MMA Universe

Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective. This time we take a look at UFC 144 from Tokyo, Japan with Zuffa’s first show in the country. The fans saw a great main event with Frankie Edgar defending his title versus former WEC titleholder Benson Henderson.

Henderson takes title from Edgar

It was worth the price of the PPV. A back and forth fight that saw the fight turn on a vicious upkick which rocked Edgar. Henderson was the aggressor despite Edgar landing more strikes. Edgar showed the heart of a champion but the size disparity was clear.

For Henderson, the win was redemption from the “Showtime Kick” almost 14 months earlier. How ironic that Anthony Pettis headkick of Joe Lauzon propelled him into a title shot against Henderson…the man he took the WEC belt from with that highlight reel kick.

For Edgar, it seemed too soon to ask about dropping a weight class. If anyone deserves a rematch, its Edgar, the guy that upset the legendary BJ Penn…and then dominated him to prove it wasn’t a fluke in the rematch. We’ll see what’s ahead but the initial outlook sounds like a move down to face Jose Aldo.

Bader gets win against overweight Rampage

A couple fights removed from reviving Tito Ortiz’s career, Bader took control of his own by defeating an unimpressive Rampage Jackson. This was not the best Jackson as he missed weight and claimed a knee injury as the reason. Still, a win is a win and gets Bader back on track.

For a guy that begged to be on this card, Jackson didn’t look like it. He was probably the most popular of the non-Japanese fighters on the card, yet it was clear he wasn’t at his best. Does this mean the end for him or does he get motivated once again for another run in the division.

Okami upset

Tim Boetsch came back from a 2-0 round deficit by knocking out crowd favorite Yushin Okami in Round 3. Okami was dominant in the first two rounds and looked like the guy that was supposed to fight Anderson Silva in Brazil. Unfortunately, he didn’t finish the fight and was upset. It stunned the crowd and Joe Rogan went nuts.

Attendance and Gate

A very good crowd for a Sunday morning in Tokyo. Although no numbers were made official, the UFC indicated that ticket sales were going well. There was a late surge in ticket sales and WOWOW confirmed at least 15K seats were sold (H/t: Tony Loiseleur of Sherdog). The Saitama Super Arena could house 22,000 for an event.

Bonuses

According to MMA Junkie, bonuses were $65,000 each and went as follows:

- Anthony Pettis – KO of the Night
- Vaughn Lee – Submission of the Night
- Edgar/Henderson – Fight of the Night

Sponsorships

The Octagon included some Japanese signage (WOWOW, Shindai and Unity) along with the core of Tapout, Xyience, Toyo, Corn Nuts and Bud Light. UFC Undisputed 3 and Jason Staham’s upcoming movie “Safe” also were in the Octagon.

Zach Arnold of Fight Opinion noted the lack of Japanese sponsors. Its interesting considering that in Brazil, there was more of a presence of Brazilian sponsors as they sponsored fighters.

Full Metal Jousting took a more active role as it sponsored the tale of the tape. As an aside, I’ve actually started watching the show after hearing about it. This article thinks it could be the next UFC.

No MetroPCS this time in the Octagon although it was still a named sponsor.

Anthony Pettis had Corn Nuts, Toyo Tires and Xyience as his prime in ring sponsors. Certainly, sponsors think highly of Showtime.

I think if more agents want to get more visibility for his fighter and their sponsors should tweet their sponsors:

#ufc shorts of @JoeLauzon – @MicroTechBUZZ @Venumfight @TrainingMask @PunchDrunkGamer@kaiwaaoficial @alienware lockerz.com/s/185952470

— KOreps.com (@ko_reps) February 21, 2012

Although not shown, the tweet includes a picture of Lauzon’s fight shorts. Its a good use of twitter and cuts out having to squint to see the logos.

Frankie Edgar had something similar.

Thanks to all of my sponsors for @ufc 144: @TeamGaspari, @Affliction, @TRXtraining, @Venumfight, @MicroTechBUZZ, @MetroPCS.

— Frankie Edgar (@FrankieEdgar) February 19, 2012

Pre-Fight Hype

The Philadelphia Inquirer had a piece on Frankie Edgar prior to Saturday night’s title defense.

The UFC Countdown show was very good and gave a great profile on Benson Henderson’s background including his relationship with his mother. Henderson can definitely be a face for the UFC and his story could be much broader than just North American audiences.  Although it dedicated less time to this, the Jake Shields portion was very good as it talked about the death of his father.

As we covered here, the UFC did “person on the street” interviews about the state of Japanese MMA. It also brought back some of the memories of Pride for the hardcore enthusiasts.

