MMA Universe

Over the past six years, I have held a pretty firm stance that all content posted to MMA HQ be solely related to mixed martial arts.

Well, today I am making an exception. The fact remains that MMA HQ is still my site, and I’m choosing to make an exception here.

Josh, a very close, long-time friend of mine was in a serious lawnmower accident the day before Thanksgiving (11/25/2009).

As a result of the accident, he suffered very severe damage to his primary hand including the loss of several fingers.

Josh and his wife have two young daughters and could use any help possible during his recovery.

All donations will go directly to Josh and his family to help cover the cost of his medical bills and support them while Josh recovers and is out of work.

Thanks so much for your donations no matter how large or small,

As you can read above, a very close friend of mine was in a serious accident yesterday. While the injury didn’t end up being life-threatening, it is most definitely life-changing.

Any small amount will help, whether is be $1, $5 or $500 dollars – the amount doesn’t matter. I know the holiday season is traditionally a tough time for people with money anyways, but if you could help out I’d greatly appreciate it.

To donate simply click here or click the button below:

Thanks so much for listening. Now back to the MMA content.

- Dr J

Elliot Worsell, UFC - George Sotiropoulos fought George Roop on August 8 and then got married a week later. Given the threat of defeat seven days earlier, Sotiropoulos' big day would either wind up as the greatest moment of his adult life or an inopportune moment for reflection. Thankfully for Mr. And Mrs Sotiropoulos, Roop was submitted via kimura and the church organ was free to play.

On Thanksgiving Americans gather with their friends and families to put aside our troubles and remember our many blessings. As Melody Beattie observed:

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.

MMAPayout.com and myself have much to be thankful for this year.  Thanks to our loyal readers for their support and contributions to our burgeoning community. A special thanks to Robert Joyner, David Wolf, Steve Curtis, and Todd Martin for their contributions to the site over the past year. Last, but certainly not least, a very special thank you to Kelsey Philpott whose passion, dedication, and insight define MMAPayout.com.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours,

God Bless,

Adam Swift

Psalm 100:4-5

It was officially announced earlier today that Dream and Sengoku will come together on December 31st to promote a mega show in Japan underneath the Dynamite!! banner.

Sherdog’s Tony Loiseleur with the latest:

World Victory Road’s Sengoku Raiden Championships will contribute fighters to Fighting and Entertainment Group’s Dynamite event on New Years Eve at the Super Saitama Arena. FEG president Sadaharu Tanigawa and World Victory Road representative Sumio Inamura confirmed the cooperative effort at a joint press conference on Wednesday at the ANA Intercontinental Hotel.

 

Beyond planning for five to seven bouts dedicated to the Dream-Sengoku crossover theme on Dynamite’s 19-fight bill, no concrete details have been hashed out yet, said FEG’s Tanigawa and Dream event producer Keiichi Sasahara. Fighters participating in the collaboration, as well as rules and weight classes the fights will follow are currently under negotiation between the two promotions.

 

Perhaps most importantly for the Japanese audience, one of those bouts will likely pair Beijing Olympics gold medalist Satoshi Ishii’s MMA debut against Barcelona Olympics judo gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida, in what would have been Sengoku’s headliner for their apparently now-canceled New Year’s Eve effort.

Nightmare of the Battle has more:

FEG’s Tanigawa said that he himself proposed this union event. They started discussing since the end of October. He also said that he doesn’t know what will happen with the FieLDS sponsorship next year.

 

The WVR GM said that the current plan for the next SRC event is March. The fighters participating will be the fighters who have fought there until now.

 

Sasahara said that there will be 18-19 fights on NYE, and there will also be fights between DREAM fighters so it’s not only SENGOKU vs. DREAM on the MMA side. Kawajiri and KID couldn’t attend the press conference because they were out on other business.

 

About SENGOKU only fights (besides Ishii vs. Yoshida) the WVR GM said that it’s yet to be decided if there will be any.

 

Misaki’s participation is also yet to be decided. There will be a meeting about if his suspension will be lifted or not. Misaki himself said: “I want to obey the instruction of the SENGOKU side.”

