MMA Universe

MMA Payout had the opportunity to speak with first time fight sponsor Safe Auto Insurance and MMA Management company VF Elite Sports Agency about Safe Auto’s foray into sponsoring UFC fighters. The first part will focus on Safe Auto. The second part will focus on VF Elite Sports Agency.  

Safe Auto and VF have entered into an agreement where Safe Auto will sponsor VF represented fighters.

Safe Auto is an Ohio based company of about 1,000 employees offering affordable, state-minimum auto insurance to automobile drivers in 14 states.

Elie Deshe, VP of Emerging Media for Safe Auto Insurance, spoke to MMA Payout while en route to speak with Thiago Silva, one of its newest members of its fight team. Silva fights Brandon Vera on Jan. 1st. In addition to Silva, Safe Auto will sponsor Stephan Bonnar on Dec. 4th at the Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale, Clay Guida on Jan. 1st at UFC 125 and Jake Ellenberger at Ultimate Fight Night 23 on Jan. 22nd. Travis Browne was Safe Auto’s first sponsored fighter at UFC 120. 

MP: Have you been involved in any other sports-related sponsorships?

SA: In the past, SA was involved in sponsorships with the NFL, the NBA and specifically with the Cleveland Cavaliers. SA has also sponsored a truck in the NASCAR truck series. Deshe indicated that while some SA employees were MMA fans, others did not know of the sport. However, with the sponsorship, more SA employees are aware of MMA.

MP: What demographic are you trying to reach with your sponsorship?

SA: The 18-49 (age group) demographic and anyone that needs insurance. This covers a lot of different groups.

MP: What does SA want out of the sponsorship?

SA: Its more about having a presence in all of the events. SA doesn’t want to be seen in just one shot. We want people to think of SA when they think of auto insurance. This sort of goes along with our philosophy–we’re always around.

MP: Do you have a say as to the fighters that sponsor SA?

SA: Obviously, SA approves of the fighters. They must portray a good image. We have been very happy with the guys (identified to sponsor SA in upcoming fights).

MP:  How long is your sponsorship commitment?

SA: 1 year.

MP: What measurement will you use to determine the success of sponsoring MMA fighters?

SA: We’re going to be launching a website for the Safe Auto Fight Team (www.safeauto.com/mma) to allow people to have access to the fighters.  The web site will feature interviews and interactive contests. There are ways to measure that sort of traffic and interest. We hope that this definitely leads to more sales. *The web site is currently online.

Below is a video of SA sponsor Stephan Bonnar, featured on the Safe Auto MMA site.

MP: What type of fight night placement do you have on the fighters?

SA: Every (SA) fighter has a hat (on walkout), placement on their fight banner and rear placement on their shorts. SA discussed with VF Elite (fighter’s representatives) the need for consistency with its placement (of the SA logo) on the fighters and they understood.

Note: Stephan Bonnar is not a VF represented fighter but an agreement was made between VF and Bonnar’s representatives where Safe Auto will sponsor Bonnar.

The Canadian-based Maximum Fighting Championship (MFC) announced a partnership with entertainment agency S.L. Feldman and Associates (SLFA).

According to Monday’s press release:

“I’m very enthused and optimistic about the partnership with S.L Feldman & Associates”, says Mark Pavelich, Owner/President of MFC. “They bring decades of experience in live events, talent development, marketing and sponsorships to the table and that coupled with the explosive MFC business we envision an extremely successful collaboration.”

Jeff Craib, Senior Vice President at Feldman states, “We’re all very excited for this new joint venture with Mark. The MFC is flourishing, and our collective goal will be to continue to make inroads into further expanding the MFC business and its excellent and growing stable of world class fighters. Justin Sudds, Sr. Agent at Feldman states, “As SLFA continues to expand into many new areas of live entertainment, we’re thrilled to be working with Mark and his strong MFC business.”

Payout Perspective:

This is a positive move for MFC as it attempts to expand beyond its core base of fans. If you have not seen an MFC card, hopefully you can catch one on HD Net or The Fight Network. The fights are entertaining and feature many ex-UFC vets. Although the press release does not indicate any specifics, it will be interesting to see in what capacity SLFA will work with MFC. It could assist with a number of things including TV production, recruiting more talent, live event management and marketing for the MFC.

There’s no shortage of news or information available regarding the UFC’s growth from a pay-per-view or gate perspective, but there’s considerably less information where the growth of its fan base is concerned. I suspect this is the case because the UFC is a relatively new sporting phenomenon that’s yet to gain the requisite level of acceptance that would make it worthwhile for survey companies to collect the data from consumers needed to produce relevant information on the fan base. However, the times are changing and we’re now beginning to see some information emerge related to the demographics and psychographics of the UFC fan.

Today, we’ll be taking a glimpse at the age and gender demographics of the UFC. I’ve also included information from the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NASCAR, and MLS to provide some context to the overall sports landscape, which will help to put the UFC’s current fan base into perspective – both its strengths and shortcomings.

The following information was mined from the Simmons Research Database.

Notes and Definitions

The title of this article and its subject matter should not imply a bias towards the UFC. The survey was simply conducted in a manner that quizzed its respondents on a variety of topics, including their interest in professional sports leagues. I’ll remind you that while the interest in a league implies a larger interest in the sport, this is sometimes not the case. There are many “fans” that are interested in the UFC but not other MMA; likewise there are “fans” interested in the NFL but not college or high school football.

Thus, the “fan” is defined as someone that is “very”, “somewhat”, or “a little bit” interested in the league in question. These are obviously subjective terms open to a very large spectrum of interpretation, which is why I’ve also set out to compare these figures against the “avid fan” – someone that is “very” interested in the league in question.

I’ll also caution that the following sets of information are just estimates based on data in the Simmons Database. Other polls and databases have also produced similar information (e.g., ESPN Sports Poll and Scarborough) to support some of the analysis done below. However, I encourage everyone to read the following a natural level  skepticism.

Americans 18+

The size of the UFC fan base in the United States is estimated to be approximately 31 million people. You can see below how this compares to the size of the general fan base of the other major sports played in the US over the last three years. Note that the UFC was the only property to experience growth in its fan base of the last three years.

The size of the UFC avid fan base in the United States is estimated to be approximately 11 million people or 35% of the overall fan base. Note, again, that the UFC and the NHL were the only to properties to grow their avid fan bases over the last three years.

The avid fan as a percentage of all fans gives us an interesting look at how competitive the UFC is among most sports properties. The UFC has been able to match the avidity of most sports properties with the exception of the NFL. The NFL is the sports league model in many respects, but the way it has managed to engage its fans is what truly allows it to generate revenues far greater than any other league. Engaged fans are more apt to receive and comprehend advertiser and sponsor messages. When these television networks and corporate sponsors are evaluating a property they look to how well a property can engage its fans (or what opportunities they have to engage those fans). Thus, one of the mid-to-long term objectives and challenges for the UFC moving forward is to increase the level of avidity in its fan base to levels beyond 35% and into the 50% range.

I mentioned above the tremendous growth that the UFC has enjoyed over the last few years and the following comparison really puts that into perspective. It’s only over a three year period, but this is the only data we have and that’s largely because the UFC has only become a relevant commercial entity in the last 3-4 years.

Some might argue that 30% growth is meaningless considering the UFC didn’t start out with a lot to begin with, but I reject this counter argument. The UFC owns an interest level commensurate with lower tier sports leagues like the NHL and MLS; no one would dismiss the fan bases of those two leagues as insignificant.

Americans 18-34

The 18-34 demographic – specifically the M18-34 demographic – is always a very important consideration in any fan base analysis, because it is probably the most coveted target audience in the world. Those within the 18-34 demographic possess relatively high levels of disposable income and a demand for luxury goods, but also lack many of the serious financial or family commitments of other demographics.

The numbers for the UFC here aren’t that far off from the NFL or MLB, yet the discrepancy in required sponsorship investment is stunning. If a brand determined that its image was somewhat aligned and fit well with that of the UFC, it could literally own the UFC consumer for $5m/year in sponsorship fees and another $5-10m in activation. Compare that to $100m/year that Bud Light just dumped on the NFL or the $75m/year that Verizon just spent on the NFL.

Is it a risk? Sure. But what isn’t in this day and age. If we’ve all learned one thing in the last 12 months, it’s that no sponsorship is risk-less. Tiger Woods is that case study. However, there remains a sizable opportunity here for a company to come in and completely own a category tied to this sizable demographic for an absolute fraction of the price a company would pay somewhere else. The only two things the company would need to do are a.) commit to activating and b.) find a group of people that know the sport well enough to formulate the right activation plan (I think there are a few people around that might fit that mold!).

Men and Women

Dana White stated some time ago that the split between male and female UFC fans is somewhere in the range of 56-44, but the numbers below indicate that the split is actually closer to 75-25. How do we reconcile this information? I’d venture to guess that 60-40 is a good estimate for the split at live UFC events, but those events are not necessarily an accurate reflection of the entire fan base.

I’m not sure these figures come  as much of a surprise to anyone. MMA is a rough and violent sport that still possesses a brutal image in some circles of the larger population. It will be a while before it can eschew conflicts with this boxing paradigm through which most casual sports fans still view combat sports. However, a 60-40 split across the entire fan base seems inevitable at some point.

Estimating Global Size

The global size of the UFC fan base is difficult to estimate, because there are material components of the fan base not included in the above survey or that do not live in the United States. We must reasonably adjust for American children (12-17), Canadians, British, and other fans throughout the world.

The following is a bit of envelope math using the American 18+ interest level (13%) as a foundation for adjustment and should only be taken as a loose estimate for the purpose of framing a conversation regarding the UFC/MMA fan base.

Americans 12-17 at 13%: 800,000. This group accounts for approximately 8% of the American population and assuming the same overall interest levels between adults and children (which is conservative considering that the interest level for MMA is likely to be higher for youth) we arrive at 800,000. Canadians at 18%: 6,000,000. The sport has exploded in the country of 34 million people and the UFC’s interest levels in Canada far exceed that of the US in every demographic; 18% of the entire popular seems like a fair and conservative estimate, which gives us 6 million people. British at 8%: 5,000,000. The sport is slowly picking up speed in Britain, but still not close to enjoying the interest levels in Canada or the US. The World: 20,000,000. The rest of the world — including markets such as Japan, Korea, Brazil, Europe, Australia, and the Middle East — likely numbers into the 20 million range.

The above estimates would then put the global size of the UFC fan base at roughly 65 million. The growth potential is considerably higher, but that’s still a pretty solid number all things considered.

Graciemag.com reports that Rockstar Energy Drink and Strikeforce are sponsoring a Holiday Hunt for prizes in support of Strikeforce’s Dec. 4th event, “Babalu v. Henderson” in St. Louis.

Via Graciemag.com:

In the spirit of the holiday season, Strikeforce and presenting sponsor Rockstar Energy Drink will hold a “Holiday Hunt” that will award lucky winners in St. Louis, each day between Monday, November 29 and Friday, December 3, a prize pack that includes, amongst other goods, tickets to the Henderson vs. Babalu mega-event at Scottrade Center next Saturday, December 4.

Payout Perspective:

Similar to the UFC’s #Hunt4UFC treasure hunts, Strikeforce and Rockstar are using social media to spike fan interest in this Saturday’s fight in St. Louis. Here, we see Strikeforce using facebook, twitter and its website so that fans can check in to utilize codewords to win Rockstar merchandise. The promotion also integrates the venue as one of the prizes is a tour of the Scottrade Center.

Another great example of drumming up fan interest through social media.  This strategy reaches out to the intended demographic by giving fans a chance to win prizes. For Rockstar, its another way to utilize its sponsorship of the event. Unlike the UFC version, the “Holiday Hunt” does not appear to be giving away authentic fighter merchandise. Not sure if this is a positive or negative, just a difference from #Hunt4UFC.

The UFC heavyweight division has changed immeasurably over the past few years and, looking back, it’s an improvement. Anyone who had to sit through Sylvia vs. Monson at UFC 65 or Sylvia vs. Arlovski 3 at UFC 61 will surely attest to this. It’s great to see that the UFC has choices at heavyweight in [...]

When Roy Nelson lost to Junior dos Santos at UFC 117, he lost out on a potential opportunity to fight for the coveted UFC heavyweight title.