GSP paid a visit to a Japanese martial arts school. Also in the video, Dana White visits the mayor. Roy Nelson also took a tour of Japan which included eating some exotic foods.

As we indicated previously, Rampage Jackson was promoted heavily for his return to where he made a name for himself.

NY Giants defensive lineman Justin Tuck made a call to Frankie Edgar to wish him luck prior to his fight with Benson Henderson. As I stated in the earlier post, I thought Edgar was a Jets fan.

Post-UFC 144 Headlines

- The obvious headline is who’s next for the Smooth one? It looks like its Showtime although I wouldn’t be mad with a rematch with Edgar. I think Pettis gets the shot because its an easy sell for the eventual PPV. How many times will we see the Showtime Kick as a lead-in to the fight?

- What’s next for Edgar? It seemed like immediately after Edgar lost, he was being ushered into the Featherweight division. It was a close fight and he deserves a rematch for the belt. Yet, it almost was a foregone conclusion that he’ll drop down and get a shot at Jose Aldo. I’m not opposed to this, in fact I think they should actually make this fight at 155. But, I disagree with the circumstances in which Edgar is seemingly made to move on.

- What should Rampage do? When you look at the past couple years, God’s Street Soldier (a reference to his tat) is steadily declining. His return to Japan was promoted but his performance was hindered by a knee injury. Is it a matter of injuries or a matter of discipline? The UFC may have to consider what to do with Jackson next

- The UFC’s visit to Japan brought back memories of Japan’s MMA scene  and the problems surrounding it. Zach Arnold of Fight Opinion has much on this subject. It was also featured on both Spike TV MMA Uncensored and HD Net’s Inside MMA. Overall, most believe the UFC’s visit was a success. We’ll have to see whether or not it will make Japan an annual visit. And, what does this visit do, if anything, for the local state of MMA.

Odds and Ends

Disappointing night for Japanese fighters with Kid Yamamoto, Yoshihiro Akiyama and Yushin Okami. Okami especially disappoining considering he looked excellent through two rounds and then fell victim to the punches of Tim Boetsch.

Hatsu Hioki was one of the bright spots for Japanese MMA and is being considered as a potential challenger to Jose Aldo.

The interpreter did a great job at the weigh-ins and at the event. Either she had a great memory at the weigh-ins or she was making it up. At the event, she had a pad of paper to write things down as well as a spiffy pen topper.

Bart Parlaszewski shaved his sponsors and agency into his crooked mohawk. Do you get an extra bonus for this?

Very nice moment post-fight with Henderson finding his mom in the front row and her mom wanting an immediate picture of her son with the belt.

I may travel down to Tacoma and see if the UFC champ is minding the store at Peter’s Grocery this week.

While I was skeptical, the four hour PPV went well with only one match tacked on at the end (the Facebook match) as filler.

Conclusion

We may see a positive buy rate for UFC 144 considering the return to Japan, Rampage Jackson and the Edgar/Henderson title fight. Yet, with Edgar headlining in his past two fights, he’s averaged just 237,500 buys. Perhaps he wasn’t the problem as he faced Gray Maynard in both. But, UFC 136 was a rematch of a great fight and Chael Sonnen returned on the same card. And, it just received 225,000 buys.

The fact is, the lower weight divisions have yet to draw big numbers. Even with Rampage’s return to Japan, this card seemed like one for the dedicated fans and my guestimation would be around 275-300K buys.

MMAPayout will be taking a look at the storylines heading into UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson, which will be held at The Saitama Super Arena in Japan on Saturday February 25, 2012.

UFC Sells Out Long Awaited Return to Japan

UFC officials today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that ticket sales are still moving briskly for this weekend’s event at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and the fight card is expected to sell-out all of the nearly 20,000 available seats.

Furthermore, UFC officials are so encouraged by the buzz surrounding UFC 143 that plans for a return to Japan are already under consideration, and multiple annual visits – as well as a version of “The Ultimate Fighter” – are also possible.  (MMAJunkie)

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson Misses Weight

Quentin “Rampage” Jackson missed weight by 6 pounds last night at UFC 144 weigh-ins. Jackson claims that this was due to an unspecified injury and as a result he will forfeit 20% of his show money to his opponent, Ryan Bader. (MMAPayout)

UFC Japan Sponsors Plus “Pay-to-Play” TV Deal with TV Tokyo, – Event Set To Air at 3AM in Japan

“This is why Dentsu backing UFC is so critical. A multi-year deal to promote shows in the country means nothing unless Dentsu, which has plenty of juice, can convince sponsors to back them to get the events on TV. If an outlet like TV Tokyo, which historically has plenty of pay-to-play examples for buying programming time, is taking a pass on the UFC… that spells trouble. WOWOW doesn’t cut it. You need a major broadcast TV network backing you or else you are going nowhere on a big scale in Japan.”

- TV Tokyo will air 90-minute highlight version of UFC Japan show from 3:15 AM to 4:45 AM JST after the show is done.

- Don Quijote & UFC Undisputed 3 are the TV sponsors.

- This was a last-minute deal by Dentsu. (FightOpinion)

MMAFighting Hit’s the Streets of Japan and Tests UFC Brand Strength and State of MMA

UFC 144 will mark the promotion’s first event in Japan in over 11 years, and its return to the “Land of the Rising Sun” has forced the MMA community to once again figure out just how healthy the Japanese MMA scene is. With that in mind, we hit the streets of Tokyo to find out whether the locals were UFC fans and why they think MMA has fallen on hard times in the country. (MMAFighting)

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UFC 144 Marketing and Advertising

The UFC has been doing a pretty good job of sucking in those hardcore nostalgic MMA fans who hold Japanese MMA and their tradition in high regard.  Although some may have wanted the UFC to be held in a white ring and have a ramp with Lenne Hardt announcing the fighters, Dana White was not shy to remind MMA fans and Media that this isn’t PRIDE and that the Japanese promotion who was top dog only a few years ago is dead.

Having said that, the posters released for UFC 144 have been great, adding some of that Japanese and PRIDE feel to them while maintaining the UFC’s brand.  Key to the UFC this time around is to spread brand awareness and create some roots for future expansion into not only Japan, but Korea, Philipines, and China, who they feel have even more potential at the moment as untapped markets.  At this time, it’s going to take a good amount of time and effort to elevate the MMA scene in Japan to what it once was.

UFC 144 Poster + UFC 144 Rampage Poster:

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Japanese fighter Megumi Fujii Tweeted an anime version of the UFC 144 Japan poster:

MMA Junkie had a recent article on the managers’ role in representing fighters. With the recent departures of Jose Aldo and Mauricio Rua from their representation, the need for managers has come into question.

The Junkie article looks at long time manager Alex Davis as he discusses the need for a fighter to have good management. He also addresses the question of whether top notch fighters need representation anymore. This comes on the heels of Rua’s statement (which could have been taken out of context) that the UFC does not want its fighters to have managers.

Via MMA Junkie:

“Some people will say that once a fighter reaches a level where he enters the UFC, he doesn’t need management anymore, but usually a manager has worked very hard to get him to that point without ever getting properly rewarded for his efforts,” Davis said. “Only once a fighter is at the top can a manager have a chance at making something in the deal, which is only fair. Not only that, but its not like, ‘Hey, great, now I am in the UFC. My problems are over!’ Far from that. Things get way more complicated.

Davis identifies more responsibility outside of just fighting that the fighter must consider once he makes it in the UFC. There are many tasks that a manager should handle while the fighter concentrates on training.

In addition, the manager may have contacts with sponsors and promoters in helping the younger fighter achieve his goals.

Payout Perspective:

Manager and agent may be two separate jobs or one in the same. Certainly fighters can have both or one individual to handle both duties.

One need only look to Matt Mitrione, Brandon Vera and Alistair Overeem more recently as examples of what happens when you have issues with management. Mitrione publicly fired his manager, Vera lost a year due to a contractual dispute and Overeem is currently in litigation with Golden Glory.

Then there are Georges St. Pierre and Frankie Edgar who left Shari Spencer to go with closer ties to manage their career.

Still, there are many MMA management agencies that take care of their fighters in securing sponsorships and public appearances. This can go a long way in getting fighters the visibility, notoriety and opportunity to increase the value of their own personal brand.

Heavy MMA had a good two part (one and two) series last year on the role of an agent.

The Junkie article points out the reasons that a good manager is necessary in a fighters’ career. Certainly, there are many responsibilities and tasks a manager needs to do in helping fighters prepare for their next fight while making sure they maximize their opportunities.

The question is how much is a manager worth to a fighter? For top tier fighters, do they need a manager? Can the fighter have someone do the same tasks for less, without having to give up a portion of their purse or sponsorship payout. We will see if consolidation of management duties becomes a trend in MMA. There is a definite need for good representation, but at what cost?

Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective. This week we take a look at UFC 143 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada where Nick Diaz took on Carlos Condit for the interim welterweight belt.

Condit frustrates Diaz for interim belt

We saw the Stockton Slap but Carlos Condit executed his game plan to perfection in eluding Diaz’s boxing skills and a last round submission attempt to win the interim title. The bout was reminiscent of Frankie Edgar versus BJ Penn at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi. In that one, Edgar executed a game plan to perfection that by Round 5 you knew that the favorite was in trouble. Same here with Condit.

For Condit, a date with GSP is in the future. Despite his post-fight interview where he quit MMA, Diaz will likely be back and a Josh Koscheck fight seems about right. Even in defeat, a Nick Diaz post-fight interview is always entertaining.

Werdum outlasts Big Country

A solid debut for Fabricio Werdum who edged out Roy Nelson in a battle of BJJ black belts. A very good fight that won Fight of the Night honors. Werdum may not be ready for the top tier of this division but maybe a couple more impressive victories could earn him a return bout against Junior dos Santos.

Koscheck defeats Pierce

A closer bout than most thought. Arguably, Pierce could claim he should have won. Not sure why Josh Koscheck is such a hated man but Nick Diaz is gaining fans for being about as bad. Of course, Koscheck’s post-fight “salute” to the fans won’t help his plea for fans.

Attendance and gate

MMA Junkie reports that UFC 143 drew 10,040 fans for a gate of $2.3 million.

Bonuses

MMA Junkie also reported the fight night bonuses for UFC 143. Each fighter received $65,000.

Fight of the Night: Fabricio Werdum versus Roy Nelson
Submission of the Night: Dustin Poirer
KO of the Night: Stephen Thompson

Poirer and Thompson were the clear cut winners for their divisions as Poirer had an impressive submission and Thompson’s educated foot won him a KO.

Sponsors

The octagon included a couple new logos including the UFC’s new official corn nuts sponsor, Corn Nuts. Also, the History Channels’ new show, Full Metal Jousting. The show is from the producers of the Ultimate Fighter. It also included MetroPCS which also ran commercials during the prelims. In addition, UFC Undisputed 3 was featured as the UFC is pumping up the game for its release as you can purchase the game via GameStop. The Octagon also had its usual mainstays of Harley Davidson, Musclepharm, Tapout, Dodge and Bud Light.

The Corn Nuts sponsorship included a “corn”er cam. A nice play on words. It will be interesting to see what future activation plans it has with the UFC. MetroPCS  also sponsored the Judge’s Call which occurred right before the judge’s decision.

The US Marines, as always, sponsored the Tale of the Tape for Koscheck-Pierce. RYU was also a featured sponsor although its signage was not featured.

Every time Josh Koscheck fights I’m reminded that Lugz is still around.

Roy Nelson was sponsored by the History Channel’s new show for his fight. Maybe it was fitting that his white shorts were stained with blood for “Full Metal Jousting.”

UFC Primetime

Good reviews for this set of shows. It was a little weird for the show to feature GSP’s rehab but this may have compensated for the lack of Diaz information. An interesting snippet from the last episode of Primetime: Nick Diaz didn’t know who was playing in the Super Bowl. We will try to update you with ratings if we can obtain them.

Post-UFC 143 Headlines

Condit versus GSP. Its not the matchup that most, including GSP, wanted. But we will see this fight sometime later this year. Perhaps, this is Montreal’s fight to have since its spring card was delayed.  It should be a good battle although the UFC could have marketed a Diaz versus GSP fight easier. Nonetheless, the UFC could get Diaz versus Koshcheck which could get a lot of interest albeit not for a title.

What would Nick do? UFC Primetime got more out of Nick Diaz than most have seen. But, how likely would Diaz do another behind-the-scenes look after this loss. His disdain for any type of media coverage is evident. But, he’s a compelling figure that many have grown to like (or hate). Regardless of what fans think, he’s an asset for the UFC that they must manage.

Dustin Poirier may be the only hope for the 145 division against Jose Aldo. An impressive fight with some great jiu jitsu. We’ll see how he progresses.

Odds and Ends

- I liked the new intro to the PPVs. I’m wondering why they didn’t go with something like this earlier. Long live Gladiator Man.

- Good move by the UFC and Fox to go back to the weigh-ins without commentary. I think for those that tune in to watch them, they like to see and hear the whole thing rather than get analysis.

- What do you think Nick Diaz was saying to Lorenzo Fertitta right after the fight?

-Diaz said he was paid way too much for MMA in his post-fight in Octagon interview. I thought his complaint was that he wasn’t paid enough.

- It will be interesting to see the numbers for the UFC in 3D in theaters. Based on twitter, there were very positive reviews but we’ll have to see if that equates to good attendance.

- We saw the first commercials for TUF on FX.

- For those watching the Super Bowl, here’s the Kia ad with Chuck Liddell. He’s in the commercial briefly around the 1:00 minute mark.

Conclusion

A good night of fights but Diaz-Condit didn’t have the star power of GSP. The co-main events and undercard featured good match-ups but only for hardcore MMA fans. How many casual viewers knew Mike Pierce? It will be interesting to see how much the 3D in theater attendance takes away from the PPV buy rate. A buy rate above 250,000 should be considered a success.