 

There will be foreign fighters competing as well, but the Japanese fighters will be the focus.

 

Tanigawa wants to match the champions with each other. The rules might depend on the fight.

 

About a future merger, Tanigawa said that Dynamite!! is mainly TBS’s event so there’s nothing like that.

 

The plan is for a double main event but Masato’s fight will probably be last since they’ll have a retirement ceremony after the fight. The event will start at 3 PM.

Payout Perspective

There are currently many doubts as to whether Sengoku will continue to operate as a separate entity in the New Year. It likely depends upon a number of things, but chiefly: how well the NYE event goes and how well the two organizations are able to work together. If they find a great deal of success, they’ll likely continue to run joint-events.

And, really, it’s quite a shame to see the current state of Japanese MMA in such disarray. However, out of turmoil comes opportunity, and these two organizations now have the chance to start a new. They can use the publicity from this announcement to generate some real interest in the event to come. Keep a close eye on the forthcoming announcements, because the fights obviously play a key role in bringing two organizations together like this – if you’re going to have a mega show, you need mega fights.

I’ll also throw in another angle here, and that’s from the perspective of the UFC. They’ve once again established a television deal in Japan, and they’ve made no secret about their intent to hold another card in that market. Dwindling competition may present an opportunity for the UFC to move into the Japanese MMA market a little faster than expected.

Yet, it’s necessary to mention the caveat, here: if MMA continues to struggle in Japan, might its lack of visibility hurt the entrance – or at least make it much more difficult – for a foreign competitor like the UFC? Likewise, if Japanese companies are currently hurting, what about the UFC product is going to make it that much more successful? It’s an interesting angle.

Yesterday, both the WEC and Strikeforce made additions to their December 19th fight cards that will compete head-to-head on Saturday night television. 

The WEC announced the addition of five preliminary bouts to the card, which effectively finalized the event set to air live at 10PM EST/PST. MMAJunkie provides an overview:

MAIN CARD

 

• Donald Cerrone vs. Ed Ratcliff
• Chris Horodecki vs. Anthony Njokuani
• Joseph Benavidez vs. Rani Yahya
• Scott Jorgensen vs. Takeya Mizugaki

 

PRELIMINARY CARD

 

• Bart Palaszewski vs. Anthony Pettis
• Muhsin Corbbrey vs. Zach Micklewright
• John Hosman vs. David Smith
• Tyler Toner vs. Brandon Visher
• Kyle Dietz vs. Brad Pickett
• Erik Koch vs. Jameel Massouh

Strikeforce also announced the addition of a lightweight title fight between Josh Thomson and Gilbert Melendez to its event entitled “Evolution,” which is also set to air live on Showtime at 10PM EST/PST.

Here’s a snippet of the release:

NEW YORK (Nov. 24, 2009)-After twice being forced out of the highly-anticipated rematch due to injuries, STRIKEFORCE World Lightweight (155 pound) Champion Josh “The Punk” Thomson (16-2) is healthy and ready to defend his title against top-seeded mixed martial arts (MMA) rival and Interim Champion Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez (16-2) on Saturday, Dec. 19 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

 

The live SHOWTIME® telecast will begin at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast), and conclude with a sensational, strikers’ main event featuring undefeated superstar and former STRIKEFORCE World Middleweight (185 pounds) Champion Cung Le (6-0) against power punching Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith (16-6).

 

Also in action will be 2000 Olympic wrestling silver medalist Matt “The Law” Lindland (21-6), who will take on fellow superstar Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (10-2) at middleweight. Light heavyweight (205 pounds) star Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (5-0) and middleweight knockout artist “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (16-5) will each face opponents to be announced.

Payout Perspective:

The head-to-head competition is interesting not only from a narrow, fight perspective, but also in the grand scheme of things, when looking at the overall MMA landscape. These two organizations are essentially competing to be the number two organization in the world right now, and December 19th will be another front for the war the two are waging.

Tale of the Tape:

The fact that Strikeforce will be holding its event at the much larger HP Pavillion in San Jose will likely give it the edge not only in attendance, but live gate revenue. Moreover, Cung Le in San Jose is a proven draw.

