UFC just got real...

Underground
1

.... interesting.  2012 was a disaster.  with a horrible timeslot on friday nights (fx), most of their content on a network nobody gets (fuel) and further confusing the marketing place by promoting another brand (sf) on 2 different paid platforms (showtime shoextreme)... it became impossible for the average fan to follow the sport and as a result they left in droves.

Zuffa has essentially fixed all of the apparent structural problems:

- Tuf got a better night.

- FX fight nights are back to saturdays (saying goodbye to the friday night coffin) and is now consistent with the saturday night ppv prelims.

- SF is gone.  eliminating 2 platforms (showtime and shoextreme) and another brand from the conversation.

- female mma to the UFC which means more main event fights.

- FS1 is launching this summer (currently named speed) which is available in 80 million homes compared to fuels 36 million.  It sounds like much of the live UFC content is gonna move from fuel to FS1.

- fox is doing a 1 hour countdown show for every one of the big fox cards.

Every problem Ive been harping on, they have fixed.  2013 is gonna be crazy.

2

Sounds good Phone Post

3

Sounds awesome. Voted Up for sharing.

4

I would not be surprised if Dana & Gina are on the phone right now talking about a Superfight with Ronda.Gina has stated on here (I`m convinced it`s her) that she hopes to one day have a Superfight in the UFC.

5

hendofanforlife - Oh wow, guess what I'm hearing for UFC 153...


lol right?

6

Best pic I've seen of my girl Gina in a min.

Call me :) Phone Post

7

and look at the fights they are lining up for 2013

Edgar/aldo
GSP/Silva
Jones/Sonnen
Cain/JDS vs Reem

Add in

Creepy and JB looking for a FLyweight shot
Cruz/Barao with Mayday and Pickett
Zombie, Cub, Lamas, Koch at FW
Maynard, Gilbert, possibly Eddie, Cowboy and Pettis at LW
Hendricks/Kampmann with Diaz coming back and Rory
Weidman, Bisping at MW
Hendo/Machida, Glover, Shogun/GUs at LHW
DC, Werdum, Carwin/Nelson at HW

Ronda/Cyborg as well

SF fighters Mousasi, Feijao, Luke, Gilbert, Nate, Jacare all should be UFC bound.

We could get

JDS/Cain vs Reem and DC
Jones/Sonnen and then Hendo/Machida, Glover or AG/Gus
Silva/GSP
SIlva vs Bisping/Weidman
GSP vs Hendricks/Kampmann and Diaz
Bendo/Diaz vs Gilbert, Eddie, maynard, Pettis or Cowboy
Edgar/aldo vs Zombie
Cruz/Barao vs Mayday
Dodson/MM vs Creepy and JB
Ronda/Cyborg

Sure we have to cross our fingers and hope injuries dont happen but they have a ton of great fights they can make this year as long as certain guys win and injuries dont fuck cards up.

So those saying they arent interested in the product anymore this year looks like it will be huge.

8

I strongly believe Gina will never fight again. As much as we all want her to return, she's done. She wants to be a girl, not a fighter and I respect that. Phone Post

9

Awsome!!! Phone Post

10

injuries are the only major problem left and zuffa really cant do anything about it except make sure they have back ups to ensure the card is as good or better.  people need more assurance before investing into tickets/hotel rooms/flights, etc...

but really, camps need to train smarter to mitigate this. and because they lose money when they have to pull out im sure market forces are making them figure it out.

Once the injury problem is mitigated it's gonna be insane.

11

Gina vs. Rousey would be awesome^^^

Also Rousey vs. Cyborg. PPV headliner right there.

12

They are not gonna want Ronda to lose her first fight,so they won`t be bringing in a big threat.With Gina`s time off,she fits that category.

13

^ i dont think female mma can sell ppv yet.... even cyborg vs ronda.  I think it would do huge on fox or add alot as a comain event though.

But the biggest bang for your buck would be on fox because Ronda gets huge PR.  I dont think it will be on fox though because as much attention as it can get it can also turn alot of people off who otherwsie would accept male MMA.

