MMA Universe

The UFC announced that it will be showing UFC 143 in 3D in movie theaters. Tickets for the in theater PPV will go for $25 and can be purchased in advance.The main event Super Bowl Weekend has Nick Diaz battling Carlos Condit for the interim welterweight title.

Via UFC press release:

Las Vegas, Nevada – The Ultimate Fighting Championship^®, in conjunction with Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. (NASDAQ: CIDM)  and NCM Fathom, announced that tickets for the first-ever live, 3-D broadcast of a UFC^® Pay-Per-View event on the Big Screen are on sale now. The championship fight card,UFC^® 143: DIAZ vs. CONDIT, airs live and in 3-D in more than 100 theatres nationwide on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT from Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

The night’s main event pits the fiery and unpredictable Nick Diaz against hard-hitting knockout artist Carlos Condit for the interim UFC welterweight title. An exciting co-main event features heavyweight Roy “Big Country” Nelson battling submission ace Fabricio Werdum.

Tickets for UFC^® 143: DIAZ vs. CONDIT are available for purchase now at www.ufc.com/3D, as well as at theatre box offices across the country. Fans can visit the website for information on which theatres will be carrying the event in their respective regions.

“I know the fans love 3-D, so I’m happy to give them this championship fight live and in 3-D in theaters across the country,” UFC President Dana White said. “I cannot wait for this fight between Diaz and Condit to determine the interim UFC welterweight champion!”

UPDATE: The above press release web site takes you to Fandango where you can purchase advance tickets. The cost is $25 per ticket in the Seattle, WA area although I’m not sure if this is region specific.

Payout Perspective:

This will be an interesting experiment to see if the 3D concept will catch on with MMA. Last year, the UFC and Cindegim announced this partnership. The UFC first tried 3D with UFC on Versus 3. Depending on the price of the tickets, this could be a successful experiment and another option from having to pay $50 plus to order a PPV at home. But, I don’t recall past attempts for movie theatre live events doing well.  It would have been nice to have had bigger names on top of the card as this could draw more interested fans to this event.

Kotaku reports on the UFC on XBox Live debacle that occurred this Friday for UFC 141. There were difficulties with the system and viewers were instructed by XBox to find alternatives to watching the PPV.

Bitmob has an account of the problem:

Due to technical issues with the 30,000 promotional freebies Microsoft had sent out, the UFC on Xbox Live app wouldn’t load for a lot of people; would continuously crash or reset to an earlier point in that night’s event (with no way to fast forward to live broadcasting); would constantly switch between high definition, standard definition, and Vaseline-all-over-your-TV-screen definition (generally preferring the latter); would stutter and pause while trying to buffer; etc.

Microsoft has issued an apology via Bitmob:

The broadcast of UFC 141 through the UFC for Xbox LIVE application was hampered by technical issues appearing in the hours leading up to the fight. Despite restoring service to some users during the course of UFC 141, there is a great deal of room for improvement. All 30,00 users who registered to view UFC 141 for free will be provided access to a future fight at no cost.

We want to ensure that the 30,000 giveaway recipients for UFC 141 have an optimal experience with UFC on Xbox LIVE, and we are currently working with our partners at the UFC to ensure we deliver just that. The gamertags of the 30,000 users who registered for UFC 141 are being safely kept on file for free access to a future UFC event, and we will have more updates to share in the near future.

Payout Perspective:

Originally, the announcement that the UFC would be on XBox was slated for UFC 140, then it was moved to December 20th. Perhaps there was a reason the start date was moved back.

Have you ever gone to a restaurant and the service was slow and food bad that you declare that you’d never return? This may be a similar case unless Microsoft and the UFC do something to instill trust in its service and make people want to come back.

Not only does this episode cast a cloud on the XBox on UFC, it also makes a statement about XBox’s television service. As we indicated, the difficulties are a blow to the XBox and UFC relationship as the problem hurts consumer trust and they must do something to make good for the many fans that attempted to utilize the new service. Certainly, good public relations must take place for customers to come back to use the service.

Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective. This time we look at a special Friday night event from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada which featured Brock Lesnar versus Alistair Overeem.

Overeem kicks Lesnar into retirement

There’s a reason why Lesnar went off as the underdog in Vegas. It was uncertain how Lesnar would do considering he came back from diverticulitis once again. The fight was a no contest for Overeem as one kick to the gut and Lesnar was done for the night.

Classy speech by Lesnar at the end of the fight. It was the right thing to do as his last two fights have been very disappointing. For Overeem, JDS is next in what should be one of the bigger cards of 2012.

Diaz boxes out Cowboy

A lot of trash talk before made this co-main event something to watch. Indeed it was the most interesting match of the night. Diaz used the “stockton slap” as the Cowboy just stood in front of him in the first round. Cerrone used some leg sweeps to score some points but did little actual damage to Diaz.

An impressive outing for Diaz as he’s moving up in the lightweight division albeit he came in at 157 pounds.

Hendricks knocks out Fitch

Johnny Hendricks left hand was lethal as he flirted with the UFC’s fastest KO record with a knockout of Jon Fitch. A disappointing end for Fitch who was coming back from shoulder surgery. The stoppage was warranted as Fitch went limp and Hendricks was right on top to deliver more punishment if he the fight wasn’t stop.

Hendricks puts himself in line for a title shot. He’s not in the express line to a shot but is definitely someone that should be taking a step forward in the next year.

