Fox will be promoting this event a lot during the nfl playoffs and this is a pretty big opportunity. Now it's easy for me to hust say they should take a huge ppv draw and put him on free tv, but I think that's what they should've done. It's a good showcase for Dodson/Johnson. But I don't think there's anything there that'll stick in people's minds for 6days. Also the promos aren't up to par. They're just giving you the matchups. If they put actual full body shots there it might get a normal dude to be like "fuck it, free fights". Anyone who sees a face-off likes to think about who they'd think would win
They will never put a huge ppv draw on Fox. Fox does not pay the Ufc enough for them to do this and they don't expect them to. When will fans understand this? When you pay for chicken tenders they don't just give you lobster for the heck of it.
a flyweight title shot probably isn't PPV worthy either. but these fights are fuckin sweet: Quinton Jackson vs. Glover Teixeira Donald Cerrone vs. Anthony Pettis Erik Koch vs. Ricardo Lamas and if history repeats itself, like FOX 2,3,4,5, it'll be sweet and a bunch of us will think "gee, that's too bad more people didn't watch it, but i sure am glad i got to for free"
FOX is just now starting to get its groove going Storied fight: Pettis-Cerrone/ Penn-Rory Vet vs up and comer: Rampage-Glover/ Shogun-Gus (penn rory works here too) title holders that need more exposure: Bendo, Mighty Mouse
Rampage and Pettis fights are both worthy of main event status, well above FlyW title fight in terms of anticipation for hardcore MMA fans. Fact of the matter is, Dana has to turn the division into a seller somehow, so he's dressing the mutton up as lamb. If he makes the fight a main event, maybe people will start to believe they are main event draws, or something like that.
Me, too. Fuck lobster. I used to order only chicken tenders at any restaurant I went to. My friends would give me shit for it. With that said, this could draw a lot of non-fans with the right promos. Showing clips of Rampage KTF out of people, doing his wolf howl thing, the chain around his neck, the belt around his waist, the Pettis showtime kick, etc. Those things and more would probably draw in the average schmuck looking for excitement.
What? UFC on FOX 1.... Cain vs JDS 1.... HW Title match..... Also: UFC on Fox:Shogun vs Vera had both Shogun and Machida on the main card, both very large ppv draws. Same with UFC on FOX: Evans vs Davis. Sugar Rashad is a household name as far as casual mma fans go thanks to his rivalry with Jenton Quackson. UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Diaz had Shogun and Gus, as well as a diaz bro, (whether or not you like them, they are both pretty well known and draw well) Face it. UFC on FOX was made for Light Heavyweight Former champs/prospects, Diaz bros, and title fights. The FX and Fuel cards are another story. Of course, UFC on Fuel in Japan is looking to be the most ridiculously stacked card in well over a year.
I agree TS, I don't think the 125's and 135's are main event material. I have no problem with them being co-main event but there are stronger main card fighters. Johnson is just going to run around and take Dodson down repeatedly for an uneventful unanimous 5 round decision.
The mindset behind this idea is that the UFC (insert division here) title is what Dana wants people to want to see. So the brand name is important and means quality fights, as opposed to boxing where the individual fighters are the draws and whether it's WBA or WBO or some other org doesn't matter, do they have Boxer X? is all that matters. I'm not saying the UFC has it any different from boxing at this point as far as that brand vs individual stardom and pull go, but I believe that is what the UFC is trying to do with this type of marketing.
You lost everyone when you said Shogun and machida were very large draws. In fact nothing is farther from the truth. Shogun last ppv was headlining against Hendo and it didn't even break 300,000 buys. Faber vs Cruz II out sold Shogun vs Hendo. JDS vs Cain was a one time thing for Fox and the Ufc to show what they can do. Also I can't even believe you brought up Nate Diaz and Gustafsson as big draws. Neither of them has shown any ppv selling ability at all. Seriously outside of Cain/JDS none of your arguments made any sense. The Ufc only has a few really big time draws, Gsp, Jones and Silva and you will never see any of them on Fox because the amount of money they'd lose would be insane. If they had down Chael vs Silva II or Evans vs Rashad on Fox they would of lost 50 million dollars. Or half of what Fox pays them for 4 Fox cards, 6 fuel cards, 6 FX cards and literally tens of thousands of hours of programming on Fuel, FX and Fox. It just makes no sense from a financial standpoint.
I think the talent of Johnson/Dodson could be a great showcase on fox. It can really show ppl how talented somebody these guys are. I just think if it were me I'd burn one of my best ppv assets for fox and invest in the product a little more. Take the monetary loss now, in hopes that you're building new stats and new fans. Like I said, the nfl time slot promos are big. Perfect audience to target. Give them a huge main event, and showcase 4 budding stars IMO And liven up the promos. Remind people there's a free fight on channel 5. Don't ask then to remember any names
I thought it was funny that they promoted it as an UFC championship fight. They didn't even mention the weight class, haha. Probably a smart move!
I get the sentiment with what you're saying here but to explain ... if you think about it the UFC Fox 1 show had over 8 million for the event and by screwing up the debut the Fox 2 show had barely two thirds that. The Fox 2 show sucked so hard and was filled with such lackluster fights, loud boos and sweaty men flailing about like novices that it set the UFC so far back on network TV it isn't funny. If the declining numbers are anything they are an indication that the UFC lost some new fans, since that is the case then they can certainly gain them as well. And this was shown by greater numbers on shows like Fox 5. And by that definition these viewers would be casual in the most bare bones sense of the word. They're here today, gone tomorrow, back next week.
I don't know whether the general public would see flyweight as a negative though. Boxing is more mainstream and the lower weight classes get much more exposure than the heavys.
Rampage should have some name recognition among casuals or non fans, he has been in other things other than MMA, he was in the A team and has made appearances on shows like Dr. Phil. They better be pushing the Rampage fight equally as the MM vs Dodson fight.
I'll agree on the shortcomings of the advertising. The commercials are brief, spastic and immediately forgettable. They also fail to really emphasize the intensity of the matchups. Staredowns alone would be one improvement.
