Rumor: UFC 136 - 175k buys

[Bigpapa42]

Unless theres 3 of them fighting Andre the Giant noone wants to see midgets on a main event.

I have next to zero interest in anything less than 170. If it wasnt for GSP/Hughes/Koscheck itd be 185.

I think we all knew the number of PPVs these few months were retarded. Buys would be much higher if they killed one and put the fights on another card. But I think our poster of the year said theyd be ok with nickle and diming the ppv numbers.

Overexposure is a bitch. Ive had no inkling to purchase any of these cards , TUF is sitting on my dvr for the first time , and Jones ducking Rashad has left me with no fights Im genuinely looking forward to.

Think you got that one backward, homes.

Oh, and guys who fight at 135 can be 160 or even 170 "normally". So those "midgets" are actually often just average sized guys who are a bit on the short side and can cut.

[EmpireWF]

Unless theres 3 of them fighting Andre the Giant noone wants to see midgets on a main event.

I have next to zero interest in anything less than 170. If it wasnt for GSP/Hughes/Koscheck itd be 185.

Never understood this from non-casuals. Who cares if the guy is 7 foot or 5 foot, as long as they put on a hell of a show in the cage?

Overexposure is a bitch. Ive had no inkling to purchase any of these cards , TUF is sitting on my dvr for the first time , and Jones ducking Rashad has left me with no fights Im genuinely looking forward to.

No doubt overexposure sucks balls...138& 140 will get lost in the shuffle with underwhelming cards.

You mean to tell me you're not looking forward to any of these? Shogun/Hendo, Brock/Overeem, Cain/JDS, Bendo/Guida, Penn/Diaz, Wand/Cung, Faber/Bowles, Bisping/Miller, Bones/Machida, Hominick/KoreanZombie....

[Warner2BruceTD]

Its a tricky deal. Would you rather do four shows that do around 200k, or one show that does 600? You end up making more on running four shows (you also make four gates), but you play the overexposure game.

Zuffa is cocky and think they can eventually run shows every night like other sports. I think they understand that they are killing the novelty, but I don't think they ever thought buys would go as low as they have.

I think long term they see themselves moving away from the PPV model as the primary source of income. MOAR is the business model moving forward. They want to cut tv deals and run multiple shows in the same day (UFC Japan on TV during the day + a PPV that night). They aren't going to stop.

[SHOGUN]

At what point does the overexposure cross that line into to where it becomes a detriment?

[Liquidrob]

At what point does the overexposure cross that line into to where it becomes a detriment?

well, it already has because there PPV numbers have gone down for the first time in years, but also other factors

I cant wait for the PPV era to be over for MMA, fans shouldnt have to pay this much to follow a sport, Pride was a great thing for fans in japan during that era, TV contracts are better for us as fans and it gets the fighters more exposure/sponsers because of a broader audience

[Warner2BruceTD]

At what point does the overexposure cross that line into to where it becomes a detriment?

When you fail to make stars.

#1 in any combat sport/pro wrestling/boxing or whatever is making new stars. Old stars can't draw forever, and it's an even bigger issue in MMA than in wrestling or boxing because (generally speaking) stars are on top for a much shorter length of time.

Overexposure + lack of creating new stars = thinned out shows and main events with guys who aren't over.

The UFC model is moving to volume. MOAR MOAR MOAR. Shows every week, shows every night, all over the globe. PPV obviously suffers from overexposure. But you can still draw decent gates if you only hit cities once or twice per year. Remember, Houston sold out for Edgar/Maynard because UFC hadn't been there is so long. It wasn't a good PPV fight, but it drew a monster live gate.

Network TV deals + more live gates + mediocre PPV is probably a better model than basic cable + less live gates + good/great PPV. I guess we'll find out, but from a fan perspective, like rob is saying, fuck PPV.

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Think you got that one backward, homes.

Oh, and guys who fight at 135 can be 160 or even 170 "normally". So those "midgets" are actually often just average sized guys who are a bit on the short side and can cut.

I dont care. The cutman and refs tower over them. Its like watching little kids fight. I like Diaz, and Melendez but just about anyone under 170 on a main event is going to get a pass from me.

Jones ducked the shit out of Rashad plain and simple. Everything after has been a stupid game. No respect for Jones.

Never understood this from non-casuals. Who cares if the guy is 7 foot or 5 foot, as long as they put on a hell of a show in the cage?

Because bigger guys have power. The threat of a knockout is always there.
Just my preference.

You mean to tell me you're not looking forward to any of these?

Shogun/Hendo, Could there be two guys that talk less than these two ? Looking forward to watching it....but I wont buy a PPV for them no.
Brock/Overeem, A year ago FUCK YEAH..theyve both been exposed. Closest to a super hulk fight so still a whopping yes.
Cain/JDS, Its free so non debate. I love JDS hate Cain.
Bendo/Guida, Nope.
Penn/Diaz, Not in the least if it wasnt for my love of everything Diaz. Should have been Diaz GSP the entire debacle of that card makes me not want to watch at all.
Wand/Cung, Glass Joe vs Hurricane kick Ryu...No
Faber/Bowles, No.
Bisping/Miller, No
Bones/Machida, Yes but Jones needed to fight Rashad first. Very annoyed by this.May consider this a buy.
Hominick/KoreanZombie no.

Ill watch them for free , or cheap at a bar. But only 1 of those would make me buy a PPV and invite folks over even then it will depend on the undercards which is why I think these slew of PPVs is bad. Its watering down the quality. Its bad enough the amount of injuries that have plagued main events but the co main events and super undercards are now being stretched into there own cards. Thats utter wackness and making me lose interest in day to day following.

