UFC 138 returns to England!

All good journalist's tow the company line. That's how they get paid....

 

The situation with boxing is totally different, they reliying on the drawing power of the fighters, which in the UK there are only probably about 3 or 4. And none of them want to work with ******, because of his **** poor shows, relying on the likes of Calzaghe, Hatton, and Khan to draw the punters in whilst the undercard is total pish. Sound familiar *cough Dana cough*

BUT...alot is made of the Zuffa brand being more important than the fighters, and the UFC are taking advantage in this case. Bringing the brand here but not the star, relying on TUF guys and Bisping.

Why do they need Sky? Where is all the money going, they cant even bring one A lister over, with the exception of Randy, due to lack of funds in 4 years? Pull the other one fella

Putting guys with zero drawing power like Joe Daddy, Vera, Aikiyama and Munoz on the MAIN EVENT with B list, mid card, TUF'ers like Diego, Bisping and Leben is both counter productive in build the brand and a total rip off when the nose bleed seats cost £50 each.

 

Silva vs Bisping next year at MEN for the title if both get through their next fights?! With right build up the buzz and atmosphere would be intense even if Bisping would get smashed.

 

I can't see Micky getting past Mayhem to be honest... i hope i'm wrong though.

Let's have a UFC card in the summer at a football stadium... :deal :happy

Also it's about time Strikeforce got their **** together and visited us!!!

Lynchburg

 

The early UFC UK shows were on US pay per view with the exception of Henderson-Jackson. They bombed on US pay per view which is why they retreated to running shows on Spike - for example BJ Penn refused to fight in the UK again after receiving a smaller payoff for his fight against Stevenson than expected.

Its the money from Spike that makes these shows financially viable - sure they draw great at the box office but the UFC draws great at the box office in the states and they don't encounter all the expense of flying people halfway round the world. It was after all problems with securing a spike date that put them even coming to the UK in doubt.

To increase the frequency of events in the UK they need to get the funding to go ahead with their European Fight Night idea i.e. shows that would not be aired on US Television. To do that they need a better television deal than they currently do. To improve the main events they need to find a way to supplement the income they're losing from not running in the USA. The obvious way is through UK pay per view. Another alternative would be to see whether they'd do better by running UK shows at a time that allowed the main card to be shown live in the states (i.e. 10pm to 5am show).

 

thumbsup:thumbsup

 

Btw - Thiago Alves rumoured for UFC 138 against swedish fighter Papy Abedi.

It also looks like they've really squeezed this in as there's a concert the day before (normally the cage is set up in the arena the day before).

 

The UK office are rumored to be pushing for it - perhaps even in a football stadium.

One of the interesting things overlooked in the Chael Sonnen testimony to California (second time around) was that he explained how the TUF14 gig was so crucial because the winner would face Silva in a fight that would be shown live on free television. Given that the UFC chucked in a title fight as part of their last television deal renewal it would make sense for them to do it again, particularly if they move stations.

 

That does nothing to refute my point that. Bollocks to financially viable, how much did they just shell out for Strikeforce? The money is there too fund a decent main event, they just dont want to because they know they will sell out the stadium due to brand loyalty and dont have to cut into their profits to achieve it.

The UFC had 9000 in attendance for the last Birmingham show. The cheapest tickest are £50 x that by 9000 and that's half a million guareented, without even factoring in the £75, £100, £150, £200, £250+ tickets and the merchandise they sell too. So money isnt a problem imo. As I said earlier, I dont expect a title match dude to the PPV cuts most of the Champs get, but how many of the other fighters take a slice? Not many, and certainly not Chris and Mark ($90000 + $60000 in their last outings)

And this is a Fight Night Main Event masquerading as an arena show, so your point about Euro Fight Night just shows how greedy Zuffa really are. Treating the UK fans like mugs.

Alves seems to be on the slide, so even his welcome addition against a nobody wont save the card

It is what it is, a rip off

 

If you think its a rip off then don't go. No one's forcing you.

Are the UFC greedy? Well of course they are - they're a business! They're not going to consistently bring fights here that they know they can make more money off of in America. At the end of the day there is no obligation for the UFC to run the UK. Top Rank and Golden Boy don't, and the WWE haven't brought a major match here since 1997.

UFC 105 and UFC 120 both had good main events that sold out - you may be sick of seeing Hardy and Bisping but they got huge superstar reactions at both events. What's more they were fun events live - far better match quality and production standards than what is dished up by local boxing and MMA promoters. And UFC 120 did have the added bonus of the fan expo, which while limited was fun for what it was.