Attendance and Gate

MMA Junkie reports that UFC 141 drew a reported 12,158 fans for a reported $3.1 million gate. The figures, as custom, were given by Dana White at the post-fight press conference. The numbers fall well short of the top 5 draws in MGM Grand history but it did much better than last year’s UFC 125.

Bonuses

The bonuses were $75,000 each and went to Johnny Hendricks, Nate Diaz and Donald Cerrone. Hendricks was the obvious choice for KO of the night while Diaz and Cerrone earned fight of the night honors. There were no submissions so no sub of the night.

Countdown to UFC 141 debuted on Fuel TV a week before the event and garnered a poor 15,000 viewers. Hopefully, the January 1st UFC marathon helped with marketing of the network as the new place for the UFC.

Salaries were released earlier than normal by the Nevada State Athletic Commission because lawyers for Golden Glory obtained an order to garnish the salary of Alistair Overeem. Of no surprise, Brock Lesnar topped the list. Overeem was set to earn $385K but was asked to garnish roughly 30%. However, it was revealed Monday that no bond was posted to garnish the salary as required by Nevada law. So, Overeem was able to receive all of his earnings. This will make the litigation between Overeem and Golden Glory much more contentious.

Sponsorships

Clothing brand RYU and wireless service provider MetroPCS became sponsors of the UFC this month. RYU was a sponsor to the “backstage camera” and MetroPCS had signage in the Octagon. RYU also sponsored Jon Fitch. Unfortunately for Fitch, the RYU walkout shirt was seen much more than on his shorts as the fight lasted just 12 seconds.

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With the addition of MetroPCS and Gina Carano’s new movie, “Haywire,” the regular sponsors (SafeAuto, TapouT, Harley Davidson, Toyo Tires, Bud Light) were in the Octagon. Speaking of Haywire, Carano was in attendance and was interviewed about the movie.

Harley Davidson pumped up its Hometown Throwdown contest again.

MusclePharm had a special graphic shown during the tale of the tape before Overeem and Lesnar.

The Cowboy has used his hat to put sponsors on each side of the hat in the past and now he’s used under the brim. Way to use the real estate. Maybe that’s why he got so upset that Diaz flicked it off his head.

Jimy Hettes had sponsors AzadWatch.com and Palooka.com as sponsors. I noticed these two sponsors since they were on the back of his fight shorts and maintained dominant position on Nam Pham most of their match. Good placement for the two sponsors.

It was announced prior to UFC 141, that Lesnar signed an endorsement deal with Everlast. I wonder what impact his retirement will have on the deal?

Post-UFC 141 Headlines

Lesnar retires, what now?

With the retirement of Brock Lesnar, the UFC lost its top PPV draw. A Lesnar card meant 1 million PPV buys was a certainty. With his departure, and the absence of GSP for most of the year and Anderson Silva out until at least June, the UFC is in a precarious PPV position as its lost its top three stars for the first half of 2012. Jon Jones could be the next PPV breakout star.

But, perhaps as when teams go without its star, it makes the rest of the team stronger and better. This can be a time that the UFC can build up its existing stars (Jones, Edgar, Diaz). Of course, Rashad Evans is another top PPV draw but will be on the Fox broadcast on January 28th. His next fight (fingers crossed) will likely be the long-awaited bout with Jon Jones sometime this summer (maybe Memorial Day weekend). What will the PPV buys look like in the first half of the year?

Young fighters impress

Jimy Hettes and Alexander Gustafsson made statements in their fights on the main card of the PPV. Hettes was impressive in his fight with Nam Phan and Gustafsson took care of the Vladimir Matyushenko. Both of these guys look to be moving up the ranks of their respective divisions.

Odds and ends

-Why no Joe Rogan post-fight interview for Jimy Hettes? He deserved some mic time.

-After Diaz flipped Cerrone’s cowboy hat earlier in the week, Diaz gave Cerrone his beanie after their fight. It looked like Diaz wanted Cerrone to give him his cowboy hat kind of like an exchange of opponent jerseys in soccer.

-The last live event on Spike occurred with little or no mention that the UFC-Spike relationship was ending. Of course, if you are Spike, you are still showing the UFC library so why mention it.

-I was in Canada last week and noticed Rogers giving a top 5 of Lesnar’s greatest fights. It was interesting to me that the number 1 moment was his win over Frank Mir and they showed his infamous rant after the fight (“going to have a Coors Light because Bud doesn’t pay me” and “get on his wife” comments). That’s something they would not play in the US anymore.

PPV issues

This was the first time that XBox users could purchase a UFC events through its XBox Live platform. As a promotion for this, XBox gave away 30,000 free PPV passes to watch the event.  Unfortunately, technical difficulties destroyed the opportunity for anyone to access the UFC on XBox. To make amends, the UFC promised all that purchased the event on XBox, it would be able to see another UFC event for free. The problem with this, is that consumers are now weary of this method of watching the PPV and less likely to use this platform. We see that there are some glitches in the system and the UFC must fix them, restore trust and address this PR problem as well.

In addition to the XBox problem, I received notice that Rogers in Ontario, Canada had technical difficulties as well. People that purchased the PPV were refunded money as the cable operator acknowledged the problems.

These problems do not bode well for the overall viewership of the PPV. Even with Lesnar at the top of the card, the final number could have been better but for these issues.

NeuLion, Inc. has introduced an all-access mobile phone app for the Android platform. The app allows Android users to stream UFC PPVs.

As one might recall, NeuLion and UFC entered into a partnership which would enhance UFC.tv.

Here are the features of the UFC.tv app via UFC and NeuLion joint press release:

-Live streaming of Pay-Per-View events, weigh-ins and press conferences

-Multiple live video and audio feeds during the broadcast: English, Spanish, Red Corner and Blue Corner

-Ability to score the fight in real-time and get an aggregate of every vote

-UFC fighter index sortable by weight class. Each fighter’s profile has key stats — wins/losses, height, weight, etc.

-Access to the UFC Fight Library of video

-Free videos including: event countdown shows, fighter interviews, press conferences, event previews, fighter workouts and other UFC free video content
TV schedule

-Video highlights and VOD events

-Constantly updated news section featuring articles about the latest UFC fighters, events, interviews and profiles of fighters

Payout Perspective:

The Android app makes sense considering Android made up 44 percent of mobile app downloads in 2010.. While this app definitely allows for continued growth for the UFC audience, the price points remain the same for PPVs. Unless you are on the road, paying for a UFC PPV on your phone for the same price as you would have to pay at home seems disproportionate. Still, it appears that there is access to free content which might make this app something UFC fans may seek to download.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that the WWE Network will be a part of You Tube’s initiative in creating 100 different channels online with the site. Although initial speculation was that the WWE Network would be on cable television, the unprecedented move allows the WWE to circumvent negotiations with cable providers.

Via the Hollywood Reporter (h/t Cageside Seats):

In a low-budget early effort to compete with satellite and cable TV providers, YouTube announced Friday that it has partnered with several entities to roll out television-style channels with professionally produced shows that will strike a sharp contrast to the short videos of crazy cats, skateboard wipeouts and other amateur content that made the site famous.

Insiders said the Google-owned property has shelled out some $150 million in advances for the creation of about 100 channels, with a maximum $5 million going to any single channel. Financial details were sketchy on Friday, though The Wall Street Journal reported that deals call for YouTube recouping its advances then giving as much as 55 percent of the ad revenue to the content creators.

The WWE began airing commercials for a network earlier this year with the start date being in 2012. The network is planned to roll out around the next Wrestlemania this spring 2012.

Payout Perspective:

For WWE fans, this is not what was expected but it is probably the best strategy for the WWE at this point. As we have seen from the Direct TV-Fox contract dispute, the task of placing its network and negotiating a contract with cable distributors would have been difficult especially with its target roll out of this spring. If given the choice, fans would likely check out the channel on YouTube rather than pay extra money on their cable bill.

The bigger story here is YouTube (a Google owned entity) and its move to compete with satellite and Cable tv. How many people will adapt to watching television on their computers? How many will know that they can hook up their computers to televisions?

Variety reports that the UFC has partnered with digital cinema company Cinedigm to bring four events to movie theaters in 3D in 2012. The first event will be Super Bowl weekend, February 4, 2012.

Via Variety:

February’s event will be shown in 120 theaters in the U.S. — a good starting point for the series, Cinedigm chairman-CEO Chris McGurk told Variety. “The important thing is to fill up those theaters, and I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” he said.

Cinedigm’s goal is to make movie theatres “appointment programming.”

Payout Perspective:

The last time the UFC flirted with 3D was for UFC on Versus 3. This experiment will be interesting considering the push for 3D in sports. It seems a little early for this but the UFC has always been on the cutting edge when it comes to new forms of media. The price point will play a big role in deciding whether to pay to go to a theatre to watch an event. The February 4th UFC event could have Chael Sonnen facing Anderson Silva in what will be a much hyped match.

With 34 events scheduled for 2012, it seems hard for consumers to consistently purchase UFC PPVs. This can be an interesting alternative than going to a bar. I have always been skeptical about live events playing in theatres so we will see how this will be marketed and how many people take advantage.

Kotaku reports that the UFC PPVs will be available on XBox 360 Dec. 1st and its first live event will be UFC 140. Dana White made the announcementabout PPVs on the game console this past summer at E3.

Via Kotaku:

Watching the the MMA promotion’s fights on Xbox 360 will let you and your XBL friends predict winners, with the results of the pseudo-wagering kept on a leaderboard. The PPVs will stream in 720 and you’ll be able to navigate through the content with Kinect, if you like actually moving your arms.

Here are some more amenities that the Xbox 360-UFC deal will provide. (via Middle Easy through the UFC press release):

Live and On-Demand Video – Event previews, UFC Countdown, press conferences, weigh-ins, interviews, workouts, highlights, and more, together for the first time on your big screen. Streaming HD Quality in 720p – UFC fans demand stunning HD viewing, and Xbox LIVE brings the most premium streaming HD to the big screen. Pay-Per-View with Ease – The biggest pay-per-view fights available to all Xbox LIVE members in HD and SD pricing options. Purchase directly with your credit card, Microsoft Points not required. Interactive Fight Card with Predictions – Size up the fighters with the tale of the tape and view their past fight results. Predict upcoming fights, compare results with friends for points and bragging rights, and see where you stand against them on the leaderboard, all accessible while watching the fight so you’ll never have to leave the excitement of the Octagon. Control the action with Kinect – Focus on the fight instead of looking for the remote. Navigate through the video content, bring up the Interactive Fight Card, or play, pause, and rewind that big punch, kick or submission…all with the magic of Kinect.

No word on the price of purchasing the PPV on Xbox 360 or if you can use XBox points toward the purchase. I’m not up on using the “points” on the system but I will ask a source (my 9 year old nephew) and get back to you.

The initial announcement stated that the UFC PPV would be available only to XBox 360 Live subscribers.