[SHOGUN]

I love JDS

:shakehands:

#TEAMCIGANO

[Liquidrob]

JDS is going to get trashed

Cain has the best cardio and pace of any HW ever, JDS gets tired in the 2nd round jabbing slow HW's in the head

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

JDS is going to get trashed

Cain has the best cardio and pace of any HW ever, JDS gets tired in the 2nd round jabbing slow HW's in the head

Cardio may be the difference...but Roy Nelson has an odor that fatigues all within 5 feet of him so hard to judge.

[Steel Mamba]

If they don't promote their fighters then what is Countdown all about? On top of that they have two shows that are similar to HBO's 24/7, does that not promote the fighters either?

What about the fan expos?

You guys aren't being reasonable and looking too hard into this. PPV numbers don't even tell the entire story anyway. Those PPV figures don't take into account world-wide viewership, nor the amount of people who go out to watch it. In Pittsburgh it's damn hard to get a table at any sports bar the night of a UFC PPV. Every place is packed with people there to watch the fight. Interest in the UFC or its fighters is definitely not on the decline.

[Steel Mamba]

Think you got that one backward, homes.

Oh, and guys who fight at 135 can be 160 or even 170 "normally". So those "midgets" are actually often just average sized guys who are a bit on the short side and can cut.

No, he got it right.

[Liquidrob]

If they don't promote their fighters then what is Countdown all about? On top of that they have two shows that are similar to HBO's 24/7, does that not promote the fighters either?

What about the fan expos?

You guys aren't being reasonable and looking too hard into this. PPV numbers don't even tell the entire story anyway. Those PPV figures don't take into account world-wide viewership, nor the amount of people who go out to watch it. In Pittsburgh it's damn hard to get a table at any sports bar the night of a UFC PPV. Every place is packed with people there to watch the fight. Interest in the UFC or its fighters is definitely not on the decline.

it's the same generic shit that doesnt spark anything, same stuff over and over, like shogun said, every description about a brazilian is the same, every wrestler is the same and so on, same beginning intro's, stupid music, canned 'I'm going to stand and bang' line over and over, rain in the background and blah blah blah

24/7 blows away any type of UFC 'hype show', the fans are invested in the fighter, the fighters personality, the average fan doesnt know the different between Edgar, Maynard, Joe Lauzon or whoever, it's a bunch of guys wanting to fight in the OCTOGON

The UFC is always splitting time promtoing THE UFC brand name or Dana White, so the fighters dont get what they should get, they're selling THE UFC, not the fighters first, like I said, THE JIG IS UP

[Steel Mamba]

it's the same generic shit that doesnt spark anything, same stuff over and over, like shogun said, every description about a brazilian is the same, every wrestler is the same and so on, same beginning intro's, stupid music, canned 'I'm going to stand and bang' line over and over, rain in the background and blah blah blah

24/7 blows away any type of UFC 'hype show', the fans are invested in the fighter, the fighters personality, the average fan doesnt know the different between Edgar, Maynard, Joe Lauzon or whoever, it's a bunch of guys wanting to fight in the OCTOGON

The UFC is always splitting time promtoing THE UFC brand name or Dana White, so the fighters dont get what they should get, they're selling THE UFC, not the fighters first, like I said, THE JIG IS UP

Judging by your first paragraph the problem isn't that they don't try to promote their fighters, what you're saying is they just need a different approach. Two entirely different things.

They do try to get fans invested in a fighter, that's one of the purposes of TUF. To watch someone grow from the ground level. TUF may have run its course to us, but its still a popular show that the casual fans love to see.

They do have two shows that follows the fighters around for a couple weeks, it's the same exact format as 24/7. The only reason why HBO's might be more interesting is because of Mayweather and slightly better production. They have guys videoblogging on the net, doing all sorts of interviews, etc. If you're a fan of MMA, you know these athletes more so than you do any other athlete in any sport. You can't deny that.

[Liquidrob]

Judging by your first paragraph the problem isn't that they don't try to promote their fighters, what you're saying is they just need a different approach. Two entirely different things.

They do try to get fans invested in a fighter, that's one of the purposes of TUF. To watch someone grow from the ground level. TUF may have run its course to us, but its still a popular show that the casual fans love to see.

They do have two shows that follows the fighters around for a couple weeks, it's the same exact format as 24/7. The only reason why HBO's might be more interesting is because of Mayweather and slightly better production. They have guys videoblogging on the net, doing all sorts of interviews, etc. If you're a fan of MMA, you know these athletes more so than you do any other athlete in any sport. You can't deny that.

My point is a couple things, if they are always pushing 'The UFC' or Dana White than they're not fully promoting there fighters, they just can't it's not possible

2nd, the way they go about it is bland, besides a couple guys they take it on there own, Chael, Rampage, etc...the UFC makes it boring

TUF is the same format all the time, tell me how throwing dudes in a house and wathc them drink and be jackasses really gets fans interested in them anymore? The guys are interchangable and thats my point, its not the fighters, it's the format

Plus, the UFC generally keeps fighters 'in check', guys like Diaz will be stifled, Dana wants you to 'play the game', Diaz is interesting, they're trying to knock some of that off him and change him, but Diaz don't give a fuck, they feed lines to guys inthe countdown shows, same corny lines that every fighter uses, why? because they make it that way thats' why