Las Vegas, Nevada – The Ultimate Fighting Championship® and Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. (NASDAQ:CIDM) announced today that HDNet will be the official sponsor of four, live 3D theatrical broadcasts of UFC® Pay-Per-View events in 2012 at nearly 75 Cinedigm affiliated theatres.

Beginning with the live 3D broadcast of UFC® 143: DIAZ vs. CONDIT on Saturday, Feb. 4, HDNet will be the featured sponsor, giving the network increased exposure for its MMA programming including promotion of Inside MMA.

In addition, HDNet personalities Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten will have a noticeable presence during 30-minute countdown shows that air in those theatres prior to the live broadcast of UFC Pay-Per-View events.

This news comes on the heels of UFC and Cinedigm announcing late last year the plan to bring the fastest-growing sport in the world to Cinedigm’s affiliated 3D theatres across the country, which include such circuits as Carmike Cinemas, Rave Motion Pictures, Kirkorian Theatres, UltraStar Cinemas and Galaxy Theatres.

“We’re giving fans the chance to watch UFC like never before – live and in 3D,” UFC President Dana White said. “We’re excited that HDNet will be the official sponsor of these 3D events with Cinedigm. It’s going to be a big year for the UFC and we can’t wait to give our fans the chance to see Pay-Per-View events live in theatres in 3D.”

“HDNet has always been the go to source for MMA fans – from fights to news – and partnering with UFC and Cinedigm on 3D is a natural fit to HDNet’s ongoing commitment to MMA,” HDNet Fights CEO Andrew Simon said. “This sponsorship is just one of many new, exciting, and cutting edge additions to HDNet and Inside MMA in 2012, from a brand new studio to more live events, exclusive highlights and on-site UFC coverage.”

The first 3D theatrical presentation, UFC® 143: DIAZ vs. CONDIT, airs live on Pay-Per-View from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. In the night’s main event, the fiery and unpredictable Nick Diaz battles knockout artist Carlos Condit for the interim UFC welterweight title. Plus, heavyweights Roy “Big Country” Nelson and Fabricio Werdum collide, while welterweight bad boy Josh Koscheck meets powerhouse wrestler Mike Pierce.

Cage Potato reports that Zuffa has banned all gun, ammo, hunting and knife sponsors in the UFC. The ban is a one of the guidelines promulgated by the Fox Sports Media Group.

Longtime UFC fighter sponsor, The Gun Store, is the most notable to be affected. Also affected was Ammo to Go, which sponsored fighters on the recent UFC on FX 1 card and UFC 142. According to reports, the news broke last week and the ban was instituted this week.

Cage Potato received word from Fox regarding the reason for the restriction:

Via Cage Potato:

“Simply put, UFC is complying with its FOX Sports Media Group contract which only applies to events and shows carried on its networks. Beyond that, FOX does not comment on its standards and practices.”

MMA Payout had the opportunity to contact Grohmann Knives, also known as GKnives.com. It sponsored Jim Miller Friday night among other fighters. In an email to MMA Payout it stated it was not notified of the ban and in fact the company was solicited by UFC fighters about possible future sponsorship opportunities.

Payout Perspective:

The ban is not too surprising considering the UFC-Fox relationship. With being in the mainstream comes restrictions and we can see this as the sponsorship version of the more family friendly UFC. Yet, this may hurt some fighters who rely on sponsors like The Gun Store and Ammo to Go as a source of revenue.

Seen another way, the ban could foster a new way to think about sponsorship. Ingrained Media, a marketing firm working with MMA fighters, hypothesized that there may be a time when there may not be any sponsors in the UFC. It called for more of a strategy when it comes to building brands for fighters rather than just finding logo placement for televised events. The challenge is to find ways to leverage the fighter’s UFC platform in to sustainable revenue for the fighter and value for the brand. We will see if this happens.

While the ban hurts all fighters, it likely hurts mid-tier fighters the most considering they are on the televised portion of cards cards but do not make the top tier money as main eventers and are not lower-tier fighters who may not be able to solicit sponsors at the point in their career. For them, the MMA middle class will have to look elsewhere for sponsors.

Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective. This week we look at the UFC’s return to Brazil in which Jose Aldo defended his featherweight title against Chad Mendes.

Aldo finishes Mendes and celebrates in crowd

Jose Aldo’s explosive power was on display as a knee coming out of a clench ended Chad Mendes’ title shot. After the fight, Aldo ran into the crowd which provided a great moment albeit a gasp for UFC security.

