Three Reasons There's Little Buzz for UFC 88
by Kid Nate on Sep 5, 2008 10:27 AM EDT
in MMA News
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PrintBen Fowlkes of Sports Illustrated has noted the lack of heat around tomorrow's UFC:
You almost have to feel bad for the fighters on Saturday's UFC 88 card in Atlanta. With the announcement of Randy Couture's return dominating MMA headlines, the weekend fights in Georgia seem like an afterthought.
Here's why:
1. Chuck Liddell vs Rashad Evans is not a compelling headliner.
Commenters are split between those who think Rashad has no chance and those who think Rashad's only chance is to win a decision by evading the fight. While there's a very high likelihood of a Liddell win resulting in a title shot for Chuck, there's almost no chance of Rashad getting a title shot with a win. The only intrigue in this fight is whether or not Father Time is finally catching up with Liddell.
2. The Couture announcement stepped on the hype.
Its pretty unusual for a promoter to spend most of the week before a major event promoting an event months down the road. But that's what Dana White spent the week doing. I don't blame him, the Couture/Lesnar fight will be a huge record setting PPV, and the timing of the announcement was forced by the realities of legal matters and negotiations. Nevertheless, all the hype for Couture/Lesnar was time spent not hyping Chuck vs Rashad.
3. Despite featuring several name fighters, the undercard is very weak.
You'd think that an undercard with former headliners Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson plus TUF star Matt Hamill, former MW title challenger Nate Marquardt and UFC perennial Karo Parisyan would have some oomph. But it doesn't. Primarily IMO because Franklin and Henderson should be fighting each other but instead Franklin's trying to move to 205 and Henderson is fighting for his UFC career against a relative unknown.
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1.—Definitely screaming for a co-headliner. Chuck is fine, and Rashad deserves the high profile fight, but he just isn’t that compelling.
2.—We all suspected this was happening, but they should have made the announcement at the fight, with Randy, Brock, Frank and Nog in the cage.
3.—not terrible, but missing that one extra big fight. See #1.
Not much else out there in September, so this is definitely the time for a less attractive show. You have big months coming up, free cards and the holidays. Considering the shows the UFC has put on this year, I’m not to worried about this being a little less than stellar, at least pre fight.
"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"
The quality of recent shows really has been quite stellar.
I’m not too worried if this one is a bit of a fizzler, which I actually doubt will happen. I think Chuck knows Rashad is a serious ‘threat’ to backpedal throughout the fight, so he’s going to be ready to push the action. Watching Rashad get KO’d would be worth the price of the show all by itself. I don’t dislike Rashad, but to see someone make him a notch on their belt would be a significant event.
There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.
Agreed the Couture/Lesnar announcement definitely overshadows this event. But, there are several fights I am looking forward to on this card. Can Chuck get back to his old dominant form, can Franklin compete in a higher weight class, can Hendo get his groove back, will Karo come out like a madman and actually be exciting or will he just have another boring ass fight like usual.
Fight of the Night
will be Parisyan VS Yoshida.
This is a stacked card with all exciting fighters and fights. Stars in the making on this UFC card. They have great undercard fights on this one as well and I hope they show at least two of them.
I’m excited about it. Christ, I’ve gone so far as to watch the horrible MMA show “Iron Ring” on BET, so obviously I’m cised to watch this.
"No one makes me bleed my own blood."
by monkeyfightclub! on Sep 5, 2008 11:35 AM EDT reply actions
I really didn’t get the vibe that this was a weak card. There is so much desperation that it makes it interesting in my eyes. Henderson can’t afford to lose. Franklin would really suffer from a loss. Yoshida needs a name win to get some cred and Karo needs to A) win and B) be exciting.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Sep 5, 2008 11:40 AM EDT reply actions
I think this is a great card and aptly named. Some relative no names are gonna BREAKTHROUGH.
The entire card all the way down to Pelegrino/Tavares is gonna be awesome. It’ll be fun to see if Liddel can stop the shot. Franklin seriously has his hands full & Palhares is the next champ & Kampmann is one of the most well rounded fighters out there right now. This is a card for hard cores!
I told you I can't build your candy house! It will fall apart, the sun will melt the candy, it won't work!
Your last line says it all.
I’m really looking forward to seeing how some of these threads play out. I’m just not sure it’s a great group for the more casual fans. Not a whole lot of intrigue for them outside of the main event.
There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.
I couldn’t care less about what the “casual fan” wants to see. There’s a great card for them comin’ up — Slice/Shamrock.
I told you I can't build your candy house! It will fall apart, the sun will melt the candy, it won't work!
Like I said, I'll be watching it.
And Fergi/Shamrock isn’t really all that terrible of a prospect (no, I won’t be watching that one). Especially if you’re like me and pretty much hate Kimbo..I’d love to see Ken put a kneebar on that guy and take him down a notch.
There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.
Death to Everything Non-Zuffa
Dana White for Prez
" Tell me something Steve, How does a guy from Puerto Rico loose a ball in the Sun? "
There is a lack of heat
But I wonder if it really matters. Liddell vs. Rashad is the sort of matchup thats geared toward the casual fan much more than the hardcore fan, and when we say theres little heat, what we mean is that the hardcore online fanbase isn’t talking about the fight that much. If the UFC loses 100,000 buys from the hardcores, and picks up 100,000 from the casuals who want to see Liddell fight a TUF winner, it evens out, regardless of the lack of heat.
I really want to see the buys for this show. I’m estimating it does close to 500k, which would be pretty good considering the “in-between” nature of all these fights.