However, the WEC’s deal on the much larger Versus network should give it a greater overall viewership than the Strikeforce card on Showtime. The WEC will likely also draw better in the M18-34 and M18-49 demographics, but may cede older demos to Strikeforce - which is the typical skew in Showtime ratings (Strikeforce also fared well in older demos for its CBS card).

I can’t emphasize enough how important this type of competition is for MMA. In the mind of the consumer, choice is important. Choice allows the consumer to compare products and ultimately feel better about a purchase decision, which ultimately leads to an increase in overall demand for a category. In the case of entertainment, competition often generates additional PR, which only further increases the entire pie.

With both organization’s bringing their A games, expect a heavy bit of PR in the weeks leading up to December 19th. This one is for some bragging rights.

Elliot Worsell, UFC - The queue to challenge UFC welterweight champion Georges 'Rush' St-Pierre isn't so much of an organised line as it is a communal gathering. There is little order, no hierarchy, and only a few dwellers are forthcoming. Aside from a brave few, nobody seems to be in any 'Rush' to fight one of the most dominant champions in mixed martial arts today.

Word is now surfacing that UFC 110 this February in Australia may have a new headlining bout.

While it has been widely expected for a while now that Wanderlei Silva would make his UFC middleweight debut at UFC 110 against Yoshihiro Akiyama, it now appears things may have changed.

Silva is now expected to face Michael Bisping in the main event.

Bisping is coming off a victory over Denis Kang at UFC 105 after being brutally knocked out against Dan Henderson at UFC 100.

Silva is coming back-to-back losses against Quinton Jackson and Rich Franklin respectively. Silva has decided to make the move to the middleweight division after dropping five of his last six fights at 205 lbs.

If Silva and Bisping do fight, we may all finally get to see Michael Bisping shut up once and for all.

A recent study published by Scarborough Sports Marketing reveals some additional insight into what we already know about the MMA demographic:

MMA Fans are Avid Technology, Automotive and Retail Consumers
http://www.scarboroughsportsmarketing.com/

 

NEW YORK, Nov. 23 /PRNewswire/ — Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), a sport combining boxing and martial arts, is attracting young, well-established, high-tech consumers, according to sports fan research firm Scarborough Sports Marketing. Scarborough examined the shopping patterns, demographics and lifestyles of Mixed Martial Arts fans* and found that these adults are 51 percent more likely than the average American to be ages 18-24; 25 percent more likely to have a household size of three or more people; and 67 percent more likely to be male.

 

In addition to their youthful demographics, MMA fans have sound financials. They are 15 percent more likely than the average American adult to have a household income of $75k+ and 10 percent more likely to own a second home. They are selective investors and six percent more likely to have stocks or stock options in their household, and 33 percent more likely to invest online.

 

“In recent years, MMA, through UFC and Strikeforce, has moved from being an emerging athletic genre to more of a mainstream, established and competitive sport. In doing so, it has developed a young male fan base,” said Howard Goldberg, senior vice president, Scarborough Sports Marketing. “Sports marketing has proven its value through a difficult economic climate, and MMA can help marketers capitalize on their customers’ engagement with sports.”

 

In addition to being young, male and well-established, MMA fans represent a high-tech audience. They are not only well above the national average for current ownership of high-tech household items such as HDTVs, VOD service, video game systems and broadband Internet connections, but they are more likely to plan to upgrade their household wares. (see chart below for further details)

 

Beyond technology, the MMA fan base could also have appeal to automotive marketers. These fans represent 15 percent of all adults planning to buy a new pickup truck for their household during the next year, and are 85 percent more likely than the average adult to plan such a purchase within the next year. Other new vehicle categories appealing to the MMA fan include:

 

•Full-size Cars: MMA fans account for 18 percent of the market for potential new buyers** of full-size cars, and are more than twice as likely as all adults to plan this household vehicle purchase during the next year
•SUVs: MMA fans account for 10 percent of the market for potential new buyers** of SUVs, and are 19 percent more likely to plan this household vehicle purchase during the next year
•Luxury Vehicles: MMA fans account for 15 percent of the market for potential new buyers** of luxury vehicles, and are 84 percent more likely to plan this household vehicle purchase during the next year

 
Their household and personal shopping and buying patterns are also notable beyond technology and vehicles. The MMA fan is 15 percent more likely to live in a household that shopped at a furniture/mattress store during the past year, and 35 percent more likely to live in a household that shopped at a large appliance store during the past year. In the business-to-business category, MMA fans are 62 percent more likely than the average adult to be a corporate decision maker for overnight delivery services, and 37 percent more likely to make office equipment and supplies purchase decisions for their companies.

