UFC Now vs UFC/EliteXC/Strikeforce/WFA/Pride/WEC/IFL/Affliction

[phatron]

So much hate and discontent about the watered down cards, too many shows, etc etc.

Got me thinking, what is the big difference between the UFC as it stands today...and years ago all these same fighters were spread out over 7 organizations.

Did all the supposed hardcore fans really only watch the UFC the whole time? The UFC absorbed all the other orgs and is putting on more fights containing all those fighters from the other orgs.....but yet people are yearning for startup leagues, or some other structure. But why? What's the difference what banner the fighters fight under? Isn't it easier for them all to be in the UFC? People complain that they don't know when shits on or what channel.....well how the hell did you keep track of 7-8 different orgs before? And now you can't keep track of Fox, FS1/2 and fightpass? None of this makes any sense to me.

An interesting stat mentioned by one of the reporters at the UFN44 post fight press conference was that UFN44 doubled the attendance and the gate of WEC43 that was also held in san Antonio. The WEC event was headlined by a title fight between Donald Cerrone and Benson Henderson. The WEC event was also not televised a lot of places in the US because of the DirecTV / VS feud.

The ufn44 did roughly 10,000 tickets and a 750k gate. UFN43 did a gate of 8000 tickets for 1.04 million. A 1.75 million dollar gate day for the UFC. These just don't seem like signs to me that the UFC is in an uncontrolled downward spiral. Why do the attendance and gates of these shows not correlate with the hate and discontent for these shows on Sherdog?

Cub Swanson was on the prelim card of WEC44, which did 1,835 tickets for $131k. Cub was also the co-main of WEC50 which did 1,861 tickets for 275k. Cub was also on the prelim card for WEC 52..i can't find any gate numbers for it, but given that Cub was the second fight of the night, it would be a safe assumption that he didn't have much to do with the crowd draw for the Faber headlined event.

But isn't the fact that Cub is now headlining a card that just did 10,000 for 750k proof that the UFC is in fact building new stars and promoting new fighters? 4 years ago he's on the prelim and now he's pulling in 750k gates.

So many people here often dream of the pride days....but why did the Pride PPV's in 2006-2007 that were held and promoted in the US only do 30k buys, while the UFC did a million buys 2 months later. So how come the number of pride fan boys here doesn't correlate to the ppv buys number? Do most people just lie that they were watching pride at the time?

Or is the simple answer to both of these situations that the "voice" of Sherdog has absolutely nothing to do with the landscape of MMA in the real world?

Is it possible to call the UFC watered down, but watch WSOF, Bellator, OneFC and think they aren't watered down? Do you want to watch Askren vs #200 WW in the world?

 

[MiroHa]

Cub Swanson was on the prelim card of WEC44, which did 1,835 tickets for $131k. Cub was also the co-main of WEC50 which did 1,861 tickets for 275k. Cub was also on the prelim card for WEC 52..i can't find any gate numbers for it, but given that Cub was the second fight of the night, it would be a safe assumption that he didn't have much to do with the crowd draw for the Faber headlined event.

But isn't the fact that Cub is now headlining a card that just did 10,000 for 750k proof that the UFC is in fact building new stars and promoting new fighters? 4 years ago he's on the prelim and now he's pulling in 750k gates.

I think a good majority of those 10k people came to see the UFC, not Cub Swanson.

 

[IMDIYM]

I think a good majority of those 10k people came to see the UFC, not Cub Swanson.

This. Honestly I cant remember a weaker card. But its still the UFC. Anf often times thats what people see.

 

[phatron]

I think a good majority of those 10k people came to see the UFC, not Cub Swanson.

If that's the case, then why do the TUF Finale shows do much much worse attendance and gates on average?

TUF Finale bisping v kennedy did 5k

TUF Sonnen v Bones season finale did 5k

TUF Rousey v tate finale did 5k

TUF Lesnar v Dos santos did 2k

There must be some essence of drawing power involved in a fight card......or else they wouldn't be considered watered down or not.

 

[MiroHa]

If that's the case, then why do the TUF Finale shows do much much worse attendance and gates on average?

Aren't the American ones always in Vegas? It's way easier to fill an arena at a place that they visit once every few years or so.

 

[phatron]

Aren't the American ones always in Vegas? It's way easier to fill an arena at a place that they visit once every few years or so.

That does seem to be the case. The Jones v Sonnen finale was also headlined by a Faber title fight. Seems very weird that Cub would be a bigger draw.