Little did he know, things would only go downhill from there.

He learned he would need surgery to repair his knee and a potential fight with former number one contender Shane Carwin was scrapped after the "Engineer" had surgery of his own to repair an ailing back.

Not only that but he's embroiled in a contract dispute with Roy Jones Jr. and Square Ring Promotions which, according to UFC President Dana White, is keeping "Big Country" from getting back into the Octagon anytime soon.

Nelson has stayed busy though, working hard at rehabbing his knee. We caught up with Roy to talk about how things are currently going with him regarding his contract status; whether or not he really wants to get into professional wrestling; his level of interaction on his Twitter account; what he believes needs to be done to improve judging in MMA; and what we can expect in the future from the burly brawler.

In we go.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - I have to start by asking about the contract situation with Roy Jones Jr. and Square Ring Promotions; can you tell us anything about that or give us any updates on that?

Roy Nelson - Do we always have to start with that question first?

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Ha. Yeah.

Roy Nelson - All right, what do you want to know?

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Are there any updates on the contract situation or can you tell us anything about that?

Roy Nelson - I'd say it's probably the same spot of where we were, I'd say, about 8 months ago, so there's nothing really new. It's just the legal process is very slow.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Well there are some out there that think that this entire situation is a good reason or example for fighters to have managers. How do you feel about that?

Roy Nelson - Actually, I have a couple of attorneys on staff. And actually my attorneys are how I got into this process. I think that's the most, I hate to say, I guess the most ignorant thing, you know, if you're like.. what you have in the business.. Everybody says they don't have a manager or an attorney but they have an attorney somewhere.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - So you've got attorneys working on this to try to get everything settled right now?

Roy Nelson - Yeah, I had an attorney before that actually looks over the paperwork when I sign all my stuff. All the way back from when, I'd say, pre-Bodog.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Well you've been on it from day one then.

Roy Nelson - Yeah, I've been doing this for a very long time. This is not my first rodeo. It's not the first time you, you know, there's a lot of people that deal with a lot of douchebags in this business and sometimes there's a little more, different sections.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Dana White has been saying that you're sort of in a holding pattern in your UFC career because of what's going on with all that. Have you talked to him about all this and everything that's going on?

Roy Nelson - Actually, I haven't. I think he's been busy with promoting all the other UFC stuff. Me personally, I just wait by the phone, wait for the attorneys to call me and tell me what's going on and kind of just go from there. I mean, at the end of the day, I'm going to be fighting in 2011.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Well now that we've got that out of the way, I'd like to go back to the Junior dos Santos fight. What was the gameplan going into that fight?

Roy Nelson - Gameplan was to defend and punch him more than he was going to punch me. I think that's you know, probably the jist of it. First round, he surprised me and then second and third round I learned from my mistakes in the first round and then after that it was just that I ran out of rounds. If I had four or five, I think it would be a different story.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Is a rematch with him something you would like in the future?

Roy Nelson - Oh, I'd definitely like a rematch with him. I think it will probably be for the belt. I think he'll probably have it next.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Do you think that if you had won that fight, cause I know it was for a title shot, that's what they were saying and now he's obviously fighting Cain Velasquez for the title but do you think if you would have won that fight they would have actually given you the title shot?

Roy Nelson - Uh, I would like to think so. If not then really you're calling somebody a liar.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Ha. Yeah, well and you had the knee issues anyway. How is rehab going with the knee?

Roy Nelson - Rehab is going pretty good, I just came back from rehab.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Since the rehab and since you've been out, I've seen that you've been very active on your Twitter account. What's it like being able to so easily interact with your fans with a medium like Twitter?

Roy Nelson - Twitter is awesome. I'm still trying to learn how to do the Facebook thing. Cause I've always used just straight e-mail or used my RoyNelson.com. So, Twitter is kind of like fast and it's just like texting without giving out your cell number and actually I find it fun.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - I noticed a lot of times on your Twitter you talk about pro wrestling and that's something I can relate to. When I originally started out blogging that's what I started out doing, is pro wrestling. Can you talk a little bit about it, are you a pro wrestling fan?

Roy Nelson - Yeah, I've been watching pro wrestling back when it used to be on Saturday mornings at 12 and then right after that was American Bandstand.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - So you're an old school pro wrestling fan?

Roy Nelson - Oh yeah, old school with the you know, with Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, I mean, Big Van Vader, Junkyard Dog. I'm an old school wrestling fan.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Late 80s guys.

Roy Nelson - Definitely.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Still watch it now?

Roy Nelson - Occasionally. It's kind of like a regular soap opera, you know how you can just tune in on Monday night and find out what happened last week. If John Cena is going to be fired, I think that's this week and then I think two weeks ago was Pee-Wee Herman. It's one of those things that you just turn on and it's a train wreck ready to happen.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Yeah, you can leave and then you can come back and it seems like it's all just recycled.

Roy Nelson - Yeah, I think two weeks ago when Vince McMahon was on a hospital bed but he came out when Linda McMahon didn't win the uh.. I think she was going for Congress or Senate or something like that..

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - The Senate seat in Connecticut, yeah.

Roy Nelson - Yeah, so like he, you know, they do a lot of good cross branding and cross tieing in.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - To the larger point there, a lot of people draw, or I guess they try to draw, similarities between pro wrestling and MMA and the business models and things like that. What do you think about that, are there a lot of similarities in your eyes?

Roy Nelson - I think MMA's business model is WWE. You got Vince McMahon who is Dana White. You've got to have a face or a front man. And then after that you've just got the stars to build up and then you've got your... I would say definitely. I think Vince McMahon wrote the road map for how to make a successful MMA show.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Do you think fighters try to create storylines that aren't necessarily, I don't want to say a work or anything like that, but do you think they try to create storylines out of nothing to try to help sell pay-per-views, sort of like pro wrestling? Or is it always real in MMA?

Roy Nelson - Storylines in MMA can be really far-fetched. Sometime people just pull strings to make whatever sounds good. That's what promoters do, you know, Don King can do it. But for the most part, I mean everything is real, but they just pull one aspect from their life and make it a storyline.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - What did you think of the Brock Lesnar-Undertaker deal at UFC 121?