 

“From technology to automotive and household appliances to corporate delivery services, the MMA fan clearly represents a solid audience for a great diversity of marketers,” said Mr. Goldberg. “Those who begin leveraging this league’s fan base now will have unique opportunities to begin establishing brand loyalty within their ranks.”

 

Household Technology Profile of the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Fan

 

Mixed Martial Arts Fans
Mixed Martial Arts Fans who PLAN TO BUY
who CURRENTLY OWN (Index, (Index, 100=National
Household Technology 100= National Average) Average)
——————– ————————- ———————–
Computer 108 176
Digital Camera 118 152
DVR 108 229
DVD Player 114 155
Energy Saving
Appliance 129 151
HDTV 115 168
PDA (Blackberry,
etc.) 149 238
MP3 Player (i.e.
iPod) 144 189
Satellite Radio
Subscription 152 289
Satellite TV
Subscription 112 174
Video Game System 156 258
VoIP 161 226
Broadband 113 NA
——— — —

 

* “Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Fans” are defined as those adults who watched Mixed Martial Arts on broadcast or cable television during the past year.

 

** Automotive “potential new buyers” are adults who plan to buy a vehicle within the next year

 

SOURCE: Scarborough Sports Marketing, Scarborough USA+ Study, Release 1 2009 (6 months)

 

About Scarborough Sports Marketing

 

Scarborough Sports Marketing (www.scarboroughsportsmarketing.com, www.scarborough.com, sports@scarborough.com) measures local and national consumer and lifestyle information by interviewing over 221,000 adults (18+) in 81 Top-Tier Markets, including all professional sports markets. Scarborough sports measurements include fan avidity; multi-media measures including sports viewing and listening; corporate sponsorship information including fans’ shopping and product/service usage; and leisure activities. Scarborough delivers twice-yearly updates of its local market reports to a diverse client base, spanning all major media, advertisers and their agencies. Scarborough Sports Marketing is a division of Scarborough Research, which is a joint venture between Arbitron Inc. and The Nielsen Company.

 

SOURCE Scarborough Sports Marketing

Payout Perspective:

The study helps to re-affirm some of the results previously brought to light by other studies, but goes further by suggesting that the MMA demographic, in addition to being quite youthful, is also typically more affluent than average. It follows then, that an interest in high technology and automobiles is also fairly high.

Sports Business Daily adds the following about the study:

Below are select demos for MMA fans. For example, 32% of MMA fans are between the ages of 18-29, while 8% of MMA fans have bought sports logo apparel on the Internet during the past 12 months ( Scarborough Sports Marketing ).

 

DEMOGRAPHIC	MMA FANS
AGE
18-29	32%
30-39	25%
40-49	22%
50-59	13%
60-69	6%
SPORTS EVENT/TEAM TICKETS INTERESTED IN BUYING NEXT 12 MONTHS
Full season tickets	5%
Individual game tickets	48%
Partial season tickets	7%
Not interested	47%
INTERNET USE PAST 30 DAYS
Cable TV network site	9%
Download/play video games	15%
Download/watch movies	13%
Download/watch TV programs	13%
Download/watch/listen to podcasts	5%
Fantasy sports	11%
Sports scores/updates	37%
ITEMS BOUGHT ON INTERNET PAST 12 MONTHS
Sporting event tickets	10%
Sports logo apparel	8%

 

What does this mean for MMA? The sport may be on the verge of a second wave of high profile sponsors within the next few years - everything from electronics to automotive companies - they ought to be looking at the sport as a way to reach concentrated numbers of young, wealthy individuals.