Realistically, Aldo’s security breach is much ado about nothing. He knew that he had the crowd behind him and he wanted to celebrate with his fans. Sure, someone could have done harm to him, but as I stated, he knew his audience. If someone wanted to do harm to him, they could have done so on the walkout. While the trampling of fans may have occurred, it seems as risky as when fans storm the court or field as they do in football or basketball. Do fans feel concerned when a Green Bay Packer does a “Lambeau Leap” after a touchdown? Yet, this was a “teachable moment” for UFC security for next time. It was awkward seeing Aldo trying to shake UFC security as he was trying to celebrate. Even Reed Harris tried to step in to direct Aldo back to the cage.

For Aldo, he’s cleaned out the Featherweight division. It will be interesting to see what he’ll do next. A possible superfight with Frankie Edgar (or Ben Henderson) would be a great matchup and something that could be promoted as a battle of current division champs.

Belfort chokes out Johnson

What a bad trip for Anthony Johnson. A failed weight-cut, losing a portion of his show purse, a first round submission and Johnson returns to the United States without a job. Johnson weighed in on Friday at 197 pounds for his middleweight fight. That means he was 11 pounds over (considering the 1 pound allowance). Belfort, understandably would agree to take the fight if Johnson weighed no more than 205 pounds on Saturday. If Johnson didn’t make it, it certainly would have killed the top end of the PPV. Fortunately, he made weight Saturday.

Still, making Dana White sweat the night before whether one of his fighters would make weight was the likely nail in the coffin for Johnson’s UFC career.

Johnson has had past problems with cutting weight. He definitely is a chiseled athlete, but an athlete that should fight at 205.

For Belfort, its another step back toward Anderson Silva’s title.

Attendance and Gate

According to the Wrestling Observer (subscription required), the attendance at the HSBC Arena garnered 10,605 paid fans for a gate of $2.8 million. The arena is said to hold 14,000 so we may extrapolate the number of comps assuming the arena was at capacity.

In Brazil, UFC 142 was seen on Globo, its top-rated network. Although the three live fights were shown between 12:45am to 2:00am, it garnered 23 million viewers (Wrestling Observer).

Bonuses

MMA Junkie reports that the bonuses were worth $65,000 each. Edson Barboza won KO of the night for his spectacular spinning heel kick of Terry Etim. Barboza and Etim also won Fight of the Night. The leg lock machine, Rousimar Palhares won for submission of the night.

UFC Prelims on FX

This was the first time that the UFC Prelims appeared on FX and it received an 880,000 viewer average. The ratings were lower compared to its regular showings on Spike TV. We will try to update you with the UFC 142 Countdown rating  on Fuel.

Sponsorships

The Octagon included MetroPCS, Xyience, Burger King, Bony Acai, Manguinhos Refinaria, and IntegraMedica with Bud Light in the center of the Octagon. In addition to these sponsors, the UFC advertised its upcoming video game UFC Undisputed in the Octagon.

Burger King also ran a promotion with Anderson Silva in which he would have lunch with a fan that won a contest for what the Spider should do to celebrate 1 million twitter followers. The Burger King sponsorship has only been in Brazil but we shall see if the relationship will extend to the United States.

KMart is back with the UFC as it placed a voiceover at the beginning of the first round of each fight for its new promotion offering $10 off for UFC 143. It was a nice form of brand activation as its logo and the promotion reminded viewers at the beginning of each first round on the PPV.

MMA Junkie reported on soccer clubs getting into the sponsorship of UFC fighters in Brazil. The UFC was said to be cautious about the newfound sponsor money due to the intense rivalries between the clubs.

Along with his normal pre-fight sponsor banner, Belfort had another banner in honor of his kidnapped sister. He also spoke about the rash of kidnappings in Brazil at the post-fight press conference.

Silva also participated in the UFC’s #Hunt4UFC promo where he gave out tickets to lucky fans.

It will be interesting to see how much value the Brazilian sponsors such as IntegraMedica and Manguinhos will bring to the UFC and vice versa.

Odds and ends

-Another set of fights which ended with first round stoppages. UFC 134’s main events all ended in the first round and the same occurred for UFC 142.

-Aldo’s crowd surf and Barboza’s heel kick were featured on Deadspin right after the fights. Barboza’s heel kick made number 3 on ESPN’s top plays of Saturday night.

-No word whether there were any glitches with the XBox Live platform as many of those shut out of UFC 141 were given 142 for free.

-For you pro wrestling fans, Aldo’s run in the crowd, reminded me of DDP of WCW fame heading into the crowd after a match.

-Mike Pyle embraced the “heel” role in his victory over Brazilian Ricardo Funch as he egged on the crowd after his victory.

Conclusion

UFC 142 was a success from the perspective of its further ties with its Brazilian fan base. There were many PR events during the week including UFC fighters taking surf lessons and open workouts. No doubt the UFC has reengaged with the fans and it bodes well for local viewership of the first international Ultimate Fighter held in the country this year. But, the U.S. buy rate will not reflect the same as it ran opposite the NFL Playoffs. In addition to the playoffs, the fact that this card catered to Brazilian fans meant less known names to the U.S. fan base which will affect the final buy rate results. We also have the factor that a lighter weight division was at the top of the card which has meant (in recent history) a lower buy rate.

The WWE claims that the brand for WWE pro wrestler John Cena is worth an estimated $106 million in 2010. The report comes out with the announcement of a huge sponsorship deal between Cena and Post Cereal’s Fruity Pebbles.

ESPN’s Michelle Steele reports that Cena was an $106 million brand in 2010. It was confirmed by wrestling site, PW Torch, which added, “In 2010, WWE reported $477.7 million in total revenue, which translates to Cena directly contributing to 22.2 percent of revenue two years ago.” The Torch indicated that its the number it tells corporate sponsors about Cena’s brand value.

Post Fruity Pebbles and the WWE sent out a joint press release (a portion of which is below) to announce the sponsorship deal (h/t Cageside Seats):

Post Fruity Pebbles and WWE Superstar John Cena are teaming up for a new partnership, which includes a collectable cereal box and an instant-win promotion awarding a VIP meet-and-greet with the talent.

Cena’s passion charity, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, for which he has granted over 250 wishes for children with life-threatening medical conditions, and ‘be a STAR,’ the anti-bullying alliance co-founded by WWE and The Creative Coalition, are prominently displayed on newly-designed Fruity Pebbles cereal boxes featured nationwide January through March.

The on-pack instant win grand prize winners will each receive a VIP meet-and-greet with Cena, priority seating and transportation to a WWE live event, and an autographed “Rise Above Hate” T-shirt, in support of the ‘be a STAR’ anti-bullying message. First prize winners will receive an autographed version of the exclusive T-shirt. The second prize winners will receive the exclusive T-shirt. To enter, look inside the specially marked boxes featuring Cena for a special code to submit on www.PebblesPlay.com/Cena.

The sponsorship opportunity arose out of The Rock taunting (in perhaps an improv moment) Cena for his in ring wardrobe calling him “Fruity Pebbles.” And a sponsorship opportunity was born…

Payout Perspective:

The news of Cena’s brand value may seem outrageous to many MMA fans considering he is “sports entertainment,” but Cena attracts mainstream corporate sponsors. In addition to the Fruity Pebbles sponsorship, Cena has deals with Gillettte and Subway. He is the biggest star in the WWE but the biggest decision for the WWE creative team is whether to turn him into a bad guy this year. This seems trivial from an outsider’s perspective but it also means big business when you consider sponsors and for Cena personally as he gets a portion of the WWE’s business including  t-shirt sales and (likely) PPVs.

The Fruity Pebbles deals shows how opportunistic the WWE is with its product and its widespread popularity. The WWE probably was not looking for a deal with the cereal company prior to The Rock taunting Cena.

Will there ever be an MMA star with this much appeal and brand value? The UFC is still years away from having a star reach John Cena status. Maybe its unfair to compare but its still an interesting look at how much an individual can mean to a company.

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.

The UFC announced that MetroPCS will be the exclusive wireless sponsor of the UFC. The deal makes the second sponsor the UFC has picked up this month.

Via UFC press release:

MetroPCS will be integrated within UFC’s digital media assets and will produce exclusive content that will be distributed across several MetroPCS channels, including metropcs.com, MetroVISION, MetroSTUDIO and the company’s social media channels. MetroPCS customers will also have exclusive access to wallpaper, ringtones and other mobile accessories featuring their favorite athletes of the Octagon^®.

Additionally, MetroPCS will participate in the UFC’s widely popular Octagon Nation Tour^™, hosting the fully-customized, 18-wheeler UFC truck at store locations across the country. This will bring the excitement of the Octagon to consumers around the nation, with the chance to meet their favorite UFC athletes and take part in the UFC’s ultimate fan experience on wheels.

Payout Perspective:

MetroPCS partnered with TapouT earlier this year as what looks now to be a prelude to its sponsorship with the UFC. We will see what brand activation plans MetroPCS will have with the UFC. It was a prominent logo in the Octagon at UFC 141.

With the purchase of Strikeforce by Zuffa, sponsors felt the squeeze as Strikeforce imposed the same fee (or tax) as the UFC does with its sponsors.

Strikeforce imposed the sponsor fee starting with June’s Strikeforce event. The fee also applied to Strikeforce Challengers’ sponsors.  As a result, sponsors such as Ranger Up, CageHero and VXRSI are no longer sponsoring fighters in Strikeforce.

