Deadspin: Whatever Happened To The UFC?

[MuayThaiBX]

They decided to go with the "more is more" philosophy. Quantity over quality. 500 fighters. As many events as possible. They realized that interest in the UFC is so down that even stacked cards don't sell HUGE. So they figured that having more events will all add up to bigger profits. Whether that's the case I don't know. I think the whole mentality sucks for those that like awesome stacked fight cards. They spread everything so thin that the excitement level for each event never gets over like a 7/10. It's usually only 1-2 fights to look forward to per event.

 

[Bigj383]

That's a Bingo.

Yet he's critisizing a card that is not a PPV. This card is included with your normal cable package. The other he is critisizing doesn't even air in the US.

 

[IwishIcould]

I dislike most things deadspin makes articles about.

I guess to a casual fan, too many events is a bummer.

But as a fan, I enjoy more and more events. Granted, I can't catch them all, but I still enjoy it when I can. I get too many PPV's cos people can't afford to dish out 50 bucks consistently for 3 hours of programming.

 

[Super Grover]

The article makes valid points.


The biggest problem is that the UFC spent all their effort promoting current stars (chuck, randy, GSP, Anderson, Brock, etc etc) but didn't focus nearly enough time building up new stars to take their place when those guys inevitably fell off/retired (which is something other sports do very very well).

Now they are stuck in an area with no real marketable stars (they have tried hard to make Jon Jones one but for some reason he doesn't seem to crossover like others did), add in the fact that they have doubled the number of shows per year and you get people writing articles like this and complaining about shitty cards full of no name fighters.

 

[Bigj383]

I dislike most things deadspin makes articles about.

I guess to a casual fan, too many events is a bummer.

But as a fan, I enjoy more and more events. Granted, I can't catch them all, but I still enjoy it when I can. I get too many PPV's cos people can't afford to dish out 50 bucks consistently for 3 hours of programming.

I really think Casual fans are indifferent to how many cards the UFC holds. They will only watch the fights they care about.

It's only people on sherdog who think for some reason they are required to watch every event like it's an obligation.

 

[TitoViaGNP]

"Jeremy Stephens, best known for being arrested."

What a dumb thing to say.
Best known for being with the company long term, fighting high level competition and producing some nasty knockouts.

. OJ is known for a murder trial even though he's one of the best RBs of all time.

 

[panamaican]

1 difference is that the NBA doesn't try to promote the D-League or it's players as being "elite." The NBA more or less recoginzes the D-League as it's minor league, and occasionally players get called up to the big show when there's an injury or open roster spot, but most don't stay any longer than 1-2 weeks.

I think the writer was trying to say more or less that the UFC is tyring to promote minor league talent at times, yet charge the same admission price/viewing price for a less appealing event.

To sum it up, you don't want to pay NFL prices for XFL talent if you're a fan.

Most of the new cards aren't pay cards, they're free cards and that means you're not paying NFL prices.

As to whether or not the PPV's are XFL talent, that's a harder argument to make. People have complained about the actual fights on a PPV from long before the Fox deal came into existence or the number of cards ramped up. So, bitching about quality of the fights is old.

Are the quality of the fighters themselves worse? That's hard to say. Previously, there were fewer fighters on the roster so they had more name recognition. But more name recognition doesn't mean better fighter (see one Kimbo Slice or James Toney or Herschel Walker for examples of name recognition without comparable ability).

So, I can't say if the current fighters are worse because they're less talented or if they're just so unknown that people are vested in them. However, I would say the overall ability of your average MMA fighter is probably higher than 5 years ago so you're probably getting better fighters on cards, even if you're unfamiliar with them. And no one can guarantee that a fight will be exciting, that's as old as promotion itself.

 

[Dinjadai]

100%, he actually got me to side with Kevin Iole.

Take your head put of the sand. The UFC model is fucked up, and the writer makes very good points on the impact to PPV cards. The $10 I drop each mo. on FP for pre-2013 event replays has delivered far more value than any of this year's PPVs.

 

[Dinjadai]

I dislike most things deadspin makes articles about.

I guess to a casual fan, too many events is a bummer.

But as a fan, I enjoy more and more events. Granted, I can't catch them all, but I still enjoy it when I can. I get too many PPV's cos people can't afford to dish out 50 bucks consistently for 3 hours of programming.

The "casuals" vs. "real fans" thing is tired bullshit. A good card is a good card regardless of whether you watch five or 50 in a year. And there are fewer and fewer of those good cards to populate free and paid shows.

 

[HereticBD]

Yet he's critisizing a card that is not a PPV. This card is included with your normal cable package. The other he is critisizing doesn't even air in the US.

Point is, they're promoting the fighters like they're elite, when they're not. The ratings/buyrates are dropping because the product is lackluster, and the fans are getting wise to it. Not to mention it's all just way too much.

This is why they should never have gotten rid of WEC.

 

[mmafaninnyc]

Not sure anyone with half a brain could actually argue against the main point of that article. The UFC is an oversaturated mess right now. They bit off way more than they could chew with their "everyone loves fighting" mentality when the bottom line is that everyone doesn't like fighting. I haven't even considered buying a PPV in like two years and I used to buy most events. The PPV's are a complete ripoff at this point.

 

[SeattleFightFan]

that basketball metaphor is actually pretty good, heh.

 

[Bigj383]

Point is, they're promoting the fighters like they're elite, when they're not.

Are they? Fight nights are designed to showcase prospects and Fightpass is for international prospects. Cub is an elite FW btw. And those prospects were the elite of their smaller orgs before being signed by the UFC.

The ratings/buyrates are dropping because the product is lackluster, and the fans are getting wise to it. Not to mention it's all just way too much.

UFC 169 did over a million buys. The last fight night did 1.2 million viewers on FS1 making it the #3 highest rated UFC on FS1. As mentioned Cain, Pettis, and now hendricks are injured. Weidman is fighting for the first time this year so a lot of UFC champions in the most established divisions are injured.

 

[Hard Charger]

Deadspin is liberal media trash but this isn't TOO off. Although, in the UFC's defense, they've sorta changed their stance from "you need to watch this" to "pick and watch whatever you want".

Preach it like a puppet.

Before you use the term, you might want to think about where you heard it. Better yet, relabel all of it "corporate" media and know their control over you serves one purpose, no matter what side of the aisle your from. And it's certainly not to line YOUR pockets.

 

[riddleofsteel]

The NBA did their rapid expanding decades ago. That is what should be looked at instead of the NBA's current status.

As for the complaint about the card being in New Zealand and only die hards & New Zealanders would be interested, well that is why it is only on fight pass.
Why is it a bad thing that the UFC is holding a card there? How would it be different from the NBA or MLB having a game in New Zealand for New Zealanders to attend?

Are New Zealanders complaining about the fight card and not buying tickets?

Seems like one purpose of the fight pass cards are to hold live cards in overseas markets at a regular time for them; it isn't a US & Canada focus.

 

[Super Grover]

The last fight night did 1.2 million viewers on FS1 making it the #3 highest rated UFC on FS1.

So in other words the third highest UFC on FS1 drew around a third as much as any Nascar race on Fox Sports 1.

 

[SeattleFightFan]

The NBA did their rapid expanding decades ago. That is what should be looked at instead of the NBA's current status.

As for the complaint about the card being in New Zealand and only die hards & New Zealanders would be interested, well that is why it is only on fight pass.
Why is it a bad thing that the UFC is holding a card there? How would it be different from the NBA or MLB having a game in New Zealand for New Zealanders to attend?

Are New Zealanders complaining about the fight card and not buying tickets?

Seems like one purpose of the fight pass cards are to hold live cards in overseas markets at a regular time for them; it isn't a US & Canada focus.

Are they? Fight nights are designed to showcase prospects and Fightpass is for international prospects. Cub is an elite FW btw. And those prospects were the elite of their smaller orgs before being signed by the UFC.


UFC 169 did over a million buys. The last fight night did 1.2 million viewers on FS1 making it the #3 highest rated UFC on FS1. As mentioned Cain, Pettis, and now hendricks are injured. Weidman is fighting for the first time this year so a lot of UFC champions in the most established divisions are injured.

frankly, the UFC doesn't need defending. most of their decisions in the last 10 years have - in hind site - been doubles and home runs, not strikeouts.

but the sky-is-falling sherdogger will always survive and cry.

it all depends on whether Fox or some other network re-signs. the UFC made a conscious business decision to expand globally via TV deals that will live symbiotically with PPV's. said TV deals bring in 100's of millions of dollars a year. PPV revenues are down less than that. short term, great deal.

but long term? we shall see. if Fox (and BT Sports in UK, and Globo in Brazil, and ASN in half of Asia) is happy with the viewership and all re-sign for another 5 or 10 years, it's another UFC home run. if they don't.....

and that's the debate; whether in a few years weak cards upset viewers so much that they have stopped tuning in, and the TV deals dissipate into thin air. we'll find out in 4 years or so.

meanwhile, expect a thread a day about how awful the UFC is to fans for making them watch more of what they love

 

[Substance Abuse]

frankly, the UFC doesn't need defending. most of their decisions in the last 10 years have - in hind site - been doubles and home runs, not strikeouts.

but the sky-is-falling sherdogger will always survive and cry.

it all depends on whether Fox or some other network re-signs. the UFC made a conscious business decision to expand globally via TV deals that will live symbiotically with PPV's. said TV deals bring in 100's of millions of dollars a year. PPV revenues are down less than that. short term, great deal.

but long term? we shall see. if Fox (and BT Sports in UK, and Globo in Brazil, and ASN in half of Asia) is happy with the viewership and all re-sign for another 5 or 10 years, it's another UFC home run. if they don't.....

and that's the debate; whether in a few years weak cards upset viewers so much that they have stopped tuning in, and the TV deals dissipate into thin air. we'll find out in 4 years or so.

meanwhile, expect a thread a day about how awful the UFC is to fans for making them watch more of what they love

This guy gets it completely.

 

[Degen Gambler]

Any sporting event that a fan sits down to watch for 3+ hours requires a significant committment especially when the event is on a Saturday night. The problem with the UFC is they are putting on these 3 or 4 hour events and only using top talent for a fraction of the event. So now a fan has to sit through hours of stuff that they could take or leave to see the fight they want.

No other sports league could get away with that. Imagine the NFL or NBA if the all the rookies and journey played the first half and then the marquee players came out for the second half. There would be outrage.

 

[Unbreakabull]

For the most part, the American Prelims and Fight Nights are made up of legit prospects, many of them champions, undefeated, or even both on the regional circuit. Now, with the international Fight Nights and TUFs, they are bringing in some talent that is a little suspect. But once they are there, they still have to perform. If they can't win in the UFC, they will be released. Some of them might get gifted contracts, but once they do, it's still sink or swim.

There are 75 fighters on the current roster who have competed in the UFC and are undefeated in the promotion. 37 of them have multiple wins. But even for the ones who are 1-0, until somebody in the UFC can beat them, you can't really say they don't belong. Also, out of the fighters who have signed with the UFC but have yet to compete in the promotion, 22 of them have undefeated records. Another 14 of them only have 1 loss on their resume. A lot of these guys are good prospects and deserve a shot. Most of them will be competing on the prelims and Fight Nights. So it really doesn't interfere with the PPV main cards. They will be prospects fighting on platforms designed to farm prospects. So I really don't see what the big deal is.

jason reinhardt

And the ufc doesnt even notice a "prospect" until they are 30 years old... And they don't notice HW Russian prospects at all. Weird huh?