However, it needs to be said that sponsorship is a two-way street. In order to attract these sponsors, the sport and its promotions need to do more than just offer up a demographic – it’s all about reciprocity. MMA’s various properties will need to work hand-in-hand with these clients to add material value and deliver ROI. Specifically that means the following:

• Reaching out to potential sponsors to see what they need (target demographics, value-added metrics, and ROI)
• Finding creative ways to better link the sponsorship product with the property medium (i.e., improve the linkage between MMA and whatever product that’s actually sponsoring)

The UFC 106 Prelims on SpikeTV drew an average 1.3 million viewers last Saturday for a household rating of 1.0. It also delivered more in the key demographics than college football on the same night:

 “UFC 106 Prelims” on Spike TV delivered 1.3 million viewers and a 1.0 household rating on Saturday, November 21 (9:00-10:00pm ET/PT). The one-hour broadcast delivered more Men 18-34 and 18-49 than ESPN’s college football telecast of Kansas St. vs. Nebraska that same evening.

 

UFC 106 Prelims on Spike TV
583,000 Men 18-49
284,000 Men 18-34

 

ESPN College Football
484,000 Men 18-49
253,000 Men 18-34

Payout Perspective:

The results have been pretty consistent with the UFC’s Prelim broadcasts over the past three events: 1.3-1.4 million viewers and a 1.0 HH rating. Is it helping the PPV? Perhaps, but only marginally.  UFC 102 did not have the benefit of a prelim show, and still drew more than 103, but slightly less than 104. However, as we’ve pointed out previously, there are other benefits to running the prelims: such as exposure for younger fighters.

Steve Marrocco of MMAWeekly provides a summary of a recent Q&A with Dana White on the state of the UFC:

* White was disappointed by the UFC’s first showing in Chicago and promised the promotion will return to the Windy City soon.

 

* Chuck Liddell will meet with White soon to discuss his UFC future. Liddell has one more dance with “Dancing With The Stars” in the finale show, according to White.

 

* Zuffa just signed a new deal with Versus, home of the WEC, and has talked about folding the featherweight and bantamweight divisions into the UFC. “If that happened, it’s going to be a while,” said White.

 

* The UFC’s next trip to the Pacific Northwest will be Seattle.

 

* On the rash of injuries and sicknesses that have ravaged recent cards: “There’s never really a plan B (in putting together cards),” said White. “We have been jinxed lately. We’ve had more crazy (expletive) happen in the last three months than the last eight years. We’ve never really had to deal with this, but we’re dealing with it.”

 

* White predicted Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will face the winner of Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva.

 

* The UFC’s third trip to Montreal, presumably UFC 113, isn’t 100 percent, said White, but he was “pretty sure it was going to happen.”

 

* On a meeting with Shane McMahon, the son of WWE head Vince McMahon, who recently left the wrestling organization. “He’s a huge MMA fan, and you never know,” said White.

 

* White said he offered Gina Carano a deal when she was with EliteXC. “There was this loophole in her contract, and I tried to get her and bring her into the UFC,” he said. “The deal never happened, obviously.”

 

* UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner is headed to Virginia this week to discuss MMA regulation. The state’s athletic commission recently took a heap of criticism for its judging at an Ultimate Warrior Challenge show last month. The UFC is headed to the same venue, The Patriot Center, in Fairfax.

Payout Perspective:

The rash of injuries the UFC has experienced in the last few months have really impacted the promotion’s ability to promote and sell its PPVs; which is significant considering that the UFC is heavily dependent on live events for the bulk of its revenue.

The injuries underscore the importance of a balance between the UFC’s brand-first strategy and building star fighters. Nothing attracts an audience like a story, and the brand should be used to provide a solid, pervasive platform that allows the personal story, skill, and dynamism of the fighters to shine through.

—-

Shane McMahon coming to the UFC is also an interesting subject, because there are many people that believe he could bring a tremendous amount of marketing and licensing expertise to the company. Heavy.com writes on the subject and suggests that the UFC hasn’t been flattered by the results of their last few marketing executives (although, in fairness, their latest CMO, Bryan Johnston, hasn’t exactly had a lot of time).

