UFC 2014

With GSP and Silva possibly gone forever, and certainly for 2014, can anyone help the UFC pick-up the slack on potentially reduced PPV sales this year?

Weidman and Hendricks are very solid replacements as champions, but they aren't near the draws that Silva and GSP have become.

Who do you see becoming a PPV driver in 2014?

 

Ronda Rousey &/or Jon Jones...Jones vs. Gustaffson II will Do Big #'s...

 

UFC is in a transition period right now, similar to when it moved from Couture\Liddell\Franklin\Hughes to Silva\GSP and eventually Jones. They'll be just fine.

TFK

 

Naturally the UFC will be fine. The question was to get opinions on who the next big PPV stars might be.

 

It's a LEGITIMATE Question...If Rousey Or Bones LOSE Anytime Sooooon, There'll Definitely Be a DEARTH of Singular PPV Stars in MMA...

 

Is Ronda Rousey really going to be a PPV driver for the UFC?

 

As Loooooooooong as there's Fresh Bodies for her to Fight, YES...Matching her w/that MANLY Bitch, in her Next Fight, is a Nice Touch...A Fight w/Julianna Pena will Eventually Sell...Cat Zingano's a Legit Fighter...Granted, Rousey's PERSONALITY is the PPV Driving Force...She's a Love/Hate Type to the Nth Degree...But Having Said that, REED Isn't Sure the Women's Division Could Last, if Rousey were to LOSE Anytime Sooooon....

 

I also think people just tune in to see a dominant fighter. They want to "be there" when she finally loses.

The fact that she's become such a perfect heel just adds to her potential.

I would argue that Ronda might be the biggest draw in the sport right now. It might still be Jones, but Ronda is closing fast.

 

Absolutely...

Fans Want to SOAK IN the Greatness of a Dominant Fighter, While the Ride Lasts, then "Be There", as you Said, when they Inevitably Lose...Ronda & Bones are in a SIMILAR Place, in that Regard, but Ronda's Infinitely More INTERESTING as a Personality...



REED:kidcool:

 

was silva even a big draw? i dont think his ppv numbers were that great until after the sonnen fight. it seemed to me like belfort actually had a bigger fan base in brazil.

assuming hendricks beats lawler (which isn't given), i think he can be a good draw as long as he keeps knocking guys out. i have a feeling he'll lose in his 2nd or 3rd defense tho.

weidman's a new yorker and it's too bad mma still isn't a licensed sport in new york. a lot of people would go see him fight at the garden.

 

I think women are here to stay in the division, but Rousey keeps her division near the top of the interest list. If she loses, women's mma will probably fall quickly to the bottom and be relegated to supporting fights.

 

I think Hendricks beats Lawler easily.

Pettis, Barao, Aldo...these guys are all extremely watchable fighters who are capable of becoming ppv draws relatively soon.

 

I don't know why exactly, maybe it's the lighter weight, but Aldo and Barro aren't big draws right now.

It's amazing to think that the most compelling match ups in each division, save for Aldo-Pettis, are happening in less than a month and it's not generating much interest at all.

Cruz-Barrao and Aldo-Lamas are fantastic bouts on paper, but who's talking about them?

 

I don't know why exactly, either, but some of it probably just has to do with the ppv-draw spots already being filled. With Anderson and GSP opening those spots up, one or both might fill it.

I think I've said this before, but I have a strong suspicion that Dominick Cruz had a deal with Edge gel that paid him whatever $$$ so long as he stayed UFC champ. I mean how long has that guy been out of the ring--15 years?

 

i'd wish nick diaz would come out of retirement and fight hendricks. that would be an excellent scrap.

 

Why? So he could get outclassed again, cry like a baby because Hendricks didn't stand still and let Diaz hit him, then retire like a baby again?

Diaz's act wore thin long ago, and hopefully he stays true to his word and stays retired.

TFK

 

Diaz's "Act" is the Precursor for Ronda Rousey's "Act"...If Ronda Smoked a Fatty During her Ringwalk, She'd Basically BE Nick Diaz...Like Rousey, Diaz is the Classic COUNTER-Culture, ANTI-Hero, that Has a Love/Hate Fanbase...

 

But they really aren't the same. Rousey is confidence to the point of arrogance. Diaz is a paranoid 'everyone is out to get me' douchebag who can't accept that he is a one dimensional fighter with zero ability to adapt when fights don't go his way.

TFK

 

The Love/Hate Aspects of them are Almost IDENTICAL...Perpetual DEFIANCE, COMBATIVENESS, ANGER...Even their FROWNS are Similarly Absurd...Brother MWS was the 1st to Bring this to Light & he was Right...Ronda's a Better FIGHTER, but her ATTITUDE is Very Much Nick DiazISH...

 

I don't think she's a better fighter. Diaz has two solid dimensions. Rousey gets by with her judo so far, because no woman knows how to wrestle and she's stronger than everyone else. Diaz' competition is just so much better.

 

I guess we'll see how similar they truly are when Rousey finally loses and we'll see how she handles defeat. I can only hope she takes it better than Diaz.

TFK

 

Anderson had reached mainstream, LeBron James like popularity in Brazil and his buyrates were consistently above average after Abu Dhabi

 

I think Travis Browne could be a PPV draw if he keeps winning. Big tall guy with KO power who finishes all of his fights, that's pretty marketable.

I wonder what Gustafson's drawing power will be, specifically to the European crowd after his fight with Jones.

TFK

 

I think overall, numbers for individual PPV's are going to be down just because of the number of PPV's the UFC is airing, combined with them raising the price for them. A lot of people just don't have the available cash to order 2 PPV's in the same month.

Something to watch in the upcoming years is the WWE and their upcoming launch of their own network. Their plan is to charge a monthly subscription fee for their own network, and to hold their big events on their network and start phasing out the PPV's altogether, with the exception of Wrestlemania, which is their biggest moneymaker.

Make no mistake, if this plan is successful, the UFC will follow suit, starting their own network and moving away from the PPV model.

TFK

 

The UFC already has their own network, though. It shifts around, but at any given time, UFC fights are being televised.

It's been Spike, Fuel, Foxsports, Fx...whatever...they have a product that channels are willing to purchase in order to bring their demographic to that channel.
I suspect they can make more money doing it that way, and with significantly less risk, than starting their own channel.

You might be right, though. On paper, I think having your exclusive channel can lead to projections that put $$$ in the UFC tyrants' eyes. I just doubt that the risk is worth it.

Is the WWE doing this out of desperation or success? I know nothing about pro wrestling.

 

The UFC doesn't have their own network. There was talk of them buying the old Fuel network at one time, but it never happened.

The WWE is doing it because they think that's where the money is. They think PPV is a dying vehicle.


TFK

 

The UFC Fight Night card from yesterday in Singapore was the debut of the UFC's "Fight Pass" digital network.

If they ever go the route of annual subscription, I pray it's not a digital stream because it sucked this morning.

It was a card full of nobodies and aired early AM EST, but it shocked me they didn't have it on one of the Fox Sports Channels.

 

It was a card full of nobodies. It was just a test by the UFC to get a sense of how many fans are out there who are so into mma/ufc that they will go way out of their way to watch anything ufc-related.

I didn't mean literally have their own channel, TFK, I meant figuratively. UFC is all over the tv these days. Between the interviews, pre, post, TUF, replays of ufc, pride, etc, talk shows, etc etc etc...there is literally more mma content (probably ufc alone) than anyone with a job can watch.