Zuffa dropped the ball this weekend.
by R.T. on Jan 25, 2009 1:35 PM EST
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PrintIts to bad the WEC ended up being booked on the date it did, Its sort of got lost in the shuffle following such a Momentous PPV Ie: affliction D.O.R.. Even on their best day the WEC cant match the lineup and inrtigue surrounding a show with a 4.6 million dollar pay roll and a clash between the 2 best HW’s in the game. But Zuffa in their desperation to counter program Affliction has kind of thrown the Dub under the Bus and killed any potential Buzz the COWBOY vs WORM fight and FABER vs PULVER 2 would of had. The WEC only has so many Marquee fights at their disposal and the Pulver vs Faber rematch is one of them. I realize that San Deigo is a very strong TV market for MMA and there gonna pull a solid gate, but other then that nothing good comes from booking this fight when and how they did. Pulver had asked to fight in the spring on account of having just had his best friend shot to death and a very serious illness with his good friends child. Pulver being the pro that he is took the fight when they insisted. Typical abuse of a solid company mans good will, Pulver has been here since the beginning and has done more for this sport then most other fighters combined and to see them throw him into the lions den like this for little or no reason just pisses me off. I’m about as big of MMA as your gonna find and if Dave Meltzer hadn’t mentioned the WEC card during his weekend preview I wouldn’t have even known it was happening. Had they booked this card in late Feb it would have recieved the proper media push. Pulver could have takin' some time to settle things mentally and more eyes would get to see Jose Aldo and their other up and commers. So to zuffa I say, "way to blow your wad well before the end o f the first round".
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lol at momentous ppv.
It was good and I bought it, as well as Banned, but I wouldn’t call a ppv that few people bought, or even knew about, momentous.
i do hope they keep going, but I don’t have any idea why they would, financially speaking.
I was in a room of about 15 guys, watching. All but 2 train. Much of the talk was about the WEC tonight. If anything, i think a good Affliction card, just made people more excited to see a free WEC tonight.
What a month!
If you're not submitting, you're just rolling around with another guy.
i think what should be remembered is this WEC card is free? Why wouldn’t fans tune in to see it? If this was a PPV then i could see it gettin lost because of the affliction last night.
What media push does WEC shows ever get? I have been looking forward to this event for a month now and there have been articles written about it on every site I visit but the WEC never gets a big media push. They weren’t booked to counter program Affliction, they are free on tv on a different night in a different city. No one made a choice between buying Affliction or watching the WEC because you can very easily do both. The counter programming was Spike tv airing Brock vs Randy last night.
I do agree that it would of been nice if Pulver had gotten more time but I can also understand just how hard it would of been to try and replace that main event match on short notice. It wasn’t abuse of a fighter it was them having to do what they had to do to keep this card from being eviscerated and losing it’s main event (and lets face it Faber is WEC’s main event even if he doesn’t have a belt).
I thought the 1st time around they got the Big show treatment from Zuffa/Dana and for the WEC quite a bit of mainstream media attention.
YAMATO DAMASHII
Mainstream? No the WEC has never even been noticed by the mainstream media. The issue here is that Faber vs Pulver 2 just doesn’t have much steam because there just isn’t the same kind of mystique surrounding the fight as it did the first time. Both guys are coming off KO losses and their is no question remaining as to whether Faber can beat Pulver anymore. Mainstream media has never noticed the WEC but the last time Faber fought Pulver fans were very excited about it, this time it’s just another fight.
WEC 34, the first Faber/Pulver fight, was held on the Sunday following the EliteXC Primetime show. We all know how badly that WEC did…
People actually knew that card was happening, and Faber vs. Pulver was considering a big fight. Now this one is flying under the radar and there is virtually no talk of the rematch. It would take a miracle to even match the TV ratings from 34.