Elliot Worsell, UFC - Georges 'Rush' St-Pierre remembers the day well. He remembers the sounds, the apprehension, the racing heart and the first devastating blow. He recalls the monumental task ahead of him and the need to conquer his fear.

Courtesy of the Nevada State Athletic Commission:

Forrest Griffin, $250,000 (including $150,000 win bonus) def. Tito Ortiz, $250,000
Josh Koscheck, $106,000 (including $53,000 win bonus) def. Anthony Johnson, $17,000
Amir Sadollah, $30,000 (including $15,000 win bonus) def. Phil Baroni, $25,000
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, $100,000 (including $30,000 win bonus) def. Luis Arthur Cane, $19,000
Paulo Thiago — $16,000 (including $8,000 win bonus) def. Jacob Volkmann, $6,000
George Sotiropoulos, $20,000 (including $10,000 win bonus) def. Jason Dent, $8,000
Caol Uno — $20,000 (no win bonus, majority draw) def. Fabricio Camoes, $10,000
Brian Foster, $12,000 (including $6,000 win bonus) def. Brock Larson, $26,000
Kendall Grove, $44,000 (including $22,000 win bonus) def. Jake Rosholt, $15,000
Ben Saunders, $20,000 (including $10,000 win bonus) def. Marcus Davis, $27,000

Total Disclosed Payouts: $1,021,000

Note: The above payouts represent only disclosed payout amounts. The fighters receive undisclosed bonuses and sponsorship money for their participation in the events.

The UFC and Spike TV have officially announced that Kimbo Slice will be fighting on the TUF 10 Finale, but have yet to reveal his opponent.

 New York, NY, November 23, 2009 – Kimbo Slice, the wildly popular mixed martial arts heavyweight and member of the cast of “The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights,” will fight for the first time in the UFC live on Spike TV Saturday, December 5 at 9:00pm. Slice will appear in a bout on “The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights” finale fight card emanating from The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, NV.

 

Slice’s opponent will be announced at a later date, pending on what transpires on the special two-hour “The Ultimate Fighter” episode on Wednesday, December 2 (9:00-11:00pm ET/PT). Despite suffering a loss in episode 3 to Roy Nelson, Slice has the opportunity to return to fight on the show if a cast mate is injured and compete for the coveted title of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

 

Season 10 of “The Ultimate Fighter” on Spike TV is the highest-rated in the franchise history, averaging 3.6 million viewers and a 4.7 rating with Men 18-34 and a 3.8 rating with Men 18-49. It is currently one of the highest-rated shows with Men 18-34 on all of television.

Payout Perspective:

They haven’t yet announced Kimbo’s opponent, ostensibly because they want viewers to tune in on Wednesday to see if he’ll replace someone on the final episode. However, it makes sense for them to make an announcement now in order to begin building the hype.

Fully expect this TUF 10 Finale to be the highest rated in the season’s history, and possibly the highest rated UFC on Spike program ever. Kimbo has that appeal.

Here are the official fight salaries for UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2 as released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

• Forrest Griffin – $250,000
• Tito Ortiz – $250,000
• Josh Koscheck – $106,000
• Antonio Rogerio Nogueira – $100,000
• Kendall Grove – $44,000
• Amir Sadollah – $30,000
• Dustin Hazelett – $28,000 *
• Marcus Davis – $27,000
• Brock Larson – $26,000
• Phil Baroni – $25,000
• Ben Saunders – $20,000
• Caol Uno – $20,000
• George Sotiropolous – $20,000
• Luiz Cane – $19,000
• Anthony Johnson – $17,000
• Paulo Thiago – $16,000
• Jake Rosholt – $15,000
• Brian Foster – $12,000
• Fabricio Camoes – $10,000
• Jason Dent – $8,000
• Jacob Volkmann – $6,000
• Karo Parisyan – $0 *

The UFC also awarded $70,000 Fight Night bonuses to the following fighters: Josh Koscheck and Anthony Johnson for Fight of the Night; Antonio Rogerio Nogueira for Knock of the Night, and Josh Koscheck for Submission of the Night.

* The fight between Dustin Hazelett and Karo Parisyan did not take place as Parisyan withdrew from the fight. Hazelett still received his fight purse plus win bonus, however.

