Do you see fights like Esparza/Jedzrejczyk and Horiguchi/Gaudinot on PPV and think...

JonSnitchPhones

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Gee, I'm now willing to pay more money to purchase this? Or instead do you think I'm actually now willing to pay less because it will detract from the experience instead of add to it like even a decent 135-265 lb bout would to at least a minor degree?

Maybe the better question is, what do you think an average prospective buyer's attitude is? Because that's what should matter to Zuffa as a business and on Sherdog I suppose you're dealing with a biased sample of fans, many of whom are trying to compete for the hardcore fan belt, so they won't say they dislike just about any fight. But the average fan in the ppv buying pool is probably not as hardcore or insecure. They just purchase what is of value to them and that's in the normal range.

As an offshoot to the first question, do you think women and flyweights on the whole benefit the UFC when mixed with normal-sized men and up?

I tend to think the UFC would benefit from disbanding the flyweight division altogether, as they aren't proven draws after all this time, bumping the better ones up to bw and putting extra weight on them like before to bolster the division (it could use it).

Also, I think they'd be helped if the women branched off to create WUFC, and people with that niche interest (ratings like TUF 20 indicate there is enough of one) could watch them for free on fs1 or fs2 in isolated form. Maybe the anomalies like Ronda could still co-main normal ppv's. But if her opponents and future Rondas need to be promoted alongside men previously to be featured on future ppv's, then all women's fights could go to fox sports, or they could have the occasional WUFC PPV.

Those are my current thoughts on the issue. I think the bigger issue of diluted cards/ppv's is a multi-layered one, but one of the factors actually is high-level niche category fights only a small percentage of the base care about.
 
I see those fights and think.....cool!

But then again, we don't pay for PPV's here. It sucks that you guys do.
 
Joanna is a draw for me. I never thought the day would come, but one my favorite fighters is actually a woman.

Now paying for a card.....that's a whole other convo altogether
 
Well, it`s hard to say what fights appeal to casuall MMA fans or are likely to increase/decrease buy rates. But, Esparza/Jedzrejczyk is a title fight and I feel it should be on a PPV. I want to see that fight actually, so I will be paying to watch it. That`s just the opinion of one fight fan though.

Jarl
 
I don't think that the UFC makes decisions based on uneducated guesses and personal preferences like you do. They look at actual numbers, do user research, etc. They're not featuring women's divisions out of the kindness of their hearts.
 
Not this shit again. TS do you even pay for events? I won't believe you if you say you do anyway, so be honest.
 
I tend to think the UFC would benefit from disbanding the flyweight division altogether, as they aren't proven draws after all this time, bumping the better ones up to bw and putting extra weight on them like before to bolster the division (it could use it).
Aren't you supposed to love the division now that mini-Pettis dropped?

lol at "all this time."
 
I don't mind when they put them first on the PPV, as it allows me to have another beer and take my time getting to the bar after the prelims end. I often haven't even finished watching the prelims before the PPV starts anyway.
 
Well it seems like only the top fights end up on the main card... as opposed to say, ANY hw fight could make it to the main card. Hell mir is on a 4 fight losing streak and was gonna be on the main card at 164.. now he's headlining a free fight night.

As long as they keep only the contender fights on main cards with the women and 135 and below , there shouldn't be much of a problem. Like horiguchi/gaudinot on 182 was okay since the winner could fight for the title or need one more win to fight for title.
 
I don't think that the UFC makes decisions based on uneducated guesses and personal preferences like you do. They look at actual numbers, do user research, etc. They're not featuring women's divisions out of the kindness of their hearts.

Well, the actual ppv buy-rates and their credit rating is majorly down if you've seen, and the drop does somewhat correlate with the addition of women and 125 lbers. So I am basing my decisions on actual numbers.

Now correlation doesn't prove causation, and there are a number of other factors at play here, but the ones they like to focus on, like injuries, when that's just part of a contact sport, are mostly ego-driven. They don't want to admit mistakes. So you're projecting the emotional component from them and maybe yourself onto me. I'm being completely unemotional here and trying to be empathetic. If I didn't hear see the decline in numbers, the anecdotal complaints, and the separation of women and men in other sports; this thread wouldn't exist.
 
I like the flyweight division. Not sure why it gets so much hate. It's been in the UFC for under 3 years and already has some great prospects for the future and they put on good fights usually.

Bumping undersized guys like Horiguchi to 135 to fight isn't magically going to turn him or anyone else into a draw, you would just be diminishing his value because he'd be fighting much larger guys and would be more likely to lose.

btw 3 years isn't "all this time". Give it a chance.
 
You do realize that Esparza vs. Jedzrejczyk is an actual championship fight of a division right ? There could be hundreds of examples before Esparza vs. Jedzrejczyk.
 
Its the same as any other weight class. I didn't really care about Shawn Jordan's fight last show going in. But I liked Dos Santos and Miocic. There are interesting fights in every division.

I really like the Carla and JJ fight. Long as it's a fun match up or has me invested can care less what weight class it is.
 
I feel you TS, don't worry. Some people have been replying saying that they like the fighters, and that's fine, but I don't and it has caused me to skip watching cards.

For example: I generally watch every PPV and maybe 9/10 of the free cards. However, I just don't watch 125 lb title fight headlined cards and the Ronda headlined cards. Just not interested.

The UFC has changed their approach to be more of a "make less money per card but have a ton of cards" approach instead of the old "make a lot per card but have fewer" approach. It's hard to tell if it's working overall because we don't have their total numbers. What we can tell is that PPV numbers have generally gone down and I think that we all know that PPV buzz doesn't reaaaaally exist anymore. Kinda for Bones Cormier but not even really that.
 
It's ridiculous that any women's straw weight fight is on the main card of a ppv. I don't care if it is a title fight. Should've left that shit in invicta, where people that wanted to watch it, could, without the rest of us having to pay for it to see the fights we want to see.
 
I think the main event draws the bulk of the sales and always has.
 
Well, the actual ppv buy-rates and their credit rating is majorly down if you've seen, and the drop does somewhat correlate with the addition of women and 125 lbers. So I am basing my decisions on actual numbers.

Now correlation doesn't prove causation, and there are a number of other factors at play here, but the ones they like to focus on, like injuries, when that's just part of a contact sport, are mostly ego-driven. They don't want to admit mistakes. So you're projecting the emotional component from them and maybe yourself onto me. I'm being completely unemotional here and trying to be empathetic. If I didn't hear see the decline in numbers, the anecdotal complaints, and the separation of women and men in other sports; this thread wouldn't exist.

Brock retiring
GSP injury/retirement
Silva inactivity
injuries of champions in marquee divisions like Cain
inability of the UFC to create new stars.

All much bigger factors than any new weight/gender divisions.

You might as well lump the 135ers and 145ers into the same group to, because you could say PPV buy rates started declining when they were brought over from the WEC as well.
 
I know right.... why can't those lighter kids fight more like Shawn Jordan/Cheick Kongo or Kimbo/Houston Alexander
 
Horiguchi is more of a draw than Hendricks is, to me at least.
 
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