White to UFC on FOX one-fight main-card critics: Shut up; best is yet to come

White is pissed because the UFC blew it. Normal they almost always do the marketing things perfectly. They've been enormously successful pushing the sport and specifically their brand.

However, last night they screwed the pooch. No matter when the deal "actually" starts or why they chose to show one fight, last night they drew in tons of first-time MMA viewers who walked away thinking it was all hype and a waste of time.

Meanwhile Henderson-Guida might be a candidate for fight of the year. But even more importantly it demonstrated all the things that are great about MMA like high level grappling, extremely high pace, explosive striking and two top contenders.

Dana can spin it however he wants but last night was the UFC's one and only FOX debut and they should have shown both fights.

 

Yeah it was weird, I mean why didn't they?

I think the average person would have really enjoyed Bendo Vs Guida, and they are both pretty funny looking guys, entertaining to watch.

 

Indeed. I don't if that's a positive or negative from an MMA image stand point but the first time viewer would certainly remember both of them. And ultimately that's kind of the goal I would think.

 

Exactly, it sounds silly but I think it makes sense, they are both pretty memorable looking etc, and their fighting styles are energetic too.

The UFC seem like great businessmen, so it really does surprise me that fight wasn't shown.

 

Did you watch the fight.. It was far, far, far from a lay on the ground fight. In fact, they spent just under 8 minutes on their feet.

But bigger than that, while it was on the ground there were sub attempts, big punches and multiple sweeps.

 

The problem was the main event. It looked more like a street-fight, or a toughman match. It was very sloppy striking.

 

nice way to deal with critisism as always

 

I kinda like how Dana is reacting here. Fuck anyone complaining.

There is a big reason he did what he did here...you would NEVER want to televise a freakin' Clay Guida fight to first-time viewers. The guy is a prescription for 3 long rounds of ground and pound.

This was about one huge fight. An event. In fact, the one thing that I was very surprised at was that they dicked around so long with the pre-fight that if the fight had gone the distance, it would have overrun the time slot. Lots of tivo users like mE would have been furious.

 

On paper, Velasquez vs Dos Santos was a far better pick. It was for the UFC heavyweight title. Not only do you have to a appeal to the masses, but you have to appeal to the hard core fans to hype up the fight to the masses. Penn vs Diaz? I didn't even go out of my way to watch that myself.

For all of its appeal, mma has some real problems...a 3-1 guy winning the title...losing it to a 8-0 guy...losing it to a 13-1 guy...this is why Dana markets a 'product' and not fighters. Brock being an exception.

 

I really think its being blown out of porportion about the fight turning away new viewers. Alot of those new viewers were watching just for the pop culture side of it all. That isn't going away. So even if JDS and Velasquez put on a fight of the year candidate that we are all sitting here raving about, that new fan would have had no clue what they were looking at. They saw two big guys throwing punches and one went down. These same people are at the water cooler this morning asking the other newbie fan if he saw that badass punch.

 

Easy to sit here after the fact and say what fight should have been televised. Obviously given the choice between a Guida fight and a HW Championship fight, it's an easy call to make. They did what was best on paper, and as we all know it doesn't always play out like it should.

 

Well, personally I never said show Guida-Henderson INSTEAD of the HW fight. I thought they should show them both. And I said it well beforehand not just after the fact.

And I was right so


:finger:

 

new mma fans or ufc fans?

 

I don't get the criticism.

White told everyone going in that this would be a one-fight card, whether it lasted 10 seconds or all five rounds. This show came outside the budget and by his own admission Dana told everyone that Saturday was strictly an investment into the future, which is why he began with a HVY fight.

True fans took the time to watch the various streams leading up to the card. Casual fans were "warned" that they'd get a one-fight telecast.

Most importantly, FOX didn't seem very disappointed with the ratings - 5.7 isn't earth shattering, but the demographic they sought (18-34 males) outdrew college football (Oregon v. Stanford, I believe) and the reality is that ratings would've been better the longer the telecast lasted.

They presented a fight that the public seemed split on the outcome, and in the end the heavyweight title changed hands. I don't blame Dana for telling people what to do with themselves.

There was a lot about the broadcast I didn't care for, but also several elements I liked. More important (to me, anyway), my kids enjoyed it and look forward to watching it when it debuts next Saturday. Unrelated, "Face Off: Cotto-Margarito" left both of them asking "When do they fight again?!" and they also enjoyed the pre-fight weekend coverage for Pacquiao-Marquez III - American Idol-like weigh-in segment and all.

 

just wondering what was trying to say because elitexc had higher ratings on cbs

 

to me its more of a compliment than a critisism. people wanted to see more fights. its easy to see why the hendo-guida fight was a foty candidate.

besides i thought the deal with fox starts in january. in your last paragraph you said it starts saturday. i thought rua-henderson was on ppv?

 

I would be surprised if this were true. Where are you getting the ratings?

 

Actually, as usual, RJJ is talking out of his ass.

Here's the deal:

CBS Elite XC: Slice versus Thompson
3.0 Rating with 4.85 million viewers

UFC FOX-Cain versus JDS
3.1 Rating with 5.7 million viewers

This is the largest TV audience for any fight since Lewis versus Vitali back in 2003 apparently.

Not too shabby.

 

them ratings didnt show the amount of viewers for the kinbo fight. those ratings reflect the entire broadcast.

 

Yes, 'them' ratings take total viewers into account.

 

Does this cover it for you:

 

yeah clear