H/t: MMA Metrics

Payout Perspective:

As we pointed out back when the UFC made the initial announcement, the partnership with Microsoft means another mainstream sponsor comes on board with the organization. You may also see more fighters being sponsored by Xbox 360 on the 140 card for branding purposes. No word if Demetrious Johnson (XBox 360’s sole sponsored fighter) will be on the card but it would not be surprising if he made it back in time. Regardless, the UFC-XBox 360 partnership is one reason why Jon Jones was put on this card (as well as it being in MMA crazed Canada) to defend his title. It also is another experiment in finding other platforms for the UFC to air PPVs.

Southern California promotion Fight Club OC is offering its fights online for $4.99. The local promotion’s success has given itself a reason to try to expand to a broader audience.

Fight Club OC offers monthly boxing and MMA bouts in a small, but well-attended venue in Costa Mesa, California.

Via Fight Club OC:

“After just four shows in 2011 the buzz surrounding the launch of Fight Club OC has been tremendous,” said (Fight Club OC promoter Roy) Englebrecht. “We have more media covering the shows than ever before, our 10 All Inclusive VIP Suites are sold out, we have our largest number of merchandise vendors ever, and our Fight Club OC Outdoor Cigar Lounge was packed the whole night, so I made the decision that this unique night of fight action needs to be available to fight fans all over the world, and we decided to launch Fight Club OC TV and boy did we ever pick the right night.”

Payout Perspective:

This is the next step for regional promotions. Fight Club OC’s use of the internet is a good way of broadening its audience. Even if you aren’t in Southern California, you can watch fights online and for a reasonable price. For Fight Club OC, if the online fights are successful, it could look to sell advertising and/or sponsorship for Fight Club OC TV.

MMA Weekly reports that former UFC middleweight Ivan Salaverry has produced a dedicated phone app showing MMA instruction. The app is available on Itunes and is free to download with additional content going for an introductory price point of $2.99.

The app includes Salaverry instruction on the basics of MMA fighting to his signature move, “The Salaverry.” The instruction was shot in HD and three cameras were used to capture all angles of the instruction.

Salaverry spoke to MMA Weekly about the app:

“For me it was really nice to see people to have the ability to download any kind of MMA technique and the possibilities of that. You don’t need to go to your computer; you can just get your smartphone and download it right then and there.”

“You get to see me show techniques like the crucifix that you might not normally get from other people. You also get a lot of different angles with the camera; top side, bottom side, and the detail work of a lot of other stuff we put in there.”

Payout Perspective:

This is a unique approach to the “how to” market in MMA. We’ve seen RUSHFIT workout videos from GSP, the Gracie Academy training programs and even the UFC training partner offered on the PS3, XBox and Wii. It goes to show you that there are multiple platforms for instructional videos and the marketplace is growing. The phone app is a unique idea and from the initial video screen grabs, it looks detailed and comprehensive. More importantly, produced in HD, the picture quality appears good which is necessary if you only have a small screen to look at the video. For a free download and a relatively inexpensive price for additional content, it could catch on.

The Sports Business Daily reports that ESPN 3D is adding boxing as live content for its 3D channel. “Friday Night Fights” will have 5 editions on ESPN 3D this summer.

The article points out that not only will a successful run of  Friday Night Fights this summer help the 3D network, it will help with the revitalization of boxing.

ESPN had a test run of boxing in 3D in February and decided to go forth with more this summer. The telecasts are produced as a single telecast in 2D and 3D with one set of announcers. The article points out that the sport of boxing allows for this production since there are less frequent switching of camera angles.

If the summer run is successful, ESPN could look into more boxing in 3D. The 3D Friday Night Fights will begin June 24th and end August 12th.

Payout Perspective:

This is good for the sport of boxing as it seems to have experienced a resurgence in good fights this year.   I think the one drawback with 3D is the need to purchase a special television (with 3D capabilities) and glasses for all viewers. This is not cheap. While I am not yet on board with the 3D concept, I have not seen boxing in 3D. It may be the wave of the future and could be good for boxing in drawing more positive attention to the sport. It will be interesting to see the viewership of Friday Night Fights in 3D and see if it picks up over the summer.

You may recall that the UFC aired its last Versus show in 3D. I am not sure whether the UFC will bring it back in the near future, but if it does it will likely happen after it signs a new television deal.

MMA Weekly reports that the prelims for UFC 131 will not only be streamed via the UFC’s Facebook page as is the norm now, but it will also be streamed via YouTube. The channel run by the UFC will not go live until Saturday.

MMA Weekly states that YouTube has increased its coverage of live events including the Coachella music concert last month.

Payout Perspective:

With the UFC already streaming on Facebook, the decision to stream on YouTube seems duplicative and almost cannibalizing its own streaming product. Then again, maybe its a way to get the anti-Facebookers to check out the fights online. More likely, its an expansion of its online presence and a way of determining the best strategy to proceed with its online streaming. The UFC has always been ahead of the game when it comes to new media and this is another example. It will be interesting to see how it does with a less than stellar card this weekend.

MMA Mania reports Dana White made an appearance at the annual video game convention, E3 Expo 2011, to announce a partnership with Microsoft in which the UFC PPVs will be available via XBox Live.

Although no date for the start of the service was announced, the price will be about the same as purchasing the PPV on TV: $60. The feature will be available only to those that subscribe to the XBox Live feature on the video game console. PS3 users are out of luck.

There are plans for additional features for those purchasing PPVs via XBox Live including weigh-ins and fights on demand.

