Rumored Report: UFC 317 Topuria-Oliveira flops, Sold less than Poirier-Holloway for BMF

[Joinho10]

Timestamped at 31:27

Not that PPV buys matter to me but I thought this was interesting. Luke Thomas says trustworthy insiders told him Topuria-Oliveira sold way worse than expected and in fact less than Poirier-Holloway for the BMF title.

What do yall think? Do you believe this and was this the final nail in the coffin for PPVs? To me Topurias starpower always felt a bit overinflated and that became increasingly obvious when he magically gained a million Instagram followers in less than a day on some random day leading up to the fight when nothing noteworthy even happened.

 

[Thesnake101]

Wouldn't be the most shocking thing since I'm pretty sure the largest parts of both men's fanbases (Spain and Brazil) do not have the PPV model.

I know that's the case for Brazil and the rest of SA, don't know if it's the same in Spain but I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[irimiasz]

UFC is doing a horrible job at promoting big fights and champions for the last few years, so I’m not even surprised.

Poirier and Holloway are already established stars.

 

[Bowel-forged Stool]

Top is no McGregor

 

[ricc505]

It's always hard to believe the numbers, attendance or buys. Attendance is inflated by giveaways and views I don't believe have had real official numbers released. It's always some nebulous insider info.

 

[sonhow]

Top is no McGregor

Top is better at actual fighting but unfortuantely Conor is more funny.

Show yall what sells.

 

[Joinho10]

Wouldn't be the most shocking thing since I'm pretty sure the largest parts of both men's fanbases (Spain and Brazil) do not have the PPV model.

I know that's the case for Brazil and the rest of SA, don't know if it's the same in Spain but I wouldn't be surprised.

They are among the biggest stars UFC has. I think most would consider them Top 5 when it comes to starpower in the ufc at that time. I have to say I'm shocked if this report is true considering the UFC 317 was hyped as the biggest event of the year and was all everyone was talking about from the start of the year. I think we would all have laughed if we were told Poirier-Holloway with its weak card and BMF title lol would beat it out.

 

[EndlessCritic]

Remind me again how many PPV's the Superbowl sold last year?

Oh wait, that's right, PPV's are for niche sports that try to extract as much value out of their niche fanbase as possible.

The ESPN era has seen the UFC massively expand while simultaneously PPV buys have significantly declined.

RIP PPVs. You won't be missed.

 

[Thesnake101]

They are among the biggest stars UFC has. I think most would consider them Top 5 when it comes to starpower in the ufc at that time. I have to say I'm shocked if this report is true considering the UFC 317 was hyped as the biggest event of the year and was all everyone was talking about from the start of the year. I think we would all have laughed if we were told Poirier-Holloway with its weak card and BMF title lol would beat it out.

It doesn't matter if majority of their fans are from a place that has a subscription model vs PPV model.

Porier's and Max's fans are from the states, the exact audience for PPVs.

 

[SamuraiBro]

Well if Dana actually gave a fuck about promoting fighters/fights and not getting involved with boxing then maybe this wouldn’t happen.

 

[Benoitthegr8]

People’s are beginning to understand that watching guys whom are literally the same stature of teenage boy isn’t cutting it anymore.

Bring back LHW, sign loads of them, if the suck they can go up or drop a class, 205 the best division up until Jones and the second time he cleaned it out.

 

[Eric Silva 2.0]

Timestamped at 31:27

Not that PPV buys matter to me but I thought this was interesting. Luke Thomas says trustworthy insiders told him Topuria-Oliveira sold way worse than expected and in fact less than Poirier-Holloway for the BMF title.

What do yall think? Do you believe this and was this the final nail in the coffin for PPVs? To me Topurias starpower always felt a bit overinflated and that became increasingly obvious when he magically gained a million Instagram followers in less than a day on some random day leading up to the fight when nothing noteworthy even happened.

PPV model has been dead man walking for a long time now. The PPV numbers are just the few people who don't understand my first sentence.

 

[Here's Johnny!]

Topuria is a fake celebrity... he doesn't actually have a real fan base hes like most of the Instagram "stars" with millions of bot followers

 

[surgeyou1]

Bots don't buy PPVs unfortunately

And the UFC doing the bare minimum in promotion doesn't create PPV stars. Dana gets more screen time and publicity than every fighter on the roster

 

[CobraCobretti]

So what were the numbers?

 

[Joinho10]

So what were the numbers?

Doesn't say but hints towards it did less than 500k.

 

[octagonation]

People wanted to see Topuria vs Makhachev that is why it declined and did not sold much

 

[DougieJones]

Is this really that much of a surprise?


Dustin and Max were/are two of the biggest stars in the UFC and it was Dustin's final fight

 

[HuskySamoan]

Top is better at actual fighting but unfortuantely Conor is more funny.

Show yall what sells.

Conor McGregor's rise to the title was unlike anything in the UFC, ever. The interviews and press conferences he did were massive. He also beat some real dudes to make his run, Holloway, Siver, Brandao, Mendes. Its hard to compare, Ilia has not been promoted half as much as McGregor was and McGregor hardly needed the help. But, Conor also had major catalysts like Diaz and Khabib, Ilia hasn't anyone like that so far. Plus, PPV is dying, they were offering major boxing promotions 1/20th what they did the UFC to get them on streaming platforms...PPVs aren't what they used to be and will never be again.

 

[theincognito]

I thought it was always pretty clear that Topuria's star power was in Spain and Georgia. I very much doubt him not selling in the United States was the nail in the coffin for PPV.