UFC and the "IT" factor
Jan
26
Written by:
1/26/2011 12:53 AM
The UFC held UFC 125 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on the evening of January 1. Having attended the UFC Fight Night back in March in Charlotte, I thought I knew what to expect at a UFC event. Back in July, I was able to attend a major boxing card at Mandalay Bay and thought anything else would be tough to beat that excitement level. Now, all I can say about attending a UFC event in Las Vegas is WOW! Sometimes when you are at an event, you have a difficult time taking in all of the ambiance, but it is very difficult to not be drawn in there. Walking into MGM Garden Arena that evening, the atmosphere was very reminiscent of a Duke-Carolina basketball game. The card that the UFC put together that evening was terrific and the crowd was roaring and ready to go. There are so many entertainment options in Las Vegas, especially on a New Year’s weekend, that are available for people’s ever tightening entertainment dollars, yet 12,688 spectators attended UFC 125 generating a $2,174,780 live gate. Some people estimate that the UFC approached $50 million in gate revenue in 2010. How do they do it when many sports are showing a decline in gate revenue?
Many people still ask this question. MMA and particularly the UFC seem to understand the, “it” factor for their key demographic audience. The 18-49 year old male is looking for quick, high-paced, continuous action and the UFC provides that. . There is not a lot of time between bouts at a live event, and the music played here is much better and different than that played at Bank of America Stadium on those fall Sunday afternoons. Right before the PPV begins, there is a montage of several minutes played with great highlights, that as soon as the video package end, anyone watching would feel like they could step into that cage and compete. As soon as one bout was over, the cage was cleared and the next fighters begin to enter the arena. Let’s face it, people have much shorter attention spans, and the UFC understands that keeps the pace moving.
People are still seeking out this entertainment. A couple of different articles have estimated that the UFC will have generated between 8-10 million PPV buys in 2010. My groups of friends usually rotate purchasing these events monthly. Spending around $50 a month for a couple of hours of fights doesn’t seem like a lot, again in times of tightening budgets, to see this number growing over previous years has to be encouraging to the powers that be. Many bars and restaurants in the Charlotte area purchase these events in order to increase their business on these Saturday evenings. Without college football or other major events, many sports bars are desperately looking at ways to attract the demographic into their establishments to spend a little money. One former manager of an establishment estimated UFC PPV nights double their business, while boxing PPV’s only raise it around 50% at most.
UFC fighters are extremely honest and open in dealing with the press. Each occasion I have had to interact with the UFC and their fighters has been very refreshing. The support staff has been extremely willing to assist and answer any and all questions and if they do not have the answer, they will get it and get back to you in a timely manner. I wish I could say this was normal in my interactions with all organizations, but unfortunately, I cannot. At UFC 125, Randy Couture, Forrest Griffin, and Kenny Florian were just a few of the fighters not participating that evening that were extremely friendly to not only myself, but many in attendance. I am not sure how long it took Griffin to get back to his seat after a fight, as many were taking photos with the former Champion. Griffin seemed to be perfectly happy in taking these photos with everyone. At the UFC 125 post fight press conference, each of the evening’s winners along with both main event fighters were very open and honest with all responses to the questions asked of them. Clay Guida openly discussing what he perceived as a potential lack of conditioning on the part of Takanori Gomi, Brian Stann discussing the how he should have dropped to 185 lb weight class much sooner, to Dong Hyun Kim calling out GSP, these guys were not just throwing out tired sports clichés. The most impressive responses may have been from both Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. Edgar opening acknowledged that he didn’t remember much of the first round where he was seemingly very close to being stopped. Maynard was very open in showing and expressing both his disappointment in the judges’ draw decision and initially hearing he wasn’t in line for a rematch, subsequently the re-match has been scheduled. Maynard repeatedly said he thought he had won the belt, and he thought he clearly had won the fight. Maynard was clearly unable to hide his disappointment in the evening’s decision. In a sport where swagger is not only expected, but rewarded, Maynard’s open show of raw emotion after that fight was extremely nice to see. How much differently would Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler be viewed this week had he shown that unfiltered emotion Sunday after the loss to the Packers?
Speaking of the fighters, the new young faces and challengers in the sport also keep the events from getting stale. There was some quiet discussions amongst some as to what would happen when the likes of Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes, Tito Ortiz begin to wind down, would there be worthy challengers to carry the torch? Without question, that answer is an emphatic yes. Most of the Top fighters in the world are now very recognizable and have some very nice endorsement deals. 9-0 Cain Velasquez is the UFC Heavyweight Champion at 28 years of age, having defeated 33 year old Brock Lesnar by referee stoppage at UFC 121. Lesnar’s next challenge will be 26 year old Junior Dos Santos, and the winner of their bout will face Velasquez for the Title once he heals from his shoulder surgery. This is just the Top three in the heavyweight division! 23 year old Jon Jones may be the future face of this sport. 11-1 Jones fights undefeated Ryan Bader at UFC 126 in two weeks at the light heavyweight 205 lb weight class. This could be the deepest and most challenging weight class within the UFC currently. Rampage Jackson, Forrest Griffin, Randy Couture, Rich Franklin, and Champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua are just the former champions that are currently competing in this weight class. There are five other super competitive weight classes and we have not even mentioned the two men widely discussed as the pound-for-pound best in this sport: Middleweight Anderson Silva and welterweight George St-Pierre. There is some preliminary discussions about these two facing each other in 2011 should they each get past their next opponents.
This goes back to the “it” factor. UFC President is a major Twitter user and has over 1.2 Million followers on Twitter. Dana frequently floats ideas out regarding his thoughts and fight ideas and gets rapid feedback from the fans. Many fans would love to see the Silva-St-Pierre “Super Fight” and have expressed this to White in various manners. Future fights, opponents for others, giving away tickets on event weekends, updating future plans, and keeping his followers up-to-date on the events of the UFC are all benefits of following White on Twitter. The other beauty of this communication is that is cost nothing! White can place something on his Twitter page and it instantly goes to 1.2 million people. Know of any other sports leaders currently reaching out to their fans in this way?
UFC 126 will be the first Saturday evening in February and has a loaded card. The Super Bowl is the next day from Dallas Texas, in Cowboys Stadium. Having been to a UFC PPV and a Super Bowl, the UFC is the event for me. The Super Bowl I attended in Atlanta was nice to go to once, but without a dog in the fight, I have no interest in attending another one. Most people at the NFL’s premier game felt like they were there entertaining clients using the event at a business function. Most of the real fans are relegated to the worst seats in the stadium, while the best seats seem to be for the corporate clients. In Atlanta, more people were hanging out in the club sections talking business instead of watching the action on the field. At the UFC, people are there to see the action in the cage, not talk a lot of business. The best seats are where the biggest fans are located and who knows, you may be seated near one of your favorite fighters. I don’t recall seeing any of my favorite NFL players at the game in Atlanta. It seems a bit funny that many focus on and feel the commercials are the best part of the game, not the game itself. The fights are clearly the focus of attention at the UFC live events. People are not worried about who is singing the National Anthem or performing at halftime for the UFC (I know there is no halftime), but so much focus is placed on everything surrounding the game, that the action on the field is sometimes forgotten about by many casual viewers. The only time many at our viewing parties watch the game is at the end of the quarters to see who is going to have the correct square on the board. Anyone paying to watch the UFC PPV either in person or at home is a real fan, and wanting to see what they are there to see, a lot of action. My focus next weekend won’t be on squares or commercials or discussions about a potential work stoppage in the fall, but on action within a cage. The UFC has hooked this fan and as long as they deliver what this fan wants, I will continue to be a fan.