Payout Perspective:

The partnership with Microsoft is another good sign of mainstream sponsor support for the UFC. Aligning itself with XBox also is another step for the UFC to have its PPVs on a separate platform other than cable. While the service is limited to XBox Live subscribers, its a step into what could be the future of UFC PPV.

Welcome to a special edition of Payout Perspective as we take a look at Saturday’s fight between Sugar Shane Mosley and Manny Pacquiao taking place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas Nevada.

Pacquiao dominates Mosley

A simple equation can explain Saturday night’s performance:
Pacquiao >Mosley = Joshua Clottey

Although Mosley told everyone that he was going to take the fight to Pacquiao, he looked more like Joshua Clottey throughout the fight: backing up and unable to use combinations.

While each fighter scored knockdowns, Mosley’s was more of a push than a punch. This only angered Pacquiao who attempted to end the fight in the last two rounds although he was ahead by a huge margin. Whatever you think of the strategy, Pacquiao does not lie when he says he wants the fans to see a good show.

The crowd booed Mosley’s effort and the sportsmanship each fighter possessed as it seemed that the fighters touched gloves at each pause in the action.

It looks like Pacquiao has a November 2011 date set with…Juan Manuel Marquez. This may be the most competitive bout for Pacquiao in a couple years…or we may get another older fighter finding away to escape a barrage of Pacquiao combinations.

Unlike other boxing PPVs, this card had two exciting undercards. First, we had the return of Kelly Pavlik in an entertaining fight against Alfonso Lopez. Next, Jorge Arce defeated Wilfredo Vasquez, Jr. when Vasquez’s corner threw in the towel. According to the scorecards, Vasquez may have had the narrow lead. I was under the impression that the corner cannot stop the fight be throwing in the towel (see Yuri Foreman vs. Miguel Cotto). Regardless, it was an entertaining fight.

Attendance and Gate
As with every Pacquiao fight, it was a sellout. This time 16,412 fans went to the MGM Grand. Dan Rafael of ESPN tweeted that the final gate was $8,882,600. In comparison, Rafael pointed out Pac-Mosley was the 14th biggest gate in Nevada history but $3.85 million more than the #1 UFC gate in Nevada history.

The weigh-ins garnered 4,000 people and turned away another 2,000. Who says boxing is dead? Well, maybe its just the Pacquiao effect?

Twitter
Pacquiao, Jinkee, Mosley, Jim Gray and (undercard fighter Jorge) Arce all trended worldwide throughout the night. Also, Mosley’s girlfriend, Bella Gonzalez trended on twitter.

Showtime and estimated buys
This was the first boxing PPV put on by Showtime since Bob Arum left longtime partner HBO. Similar to HBO’s 24/7 series, it aired Fight Camp 360, a four-part series featuring the camps of Mosley and Pacquiao. While the episodes ran on CBS and Showtime, ratings-wise, it did not fare well. Despite low ratings for Fight Camp 360, it served its purpose in promoting the match.

The CBS exposure was one of the reasons Arum chose Showtime over HBO. Fight Camp 360 aired the day of the Final Four and in prime time a week before the fight. It also aired commercials throughout CBS programming.

Bob Arum told the NY Times that he expects the buys for Saturday’s fight to be roughly around 1.2 million. This would be the same as Pacquiao’s fight with Antonio Margarito. While this may not be as many buys as Arum would have wanted, the opportunity to get his product in front of more eyes on network television and for it to one day be back on CBS would be an ideal goal.

Sponsors
The main sponsors for Saturday night were O’Reilly Auto Parts, Mortal Kombat (also at UFC 129), AT&T and Smart – the leading wireless service provider in the Philippines. Nike also was prominent sponsor. As always, Tecate was big on fight night and leading up to the fight. It was able to do more this Pacquiao fight than others since the fight was announced sooner than past Pacquiao fights.

With the announcement (or soon to be) of Marquez-Pacquiao III, expect Tecate to make a huge promotional push for November 2011.

With the restructured Pacquiao management team, Hewlett Packard signed a deal with Pacquiao to endorse its new line of tablet computers. The NY Times had an interesting piece on the woman behind it all. Hopefully this works out for Team Pacquiao. Did anyone else notice that after Manny’s post-fight interview he ended with the talking point of checking out his web site, mpboxing.com?

Top Rank offers fight online
Top Rank signed a deal with NeuLion, Inc. to offer the fight online. NeuLion is the same company that worked with the UFC to upgrade UFC.tv. In addition, the Top Rank web site offered other streaming in lead-up to the fight.  Its a step in the right direction for boxing to reach out to a younger demographic.

Odds and Ends
Before I forget, did any other DirecTV subscribers notice that if you ordered UFC 129 online, you could not watch on other televisions in your home as you normally could.  For Mosley-Pacquiao, I was able to watch on multiple televisions when ordering online.

The Showtime broadcast crew was decent, although the HBO crew of Lampley, Kellerman, Steward, et al is better. Gus Johnson is still a better basketball announcer than anything. He did reference MMA when describing one of Pacquiao’s punches as a “Superman Punch.”

Jim Gray or Larry Merchant?

Best dialogue during the Fight Camp 360 series was when Manny Pacquiao told former champ Manny Tapia that he liked the “purse” better than the “belt”. Referring to the payout rather than his championship belt.

UPDATE – 5/11/11

Forgot to include EA Sports’ participation which included this odd interaction between Teddy Atlas and video game likenesses of Pacquiao and Mosley. EA was promoting its game Fight Night Champion.