UFC VP of Regulatory Affairs, Marc Ratner, took some time to speak with Heavy.com in regards to officiating and judging in MMA over the weekend:

Payout Perspective:

Ratner always seems to add that big picture perspective that the MMA community so desperately needs every once.

MMA doesn’t have an ideal system right now, but small changes are likely going to be more effective than drastic ones. Moreover, the community has to step back from the ledge a little bit; all sports encounter these problems, and nothing is ever going to be perfect.

Michael DiSanto, UFC - Forrest Griffin was understandably unhappy the night of April 15, 2006, when Bruce Buffer announced that the judges had chosen long-time former 205-lb champion Tito Ortiz as the victor of their hard-fought split decision affair. He had every right to be upset that night because the fight was ultra close, so it was an absolute shame for either man to walk out of the Octagon with a loss. Maybe a draw was a better result for a fight so closely contested, though a rematch was certainly the only palatable next step.

Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective. This week we’ll be taking a look at the business side of UFC 106 which was held on Saturday, November 21st at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event featured the Octagon return of Tito Ortiz as he took on Forrest Griffin in the light heavyweight main event.

UFC 106 by the Numbers:

Attendance and Gate Figures

The announced attendance for the fight was 10,529, which drew a live gate of approximately $3 million (an updated figure should be available from the NSAC in the coming days).

Disclosed Fighter Payouts

TBA

Disclosed Fighter Bonuses

• Fight of the Night: Josh Koscheck vs. Anthony Johnson ($70,000 each)
• Knockout of the Night: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira ($70,000)
• Submission of the Night: Josh Koscheck ($70,000)

MMAPayout.com PPV Buyrate Prediction

A weighted average statistical regression analysis of two different variables - viewership in Countdown to UFC and live gate revenue across 30-40 events – was used to derive a linear equation that allows us to input UFC 106’s respective Countdown (445,000) and live gate ($3 million) values in order to determine an expected buyrate figure for the event:

• Countdown Prediction: 340,000
• Live Gate: 555,000
• Weighted average: 447,000 buys

There are some rather large discrepancies in the pre-fight indicators – more so than normal – and I feel that’s largely because of the rapid fight changes that have plagued the card. UFC 106 was supposed to be another 1 million+ card for the organization given Lesnar-Carwin and Ortiz Griffin, which is why the gate fared so well (early buyers anticipated watching Lesnar defend his title). However, the Countdown to UFC figures showed a very low level of interest in the fight (445,000 is the second lowest Countdown total of the year for the UFC).

It’s really tough to get a gauge as to exactly how popular both Forrest and Tito are right now. Tito is coming off an 18 month layoff, but is one of the more charismatic sellers in the fight game. Griffin is coming off an embarrassing loss, but he’s got a remarkable amount of support within each event itself.

At this point 340k seems a little low, but anything in the 400k range wouldn’t surprise. 

Business Story Lines:

- Griffin rebounds with split over Ortiz: It was a genuinely entertaining fight between two veterans looking to rebound and get their careers back on track. The series is even-up at 1-1, and the close, split decision nature of the fights almost demands a rematch between the two at some point. The crowd reaction to both fighters was interesting. Perhaps three or four years ago Ortiz would have had the support of the crowd, but Griffin seemed to be the more popular choice among fans in the arena and at the bar (save maybe in Huntington Beach).

- Koscheck and Johnson in strangest fight of the year: Johnson looked to have Koscheck on the run before delivering a knee to Koscheck’s head while he was on the ground. Koscheck fell over in agony, despite the replays suggesting that there wasn’t as much contact with Johnson’s knee as it might have seemed. Johnson was later the recipient of a few solid eye-pokes (most will recall his first fight against Kevin Burns where he was poked and dropped to the mat, at which point the ref called the fight). 

It’s a little surprising that this fight was given FON honours – there were probably more entertaining bouts on the card – but it seems like there could be some political elements to the decision as it helps to smooth things over with the Koscheck and AKA camp (and reward the guy for stepping up on short notice so often).

