News I say told you so when I told you so. But this is really about the UFC putting out a bad product

[Bend NvR Break]

I said that Fox was happy to end their relationship with the UFC because Fox was losing money. A great many on Sherdog called me unflattering names.
I said that Reebok was happy to end their relationship with the UFC because they didn't get anywhere near recouping the $70 mil they paid to the UFC for exclusive sponsorship. Sherdog once again flamed me.
I've been saying for over a year now that ESPN is not happy with the UFC because the UFC ppv aren't selling. ESPN guarantees the UFC 300,000 ppv buys for every event they put on. ESPN is the one holding the bag or reaping the benefits from actually selling ppvs. If it undersells then ESPN is fucked for that event. If it oversell then they reap the rewards. Sherdog said I didn't know what I was talking about.

I'm sitting at work early with about 20 minutes to kill and Google tells me that I'd be interesting in this article.

Another Twist Amid ESPN Contract Expiry as Dana White and UFC’s $1B Demand Gets Clear Message From Netflix CEO

As the ESPN deal is coming to an end, Dana White and Co. received a hint as to what Netflix thinks about acquiring UFC's broadcast rights.

www.essentiallysports.com

ESPN, on the other hand, wasn’t happy about the plummeting PPV numbers either, as opposed to what the promotion had assured its partner. “The UFC gets [paid] 300,000 pay-per-view buys as a ‘buy-in’ from ESPN. There’s no way that ESPN is getting 300,000 pay-per-view buys out of every pay-per-view, from what I was told…ESPN is frustrated because they’re not getting the pay-per-view buys that they had expected,” the New York Post’s Erich Richter had said.

Basically everything I've been saying and people have been calling me crazy (not everyone but the vast many) about I'm actually right about.

But this isn't about me. This is really about the shit product that the UFC puts on and the fact the consumers are punishing the UFC by not buying the product anymore. How can the UFC fix this issue?

Even in the late 00s the UFC could pull 300K ppv easy. In 2025 they struggle to make that number

 

[Ube]

Yeah I guess. I mean, I’m not bringing together 5 friends for a UFC viewing party and have everyone chip in (as Dana suggested long ago) for stupid ass cards that would only have 1-2 worthwhile fights.

 

[don't ask]

I'd love for something to force the UFC to be less shitty, if for no other reason than the fighters' sake, but I'll believe it when it happens. I have a feeling that, whatever deal is made, things will just keep getting shittier.

 

[Islam Imamate]

I was rewatching Aldo vs Edgar 1 the other day, one of the first PPVs I bought. In addition to that legendary headliner the card also had Lil Nog vs Evans, Bigfoot vs Overeem, and Maia vs Fitch. And back then that card was not seen has having tons of star power because Aldo always struggled to sell PPVs and BRs in general were perceived as hard to market to the North American audience, in fact it underperformed IIRC. But holy hell was that a stacked card from the POV of a hardcore fan. Looking it up now even the undercard was solid, had Woodley and Dunham and Green who were all very legit back then.

 

[don't ask]

Yeah I guess. I mean, I’m not bringing together 5 friends for a UFC viewing party and have everyone chip in (as Dana suggested long ago) for stupid ass cards that would only have 1-2 worthwhile fights.

Yeah, viewing parties are a ton of fun. The only thing that changed is the sport we watched because the UFC is just hot garbage. Our viewing parties are doing this thing where everyone kind of hosts a different viewing party. One dude gets us together for pro wrestling, a girl gets us together for awards ceremonies, I've sat everyone down for ONE PPVs and a few Bellator vs. Rizin cards (watching at a sensible time lol). We've done Fight Circus, Ngannou's boxing bouts, Jake Paul boxing bullshit, hockey, soccer, the Olympics, Cirque Du Soleil, reruns of The Jerry Springer Show and Judge Judy... most of aren't even interested in the thing we're watching, we're just there for the socializing, but no one has any interest in hosting a UFC party.

 

[VinceArch]

I can see many not wanting to work with Dana just based on the video of him slapping his wife and him being pretty unapologetic about it afterwards. When he's more focused on power slap than MMA, it's time to go.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Dying



The UFC is

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

TKO Holdings is doing the classic valuation-inflation scheme so they can get investments and financing. Problem is that financial fans tend to conflate this with "business genius."

 

[Islam Imamate]

TKO Holdings is doing the classic valuation-inflation scheme so they can get investments and financing. Problem is that financial fans tend to conflate this with "business genius."

I think I get what you mean but could you elaborate?

 

[Meathead Jock]

I mean they've made some moves that bring them short term large money and left some companies unhappy and less eager to work with them.

But if I trick an employer into thinking I'm worth a million a year and after a few years it's determined by them I'm actually only worth 800k a year. You can view it as a 20% paycut or you can view it as you're still earning more than 99% of the world.

If they leave a train of enough people losing money on their investment sooner or later there might not be a sucker out there. But even when they run out of suckers they'd still have plenty of worthy people to worth with just at a less extravagant pay day and on terms they all make money.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

I think I get what you mean but could you elaborate?

To borrow a James Krause term, they're debt-maxing. They're focused on acquisitions, pumping up contracts, and anything else solely to increase the company valuation and leverage that for further (and bigger) investments and financing. They're deficit spending in the hopes of getting future loans to pay off their current ones. It's a common strategy that many startups use so they can coast on Other People's Money and not worry about profits/losses or other things like that.

 

[Bowel-forged Stool]

I'm sitting at work early with about 20 minutes to kill

There’s a broom in the closet

 

[markys00]

Arr you saying ur the original 'ufc is dying' poster? With a 2015 join date?


Something smells fishy

 

[sdpdude9]

UFC is putting out a subpar product and has been for years. We of course still get some good cards, but a lot of what they’ve passed off as ppv cards are embarrassing. I have no doubt they’re missing their marks.

The problem is further conflated because ESPN has jacked up the price to recoup some of their losses. They also force people to buy their subscription for the privilege of purchasing the pay per view which is just a terrible business model.

This pay per view nonsense just needs to die.

 

[evergreenrider]

Thank you Ari Emmanuel

 

[BangBang]

I said that Fox was happy to end their relationship with the UFC because Fox was losing money. A great many on Sherdog called me unflattering names.

What unflattering names were you called?
Please list.

 

[Neck&Neck]

Yeah this thread is not about you, right right

 

[hoevan]

I sure as hell am not paying $90 for a ppv. I wouldn't support espn either. F 'em all.

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

Yeah the UFC PPVs are so expensive, plummeting PPV numbers are a mix of that and also not having the stars and roster to put on huge PPVs.

The PPV price of $80 for a very average PPV card is absurd... and remember you also have to have an ESPN+ sub $10.99 on top of that.

I remember I brought UFC 40 for $24.95 and they had 5% off if you booked before the day of the PPV.. so 5% off 24.95 (23.70).

UFC 40 was brilliant, well worth the money and great event, the prelims were like the main cards of todays PPVs (if not better). They put so much effort into the show, the way it was all set up, the lighting, the promos, the interviews, everything.

I rarely ever buy a UFC PPV now because so many of them are watered down and not worth the price, I just can't justify paying so much for a lacking card. I now skip watching a lot of the PPVs, and just watch the Fight Night events. upping it to $80 is outrageous. It goes up and up and up every year, so where are we going with all of this? soon it will be $100 for UFC PPV, then it will be $120, and so on and so on...

 

[tgv976]

So they're pretty much scumbags across the board. They screw the fighters. They screw the broadcasters. They screw their sponsors. And Dana even screws some of the ring girls.