Could Fox2 have the opposite effect of TUF1?

[Steel Mamba]

http://www.mmamania.com/2012/1/24/2730440/ufc-on-fox-rashad-evans-vs-phil-davis-fight-mma-news

It's a pay-per-view caliber fight card featuring two different match-ups that could determine the next challengers to the middleweight and light heavyweight championships. If that sounds like a good thing, that's because it is, but the match-ups themselves could result in three of the least aesthetically pleasing fights possible.

Are these really the type of fights that will make new fans crave more? What if Evans puts on another Evans vs Thiago Silva type of performance..

[Bigpapa42]

That's the risk. If Rashad Evans Rashad Evan's his way to a win, its going to be a lot more damaging to the casual fanbase than the super quick KO by JDS.

[SHOGUN]

This card has plenty of potential to be dreadful.

I expect plenty of cage hugging in Davis/Rashad fight. The fact that its five rounds is not encouraging either.

Bless Sonnen's heart for being a character, but he's really not a finisher and once you've seen one fight of his you've pretty much seen them all. It depends how well Bisping has worked on his defensive grappling.

Weidman/Maia has the most potential to be a stand up fight to satisfy the casuals, but it will be sloppy.

[Warner2BruceTD]

This will be their last shot to win over new fans who watched the first FOX show and came away thinking "this is MMA?".

Those types of people won't sample this a third time, at least not without massive star power and cultural buzz that nobody in UFC has right now.

[Liquidrob]

Probably will end up fine, but a 5 round dry hump ME will really kill it

unless chael subs bisping it's a decision, same thing with maia fight, this could be SF nashville all over minus the brawl unless bisping spits ok someone

More than likely guys will fight 'tight'

[EmpireWF]

As long as they get Chael Sonnen talking shit about Anderson Silva and Rashad Evans talking shit about Jon Jones, it'll be okay.

Assuming these fights are not Tyron Woodley-esque.

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Dana should put up a 1 million FOTN/KOTN and a 50,000$ fine if it goes the distance.

[EmpireWF]

Dana should put up a 1 million FOTN/KOTN and a 50,000$ fine if it goes the distance.

lol you want more 1:00 fights like the last time?

Good thing they didn't do that for the first Griffin/Bonnar fight.

[Steel Mamba]

The Bisping vs Sonnen fight turned out to be pretty good, but the rest of the fights were terrible. I still stand by cancelling fights when you have to have someone come in on a couple weeks notice. Switching people around who were already in training is fine, but bringing in Weidman and others in the past like that is a mistake. Cancel the fight and move a prelim up so not to take the risk of a fight looking as sloppy and unprofessional as that did on national TV. It just sounds bad when you constantly mention that you pulled the guy in on 10 days notice, its too reminiscent of the old days.

Overall, while we want fireworks on Fox, the events have been typical of UFC PPV fights. The majority of the time the fight is over before it starts or turns out to be bad and/or a grappling fest. So while I want to be upset at the matches put on, truth is they have been representative of the product. The Griffin vs Bonnar and Hendo vs Shogun fights are the one in a million type of matches when it comes to the UFC.

[Warner2BruceTD]

The overnight rating looks very strong, with growth from start to finish, so people stayed with it.

Good chance they survive two lackluster shows. Too bad they haven't had a blowaway fight yet, a lot of people have been watching, but they have had nothing to buzz about.

[Warner2BruceTD]

8:00 p.m: 3.68M, 1.8A18-49
8:30 p.m: 4.28M, 2.2A18-49
9:00 p.m: 4.62M, 2.4A18-49
9:30 p.m: 4.91M, 2.6A18-49

Again, only so much stock to put in the fast nationals for a situation like this, but the consistent rise from start to finish is definitely a good thing.

It wasn't a good show, but the right guys won and the rating was good. That's tons more important.

One of the worst MMA shows ever, far worse than this, was Shamrock vs. Ortiz II, a total disaster in every way, shape or form and a show that had a ton of new viewers who had never seen UFC. What happened next was the highest rate rating for a fight card they've ever had, still to this day, and the show after that did 1 million buys for the first time.

They could have done things different and better fights would be better, but people didn't tune out, which is the key. The right guy won, and they had a good enough audience that they are safe with this format because there was no big drop indicating the first show was a one-time novelty.

[Steel Mamba]

4.9 million disappointed fans, won't bode well for the future.

[Warner2BruceTD]

4.9 million disappointed fans, won't bode well for the future.

We'll see.

They were disappointed with FOX 1 and came back. They were disappointed last night and didn't change the channel.

Will people come back for a third time?

It could be that the "base" free TV audience is around that 4.5-5 million mark, and they aren't winning new people over after all. I don't know.