What was up With Niko Price and Alex Morono Being on the Main Card?

[gentel]

That fight was absolutely miserable (only good thing about it was that Niko Price overperformed and got the win) but both guys were fighting in slow motion and just terrible all around

They could've had Jailton vs Romanov on the main card and that would've been a first round finish between two ranked HWs and actually relevant to the title picture

Wish a journalist had asked this at the press conference

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

I'm more pissed that Morono ruined my perfect Tap

 

[Kaiokenrye24]

I agree that fight had absolutely no business on a ppv main card

 

[Arm Barbarian]

That was low level WMMA type of fighting, and I usually like watching both those guys.

I know Morono stepped up on short notice, but man he looked so amateurish with his tinkle-toes movement and literally no power on any of his shots.

Price looked almost comically slow, like he was underwater, and kept spamming this weird half overhand right, half hammerfist strike, which missed nearly 100% of the time.

Both dudes looked like half dead zombies in there.

Bizarre card overall.

Islam and Dustin saved the main card from being possibly one of the all time worst PPVs.

 

[dcthegod]

this fight was an embarrassment to the card. i hate being too harsh on 2 guys who go out and put it all on the line, but the level of sloppiness was cringe. morono looked like he was black-out drunk by the third. niko not finishing him was bad

 

[idlePulse]

Someone broke it down here a little while ago with a lot of supporting data. They showed how the UFC typically saves a better fight (or a couple) to beef up the prelims for viewership, pushing a stinker fight or two to the main card; normally with veterans, popular/hyped fighters coming off loses, or ranked WMMA fights. They also broke down how social media followings play a big role in card placement. I'm definitely missing some elements of the OP, but this was the general idea.
UFC 303 is a pretty good representation of the above, with a lot of popular fighters on the prelims, but Joe Pyfer (and his opponent) coming off a loss, and Macy Chiasson fighting in the middle of the main card.

As for this fight, I normally enjoy these guys. But Morono flopped around doin a whole lot of nothing and gassed out somehow, and Price fought (and won) like he was covered in tar that magically made him forget how to throw a right hand. Maybe they were both injured, I hate being harsh on dudes but this card just sucked. And I made it out to a bar for it too.

 

[dominion]

Niko is washed. Full dad bod mode. Just doing for the paychecks now

 

[laleggenda27]

The UFC always has at least 1 filler fight on the main card, usually the 2nd fight. Saving a relatively big fight to headline the prelims serves multiple purposes: it brings in tv ratings and potentially creates more interest for the ppv. And having a filler fight on the main card won't affect ppv sales.

 

[Neck&Neck]

Trump wanted The Great White on the main

 

[Neck&Neck]

Niko is washed. Full dad bod mode. Just doing for the paychecks now

Bro, he’s in good shape, Moroni was the Dad Bod

 

[dominion]

Bro, he’s in good shape, Moroni was the Dad Bod

Nah, he always had a top tier physique. He lost it all