I guess people in Vegas are burnt out on fights. Seems weird that the UFC would continue to hold them there if they could triple or quadruple the gates in another town. I wonder if they have contracts with the Palms and Mandalay and are required to hold events there xx number of times a year.

 

[phil5150]

UFC is not on a downward spiral, just a re-building and/or learning phase based on the requirements from the FOX deal. I personally don't like it and my viewing has declined, but I'm sure they have garnered more "satellite" fans to replace the disenchanted. Anyway, I have wanted to always see a UFC event and this one was a mere 3.5 hour drive from my home. My friend even had a UFC membership to have first "dibs" on seats. When I heard the main event, I declined. They haven't sold me enough that cub and jeremy are main event worthy. Or maybe id rather spend more and get my money's worth.

 

[Double Leg]

Competition is always good.

 

[pclanadmin2]

UFC is not on a downward spiral, just a re-building and/or learning phase based on the requirements from the FOX deal. I personally don't like it and my viewing has declined, but I'm sure they have garnered more "satellite" fans to replace the disenchanted. Anyway, I have wanted to always see a UFC event and this one was a mere 3.5 hour drive from my home. My friend even had a UFC membership to have first "dibs" on seats. When I heard the main event, I declined. They haven't sold me enough that cub and jeremy are main event worthy. Or maybe id rather spend more and get my money's worth.

smart.

 

[Hez]

If that's the case, then why do the TUF Finale shows do much much worse attendance and gates on average?

TUF Finale bisping v kennedy did 5k

TUF Sonnen v Bones season finale did 5k

TUF Rousey v tate finale did 5k

TUF Lesnar v Dos santos did 2k

There must be some essence of drawing power involved in a fight card......or else they wouldn't be considered watered down or not.

Lol you got to also factor in where those cards are located. Could be more population density around the city etc. So you cannot compare those cards to this one.

I.E. Compare 1 San Antonio UFC card to another San Antonio UFC Card.

 

[steiny86]

This. Honestly I cant remember a weaker card. But its still the UFC. Anf often times thats what people see.

Really? If you think that card was weak you have no knowledge of mma.

 

[Level One]

UFC nowadays is trash and so is Bellator.

07-11 the glory days.

 

[steiny86]

Really? If you think that card was weak you have no knowledge of mma.

Take note...most of these fighters are the future top ten in their division...thanks to more events fighters no longer have to tear themselves up on the regional scene for years before they get their chance in the bigger shows...they actually get to fight through more of their prime on a bigger platform...

 

[Dr Who]

By absorbing all the other organisations and adding the women and tiny men the UFC has made itself the minor leagues. It should have stayed as the pinnacle of MMA and been the premiere product.

 

[Scamrock]

By absorbing all the other organisations and adding the women and tiny men the UFC has made itself the minor leagues. It should have stayed as the pinnacle of MMA and been the premiere product.

This is what confuses me.

1. People say they used to be the pinnacle of MMA, the premiere product, and where the best fought the best...but they didn't even have all the top talent. They had the largest % of the top talent, but much of that talent was still spread out among other promotions.

2. Now that the UFC controls the top talent almost exclusively (other than BW and a few other fighters here and there), people say it's no longer the pinnacle and where the best fight the best.

3. People say that having prelims and Fight Nights filled with prospects and lesser known fighters has devalued the product. But that is always what they were there for. Prelims always had lesser known prospects, and they predate Zuffa. Fight Nights have been around since 2005 and they have always been about showcasing TUF talent, prospects, and up and comers.

4. Why did you mention tiny men and women as if they contribute to the notion UFC is minor leagues? If you don't like them, that is fine. But it's not as though their top fighters aren't still top fighters. You might not like Mighty Mouse, and he might not be racking up the PPV buys, but he is still a top end fighter and is arguably as skilled as anyone in the promotion. This is more about personal preference than about true quality. In fact, for some, adding those divisions may have improved the quality since now, instead of 5 champs and sets of conenders for each, they have doubled the number of champs and contenders. That is double the number of top level fights they can put on.

 

[phatron]

By absorbing all the other organisations and adding the women and tiny men the UFC has made itself the minor leagues. It should have stayed as the pinnacle of MMA and been the premiere product.

So what I assumed in my original post seems to be true for you. You never watched anything but the UFC.

For someone who used to watch all the other promotions, there is really no difference in the number or quality of events. All the fighters are simply under the ufc banner now.

There is a large difference between the pov of a UFC hardcore fan and an MMA hardcore fan.

Just think about fans now who watch all the UFC and WSOF and Bellator.

I mean how do they ever figure out what date and time all these shows are on, or who the fighters are, or what channel the shows are on.