500k would be a victory for this card, I would imagine.
I’m not implying that it’s highly unlikely to get that many buys, but if they can beat 500k with the lack of buildup and exposure this card has received, combined with the Couture/91 announcement, I would say we’re looking at a new level of UFC viewership as a trend.
There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.
… that’s the thing, though, it’s pay-per-view … there really shouldn’t be time constraints. If I want to sit on my couch for an additional 30 minutes to watch two more undercard fights, it’s not like the evening news or syndicated rerun of Golden Girls is getting bumped. All that’s usually happening is the next replay of the exact same ppv starts a little later.
Gotta pay for the air time...
You have to buy the slot. They can’t just have a rolling end time. It has to be definite. Now you can say you want them to add another hour on and that is fine…but you can’t expect that they can just use as much air time as they want.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Sep 5, 2008 3:12 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Some good points guys..
I agree with a lot of what has been said to this point. My opinion of the card is as follows..
This card is great fight after great fight that could have used some heat somewhere along the way for marketability (read:buyrates) sake. Rashad was surprisingly subdued after doing such a fine job hyping the Ortiz card. Franklin and Hammill apparently grew up together and are hugging instead of putting their knuckles up for promotional photos. And yes, there are some relative mainstream unknowns; but man, I am HYPE on this card. Plus, NFL opening weekend (Vikes on MNF!) and that monster WEC card (which falls under the same hardcore’s dynamic, no?) on Wednesday? It’s gonna be a good week and I’m not going to get any work done..
I’m ready for the start of the NFL season, also. Man, I really dig the WEC.
by Cannon Jacques on Sep 5, 2008 2:34 PM EDT up reply actions
WEC doesn't get much credit for it
..but it is literally the most fail-safe event in MMA. Have you ever not enjoyed a WEC card? That’s what I love about it.
It's so true.
There are so many great things about the WEC. They’re on Versus, so you don’t have to worry about shelling out a bunch of extra cash (don’t know how I feel about the PPV idea). The shows are usually on at a point during the week that there’s nothing else exciting going on. The production is wonderfully tight and efficient. The smaller guys do some awesome stuff. Most of the guys are up-and-comers. They’re working hard to make a career. These guys aren’t holding out for a seven figure contract. While I don’t blame the big name guys in other orgs for getting what they can, I really appreciate these no-name guys going out there and putting it on the line for little cash. I’ve stumbled into a rant here. Sorry.
by Cannon Jacques on Sep 5, 2008 2:51 PM EDT up reply actions
No need to apologize; very concise..
Those are all the reasons the WEC is so great. I tend to agree about PPV (at least, I have tentative feelings), but I expect that if they move forward with it it could be a quarterly, or better yet, twice annual model at a reduced ticket price that could also be reaired on Versus a month or so later. I wouldn’t be too opposed to a model of that nature, at least on a trial basis.
I would happily pay 34.99 twice a year for WEC hd ppv. They always deliver and i enjoy their free shows, so i wouldnt mind supporting them.
"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"
No doubt
It’s a matter of how many casuals they can bring along for the ride, but I don’t forsee there being any problem getting at least 100k buyrates on Faber’s back alone under that model. Could be more, going forward. The marketing would have a huge impact. I’m considering writing a piece about the benefits and dangers of cross marketing the UFC and WEC products..
You’re not alone, I cannot wait for the NFL to kick off and the WEC fight on Wednesday night. I don’t think Brown can really take it to Faber like Pulver did, but stranger things have happened.
"My job is a decision-making job, and as a result, I make a lot of decisions." --George W. Bush, The Decider, Lancaster, Pa., Oct. 3, 2007
Brown is a money fighter
But so is (was?) Franklin and look at what Silva did to him. It’s that unfortunate last-step no one can climb with Faber fighting like he does.
But if Faber and Torres both continue to dominate, it sets up an interesting super-fight between the WEC’s best fighters. Which would be a good headliner if the WEC decides to step into the PPV waters (don’t get me wrong, I love watching the WEC for free, but would be fine with throwing some cash their way twice a year).
Don’t forget about Leonard Garcia vs. Jens. I’m most interested in this one.
by Cannon Jacques on Sep 5, 2008 5:51 PM EDT up reply actions
...and Filho/Sonnen
I forgot about that one, and I just did a post about Filho. It’s an awesome card even for the WEC.
by Cannon Jacques on Sep 5, 2008 5:54 PM EDT up reply actions
AND
Cerrone/McCollough, which was mentioned elsewhere in this thread. That’s gonna be a great fight.
Card is positively stacked.
MMAPayout.com has learned that Countdown to UFC 88 drew 701,000 viewers Wednesday night on Spike. That is the second highest rated Countdown special of the year, trailing only Countdown to UFC 83, which drew 782,000 viewers. This was only the second countdown special all year to break the 700,000 level and suggests a strong PPV performance for this card.
Whatever buzz there might be evidently is working.
by Eugene Schelfaut on Sep 5, 2008 9:44 PM EDT reply actions
Weak
Missed it. Looks like it doesn’t re-air until 5PM Central tomorrow (incase anyone else was wondering when it’ll be on again).
/edit. Can’t work the quote machine.
http://www.mmapayout.com/2008/09/countdown-to-ufc-88-rating-ppv-projection/
by Eugene Schelfaut on Sep 5, 2008 9:46 PM EDT up reply actions
I always forget about the Countdown shows.
by Cannon Jacques on Sep 5, 2008 10:02 PM EDT up reply actions
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