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MMA Junkie reports that Top Rank Boxing is partnering with NeuLion, Inc. to offer fight fans an enhanced online PPV stream. NeuLion, a company specializing in live and on demand video via the internet, is the same company that has worked with the UFC.

This past February, the UFC entered into a working relationship with NeuLion to upgrade its UFC.tv web site. Todd duBoef, Top Rank’s president, stated that boxing is adapting to new media and believes that boxing and MMA have room to grow online.

duBoef told MMA Junkie:

“Because they [MMA] weren’t getting traditional media coverage early on, I think MMA was at the forefront for their sport at understanding the new-media perspective of where the fans are, who’s engaged there, who’s dialed in there, who’s interacting there. I think we’ve all learned a lot from seeing how that fanbase works.”

Boxing enthusiasts will have access to these things and more with the Pacquaio vs. Mosley stream, which is being offered at Top Rank Boxing’s official website, as well as Yahoo! Sports’ boxing page, for $54.99.

In lead-up to tonight’s fight, Top Rank has streamed online a Manny Pacquiao workout, press conference, the weigh-ins among other events. In the past, Top Rank, in collaboration with Yahoo! began airing undercard fights online. But this will be the first time that the main event will be shown online.

Payout Perspective:

Top Rank’s move online validates what MMA fans already knew: the UFC is ahead of the game when it comes to new media. The move by Top Rank makes sense considering the perception that boxing is losing ground to MMA in the world of combat sports. While it is believed that boxing’s demographic is older than the MMA target audience, a claim duBoef refutes in the article, it will be interesting to see how many fight fans pay for the online version of the fight tonight.

TapouT is partnering with MetroPCS in rolling out a new “Tapout”-edition Huawei Ascend cell phone. The phone includes preloaded virtual training ceneter videos and wallpaper.

To promote its release, TapouT is traveling cross-country and blogging about its journey. Here is its visit to ATT.

The TapouT crew visits American Top Team Gym in Coconut Creek Florida from Sanctioned by TapouT on Vimeo.

Via CNet.com:

The Huawei Ascend’s Tapout edition will be available within the next few weeks, MetroPCS said in a statement. The Tapout Ascend will cost $199 with $50 instant rebate, and that’s without a contract. In addition, two mixed-martial-arts fighters, will visit select MetroPCS stores to promote the handset and the Tapout brand. MetroPCS is offering an additional 20 percent off of Tapout merchandise and a free trip for those who buy the phone.

Payout Perspective:

This past weekend we featured an MMA phone app and today is an MMA-themed phone. Its another sign of the burgeoning popularity of MMA as it moves into different markets. The promotional tour is an interesting idea as the TapouT guys travel around to promote the phone and visit MMA gyms. The tour is reminiscent of Tapout’s show on Versus in 2007-2008.

A pair of Toronto MMA enthusiasts have developed an iPhone app generating possible MMA names for its users. Similar to the Jersey Shore nickname generator developed a couple years ago, the app is aims to be an entertaining app for MMA fans.

Via press release:

Toronto, ON (April 14, 2011) – Fans and wannabe fighters can get a taste of the MMA spotlight with the Cage Name app, from Me Thinks Studios. The entertaining and easy-to-use app generates fighter personas by pairing unique nicknames with standout images for every type of MMA fan – from the glass-jawed rookie to the cauliflower-eared veteran. The MMA-focused name generator is one of the first of its kind.

With a tap, a swipe, and a shake, the app lets users choose names from an array of categories and then matches their name with a comic book-style character depicting one of the major fighting styles.

The app has a price point of $0.99. Cage Name is available in iTunes for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Payout Perspective:

An interesting way to enter the MMA marketplace: the iPhone app. At a price point of $0.99 the app should garner the interests of MMA fans willing to try something out for a buck. The company does a good job in trying to capitalize on the social media angle by encouraging its users to integrate the app with other social media such as Twitter and Facebook. Perhaps it will not be the next “Angry Birds” (or maybe it will) but its a novel idea to attract MMA fans.

MMA Junkie reports that UFC on Versus 3 will be in 3D for the first time in its history. Only those with 3D-capable TV sets through dedicated 3D channels will have the opportunity to see the event in 3D.

Via MMA Junkie:

“We’re really excited to start broadcasting UFC events in 3D,” UFC President Dana White stated. “UFC is ahead of the curve when it comes to introducing new technology, and we think UFC fans will really enjoy seeing fights in 3D.”

The 3D broadcast features a separate production crew and equipment.

Todd Harris and Kenny Florian will announce the 3D broadcast in addition to the regular crew of Goldberg and Rogan.

Payout Perspective:

As we wrote in our UFC 126 Payout Perspective, we had a hunch the UFC would head to 3D soon. It will be interesting to see how the broadcast would look in 3D. If you have a 3D TV and plan on watching the event, we’d like to hear from you after the event. From what I’ve seen of the new 3D TV technology, it is very nice, but if you need to wear special glasses to view the matches, I don’t foresee this growing in widespread popularity.

MMA Junkie reports that UFC head Dana White predicts that the new UFC.tv technology launched with UFC 126 is the future of UFC events.

Dana White told MMA Junkie:

 ”I’ve been saying it for 10 years. Everything is going Internet. I believe that everybody is going to be watching TV and be on the Internet.” While the UFC has long offered its pay-per-view broadcasts via online streams, the partnership with NeuLion includes options for fans to choose multiple camera angles from which to view the fight, as well as the option to listen to a variety of audio feeds, including direct feeds from each fighter’s corners.