Roy Nelson - I thought it was ingenious. Vince McMahon said, "Hey, do it." I'd do the same thing back to them. I'll go to professional wrestling and I'll do that to the Undertaker. I think it's great and I think it's great marketing.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - You would do that? If Dana White asked you to go to a WWE event and set that up you would go to Raw or Smackdown or whatever it was and you would start a feud just to build interest?

Roy Nelson - Actually, Dana White wouldn't even have to ask me, I would just do it. I'm a good self-promoter. I've been promoting myself since I've been in this business because nobody else likes to do the promotion. Everyone else likes to just knock fighters. They're always about promoting their own organizations versus the fighter.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Would you ever consider, let's say hypothetically your MMA career doesn't work out, would you ever consider a career in pro wrestling?

Roy Nelson - Actually, my fighting career will work out and I'll still do professional wrestling.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - You would do both if they let you, right now?

Roy Nelson - Yeah, it's just about being an athlete. I mean, Rampage was a part of wrestling and part of MMA. There's a lot of wrestlers that's done both. From Ken Shamrock, I think Tim Sylvia's even done it, Josh Barnett. We can just name a couple that are doing it as we speak.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Would you consider making it a career over MMA?

Roy Nelson - Uh, actually, until my career is completely done with MMA, like as in as soon as I'm done fighting and stuff like that then probably but for the most part you can do both. I've always believed you can hold more than one hate.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Well we were talking about Brock Lesnar a minute ago and rumors had come out after his loss to Velasquez and Shane Carwin had back surgery, which is the fight you were supposed to have. Reports were that he'd talked about wanting to fight you and Dana White rather quickly shot that down. What did you think about that fight and what did you think of the way Dana was so quick to dismiss it?

Roy Nelson - You know, I don't know. From what I read and what I heard from two different sources and then from what Dana White said, which was he hadn't even talked to Brock since the fight, maybe Dana doesn't have all the facts because apparently the other fact came out after. So, you know, I think Brock talks to more than one person and not necessarily Dana all the time. So maybe it's true, maybe it's not, you don't know but for the most part if Brock wants the fight then I would love that fight. He was the longest reigning UFC heavyweight champion for the UFC.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - And he's probably the biggest name in the sport, so obviously that wouldn't hurt.

Roy Nelson - I don't know about that. I'd put Chuck Liddell or Tito Ortiz up there.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - You think so?

Roy Nelson - Actually, I'd put Royce Gracie as number one.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - I guess I was thinking of buyrates today and how many pay-per-veiw buys people are getting.

Roy Nelson - You know, it might be in terms of most dollars generated but most recognized I'd say Royce Gracie over Brock.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Well and speaking of that, Dana White was talking about doing the Brock vs. Frank Mir trilogy and he got a lot of backlash from fans saying they didn't want to see it and Mir had definitively lost the second fight. Do you think there's a sort of disconnect there with the fans and the UFC, like the UFC should try to make match-ups based on what's good for business and what would make money or do you think they should focus a lot more on the sport and actually building things within each division?

Roy Nelson - I think it should be a little bit.. the thing is, the fan is always right because they're the ones that always pay the bills. They pay your bill, my bill, everybody's bills in the sport. And then second, I think would come down to the actual fighter. That's one thing I kind of like about boxing is at least you can go, you know what, I want to fight that guy. And let's make it happen. And then after that it's where the promoter goes, "Okay I need to make some money off you."

But at the end of the day, everybody should fight everybody at least once. That's how I look at it and that's really how you're going to find out who's the best of the best. But like with Brock, he's going to fight Frank three times and he's only had what? Four fights? So, three out of four fights? Well, I think it's like seven or eight but three fights out of eight or something like that, that's just not... usually that doesn't happen in a career. Unless you've got like 30 fights.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - What would you think of fighting Frank Mir again? You beat him at Grapplers Quest in 2003, what would you think about fighting him today and how would that go today if you were matched up with Frank?

Roy Nelson - I believe anybody that I'd fight, I'd win. So if I fought Frank I'd definitely see myself winning. It's just one of those fights that if fans want to see it then let's make it happen. If not, then it's not one of those things like I need to prove to myself to go, oh, I can beat Frank.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - How did you actually get into MMA, if we can go back to the beginning of everything, like I said the Grapplers Quest was in like '03 and I think your first professional fight was in like '04. How did you actually get into fighting as a sport?

Roy Nelson - I got into the fighting aspect as a sport was I used to coach a lot of UFC champions. And since coaching doesn't pay a lot of bills, cause usually you're not getting your trainer fees like how it is today. But back then I had a mortage and bills to pay and they weren't paying them so I just decided to go out there and just take their lunch money is the way I looked at it.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Is it kind of odd to have a wikipedia page?

Roy Nelson - Not really. We are considered celebrities so I think anybody can have a wikipedia page. It's just someone pipes up and goes, hey I want to write about this person. It's not anything special. It's on the internet, you can have it be a blogger and have it be a reporter too.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Your page actually says that you started off your training in Kung Fu, can you tell us about that?

Roy Nelson - Yeah, I'll say I started in Karate and that was back in like '84 when Karate Kid came out, you know just like everybody else. Did Karate and then did Kung Fu and then kickboxed and then I found jiu-jitsu and then started coaching and then after coaching then started fighting and now we are here today.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Came an awfully long way from being the Karate Kid to fighting in the UFC now.

Roy Nelson - Yep. But when I started doing martial arts I just wanted to be in B movies and just be able to get paid to do martial arts cause I thought martial arts were just so cool and movies were the way you could do it and be a B movie star. That's what I wanted to do and now I'm actually bigger and better.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - What was your life like before MMA? What was life like growing up before that was something that ever entered into your mind?

Roy Nelson - I just taught kids. My biggest thing was just teaching so just teaching martial arts to teaching jiu-jitsu. Teaching elementary school you know, just regular school stuff. My goal was, I was a teacher before I really got into it so I was just like, I can always get back into teaching.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - You've actually fought in the city I'm from and the city I'm in right now, which is Moline, IL. What did you think of Moline and the Quad Cities in general?