Lets not obscure the issue with talk of Affliction’s success or how WEC is free. RT is 100 percent correct in saying that Zuffa mishandled this WEC show. They tried to crowd Affliction out with programming on three consecutive weekends, and WEC got trampled under the DoR hype as a result.
by smoogy on Jan 25, 2009 5:25 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs
Um, boo?
Counter-programming with UFC 91 was smart, and moving the WEC card to yesterday or February or whatever would’ve reeked of desperation and made Affliciton more of a story. Last night was a good night of MMA, but so was Banned, and they probably lost more money last night than back then!
by Derek Suboticki on Jan 25, 2009 3:56 PM EST reply actions
they shouldn’t have booked this for January in the first place. There are to UFC PPV’s, the Golden Boy boxing card as well as day of Reckoning, By booking it later in the spring you give the show a better chance to shine and Jens a chance to get his head together and get in a good camp at AMC. I really feel like they lorded Jens highest paid WEC fighter title over his head!
I’m uncertain this is the case, because we really don’t know what the baseline number is for a WEC show. WEC fans tend to be hardcore fans, so all the crowding out in the world may not stop WEC’s standard audience from tuning in. We’ll have to see the ratings that come out.
by Michaelthebox on Jan 25, 2009 6:53 PM EST up reply actions
I strongly disagree with the author
Calling Affliction monumental is laughable at best. Yeah, there were some good fights and I’m sure had I watched it on TV or live it would’ve been better, but it was nothing more than a good night of fights. Tell me honestly which fights you’ll remember next week when you’re watching UFC 94. Barnett vs. Yvel? Lauzon vs. Green? I guess Lindland getting put into a mini-coma by Belfort was pretty awesome but I’d hardly call it a memorable fight.
I myself am a huge fan of the WEC and have been looking forward to this card for about a while. The WEC , is in my opinion, the most consistent organization out there. The cards they put on are very entertaining and always contain a very competitive fight or two.
How to counter program Affliction:
Have a WEC card of this caliber, add Gina vs Cyborg and put it on free opposite the Affliction ppv.
That would garner more mainstream media attention than about anything Affliction could do. Gina may be the most polarizing figure in mma, as far as mainstream is concerned. It would kill Affliction and create a lot of exposure for the WEC. People have called for this in the UFC, but the WEC needs it, UFC does not.
If you're not submitting, you're just rolling around with another guy.
I would agree, Zuffa shouldn’t of used WEC to counter Affliction. Still, to this day I’ve never got the impression they are really building this promotion. In all honestly, I think they treat it like an NBA team treats it’s sister WNBA franchise . . . it’s nice to just to put some seats in the arena.
So to zuffa I say, “way to blow your wad well before the end o f the first round”.
I know for a fact that the WEC is going to have a few more cards this year. Can’t say that I have the same good thoughts about Affliction being able to keep up the pace. Not when they’re hemorrhaging money like they have been.
Looks to me like WEC is chip, chip, chipping away and it’s the T-shirt dudes that have gassed themselves.
Omar...I'm done with you. Hello Darren Ford! Come to papa.
That’s the problem. WEC should be concerned with building their own headlines to make the organization more profitable. It shouldn’t be used as a tool to chip away at Affliction because this approach is costing it headlines.
My chip, chip, chip comment was pointing to how WEC seems to be running on budget and is making smaller, more modest gains, but is able to field more events in a calender year than Affliction can muster.
I’m sorry, but at this point I’d much rather back a pony who gives me those modest returns fairly regularly and has some sort of blueprint as opposed to an organization who to date has put up two events and has lost their a$$ on both of them when it comes to the finances.
Omar...I'm done with you. Hello Darren Ford! Come to papa.
by PacBellBoozer on Jan 26, 2009 2:43 AM EST up reply actions
I just don’t see where the WEC had anything at all to do with Affliction here, they weren’t counter programming for the Affliction show they were programmed to fit in where Versus network wanted them to fit in. As hinky as Affliction’s business is the WEC isn’t even in the same comparison here, they are on a channel that is thrilled when any show gets over a 1 in ratings points.
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