Payout Perspective:

While White believes the future of PPV may be the internet, many people that purchased the new, online technology were dissatisfied with their experience.  Several people in the forum section of MMA Underground complained of technical issues and poor picture quality with UFC.tv. (h/t MMA Supremacy). As with new technology, there will be bugs and hopefully the UFC will do something to address the complaints. But these problems may make other leery of purchasing online.

Its hard to foresee UFC events going online exclusively. This would foreclose a portion of the fan base that are not online savvy, not willing to purchase an event via the internet and not willing to sit in front of a computer for 3 hours to watch a UFC event. I think the success of UFC.tv will depend on the ease of use and the picture quality. Two things that were an issue with the UFC 126 broadcast.

Welcome to another addition of Payout Perspective. Today we look at UFC 126 held in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Super Bowl weekend show featured a trio of fights: the much-anticipated Anderson Silva facing Vito Belfort, Forrest Griffin taking on Rich Franklin and Jon “Bones” Jones faced Ryan Bader.

Silva KOs Belfort

After an intense weigh-in face off where both fighters had to be restrained, the fight ended abruptly as Silva’s front kick to Belfort’s chin stunned “The Phenom.” A couple shots on the ground by Silva ended the evening in the first round. Although he credits Steven Seagal for teaching him the kick, the Spider is still pretty good.

Next up for Silva is a potential superfight with GSP. Certainly everyone, except Yushin Okami, would like to see it next. As we’ve talked about, a GSP-Silva fight could surpass 1.6 million PPV buys. The anticipated fight should have an international appeal and it will be interesting where the UFC will have the fight. Look for this fight to happen in December.

Griffin beats Franklin

In a fight between fan favorites, Forrest Griffin fought off the Octagon rust to beat Rich Franklin. In the post-fight interview,  Joe Rogan helped Griffin “push product” as Griffin put it, by plugging Griffin’s two books. Unfortunately for Griffin, MMA Junkie reports that he is out until August with a foot injury unless he is cleared by a doctor. It will be interesting what Franklin will do next. He is still a quality fighter but his future may not be in the Light Heavyweight division. If Anderson Silva decides to leave the middleweight division, I could see Franklin moving back in.

 Jones submits Bader, earns title shot

Jon Jones submitted Ryan Bader in the second round and leapfrogged into a title match versus Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. With Rashard Evans out with a knee injury, and Rampage Jackson not ready for the shot, the UFC decided to give it to Jones. The announcement came via Rogan in the post-match interview. A good ploy by the UFC as you got to see Jones’ reaction as he first heard he was getting the shot. Even though Jones is getting the shot on relative short notice, Rua cannot be happy with the matchup especially since he will be facing a Pro-Jones crowd in New Jersey. Only Matt Serra had it worse for a title defense.

The Rua-Jones fight should bolster ticket sales and PPV buys. Not only is Jones’ popularity at a high, the native New Yorker will get home field advantage in Newark, New Jersey.  Obviously, the UFC is playing up the local ties and hopes that the event shows the folks in New York what its missing.

 Fighter Payouts

Via MMA Junkie:

Champ Anderson Silva: $200,000 (includes no win bonus)
def. Vitor Belfort: $275,000

Forrest Griffin: $275,000 ($150,000 win bonus)
def. Rich Franklin: $75,000

Jon Jones: $140,000 ($70,000 win bonus)
def. Ryan Bader: $20,000

Jake Ellenberger: $32,000 ($16,000 win bonus)
def. Carlos Eduardo Rocha: $8,000

Miguel Torres: $56,000 ($28,000 win bonus)
def. Antonio Banuelos: $9,000

Donald Cerrone: $36,000 ($18,000 win bonus)
def. Paul Kelly: $19,000

Chad Mendes: $19,000 ($9,500 win bonus)
def. Michihiro Omigawa: $8,000

Demetrious Johnson: $10,000 ($5,000 win bonus)
def. Norifumi Yamamoto: $15,000

Paul Taylor: $36,000 ($18,000 win bonus)
def. Gabe Ruediger: $8,000

Kyle Kingsbury: $20,000 ($10,000 win bonus)
def. Ricardo Romero: $10,000

Mike Pierce: $28,000 ($14,000 win bonus)
def. Kenny Robertson: $6,000

As always, the payouts are not inclusive as certain fighters receive “locker room bonuses” from the UFC and paid from their individual sponsors.

It’s interesting to see that Jon Jones gets paid like a top star. His base was only $5K less than the more-established Rich Franklin. It looks like the base salaries has increased from a $3,000 minimum to $6,000 minimum.

Bonuses – each fighter received a $75K bonus

Paul Kelly versus Donald Cerrone – Fight of the Night

Jon Jones – Submission of the Night

Anderson Silva – Knockout of the Night

No complaints on any of the fighter bonuses. I have been a proponent of giving the benefit of the doubt to a lower-tier fighter for Sub or KO of the night but both Jones and Silva deserved their bonuses.

Attendance and Gate

Saturday’s “UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort” event drew a reported 10,893 attendees and generated a live gate of $3.6 million. This did not include an additional $45,100 in revenue generated by the 1,046 attendees who viewed the fight via closed-circuit broadcast. (h/t MMA Junkie)

Sponsorship Watch

Xbox 360 – Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson was sponsored by the Microsoft video game console maker. Johnson’s gym in Kirkland (recently featured on Inside MMA) is 15 minutes from the Microsoft campus in Washington. Not sure if this was the tie-in to get him sponsored, but it’s a theory. Not only did Johnson use his twitter to ask his followers to demand that his fight be televised, he used it to promote Xbox 360′s  Twitter and Facebook page.