While not a dive, the Koscheck knee did seem to be an embellishment. It’s not serious – Koscheck isn’t known for that type of behaviour – but from the perspective of a sponsor, it does bring to light the issue of accountability. These fighters are, in many cases, being paid a lot of money by sponsors, and they must be mindful to represent them in a responsible manner.  It’s largely an issue MMA has been able to avoid, but as the sponsorship dollars continue to increase over the next few years, it’ll definitely be a point of contention for sponsors considering the reputation MMA has in some mainstream circles.

- Ortiz, Griffin for TUF?: The rumours have been swirling for the past few weeks about who might be asked to coach the next season of The Ultimate Fighter, and at the press conference Ortiz openly expressed a willingness to coach against Forrest on the show. It’s something the UFC will probably strongly consider, because the TUF show would help to hype a rubber match, Ortiz and Griffin would add two great personalities to the show, and it would be one of the rare instances where the series doesn’t tie up a UFC division for 8 months.

- Prospect Watch:Amir Sadollah, Brian Foster, and Paulo Thiago picked up victories and each looked pretty impressive. Thiago is probably the furthest along (having already beaten Josh Koscheck), but Foster managed to stop Brock Larson despite being fouled twice. However, Sadollah probably has the best to be the most popular fighter of the three – he’ll need a few more fights at the middle level of the division before he contends, however.

Anthony Johnson and Jake Rosholt performed reasonably well in each of their bouts but failed to pick up victories. Johnson and Rosholt both have a lot of potential, but are fairly one-dimensional fighters at this point. Johnson, in particular, is dynamic enough to be a significant draw if he can hone his skills (and develop some take-down defense).

- Various fighters wearing various UFC jocks:Paulo Thiago, amongst others, were wearing what appeared to be UFC branded jocks under their shorts. It leads me to wonder whether this might be the start of a further merchandising expansion into the equipment side of the business – something that would coincide well with the opening of several UFC Gyms in 2010.

The idea that the UFC could not only start its own line of gyms, but supply its clients with workout equipment, has the potential to be a serious revenue stream for the company. Moreover, the side benefits are enormous: the gym is a teaching tool and 24-7 advocate for the sport, and the equipment can further cement the UFC as the MMA brand.

- UFC 106 puts on a solid night of fight:the expectations of most were fairly low for this event, largely on account of Lesnar-Carwin being dropped from the card. As a result, the fights simply spoke for themselves. There were a mix of decisions, submissions, and stoppages that created a solid night of entertainment.

It was nice, for a change, to watch an event just for MMA, and not because it was the make or break of something.

Here are the results for the MMA HQ Fight Camp at MMAPlayground.com after Saturday night’s UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2 event.

Points Winners
1. Drehog – 64 pts
2. maxx – 56 pts
3. bvrasp – 48 pts
4. JasonConwell – 45 pts
5. chosen141 – 45 pts

Wager Winners
1. gus – $2,827
2. chosen141 – $1,855
3. Banned2 – $1,135
4. JasonConwell – $705
5. Drehog – $325

Current Season Standings
1. Banned2 – 415 pts
2. bvrasp – 406 pts
3. maxx – 394 pts (+1)
4. Bola14 – 378 pts (-1)
5. JasonConwell – 372 pts (+2)

UFC 106 was the eighth of ten events for Season 6. If you are interested in joining the MMA HQ Fight Camp, now is a great time. While the season is almost complete, its a great time to get some practice in for Season 7.

Thomas Gerbasi, UFC - After Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz' two fights together, one thing has been made crystal clear - it's an almost impossible task to separate the two former light heavyweight champions. Saturday night's rematch at the Mandalay Bay Events Center was the latest example, as Griffin avenged his split decision loss to Ortiz in 2006 with a split decision win of his own over 'The Huntington Beach Bad Boy' in the main event of UFC 106.

Thomas Gerbasi, UFC - With the combined knockout power of welterweight contenders Josh Koscheck and Anthony Johnson, many expected their UFC 106 co-main event at the Mandalay Bay Events Center to end in quick and explosive fashion. But it was Koscheck, a former NCAA National Champion, going back to his roots to take Johnson down and submit him in the second round Saturday night.