a body kick and Cain Velasquez punching him so hard he did a hilarious pirouette across the cage. Even if the UFC matches Lesnar up against the Brendan Schaubs of the heavyweight division, it’s not likely given Lesnar’s age that his second UFC run will be longer than his first.
Think about it this way, MMA is in such a state that if Lesnar’s first PPV back draws 500k buys it’ll be a tremendous success. Four plus years ago that same number would’ve been an abject failure for someone of Lesnar’s name value.
Brock Lesnar’s return is not the salvation of MMA. It’s not the restoration of MMA’s golden age. It’s Zuffa throwing two or three fight’s worth of kindling onto a dying fire — LIVE for $59.99.
It’s been much of the same for the UFC ever since, with most of the promotion’s champions being forced to the sidelines with long-term injuries or other affliction’s in the past two years. Fun fact: There have been just 11 title fights in 2014, with six of those fights belonging to Jose Aldo, Ronda Rousey, and Demetrious Johnson. Fan complaints of oversaturation have reached a fever pitch, and in July, the UFC was forced to cancel UFC 176 in the wake of Aldo’s injury.
But you already know this. Any MMA fan who has been paying at least half-attention to the sport in recent years has seen the negative effects the UFC’s increased schedule has had on their product. What you might not know, however, is just how bad the injury bug of 2012-2014 is affecting Zuffa’s earnings, and Standard and Poor’s recent assessment of Zuffa (via MMAJunkie) paints a pretty ugly picture…
(Looks like it’s time to start calling some old boyfriends, boys!)
It’s been much of the same for the UFC ever since, with most of the promotion’s champions being forced to the sidelines with long-term injuries or other affliction’s in the past two years. Fun fact: There have been just 11 title fights in 2014, with six of those fights belonging to Jose Aldo, Ronda Rousey, and Demetrious Johnson. Fan complaints of oversaturation have reached a fever pitch, and in July, the UFC was forced to cancel UFC 176 in the wake of Aldo’s injury.
But you already know this. Any MMA fan who has been paying at least half-attention to the sport in recent years has seen the negative effects the UFC’s increased schedule has had on their product. What you might not know, however, is just how bad the injury bug of 2012-2014 is affecting Zuffa’s earnings, and Standard and Poor’s recent assessment of Zuffa (via MMAJunkie) paints a pretty ugly picture:
Standard and Poor’s today issued a report announcing UFC parent Zuffa’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) is expected to decline 40 percent, 10 percent higher than originally forecasted.
The report said the steeper decline is “primarily due to a change to a marquee fight card in the fourth quarter of 2014, a result of another fighter injury causing anticipated pay-per-view buys and event ticket prices to decline further, as well as higher remarketing expenses for the event, and additional costs related to the company’s international expansion.”
So basically, Zuffa is running before they can walk by attempting to infiltrate to every possible outlet for MMA while failing to generate enough fan interest to support their expansion. They’re holding a press conference to make an announcement that there is no announcement, so to speak, and it’s becoming more and more evident that there might actually be a roof on this MMA thing. That the UFC’s offices in China recently shut down following a season of TUF and the promotion’s big plans for the area is a perfect example of this.
The grim news comes just one month after Zuffa’s credit rating was downgraded from a BB to a BB-, and while it was originally predicted that 2015 would be a recovery year for the promotion, the outlook suddenly looks much less hopeful. MMAPayout offers some insight into the figures:
S&P now expects ZUFFA’s cash flow/debt leverage to increase to the “high-5x area at the end of 2014.” In its October 2014 report, it had predicted ZUFFA to be in the 3 range. The cash flow/leverage is based on a scale of 1-6 with 1 being minimally leveraged to 6 being highly leveraged. ZUFFA is now pegged as 5 whereas S&P had forecasted it being a 3.
I can’t wait to hear how the UFC — who has declined to comment on the report as of this writeup — manages to spin this news. Then again, the promotion has been blindly moving forward and acting as if nothing wrong has been happening for years, so why stop now? With a 45 event schedule looming, it looks like we might be in for another rough one in 2015.