14
crowbar -

I would not be surprised if Dana & Gina are on the phone right now talking about a Superfight with Ronda.Gina has stated on here (I`m convinced it`s her) that she hopes to one day have a Superfight in the UFC.

Gina has too many movies lined up to be thing about fighting for awhile. Phone Post

15

It saddens me what happened to Strikeforce. Zuffa bought them out when they were gaining fast momentum. Heavyweight Grand Prix was one of the best things to happen to MMA in a long, long time.

I feel like Zuffa essentially just came in and put huge a dampner on the fire and killed it like they done the others. Barely putting on any shows, zero promotion, taking top stars, fighters waiting 6 months at a time begging to get a fight etc etc...

In the state Strikeforce is now in there is no option but to disband it. Showtime canceled the last event it was that low of quality and star power. I just hope the fighters that get the shaft from Zuffa after they come over to the UFC, lose one fight and end up getting cut from one of the only two major MMA promotions manage to get enough fights together per year to make a living and feed their families.

16

UFC is gonna own saturday nights:

Date    Location    Event    
Saturday, Jan. 19    Brazil    UFC on FX: BELFORT vs. BISPING    
Saturday, Jan. 26    United Center, Chicago, Ill.    UFC on FOX     
Saturday, Feb. 2    Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Nev.    UFC 156: ALDO vs. EDGAR**     
Saturday, Feb. 16    International Event    UFC on FUEL TV     
Saturday, April 20    City to be announced     UFC on FOX     
Saturday, April 27    Prudential Center, Newark, N.J.    UFC: JONES vs. SONNEN**     
Saturday, July 27    City to be announced     UFC on FOX     
Saturday, Dec. 14    City to be announced     UFC on FOX   

and you have 14 ppv prelims on saturday nights.

8 fx fight nights

4 fox fight nights

6 fuel fight nights

14 ppv prelims

_______________

32 Free live fighting events.

with showtime going away, you got 6 - 8 more and you have 14 ppv cards you can premiere on free TV.  That's roughly 52 weeks of premium or live events.    a free weekly UFC fight night.

 

17

HallmansHammock - It saddens me what happened to Strikeforce. Zuffa bought them out when they were gaining fast momentum. Heavyweight Grand Prix was one of the best things to happen to MMA in a long, long time.

I feel like Zuffa essentially just came in and put huge a dampner on the fire and killed it like they done the others. Barely putting on any shows, zero promotion, taking top stars, fighters waiting 6 months at a time begging to get a fight etc etc...

In the state Strikeforce is now in there is no option but to disband it. Showtime canceled the last event it was that low of quality and star power. I just hope the fighters that get the shaft from Zuffa after they come over to the UFC, lose one fight and end up getting cut from one of the only two major MMA promotions manage to get enough fights together per year to make a living and feed their families.

the way SF was being run they really werent gaining that much momentum. They were paying guys way too much like Fedor/Hendo etc, they were losing money. The way they set up the tournament was a disaster and once Zuffa took over shit got even worse.

Showtime wouldnt allow Dana to try and run it, who knows if he really could have made it work but they wouldnt even let him try.

I dont get the fans who are upset by this, would you rather SF had stayed around and Gilbert, Diaz, Hendo, Reem etc were kept from teh UFC? Lets not pretend like SF had any depth outside of HW and LHW. Diaz fought Cyborg, Gilbert is fighting in the exact same LW div pre Zuffa.

I for one would rather see the guys under the same org fighting each other.

As for the guys who dont get brought over, we'll see how many mid level guys they cut, guys like maybe OSP, Fodor, Masvidal, Green, Bowling, Punk, Couture, Jardine, Gracie, Tarec etc, I'm sure some of them get brought over but you have Bellator, OneFC and WSOF out there.

Guys I just listed, any of them the UFC doesnt sign Bellator will be looking to bring them in. WSOF will want them, some guys can even go to OneFC.

They wont have any problem finding a home.

It will be interesting to see how many guys the UFC brings over and how the contracts will work. Can they be moved over or do they become free agents and the UFC has to resign them.