Bellator and UFC Will Both Run Events In Conn Sept 5th Head to Head

[bk365]

Why? What's the point? There really is no positive if you're the UFC. I can't see their event being more successful.

Mohegan Sun Arena fits over 10,000. Bellator sold out Mohegan for Bellator 110, something the UFC couldn't do during their 4 shows @ Mohegan. Well their first show @ Mohegan which I believe was UFC 34 (or close to it) almost sold out (there were A LOT of comps though)

Where @ Foxwoods are they gonna come close to that capacity? That Fox Theater shit? I don't even think that holds 5,000. Probably in the 3,000-4,000 range and I believe that is the largest space @ Foxwoods. And that would be a terrible venue for an MMA event..

Pitbull/Curran title fight alone will be better than any fight the UFC puts on this card. I wouldn't be surprised if Bellator added another big fight on top of that. Plus Irvin/Ward & the MW tourney. I just don't see the point from the UFC's perspective. People will make a big deal out of it when the Bellator event is more successful.

 

[DezWalker]

When UFC runs shows on Friday nights, their audiences are typically anywhere from 25-40% lower than Saturdays. So unless they stack the card with something along the lines of the Bisping-Kennedy or Henderson-Rua cards, Bellator wins this "battle".

That said, I think they will stack it somewhat because the only reason they're doing this is to sabotage Bellator. A Silva-Brown or Miocic-Maldonado card isn't going to cut it this time. If this show tonight ran against Bellator on their regular time slot, Bellator smokes them.

 

[Mikedh]

Why? What's the point? There really is no positive if you're the UFC. I can't see their event being more successful.

Because they don't care what they do.

The UFC ran a small Casino show main evented by Igor Pokrajac and Stephan Bonna the same night and time as a Strikeforce show that had Babalu, Dan Henderson, Robbie Lawler and Paul Daley. They ran one of their worst cards live cards against one of Srikeforces best cards without giving a shit. UFC has enough stuff to worry about on their own.

Even if Bellator outdoes them on this show in terms of revenue (unlikely) the UFC can just go to a place like Abu Dhabi, London, Tokyo, Sydney, etc and make as much in a gate as Bellator does in several shows in Bellator's home territory. It isn't really a competition.

 

[bk365]

Because they don't care what they do.

The UFC ran a small Casino show main evented by Igor Pokrajac and Stephan Bonna the same night and time as a Strikeforce show that had Babalu, Dan Henderson, Robbie Lawler and Paul Daley. They ran one of their worst cards live cards against one of Srikeforces best cards without giving a shit. UFC has enough stuff to worry about on their own.

Even if Bellator outdoes them on this show in terms of revenue (unlikely) the UFC can just go to a place like Abu Dhabi, London, Tokyo, Sydney, etc and make as much in a gate as Bellator does in several shows in Bellator's home territory. It isn't really a competition.

You can't even pretend like those situations are the same. 1) That was a TUF Finale card which always drew solid ratings back then no matter who was on the card and they were always in a small venue. It was also planned way in advance (with the show schedule). 2) They weren't in the same city like these 2 events are. 3) Both of those events were on a Saturday, while this event is on a Friday which the UFC never does..

You think they had a show, in the same city as a Bellator event planned for the exact same day & time? A day they don't normally do shows on? You're going to pretend like they didn't put this show on to go up against Bellator?

 

[VIP1349]

When UFC runs shows on Friday nights, their audiences are typically anywhere from 25-40% lower than Saturdays. So unless they stack the card with something along the lines of the Bisping-Kennedy or Henderson-Rua cards, Bellator wins this "battle".

That said, I think they will stack it somewhat because the only reason they're doing this is to sabotage Bellator. A Silva-Brown or Miocic-Maldonado card isn't going to cut it this time. If this show tonight ran against Bellator on their regular time slot, Bellator smokes them.

Even selling less tickets then Bellator they'd still kill them in revenue. The UFC tickets are much higher priced and any time Bellator "sells out" it means they gave away a shit ton of free tickets.

If they sold a bit less tickets, did less ratings, the UFC still makes more money.

This isn't the UFC doing it out of spite, they could have countered Bellator's PPV if they really cared about that. They do shows all the time now.

For all we know UFC could have had the date and city first. Its not a war, its not close.

I just hope they don't run against each other too often.

 

[thetaylor22]

Its like the Monday Night Wars all over again

They should have Mike Goldberg trash all the Bellator fighters like Bischoff did.

 

[Mikedh]

this event is on a Friday which the UFC never does.

They just did an event in Abu Dhabi half way around the world on a Friday that did nearly 2 million at the gate. How many Bellator at home events does that add up too 2 million if we are pretending these two entities as legitimately competitive?

You think they had a show, in the same city as a Bellator event planned for the exact same day & time? A day they don't normally do shows on? You're going to pretend like they didn't put this show on to go up against Bellator?

They go where Fox puts them on the schedule. Fox didn't even want to pay them $1 for a number events so they had to put them on the internet in the USA. Remember Shogun/Hendo 2 on a Sunday? Do you think the UFC has power over Fox? It just isn't that important to Fox.

Even if you think the UFC runs FOX, do you think they are really going to stack this card more than any other Fight Night?

 

[Lethal_Striker]

They just did an event in Abu Dhabi half way around the world on a Friday that did nearly 2 million at the gate. How many Bellator at home events does that add up too 2 million if we are pretending these two entities as legitimately competitive?



They go where Fox puts them on the schedule. Fox didn't even want to pay them $1 for a number events so they had to put them on the internet in the USA. Remember Shogun/Hendo 2 on a Sunday? Do you think the UFC has power over Fox? It just isn't that important to Fox.

Even if you think the UFC runs FOX, do you think they are really going to stack this card more than any other Fight Night?

They don't pick the timeslots that FS1 airs the event, that's totally up to Fox. But they have control over where the events take place, which I'm sure that Fox couldn't care less where the events actually take place.

 

[jamesgalb]

You have no idea what either card will look like.

For example next Sat UFC Fight night is better than basically every Bellator card other than their PPV.

Those are Saturday cards... This is a Friday one.

When is the last time you saw a super-stacked UFC card on a weekday? They have a LOT of shows to fill in the year, and a Friday FS1 card likely wont be pulling their stars or champions...

This will be a real competition, FS1 vs Spike. Bellator can and likely will stack it, can UFC afford to give up Fox and PPV fighters to an FS1 Friday card?

 

[SBC]

I think you have to be a little bit dese to think hat the UFC didn't do this on purpose. The usually don't run shows on he nights Bellator does and now all of a sudden they are? Remember when Srikeforce did the Nashville show and there were rumors that the UFC was going to put on a show in Tennessee the same night? Well now they've done it to Belltor. What they pull on TV is one thing, Bellator can do well in that aspect but the UFC is going to kill them in the live gate. Bellator's going to have what, like ten people in the crowd now?

 

[bk365]

They just did an event in Abu Dhabi half way around the world on a Friday that did nearly 2 million at the gate. How many Bellator at home events does that add up too 2 million if we are pretending these two entities as legitimately competitive?



They go where Fox puts them on the schedule. Fox didn't even want to pay them $1 for a number events so they had to put them on the internet in the USA. Remember Shogun/Hendo 2 on a Sunday? Do you think the UFC has power over Fox? It just isn't that important to Fox.

Even if you think the UFC runs FOX, do you think they are really going to stack this card more than any other Fight Night?

Never said they were competitive. But do you really think this wasn't done intentionally to counter Bellator 123? It's just a coincidence? When was the last UFC Friday card to air on FOX? Last I remember were the FX cards back in 2012. All of a sudden they're doing a Friday card? No other Friday card before it, no other Friday card scheduled after it. Not only is the event on at the same time, but in the same city as the Bellator event?

 

[Frank23]

Bellator will have empty seats.

 

[Mikedh]

Never said they were competitive. But do you really think this wasn't done intentionally to counter Bellator 123? It's just a coincidence? When was the last UFC Friday card to air on FOX? Last I remember were the FX cards back in 2012. All of a sudden they're doing a Friday card? No other Friday card before it, no other Friday card scheduled after it. Not only is the event on at the same time, but in the same city as the Bellator event?

It's possible with the location. I wouldn't have pegged them running at a venue like Foxwoods anymore.

I just don't think Fox cares enough about then to let them on whenever. I'm sure they are happy with it and it does alright there, but I think they show a pretty clear preference for more traditional sports.

 

[Slongkong]

I don't think the UFC would even have a title fight available but Bellator certainly does. Lima is 100% again. so is Dave Jansen Possible title fights for this card

Pitbull vs Curran 2 which is rumored and would be better than their whole card.
lima vs Mcdonough/koreshkov
Minakov vs Volkov 2
Will Brooks vs Dave Jansen
Alexander shlemenko in a feature fight or vs the tourney winner.

So many possibilities for Bellator. And Bellator brings exciting fights everytime they are on. You can expect that. The ufc is a mixed bag. It's really up to the fans if you want the name brand or the best stuff. People will wisen up soon enough. but it's all speculation until the cards are announced so who cares right now.

 

[DezWalker]

Even selling less tickets then Bellator they'd still kill them in revenue. The UFC tickets are much higher priced and any time Bellator "sells out" it means they gave away a shit ton of free tickets.

If they sold a bit less tickets, did less ratings, the UFC still makes more money.

This isn't the UFC doing it out of spite, they could have countered Bellator's PPV if they really cared about that. They do shows all the time now.

For all we know UFC could have had the date and city first. Its not a war, its not close.

I just hope they don't run against each other too often.

They didn't counter the PPV because they didn't take them seriously. It's no coincidence that after the 100,000 buyrate came out that all of a sudden they are counter-programming them. We'll see how much they care when details for this card come out. If it's stacked, you'll have your answer.

 

[Fresh Burek]

This is like UFC vs. Strikeforce all over again. UFC will claim they are not a competitor at all, then buy them the next day, then talk about how Strikeforce was a great organization full of talent.

 

[Handawg]

Do people actually believe that Bellator's gate will come anywhere close to the UFC's ??
If you put Curran/Pitbull, Lima/Jansen and the HW tournament on there it would do well for Bellator standards but they don't want to waste that card when you can do it on a day where you aren't competing with the biggest MMA org in history.

It'd be better for Bellator to do the HW tournament and nothing else for that card. Trying to compete could flop big time even if the UFC doesn't put out a good card (which is probable)

 

[ggtopdog]

Curran vs pitbull
Held vs pitbull
Kongo vs lavar
Mvp vs riggs

Vs

Dj vs whoever
Mir vs vera ii
Chiesa vs koch
Herman vs b Tavares

 

[ggtopdog]

Regardless oh which the two cards are I will be flipping back qnd forth

 

[jamesgalb]

One thing is for damn sure...

it will be very interesting to see what each organization does with the date.

Looking at the UFCs schedule, I don't expect a 3rd rate card, but ofcourse don't expect a 1st rate one either...

Viacom and Bellator could see this as a way to solidify its standing as a real UFC competitor... Is it worth making the investment of dropping a Tito Ortiz or Rampage Jackson on the card? Maybe...