(“I’m not mad at you, TJ, I’m just disappointed.”)
Let’s be honest, UFC 177 was all but doomed to be a pay-per-view failure before it even got out of the gate. The only fight with even a trace of heat on it was the main event, an all-too-soon rematch between Renan Barao and TJ Dillashaw, which lost one of its players the day before the event was scheduled to take place. Toss in the fact that the card was reduced to just 8 fights after Henry Cejudo went and Henry Cejuodo’d and you’ve got yourselves the makings of a real stinkeroo right there.
And while it’s true that UFC 177’s PPV figures are supremely underwhelming — MMAFighting’s Dave Meltzer pinpoints the number around 125,000 buys — the card really performed better than it had any right to. Despite losing its main event at the last minute, UFC 177 still outperformed UFC 174, which final estimations pinned between 95,000 to 115,000 buys. In any case, UFC 177 marks just the third time in the modern era that a UFC pay-per-view has scored below 200,000 buys, along with 174 and UFC 163: Aldo vs. Korean Zombie, which netted just 180,000 buys.
The concerning issue here is that the amount of exposure given to the lighter weight classes through FOX events has had little impact on the pay-per-view numbers generated by its most reliable stars — specifically, Demetrious Johnson, who has headlined three UFC on FOX events but has yet to see any increase in his PPV sales despite his success. As Meltzer explained…
(“I’m not mad at you, TJ, I’m just disappointed.”)
Let’s be honest, UFC 177 was all but doomed to be a pay-per-view failure before it even got out of the gate. The only fight with even a trace of heat on it was the main event, an all-too-soon rematch between Renan Barao and TJ Dillashaw, which lost one of its players the day before the event was scheduled to take place. Toss in the fact that the card was reduced to just 8 fights after Henry Cejudo went and Henry Cejuodo’d and you’ve got yourselves the makings of a real stinkeroo right there.
And while it’s true that UFC 177′s PPV figures are supremely underwhelming – MMAFighting’s Dave Meltzer pinpoints the number around 125,000 buys — the card really performed better than it had any right to. Despite losing its main event at the last minute, UFC 177 still outperformed UFC 174, which final estimations pinned between 95,000 to 115,000 buys. In any case, UFC 177 marks just the third time in the modern era that a UFC pay-per-view has scored below 200,000 buys, along with 174 and UFC 163: Aldo vs. Korean Zombie, which netted just 180,000 buys.
The concerning issue here is that the amount of exposure given to the lighter weight classes through FOX events has had little impact on the pay-per-view numbers generated by its most reliable stars — specifically, Demetrious Johnson, who has headlined three UFC on FOX events but has yet to see any increase in his PPV sales despite his success. As Meltzer explained:
Johnson headlined three of the four FOX events in 2013, doing 4.22 million viewers against John Dodson (although a major part of that show’s success was Rampage Jackson fighting for the first time in years on a free television show), 2.38 million against John Moraga and 2.8 million against Joseph Benavidez. That’s three main events, as well as three FOX preview specials with him as the featured player. It was also three wins.
Nobody should have benefited more from FOX exposure in the past year. But to the general public, none of that meant a whole lot. At the end of the day, it was not a fight that the masses wanted to pay to see.
On Saturday night after UFC 175, Dana White talked about how UFC business is changing to being a worldwide promotion, and that people are going to not be watching every show and he’s accepting of that. He said that the Johnson vs. Bagautinov fight did exactly what they projected and they were not unhappy with the number, saying that the featherweight division is new, praising Johnson as champion and saying he would have no qualms about headlining another pay-per-view show with him.
So basically, the story remains much the same for “Mighty Mouse”, one of the most technically brilliant yet financially underwhelming fighters alive, as well as the lighter weight classes in general (UFC 173, which was a much more stacked card by any standards, just barely broke the 200k mark). We hate to say that Michael Bisping was right, but it sure is starting to seem that way. In other words, TJ Dillashaw needs to start dressing in custom-tailored suits and insulting every fighter he comes across if he ever wants to be considered a star. Let’s hope his fight with Dominick Cruz is able to inject some much-needed life back into the division.
