WEC 41: Urijah Faber vs. Mike Brown II Yields Promotional Records

by Eugene Schelfaut on Jun 8, 2009 2:35 AM EDT Comment 14 comments

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The WEC's Reed Harris spoke before WEC 41 to The Sacramento Bee concerning his organization's continued presence in the area:

“I think we will do an annual trip here,” Harris said. “I would actually like to come more than once a year.”

MMAJunkie reports from the press conference as to why that is the case:

While official live gate numbers will be released by the California State Athletic Commission later in the week, WEC co-founder and general manager Reed Harris reported 13,027 fans attended WEC 41 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, Calif., resulting in a live gate of $818,415. [...]

The organization's previous records for attendance and live gate were set at WEC 34 in June 2008. Featuring a main event between Faber and MMA legend Jens Pulver, WEC 34 was also held at the ARCO Arena. That event scored 12,682 attendees for a live gate of $738,855.

Additionally, the WEC is looking to break their ratings record, which was also set at WEC 34, of 1.5 million viewers. WEC 34 featured a stronger promotional push on VERSUS, while WEC 41 had video blogs by Dana White. These vlogs also featured Kimbo Slice and TUF 10, perhaps channeling that hype into this event.

UPDATE: Official numbers for the event are 12,706 in attendance (10,110 paid) and a $815,415 live gate.

Photo from WEC. HT: MMAPayout.

WEC 41: Brown vs Faber II coverage

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Tonight’s show was amazing, all good fights. I’m glad a lot of people saw it.

It was sad when Jens lost so quickly though. Grispi looks scary though

by Flyghtt on Jun 8, 2009 3:35 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

WEC always puts on great cards. It really made the Strikeforce card the night before feel like amateur hour.

The WEC’s Featherwight Division is just amazing: Brown, Faber, Garcia, Fabiano, Grispi, Aldo, Gamburyan, Assuncao… It’s just a great list.

by AlwaysRelaxing on Jun 8, 2009 8:11 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

This show was so good it felt like a PPV. Good stuff!

Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, growing up as a child Kimbo Slice was never given any bread with his meals. This is why he insists people give him his bread."

by xFenixKnightx on Jun 8, 2009 8:29 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Also

Florian did an amazing job. It’d be sweet to get him if they cant get Randy to do guest commentary at UFC 100.

Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, growing up as a child Kimbo Slice was never given any bread with his meals. This is why he insists people give him his bread."

by xFenixKnightx on Jun 8, 2009 8:33 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I dunno. I mean, for a first time, he was great. I miss Mir though. Didn’t think I’d say that, but its true.

by toxic on Jun 8, 2009 2:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What I miss about Mir are his comments like “he’s done”

"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

by lovingmma25 on Jun 8, 2009 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Mir doesn't suck

People forgot that after the last Torres fight. Kenny was so great you didn’t know he was there.

by subo on Jun 8, 2009 2:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It sounds like it was supposed to be a PPV to start with.

The WEC had eyed a pay-per-view model for WEC 41, but Harris said VERSUS negotiated for the rights to broadcast the highly anticipated event.

http://mmajunkie.com/news/15127/wec-41-brown-vs-faber-ii-nets-company-records-with-13027-attendees-and-818k-gate.mma

by who me on Jun 8, 2009 11:59 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No wonder, I would have paid for that. Such a good show. Man I’m so glad I decided to hit Record on my DVR at the last minute. I’ll be watching it over again with no commercials!

Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, growing up as a child Kimbo Slice was never given any bread with his meals. This is why he insists people give him his bread."

by xFenixKnightx on Jun 8, 2009 1:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’m sure Versus said ‘this thing can run thirty minutes over, we’ll spend 20 minutes on Jens’ fight, and we’ll air a shit ton of commercials.’ Beautifully done card, lots of fights shown, definitely staying on the DVR for a long time.

by subo on Jun 8, 2009 2:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

They probably also offered a sweeter deal finacially for this event than the other events get too.

by who me on Jun 8, 2009 3:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I really do hope the ratings are through the roof

"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

by lovingmma25 on Jun 8, 2009 9:55 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I am sure that they will do quite well. I think the higher ups at versus are regretting the millions of dollars they wasted on the NHL. They simply don’t get ratings compared to WEC and Fight Night on Versus.

"Boxing is dirty," said Casamayor. " The day I’m not ready to be a dirty fighter is the day I don’t fight anymore because it will mean that I have no heart for it anymore."

by Zocalo on Jun 9, 2009 2:22 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I love Versus. I hope they keep promoting combat sports. God knows that they get a bigger bang for their buck compared to the NHL.

"Boxing is dirty," said Casamayor. " The day I’m not ready to be a dirty fighter is the day I don’t fight anymore because it will mean that I have no heart for it anymore."

by Zocalo on Jun 9, 2009 2:20 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs