UFC on FOX 8 draws 2.04 million viewers

[Liquidrob]

UFC on Fox 8 pulled 2.04 million viewers according to the overnights

LOL

UFC isnt even as big as EliteXC

 

[CrimsonGhost56]

zero star power last night. surprised it did that much

 

[s@ppisgod]

zero star power last night. surprised it did that much

It was really a missed opportunity. All the major sports are out, except baseball and people don't really care too much about it right now. They could have put together a reasonable big fight and created some buzz and be THE big sports event of the weekend. Instead they put together a pretty low-profile, boring event which didn't even entertain their fanbase, much less captivate the casual viewer.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Remember when we would obsess about UFC picking the wrong fights for FOX, and it would usually come down to one star vs another, or one mega fight vs another? Could you imagine putting that trash on FOX and drawing that number at the beginning of this deal?

Now UFC doesn't even care what they throw on TV. Money is in the bank, contract isn't going anywhere, they know FOX needs them because they're launching a new network in a month.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I will go to my grave insisting that UFC blew it the first time out on FOX, when they let FOX convince them to run a one fight show, and got burned with the weak JDS KO of Cain. Casuals and curiosity viewers were laughing at the sport that night. It did a huge number that has never been matched because all of those curiosity viewers were never coming back after that shit. And they had that great Benson Henderson fight on the undercard that they chose not to air, even when it was already in the can, they knew it was a fight of the year contender, and they had time left to air it. Instead they showed a half hour of Curt Menafee & the desk shills talking about dumb shit like "top ten heavyweights" that nobody remembers.

That night was a turning point in mainstream sports fan acceptance. They had them watching, and they blew it.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Think about the buzz that night compared to now. You have one shot to make that first impression. And they fucked it up. Some was bad luck, most was bad decision making by both sides.

These FOX shows barely have buzz among hardcores, let alone random sports fan guy. Casuals don't even exist anymore if you are pulling two million viewers on a network. That's your base.

 

[EmpireWF]

Fox 1 didn't help anything, but they could've skipped by had anyone emerged as a superstar. Nobody has among this current crop since GSP and he's been on top for about six or seven years.

Rousey has to a degree, but no female will ever draw like Georges has....even if UFC could promote a Ronda/Cyborg fight.

So, they're running in place. Plus, thanks to the stagnant state of the sport besides the UFC, MMA as a whole is running in place. Bellator being moved to Friday's in the fall, no good. Nothing else besides them.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

If that Bendo/Guido fight airs, he might have become a breakout star, who knows, that's how stars are made, they have exciting breakout performances in front of millions of eyeballs.

There are a million reasons that night was a disaster imo, but the reactions the next day were all nonsense like "they drew 8 million, what a success!". So short sighted. The buzz was all negative from non fans, which was the majority of that 8 million.

 

[s@ppisgod]

Yeah, but their Henderson/Diaz fight drew pretty good ratings. Their premier sucked ass and made the sport a punch line to casual fans. I was in a bar when that came on, and I'd bet money that those people who asked what the hell that was will never order a PPV in their life. But they proved with the Benson fight that they can still be the must-see sporting event of the weekend if they cared at all. Going with DJ wasn't a bad idea, but that match-up sucked.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I'm not saying they can't do a good number now & then, they can (and have).

I'm saying they blew a chance to make millions of new fans that night. That was the most important night in MMA history since Griffin/Bonnar. Griffin/Bonnar won people over and sparked a boom. Cain/JDS drove people away and kept them on the same level when that night could have sparked another boom and took them to a next level. Joe Sports Fan doesn't care about UFC, and i'm willing to bet 3 or 4 million people watched that night that haven't seen a fight since.

If you want a small sample size, check the chatbox on this site on and UFC fight night. The usual suspects (Kuzzy, Empire, me, Shogun etc) talking fights. The night of Cain/JDS, EVERYBODY was talking UFC, they had non fans watching, and it turned into a running joke. A lot of uninformed people thought it was fixed because the KO was so weak. That's a killer. Show those people Bendo/Guida, you have water cooler buzz.

 

[JimLeavy59]

If Dana was smart that Silva vs Weidman and Rousey vs Tate event would be on FOX.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

If Dana was smart that Silva vs Weidman and Rousey vs Tate event would be on FOX.

Let's not get crazy, that'll do over a million buys. The FOX check is already cashed, they can coast for a while unless things really crash.

 

[JimLeavy59]

Let's not get crazy, that'll do over a million buys. The FOX check is already cashed, they can coast for a while unless things really crash.

I'm just saying the UFC needs to give FOX something I mean not disrespect but Demetrious Johnson is not a headliner. I'd rather them put the UFC 164 event of FOX.

 

[s@ppisgod]

I'm not saying they can't do a good number now & then, they can (and have).

I'm saying they blew a chance to make millions of new fans that night. That was the most important night in MMA history since Griffin/Bonnar. Griffin/Bonnar won people over and sparked a boom. Cain/JDS drove people away and kept them on the same level when that night could have sparked another boom and took them to a next level. Joe Sports Fan doesn't care about UFC, and i'm willing to bet 3 or 4 million people watched that night that haven't seen a fight since.