Roy Nelson - I thought it was small compared to where I'm from. I think it's still good old boys there. Especially when I fought, I don't even think there was a commission. It's definitely good old boys there but definitely it's small town and you know it's just somewhere in the midwest.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Was it the Mark of the Quad Cities that you fought at?

Roy Nelson - I believe so.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - For IFL, the Ben Rothwell fight.

Roy Nelson - Yep, that's right.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Speaking of that fight, you lost a split decision. This is a question from my Twitter, I asked if anyone wanted to ask a question and this is one of the ones that came up. They wanted to talk about judging and now there's been some issues with refereeing with UFC 123 and things like that. Is there anything that you think can be done to improve on judging in MMA?

Roy Nelson - Definitely. I think we should probably go to five three minute rounds for just your normal fight and then 10 three minute rounds for championships. And I think you definitely get different, you know, once you get taken down, there's no stalling. There's no referee picking you back up. If you can't get off your back that's just too freaking bad. But it's only three minutes, you've got to watch it and then you start back up on your feet, three minutes and it's a new one and if you win the round, you win the round. You can still do the 10 point must system. But now you're talking 50 points or 100 points. Now it's like, if you have one bad round, it's hard to come back from that.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - How did you score the Lyoto Machida vs "Rampage" Jackson fight? I know a lot of people, like "Rampage" himself, were shocked he had won the decision. I scored it 29-28 "Rampage" personally. How did you score it and what did you think about the judging in that fight?

Roy Nelson - I always look at whoever has the..um, where they're coming from either the red corner or blue corner. Red corner will always get the edge, usually, that's just always how it is. For the first part, I actually gave the first round to Machida or it could have been a 10-10. Just because the first three minutes was all Machida. I think he threw the first five kicks. So, he controlled the round the first round. Even thought it might have been the most stupid thing or most boring fight for the first round. Second round was all "Rampage," third round was all Machida. So I'd go with either a draw or Machida.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Why do you think they don't score more 10-10 rounds, it seems like they never do that and obviously with a round as close as the first round seemed to be, it would seem like the perfect time to use that. Why do you think they don't do that?

Roy Nelson - The reason why is because there is only three rounds.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - So you think that if they used the five three minute rounds and the 10 three minute rounds in championship fights it would get used more.

Roy Nelson - Yeah because you could give a 10-10 and you've got four other rounds to actually change the dynamic of the fight. Because technically if you just split that up, the first round was Machida because the first three minutes was Machida. Then the second was "Rampage" and then you know if you start spliting them up then the second round, where it would be the third round, would have been Machida and then the end was "Rampage" and then the whole third or with the last three minutes of the third would have been all Machida, so Machida would have won like 49-46. He would have definitely clearly won because he controlled most of the fight.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - I think the argument was being made that even though Machida was landing the strikes and like you said, he was landing the kicks, "Rampage" was viewed as the aggressor. He was pushing the action, he was in the center of the cage and he was the one who was coming forward while Machida was moving backward or he was circling around to where it didn't look like he was being nearly as aggressive as "Rampage" and that's why they scored it the way they did.

Knowing something like that, does that change the way you fight when you get into the cage? Like there is a certain thing you need to do to make the judges think you're winning even if it's to the detriment to a gameplan or do you just go in and decide to fight your fight, no matter what they think?

Roy Nelson - Well, if that was the case then I beat dos Santos. If that's how the judges are actually going, based on who is going forward and who is the aggressor then you have to say Roy Nelson won. But the rule is whoever has the most effective strikes and then it goes to the most effective grappling and then after that it's the aggressor. So the aggressor is the third part of the whole trilogy. So that's the reason why the aggressor has nothing to do with who's landing more strikes, I think they need to use Compustrike or whatever.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - I wanted to touch on the Arlovski fight. The stand up in that kind of bleeds into the referee stuff, I know a lot of people were upset and they felt like the fight would have been different had they not stood you guys up. How different would that fight have been if there never was a stand up and how different would your career have been? Would you have had to go through The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) house if you had won that fight?

Roy Nelson - I don't think I would have ever had to go through the TUF house, the TUF house was my choice. Just off of, you know, being IFL champion. I've done a lot in this sport. As for the Arlovski fight, I think it was just Florida. I've been robbed in Florida a couple of times so I'll just blame it on Florida and I won't say anything else. But that was probably one of the best fights that I ever learned from to make myself a better fighter though.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - What was the TUF house really like? You said it was your choice to go there, what was it really like having to be there?

Roy Nelson - It was definitely an experience that you only want to do once. It's like if you've ever been to jail and you're like, "Dude, I'll never go back there," but you kind of got scared straight; it's definitely one of those type of things cause I can imagine jail being a lot better.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Ha. I don't know about that.

Roy Nelson - Hey, you can get a college education, you can watch TV, you get conjugal visits, you get books. That's all in jail; in the TUF house you don't get none of that.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Same amount of people trying to rile you up, I guess.

Roy Nelson - Yeah. It's designed to make you crazy and then..

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - More exciting fights?

Roy Nelson - I wouldn't even say more exciting fights, if anything it kind of dulls the fights down. It just kind of makes you go bonkers and it creates drama in the house and not actually during the fighting cause the fighting part is the easy part.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - You fought Kimbo Slice during the season and that was like the fourth most watched fight in MMA history. How did things change for you just off the strenght of that fight?

Roy Nelson - Not much of a difference. I think when I fought Arlovski, I think roughly the same amount of people saw me in that fight. I think I've been in like four of the top 15 in North America so it's like.. people have seen me fight before so it's not.. just because it was the biggest for Spike, you know, not necessarily but CBS is a little bit bigger of a juggernaut.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Did you ever get the whopper you asked for?

Roy Nelson - In The Ultimate Fighter house? No. I tried to help everybody out cause we had to eat whatever we cooked and I was trying to splurge and trying to help everybody else get something out there and it still didn't work.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Where did the whole Burger King gimmick come from? What made you decide on Burger King is that just what you like over all the other fast food joints?

Roy Nelson - No, actually, it was because I'm a smart business man and a self-promoter and I was looking on the ring at who would be a good sponser to get after I got out of the TUF house and it was Burger King. So I figured I would give them a little free promo and go from there.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Has it worked out at all for you since then?