Xyience – The energy drink of the UFC was in full force with signage on the mat and on every bottle of water used by the fighters. It also sponsored an Ultimate Access Sweepstakes where two fans could win the VIP treatment at UFC 129 in Toronto which includes meeting Jon Jones. A great form of brand activation.

Tapout – A new fashion statement coming to the ring replacing the regular fight shirt – the track suit top. Not a lot of design and it looked great.

Form Athletics /K-Swiss – Jon Jones signed a multi-year deal with K-Swiss which promised a Jon Jones shoe. Jones wore the K-Swiss tubes at the weigh-ins. Also, Jones will have a signature line of clothing with Form Athletics. It probably includes this hoodie.

MusclePharm – Despite its past troubles, it sponsored three fighters (two in one fight – Ellenberger v. Rocha) including Anderson Silva.

Speaking of Silva, he reportedly made $100K from Brazilian brand Bonanno for wearing it during the fight. In addition, Silva signed with Brazilian sports marketing agency, 9ine. Although relatively new, the agency is owned by WPP, an established, worldwide advertising firm.

Facebook and Twitter

The UFC utilized its Facebook page to live stream another fight. It first used its page at UFC Fight for the Troops 2. This time, Demetrious Johnson faced Kid Yamamoto. Johnson had campaigned, via his twitter, to have his fight televised. And behold, he gets the opportunity to have fans see his fight via Facebook. Johnson also forged a nice sponsorship deal with Xbox 360.

The UFC also introduced a fight game on Facebook: UFC Fight Nation.

Vitor Belfort and Anderson Silva made waves on Twitter as both were trending prior to weigh-ins. The fight was especially popular in Brazil. After his big KO, Silva remained trending in twitterverse hours after the fight.

UFC 126 Prelims: 2 million viewers

MMA Junkie reports that Saturday night’s UFC 126 prelims hit 2 million viewers. It earned a 1.2 household rating including a 1.7 for M18-49. It was the highest-rated program in its timeslot among M18-49 and 18-34. It was an all-time high for “UFC Prelims” broadcasts.

HD Net at the UFC Weigh-Ins

HD Net’s Inside the MMA held its weekly show at the UFC weigh-ins. Bas Rutten and Kenny Rice were joined by Mike Goldberg. The show provided insight and did a good job in hyping the fights as the fighters got on the scales. It was surreal to see Joe Rogan host the UFC weigh-ins on one channel and then flip to Inside the MMA and see his PPV broadcast partner on HD Net. I think the HD Net broadcast adds value to the weigh-ins but it cannot go up against the live feed hosted by Joe Rogan. It will be interesting to see what the UFC decides to do.

UFC offers new experience via UFC.tv

The UFC introduced a new technology on UFC.tv which includes control of audio and video, multiple camera angles and interaction with other fans. No news yet on how many people took advantage of it but we will keep you updated.

Storylines Post-UFC 126

“Superfight in the making” – Silva v. GSP: Jake Shields is the only man to stop this from happening.

“Next big thing” – Jones gets title shot on 6 weeks notice: At 23, is he ready to hold down the Light Heavyweight Division?

“Rashad Evans moving?” If Jon Jones wins, Evans stated that he will never fight his teammate and move divisions.

Odds and ends

Look for the UFC to do something more with 3-D. With its new technology initiatives, it’s coming soon.

In its pre-main event fight analysis, the UFC used mini-Belfort and Silva to go over the keys to victory. Pretty interesting.

Aaron Rodgers thanked Dana White via tweet for the Championship belt he had on the podium after the Super Bowl.

If you were wondering where Silva got the mask at the weigh-ins, Sherdog has the info. Before Silva donned the mask, there was Shaq.

 The UFC announced that UFC.tv will offer a new viewing experience featuring live statistics, multiple camera views and audio feeds. In partnership with NeuLion, Inc., the UFC aims to provide fans with a more interactive perspective of its fights. In hopes that fans will like it, the UFC is offering the exciting first round of Edgar-Maynard II for free.

Via UFC:

The Ultimate Fighting Championship^® and NeuLion, Inc. (TSX:NLN), the leading service provider of live and on-demand international, sports and variety programming delivered via broadband, today announced a partnership to launch a brand new service for UFC^® offering the most interactive, far-reaching digital experience yet.

The new online tool gives fans the ability to control audio and video feeds of UFC Pay-Per-View events, as well as other unique features such as quad view, picture-in-picture, video quality up to broadcast quality, live chat and live scoring by fans. The new UFC viewing experience will launch online on Feb. 5 at UFC.TV, just in time for the much-anticipated UFC^® 126: SILVA vs. BELFORT card.

 
Payout Perspective:

It will be interesting to see how many people will take advantage of this new technology. The price point will make a difference on whether people will check it out. The demo is pretty cool for the fact that there is a bar near the bottom of the screen that indicates where the action is during the round (e.g., flurry, takedown, injury). The different camera angles are a nice touch but I assume that the producers would provide the best camera angles when viewing the fight. So, watching the other angles didn’t really add much in my opinion. If you are into alternate views, it may be cool to play with the different camera angles. I actually think it would be neat if they put a camera on each corner (as they coach their fighter) as well as Dana White as he watches the match. For example, would have been great to have seen White watch Silva-Maia and Silva-Sonnen.

The new technology does provide the UFC with another chance to interact with its fans, and for fans to interact with each other.