If you want a small sample size, check the chatbox on this site on and UFC fight night. The usual suspects (Kuzzy, Empire, me, Shogun etc) talking fights. The night of Cain/JDS, EVERYBODY was talking UFC, they had non fans watching, and it turned into a running joke. A lot of uninformed people thought it was fixed because the KO was so weak. That's a killer. Show those people Bendo/Guida, you have water cooler buzz.

They blew it that night. There's no arguing that. Sure, it could have been a more modern Bonnar/Griffin, but it's tough to catch that lightning in a bottle. Bonnar/Griffin was the main event. JDS/Velasquez was going to be the main event regardless. The night was going to end on a dud regardless, instead of MMA's version of Hagler/Hearns.

They just don't care about running a serious main event on Fox. If they did, or if they don't, they're going to have more or less the same number of casual fans watching. MMA is overexposed now. You and Rob and all the rest have been talking about it for years. Nobody cared about Mighty Mouse/Moraga. That wouldn't have changed no matter how many saw Guida/Henderson. Now if they went nuts and gave away Jones/Silva/GSP on Fox, it would generate buzz and draw casual fans in droves.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Griffin/Bonnar wasn't the main event, the main event was Franklin/Shamrock.

Nobody remembers that, which reinforces my point that they should have at least aired the Bendo/Guida fight once they knew the main event was a dud. The fight had already happened, they had nothing to lose. They didn't even have to tell anybody it was recorded, only 1% of the audience would have known any better. FOX was against airing that fight live, so they have to take the brunt of the blame, but it was just a massive missed opportunity by all. UFC didn't want to run a one match show but they also didn't want to fight with FOX right out of the gate. It was a rare case of UFC backing down in a conflict, and it cost them & FOX dearly, because here we are with world title fights barely beating TNA fucking Impact in total viewers.

Also, while it was with good intentions, it's time to concede that not all title fights should be main events. I get that you want to position your titles as important, but some of the titles/champions are just not draws, so somebody like Mighty Mouse & some of these lower weight titles need to be third from the top or whatever as supporting fights.

 

[s@ppisgod]

They strapped themselves to a JDS/Cain rocket that turned into the Challenger. Do you really think the Guida/Benson fight sparks a new boom era? Highly unlikely. They just need to put together good cards and people will watch. People watched Benson/Diaz, which IMO was a much more highly anticipated and skilled match-up than Guida. They were on the right track with Benson/Diaz and the LHW night with Bader/Machida. Those types of match-ups will get them viewers. Aldo is tailor-made for a FOTN star-making match on Fox, but that would require them giving a damn about building buzz. They showed with the Mighty Mouse fight that they don't put a priority on that anymore.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I don't know for sure if things would be different if they had aired Bendo/Guido, but i'd say there is a good chance they would be.

Imagine if Spike had only aired Franklin/Griffin in 2005. Where would we be? And you would probably be saying the same thing you're saying now, "Do you really think Bonnar vs Griffin sparks a boom era?". Well, with hindsight we know for sure it was that fight that changed things. And that was the third most anticipated fight of the night behind Franklin/Shamrock (Shamrock was brought in as a big name jobber to put over a guy they wanted to push) & Diego/Florian (which if you recall, was the fight the hardcores were excited about).

People watching UFC for the first time ever that night stuck with it because Griffin/Bonnar was awesome and action packed. Franklin/Shamrock may have brought them to the party but they left with another girl. I think Bendo/Guida could have had the same effect. Some of those first timers could have been turned into fans because it was that type of fight with hot action start to finish. But now we'll never know.

 

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Why is this still a debate. UFC1 was a debacle that cant be undone. You only get one chance to make a first impression and that asinine decision cost Fox future millions and UFC a shit ton of new fans. You air that fight and you have a completely different result and buzz for UFC on Fox may actually occur.
These garbage cards to me are just clear indications UFC is mailing it in. I dont know a soul that has looked forward to or spoken about any Fox card other than the first.
Oh and while we're at it.....Fuck FOX for using the NFL theme on every fucking sport.

 

[s@ppisgod]

I don't know for sure if things would be different if they had aired Bendo/Guido, but i'd say there is a good chance they would be.

Imagine if Spike had only aired Franklin/Griffin in 2005. Where would we be? And you would probably be saying the same thing you're saying now, "Do you really think Bonnar vs Griffin sparks a boom era?". Well, with hindsight we know for sure it was that fight that changed things. And that was the third most anticipated fight of the night behind Franklin/Shamrock (Shamrock was brought in as a big name jobber to put over a guy they wanted to push) & Diego/Florian (which if you recall, was the fight the hardcores were excited about).

People watching UFC for the first time ever that night stuck with it because Griffin/Bonnar was awesome and action packed. Franklin/Shamrock may have brought them to the party but they left with another girl. I think Bendo/Guida could have had the same effect. Some of those first timers could have been turned into fans because it was that type of fight with hot action start to finish. But now we'll never know.

Bonnar/Griffin was a watershed moment in MMA history, not just the UFC. It directly correlated with the biggest boom period in the UFC, and took it into a different stratosphere. To suggest that they would have had a similar result is unlikely at best and completely ludicrous at worst. You're not talking about a success, you're talking about repeating UNPARALLELED success. I just don't see it.

 

[s@ppisgod]

Why is this still a debate. UFC1 was a debacle that cant be undone.

No one is arguing how bad it was, only how good it could have been...