Roy Nelson - No, that's why I just eat Taco Bell.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Where did the nickname "Big Country" come from?

Roy Nelson - "Big Country" came from, like I said, I used to train a lot of UFC fighters and we were doing takedowns and I was taking everybody down and everybody thought I was like an Oklahoma wrestler from Iowa. Just for my wrestling ability and the nickname kind of stuck. Eric Pele gave it to me, he was like, "What's up, Big Country?" The more I fought it, the more it stuck but they thought I was a wrestler from Oklahoma or Iowa and that's how it came.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Who do you think is going to win the Cain Velasquez vs Junior dos Santos fight?

Roy Nelson - I think if Cain Velasquez doesn't get Junior down in the first two minutes, I see Junior winning.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - You think he'll knock him out?

Roy Nelson - I believe he'll knock him out.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - What can we expect in the future from Roy Nelson?

Roy Nelson - You can expect a lot of fun and exciting tweets, great fights and hopefully in 2011 you'll see Roy Nelson fight for the belt. At least, if I have my way.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Anything you want to promote before we go?

Roy Nelson - Fans, always want to thank the fans and yourself. Also always go to RoyNelson.com and follow me on Twitter @roynelsonmma.

Geno Mrosko (MMAmania.com) - Thanks a lot for taking the time, Roy, we appreciate it.

Roy Nelson - Appreciate it. Thank you.

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva has partnered with watchmaker Meister in releasing limited edition watches with the identifiable Silva “killer bee” logo.

The limited edition watches are available online at Meister’s web site. Only 50 of the 200 made will be available online. The remaining watches will be distributed to select Meister retailers.

Via MMA Junkie:

Previous special-edition pieces issued by Meister International include two watches created with rapper Bun B, formerly of the hip hop duo UGK. The company’s products are also endorsed by musician Steve Aoki and rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon.

The Meister watch is just the latest in a series of products bearing Silva’s signature logo. Sinister Brand Clothing, a California-based apparel company recently acquired by Authentic Brands Group, has long created clothing bearing the killer bee.

Payout Perspective:

The Spider’s deal with Meister is another example of the growing acceptance of mainstream businesses willing to partner with MMA. Despite Silva’s recent performances, he still is an identifiable figure in the UFC and the middleweight champion. Based on Meister’s past limited edition endorsees, it focuses on the younger, hip community with some disposable income. The growing popularity of MMA amongst the younger 18-34 demographic makes the partnership with Silva make sense.

Hayabusa MMA Sparring Gloves – $60 Happy black Friday to you! Hayabusa MMA Sparring Gloves – $60

This week’s expulsion of Gerald Harris from the UFC is a sign of things to come from the UFC. With the UFC-WEC merger, the UFC will expect more from its fighters, or they will be let go.

MMA Fighting explains:

The UFC has examined the cold, hard numbers of the merger and come to the conclusion that their roster will still house roughly 200 fighters under contract at any given time. In the past, that meant about 40 fighters for each of five divisions. Now, it’s roughly 28 men for each of seven divisions.

The reason the roster is not expanding is because Zuffa staged 32 events last year (24 UFC, 8 WEC), but with the loss of the WEC brand, the company is likely to stage only 26 events in 2011. White feels that the promotion has essentially maxed out the number of annual pay-per-views at about 15 or 16 per year, so that would leave 10-11 free events to be broadcast between cable partners Spike and Versus.

That number could increase if a new television deal is struck, but if it doesn’t, that’s a net result of around 60 fewer matches over the course of 2011. So growing the roster would actually result in a glut of more fighters with fewer shows on which to put them.

Harris was previously let go by the UFC after appearing on TUF. After a successful stint on the regional circuit, he was welcomed backed by the UFC. Many fans are perplexed by the move since Harris was on a 10 fight win streak, including 2 KOs of the Night, prior to UFC 123′s loss.

Payout Perspective:

Unfortunately the numbers laid out show that Dana White has to make some tough decisions regarding personnel. However, it seems that Harris’ dismissal was more of an example to the fighters that they were on notice that their jobs were dependent on their performances in the Octagon. I would gather that the message was directed to the younger, less-established, mid to lower card fighters than the main eventers. The fact still remains that while the roster is expanding and the UFC is adding more weight divisions, it also means less opportunities to be on a card.

The UFC seems to be spinning the dismissals of underperforming fighters as a service to its fans. It wants exciting fights and doesn’t want its fighters to dance around the cage. The Harris dismissal is a sign that it will have a short leash for its fighters. Despite Harris’ past exciting fights which ended in KOs, one underwhelming performance cost him.

As for Harris and others released from the UFC, they can land in Strikeforce, which would bolster Strikeforce’sfight cards and enable them to staff its roster of quality fighters. There are also other options out there too (e.g. Bellator, Shine Fights, MFC, etc.). But, its unlikely that fighters would receive as much monetarily as they may receive in the UFC.

Also, it will be interesting to see if some fighters leave the UFC on their own accord if they find themselves buried down the roster. Elite fighters have a small window of time to be in their prime and waiting in line to fight maybe once a year might not sit well. It would hurt the pocketbook of someone needing to fight to earn a living.

In the spirit of the holidays, I would like to share some great deals for MMA and video game fans who have held off buying any titles until the holiday deals to save a couple of bucks.  I will also discuss the recent EA Sports MMA and UFC Undisputed 2010 iPhone/iPad releases along with overall sale figures.

Best Buy Link:

http://www.bestbuy.com/doorbusters

GameStop Link:

http://www.gamestop.com/gs/weeklyad/current/112610US/default.aspx

***

EA Sports MMA and UFC Undisputed 2010 Updates:

UFC Undisputed 2010 was released on the iPad and iPhone by THQ Wireless on Nov 12, 2010 (selling for $6.99) just a few weeks after EA Sports MMA was released by EA Mobile (selling for $4.99) on the same platforms on October 20, 2010. As of today, EA Sports MMA has had 405 customers review the app, while UFC Undisputed 2010 has only had 17 customers review the app.