This one...we'll see. Leben and Munoz is a weak main event but again this is a last minute job considering they had thought they wouldn't be able to do a show in the UK. In an ideal world they'd have brought The Ultimate Finale 14 over here but I guess the dates didn't work out. The last time they tried to headline with a similar fight (Sanchez vs Stevenson) it didn't go well business wise. If it has a good undercard (and the rumoured Thigao Alves would be a step in the right direction) then it could turn out okay. But as I said - we'll see.

 

Im not going, as Ive said so. You know I respect you as a poster Will, BUT you responded to my objections to this main event with a UFC business model for European events in the next few years. Does nothing to alter the fact that this wouldn't be main event worthy in Vegas, so why should it fly here. Im supposed to accept it because Zuffa wont be making a healthy profit? **** that

And what the **** is this obligation bull****! You are quite right, they are not obligated to put on events here. But if they want to come over and charge and average of £200 a ticket they are obligated to put on a decent card. Are you really suggesting we should pay up and shut up or we wont get the privilage of funding cash grabbing **** poor Zuffa event again?

If you want to toe the company line and dismiss a paying punters honest opinion, dont respond to my posts, no one is forcing you

 

I didn't mean to be snide when I said if you don't like it don't go - I genuinely meant that. Nobody who thinks this show is not worth their money should pay for a ticket out of some misguided loyalty to the UFC. Withdrawing your custom is the only form of protest that any company will understand. And indeed we know that because after the fiascoes with UFC 85 and 95 the UFC did make a renewed effort to improve the quality/marketablity of the UK shows. UFC 120 and UFC 105 may have been overloaded with British fighters but they were clearly a level above the average fight night. Both sold out very quickly, set attendance and gate records for the UK and seemed from the crowd reactions to please those who had paid their money to attend.

As for the Vegas comparison...it'd be like a Far Eastern Manchester United fan complaining about only getting to see second-string lineups in meaningless matches or a British basketball fan complaining that its only preseason NBA matches come to the UK. When you're following a foreign sport there's always going to be the fact that you're not as much a priority for your league than their home market. As a fan it sucks but if you want it to change the economics have to.

 

Sorry fella, if it was your intention or not, you did come across as a bit of a schil with the ''Zuffa cant afford a decent cart, we will have to make do'' malarky. My point is that this is not an isolated card which is lacklustre, it's par for the course for the UK by and large.

Im not talking about UK fighters as 1, it gives the lower card fighter experiance and exposure they wont get with any British or Euro based Org, and 2 it creates a great atmosphere. The place was electric when Bisping and Hardy walked out.

But we are due a meaningful fight in the UK for supporting every event with the good ole fashioned vocal & monetary support, and this card cant even rely on the support of British fighters to make up for it. The UFC fans in the UK deserve a lot more than a Leben v Munoz main (as it stands this looks likely, hopefully it will change) for their loyalty imo

They will be quick enough to cash in if Bisping gets a shot at Silva though, guess we will have to lump it until then

 

As I said...maybe I was being too dispassionate but looking at the big picture I don't see the charges of 'rip off' being well-founded. When one event makes X and the other event is lucky to make half that then its far from being a rip off if X gets a better quality of main event. But yes it is time the UFC get a more meaningful match here - as I said if I was them I'd do it like boxing and go 10pm to 4am.

Also part of it is I'm sick of hearing UK fans complaining (not I stress on this message board) when live events perhaps withstanding we get a pretty sweet deal. I mean for what it costs to subscribe to ESPN UK we get everything whereas our poor American cousins are paying through the nose - what I pay for ESPN would not have covered the cost of three pay per views in the states. I mean yeesh. And if you compare it to boxing where adverts are shown in the middle of PAY PER VIEW fights, major fights are put on pay per view without any undercards and until recently any half decent fight was chucked onto pay per view.

 

Well Im personally not complaining about the price of tickets, just the quality of the Main Events in terms of something meaningful.

And a PPV in the UK for each event would go down as well as Maggie Thatcher with her false teeth out, otherwise we'd be doing that too. I dont think anyone will be paying for an event which stars at 3 in the morning, as the US doesnt pay for the non American shows. So I think they would lose money, as a subscription is a steady income stream. But having said that, I do think it's a matter of time until we have to buy some cards PPV's over here, But who knows

The American market can support a PPV and it's exploited. I wont be losing any sleep over the money saved due to subscription in the mean time