Since title fights are always the main event...

[JudontknowMMA]

Wouldn't it make more sense for the UFC to put the rousey fight before another, more popular title fight on the same card?

 

[quick5pnt0cobra]

Yes it would but Dana is banking on Rousey being a big draw. Personally I think he is going to be quite disappointed.

 

[theopposites]

I'd say Ronda Rousey headlining a show is probably more popular than both Mighty Mouse - Benavidez and Faber - Barao and those headlined on their own. With such a strong co-main, who cares?

 

[StocktonStuff]

I really dont think flyweight or a womans title fight will ever be able to really headline a ppv that people get really interested in

 

[76Knockout]

Yea but Dana like another poster said has a ton of confidence in Rousey.

I think it was a dumb move but eh whatever.

 

[Gigaton Punch]

No

They're trying to see if Rousey can draw on her own. They're not trying to build an actual division. If the show flops and/or if Ronda somehow loses don't expect anymore women's fights in the UFC.

 

[chaoticmayhem]

The women are more popular than the midget division.

 

[born2killl]

Wouldn't it make more sense for the UFC to put the rousey fight before another, more popular title fight on the same card?

It makes no sense to double up title fights on 1 card, leaving another card without a title fight just to shit on a division you dont like.

 

[TASTEofmySCYTHE]

I wonder if the Woman's champ would headline over the Flyweight champ if they were on the same card, since the heavier weight class always headlines.

 

[Squarechoke]

Doing it like this gives the UFC a better indication of how popular WMMA/Rousey is.

 

[Skydome]

The women are more popular than the midget division.

Yeah, two of them. (Rousey and Cyborg)

 

[ali2013champ]

The women are more popular than the midget division.

remember. Benavidez-MM headlined UFC 152,

They did 400k+ right?? But with Jon Jones.

Without Jones they'd make probably something like 120k.

I'm sure they're less popular than Wanderlei silva and Franklin and they did 170k

expect Ronda-Liz 250k PPV buys

Faber-Barao did 235k

This card has Hendo-Machida on it and Faber too.

 

[SamRI]

I believe the fact that this is the first ever Womens UFC fight and Rouseys semi-popularity will generate significantly more interest than future womens title fights. And most of the hardcore fans will watch for machida-hendo (I will at least), I can see why they did it this way. I sure do wish that fight was a five rounder tho, but they have to have the main event the way it is

 

[johnsq316]

No

They're trying to see if Rousey can draw on her own. They're not trying to build an actual division. If the show flops and/or if Ronda somehow loses don't expect anymore women's fights in the UFC.

This.

There's a reason Zuffa has just dipped it's toe in the water of WMMA - They've signed Rousey to an "8-fight deal" but I'm sure it has a cheap buyout. They only signed one opponent for her. If the PPV sells, they'll sign another opponent. If it doesn't, they'll write her a small check and send her off to Invicta or where ever.

 

[wellsdj1]

Doing it like this gives the UFC a better indication of how popular WMMA/Rousey is.

I agree with this but I'm not sure that this will be a true indication of how popular WMMA/ Rousey is. You have to take in the fact that this will be the second PPV in the month and a lot of people can't afford 2 UFC PPV's in one month making them chose between UFC 156 or 157. I think most hardcore and casuals will chose 156 orver 157 if they have to chose one. The UFC would have been better off putting this card on a month that it would be the only PPV!

 

[K1HerosNakamura]

No

They're trying to see if Rousey can draw on her own. They're not trying to build an actual division. If the show flops and/or if Ronda somehow loses don't expect anymore women's fights in the UFC.

lol really? you expect them to chang their mind on a whole gender? Talk about PR suicide. More likely they will use womens events for their free cards on off-brand shitty channels.

 

[K1HerosNakamura]

This.

There's a reason Zuffa has just dipped it's toe in the water of WMMA - They've signed Rousey to an "8-fight deal" but I'm sure it has a cheap buyout. They only signed one opponent for her. If the PPV sells, they'll sign another opponent. If it doesn't, they'll write her a small check and send her off to Invicta or where ever.

bullshit. UFC isn't stupid enough to dump money into promoting WMMA and then cut the whole thing if it doesn't pay off right away.

 

[Fruits]

The UFC is invested in women's MMA for the long-run. Anyone saying one PPV will do otherwise is stupid, because last I checked, the LWs and LW champs (outside of BJ Penn, and even he wasn't that big) didn't do too well. Yet, the LW remain the most popular with the hardcore fans, because it is the deepest.

Really, this is a long-term investment. Remember, the LW division in the UFC was trash up until like 5 years ago. Now, it's gold.

 

[nostradumbass]

Doing it like this gives the UFC a better indication of how popular WMMA/Rousey is.

Not really cause lots of people will buy just for Hendo/Machida, but they could have done massive numbers if they had it co-main for Junior/Cain.

I would have a good laugh if turns out Dana was using this fight to announce a TV deal with the lifetime network.

 

[ixRanGzeNxi]

No

They're trying to see if Rousey can draw on her own. They're not trying to build an actual division. If the show flops and/or if Ronda somehow loses don't expect anymore women's fights in the UFC.

They're obviously not trying to see if she can be a draw on her own if they have a fight like Machida/Hendo as the co-main event. Dana said that if the ppv doesn't draw big numbers, they would still have more women fights in the UFC. A reporter asked if they would cancel if it failed, but Dana denied that and said they're not putting all this time, effort, and money into the division and promoting it to have a one-time thing.

P.S.: Obviously, I'm paraphrasing. He may not have said the EXACT same things, but it was same in gist.