Both games have received good customer feedback, but it appears that after 12 days of being available on the Apple Store, UFC Undisputed has not taken off with the fans.  It is currently not in to the top 50 most popular apps or in the top grossing apps, where EA Sports MMA was ranked in the top 35 most popular paid apps and ranked as the 12th most grossing app for apple a week after it was released. Not exactly sure why Undisputed has not taken off on the iPhone/iPad yet considering the good reviews so far, but the $2 dollar pricing difference between the games could be impacting the sales, along with THQ releasing the mobile version of the game months after the console version was already released.

On the console side, after 4 weeks, EA Sports MMA has sold roughly 80,000 (XBOX 360) and 74,000 (PS3) copies  of the game worldwide, not yet taking into account sales from Japan since they are not available at the time.  That is roughly about 154,000 total copies sold on both consoles worldwide according to VGChartz.  On the other hand, UFC Undisputed 2010 has so far roughly sold after 10 weeks,  614,020 (XBOX 360) and 570,549 (PS3) copies worldwide, for a total of 1,184,569 copies sold.

The year has been a tough one for MMA video game releases, where analysts attributed the weaker than expected sales to releasing the games around the same time blockbusters like Red Dead Redemption (6.57 million copies sold worldwide) and Fallout: New Vegas (2.50 million copies sold worldwide) became available. GameSpot reports that “… a number of analysts–Wilson included–circulated notes to investors offering their takes on what did and didn’t live up to expectations. While NBA 2K11 and Fallout: New Vegas both exceeded Wilson’s expectations, many of the month’s other high-profile games did not. In particular, Wilson called NBA Jam for the Wii and EA MMA “dismal failures so far.”

THQ’s bottom line was heavily impacted this year due to lower than expected game sales, including the UFC Undisputed 2010 sale figures expected for this year compared to last years release, as the company saw their shares sharply drop from $8.29/share to $5.01/share as it currently stands this year.  In response, THQ has pushed out their release cycle from 12 months to 18 months, hoping to get better results on their next release. EA Sports MMA, originally set to release every other year, has said it is too early to make any decisions on whether we can expected another EA Sports MMA title in the future, as they will see and analyze how the sales go during the holiday season.

Gerald Harris, following his humiliation at the hands of Maiquel Falcao at UFC 123 this past Saturday (Nov. 20), has been cut from the UFC, according to MMA Weekly. 

It's a bit of a shocking development for the "Hurricane," who had won 10 consecutive fights with all but one of them coming by way of submission or (T)KO. His knockout slam of Dave Branch at UFC 116 even made ESPN's Sportscenter top plays list.

Company President Dana White expressed displeasure at the post-fight press conference regarding his bout with Falcao, particularly the third round that featured very little action.

Harris commented on his Twitter regarding his abrupt release:

"Yes it's true I have been released from the UFC. Thanks for the support, it was great, & I'll keep my head up."

No statement has been released from the UFC at this time.

World Extreme Cagefighting is all set to end its promotional run with a bang.

With former Bantamweight Champion Eddie Wineland all set to take on fresh face Ken Stone, 11 fights are now official for WEC 53: "Henderson vs Pettis" set to air on Thursday, December 16, live on Versus from the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

Set to headline the final WEC event will be a lightweight championship showdown with huge implications between current titleholder Ben Henderson and number one contender Anthony Pettis. With the WEC folding into the UFC, the winner of this fight will immediately be booked to fight the winner of the UFC 125 lightweight championship fight pitting Frank Edgar vs Gray Maynard to unify the belts.

That's not the only strap up for grabs as Dominick Cruz will defend his bantamweight title against the always electrifying Scott Jorgensen. The winner of that fight will officially be recognized as the inaugural UFC Bantamweight Champion.

The current WEC 53: "Henderson vs Pettis" fight card and rumors after the jump.

 

Main card

155 lbs.: Ben Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis
135 lbs.: Dominick Cruz vs. Scott Jorgensen
155 lbs.: Donald Cerrone vs. Chris Horodecki

Preliminary card

155 lbs.: Bart Palaszewski vs. Kamal Shalorus
155 lbs.: Zhang Tie Quan vs. Danny Downes
155 lbs.: Jamie Varner vs. Shane Roller
135 lbs.: Brad Pickett vs. Ivan Menjivar
135 lbs.: Eddie Wineland vs. Ken Stone
155 lbs.: Danny Castillo vs. Will Kerr
155 lbs.: Ricardo Lamas vs. Yuri Alcantara
135 lbs.: Chris Cariaso vs. Renan Barão

Stay tuned to MMAMania.com for more information on this fight card as it becomes available.

"After the fight Quinton came up to me and said ‘no, you won the fight', I thanked him and told him he's a great champion too, even more for acknowledging that [I won], it's not easy to do that, but he added ‘don't you worry about that, you won the fight, and I'll give you a rematch because I know I didn't deserve this win.' I think the journey continues, it's not a defeat nor an obstacle that is going to get in the way of our dream, my dream continues, the journey continues. We have to take advantage of this opportunity to improve even more."

UFC 123 headliner Lyoto Machida tells Sensei Blog (translated by orcus at Bloody Elbow) that his counterpart in the main event, "Rampage" Jackson, told him he won the fight and it's only fair to give him a rematch. Company President Dana White nixed any notion of an immediate return bout between the two but there is certainly hope the two will lock horns once more somewhere down the line. The "Dragon" was classy in defeat but has now lost two consecutive fights inside the Octagon. What's next for the former champion? Give us your thoughts, Maniacs.

Jose Aldo was presented with the newly minted UFC Featherweight title tonight (Nov. 20) before UFC 123.

Props: Twitter

According to early estimates, PPV buys for the Margarito/Pacquiao fight were estimated at 1.4 million viewers. This is double the amount for Pacquiao’s fight with Joshua Clottey in March. It also is the number for the Floyd Mayweather/Shane Mosley fight in June.

Lance Pugmire of the LA Times posted a tweet stating that the attendance figure of 41,734 was a disappointment. At the post-fight press conference, Bob Arum citedtough economic times as a factor for the low attendance. In comparison, the attendance for the Pacquiao/Joshua Clottey fight in March at Cowboys Stadium was 50,994.

Payout Perspective:

Preliminaries

Jones/Soto-Karas action. Admittedly, the establishment I went to watch the fight had multiple televisions so I was watching the Oregon-Cal game during most of the prelims. However, I did catch the Mike Jones/Jesus Soto-Karas fight. The fight was highlighted by a flurry of action in the 2^ndround as Jones hit Soto-Karas with punches in bunches. However, Jones expended so much energy it allowed Soto-Karas to get back into the fight. In the end, Jones won a controversial decision.

Missing the Ghost. It would have been great if Kelly Pavlik was on the card. Pavlik pulled out due to injury. Although on the downside of his career, he is a known fighter and his presence would have complemented the card.

Main Event

There was some pre-fight drama as the hand wrap controversy came into play. But, it was the Margarito camp taking issue with Pacquiao’s hand wraps. Not to be outdone with the gamesmanship, Pacquiao’s camp believed that Margarito was drinking something with the banned substance Ephedra. It appeared to be coffee with Splenda. The broadcast did a good job of investigating the issue by sending Max Kellerman to the back. Although comical, Kellerman provided an up to the minute account of the issues going on in the locker room. While it distracted viewers from the Jones/Soto-Karas fight, it kept people apprised of what was going on in the back. It would be nice to see MMA broadcasts take a page from this from the perspective of providing backstage interviews and more shots of the preparation going on in the back.

Pacquiao/Margarito– A dominating show by Pacquiao. The fight could have been stopped multiple times and it looked like the referee was hoping for a flurry of punches to stop Margarito similar to the end of the Pacquiao/Cotto fight. In his past few fights, it seems that Pacquiao gets bored during the fight (see e.g., the curly shuffle or taking breaks during rounds by putting up his hands and absorbing shots).

Miscellaneous Observations

-  The marketing for the fight has been examined hereand here. Also, Tecate remained a constant presence at the fight.

-  If you watched HBO’s 24/7, you noticed that Affliction sponsored Antonio Margarito. Nike adorned Pacquiao and entourage with various t-shirts coming to a store near you. I would be interested to know if there was any difficulty for Margarito to find sponsors. Secondly, did Affliction have any concerns with sponsoring Margarito.

-  HBO 24/7 is one of the best shows in hyping fights. UFC’s version is a good runner-up. The 24/7 series will be hyping NHL’s annual New Year’s Day outdoor hockey game. Although not a big fan, I will be tuning in. 

-  Buboy Fernandez:  Pac-Man’s success has made this second a noticeable figure. On Saturday, he was adorned with more sponsor patches than anyone in the entourage. As long as Buboy gets a cut of what he wears, I am happy for him.

-          Nelly: His mini-set was met by boos where I was watching. Its good publicity for Nelly, but frustrating to all that were waiting for the main event. It is customary that the main event occurs immediately after the national anthems. When Nelly was announced by Buffer, it deflated the crowd.

-  Max Kellerman: Nothing against Larry Merchant, but I think Kellerman does an all around good job in analysis and interviewing (despite his run-in with Mayweather after the Marquez fight). He also was a good offset to Jim Lampley and Emmanuel Steward who tend to wander. I noticed he stuffed Lampley’s attempt to go with the consecutive “Bangs” a la the Clottey fight.

-  Post Fight Interview: I thought it was interesting that Kellerman asked and got an honest answer from Manny Pacquiao as to whether he took it easy on Margarito in the last round. You could see Kellerman taken aback that Pacquiao admitted to easing up. It was interesting to see how he hesitated in considering whether or not he asks a follow up question. While some may think this shows a lack of killer instinct, it also shows the compassion Pacquiao has for his fellow fighter.

Future Fights

There is much debate as to whether Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will ever fight. This would be the only fight that makes sense and would draw huge PPV and attendance numbers. Mayweather (Floyd and Roger) legal troubles and failed negotiations are hurdles to this superfight.

Despite Shane Mosley’s pleas, it would be hard seeing him winning a fight with Pacquiao. Also, his recent fights aren’t cause to be excited about this matchup. Juan Manuel Marquez could be an option but I am not sure if that is the fight the Pacquiao camp wants since he lost to Mayweather.

Other fighters such as Timothy Bradley, Devon Alexander or Andre Berto are not marquee names that would excite the casual boxing fan.

Croatian fighter Goran Reljic has been cut from the UFC after his decision loss to Krzysztof Soszynski during UFC 122 in Germany last weekend. The BJJ brown belt and protege of Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic will have plenty of future fight options available, with Strikeforce, Bellator, and other MMA organizations likely chomping at the bit [...]

MMA Junkie reportsthat this past Saturday’s UFC 122 in Olberhausen, Germany drew 8,421 fans for an estimated gate of $600,000. The figures were revealed in the post-event press conference.

The numbers were less than the UFC’s last visit to Germany in June 2009. UFC 99 at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne drew 12, 854 and a live gate of approximately $1.3 million.

From MMA Junkie:

Due to a government ban on UFC content broadcasting in the country, past negative press, and a ban on minors from attending shows, the organization has faced hurdles in Germany. UFC president Dana White and UFC-Germayn promoter Marek Lieberberg both said it simply will take time to continue growing the sport in the country.

Despite the success of the UFC’s debut, the event was met with stiff opposition from the beginning. Questions about the barbaric nature of mixed martial arts, fueled mostly by outdated and simply false information, troubled the UFC prior to UFC 99, and the promotion was forced to ban fans under 18 years old from attending. (MMA Junkie)

MMA Fightingspoke with UFC VP of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner about UFC 122:

“To grow the sport, you have to keep educating,” Ratner said. “We want to do business in Germany. We want to show the people and the newspaper people…that’s the only way to do it. If you just walk away and say, ‘Gee, they won’t let us be on TV,’ it doesn’t make sense. So we’re just going to keep pushing. It was the right decision and I’m glad we did it.”

Payout Perspective:

The attendance figures were low but this can be explained by the issues with the German government. It will be interesting to see the number of fans that viewed the event online. That number could be telling in determining how many German fans want to see UFC in their country.

Notwithstanding the barriers, with the growing popularity of MMA and the various countries that could host a UFC event, it’s interesting that the UFC is expending this effort in Germany. Based on the numbers, it will take additional events (and lobbying efforts) before MMA is accepted. A lawsuit is still pending and the results will indicate how much the UFC wants Germany and vice versa.