While some do not dispute the imposition of the fee, it severed relationships some fighters had with brands since they fought at small MMA promotions. For the sponsors unable to pay the $35,000 to $50,000 fee to have its logo on a fighters’ shorts, it meant revamping its marketing strategy.

Also this year, the state of sponsors in MMA was examined as many sponsors questioned the return on investment.

Recently, clothing brand Respect Your Universe (RYU) became the UFC’s newest sponsor and signed welterweight Jon Fitch. Despite RYU, some have been critical about the UFC’s lack of obtaining new sponsorships. It will be interesting to see how many new sponsors sign on in 2012. With the Fox deal, Zuffa should be able to take advantage of the momentum.

Brock Lesnar has signed on with Everlast to an exclusive, multi-year equipment contract with the UFC Heavyweight. Lesnar will use Everlast equipment and be a pitchman for Everlast products.

In addition, Everlast will become the sponsor of Lesnar’s private gym, the DeathClutch Gym, in Minnesota. Primarily known as a boxing manufacturer for most of its history, the Lesnar signing shows a level of commitment to get into the UFC.

(photo via PR Newswire)

Some may recall that earlier this year, Everlast signed Jon Jones to a similar deal.

Payout Perspective:

In addition to the Jones signing, Everlast entered into a contract with Bellator in March 2010 to be its exclusive equipment provider. The Lesnar move offers Everlast much more exposure as Lesnar is the PPV king of the UFC. Its hit or miss on how good a pitchman Lesnar might be but his identifiable physique and presence should make for good photo ads. The endorsement deal shows an aggressive marketing strategy by Everlast to sign two of the top UFC draws for its brand.

UFC 129 in Toronto was the company’s first stadium show which set records for attendance, gate and bonuses. The bonuses were the biggest ($129,000) in recent memory. It also held the first of two UFC Expos held this year. In the end, the UFC had a substantial impact on the economy in Toronto.

The card featured the showdown between GSP vs. Jake Shields, Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick and Randy Couture (in his final match) vs. Lyoto Machida.

UFC 129 was the biggest PPV buy of this year (excluding UFC 141) with 800,000 buys. We will see how it does in January for UFC 142 as Aldo headlines the card.

UFC 134 in Rio De Jineiro, Brazil was a return for the company. The show was a sellout and similar to Toronto, the crowd was hot during the entire show. Anderson Silva headlined the show by defeating Yushin Okami. Notably, the UFC promoted that it would air the prelims on a digital screen in the Little Brazil section of Times Square to watch the prelims. Unfortunately, due to Hurricane Irene, this promotion was thwarted.

Silva scored major sponsors for UFC 134 including a soccer club, Burger King and Nike. He also starred in a Budweiser commercial that aired in Brazil.

Bonuses were huge as well with every category winner getting $100,000.

Unlike 129, UFC 134 did not score as well with PPV as it only garnered 335,000 buys.

The UFC’s return to Toronto this December did not garner as much fanfare as 129 but received a nice PPV number of 480,000 buys worldwide.

These two shows paved the way for international expansion for the UFC. 129’s stadium show displayed the type of draw and economic impact it could have over an area when it comes to town and its Rio show spawned UFC 142 and the first international TUF.

The UFC’s newest sponsor, Respect Your Universe, Inc. (RYU), has signed its first UFC star as it has entered into a deal with welterweight Jon Fitch. The Portland-based brand will sponsor Fitch at UFC 141 in his match with Johny Hendricks.

Via RYU press release:

“We are all very excited to have Jon join the RYU team as our first Mixed Martial Arts athlete,” commented John Wood, President of RYU.  ”Jon embodies the spirit and essence of respect, honor, strength and nature; the pillars of RYU. We look forward to working with Jon and his team in the continuing growth of RYU.”

Recently, RYU announced it was UFC’s newest sponsor as UFC 141 would be its first event with the brand’s presence. The sponsorship deals come in lieu of its first full line of clothing this spring, tagged “Built for Athletes, Suited for Style.”

Payout Perspective:

RYU follows in line of most UFC brands that also sponsor its fighters. We shall see how the RYU brand determines how it picks and chooses its fighters. Fitch is a calculated “get” as he could be a top welterweight depending on how he comes back from his shoulder injury. RYU stresses that it uses recycled and organic material in its clothing. It may fit in with Fitch’s lifestyle considering his vegan diet although that may be assuming too much.

The Sports Business Journal reports that Top Rank Boxing has signed AT&T as a sponsor to a six month deal that will include some of its marquee fights in 2012. The deal includes the anticipated “Super Fight” between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in May.

The details of the pact include Pacquiao’s May fight as well as two to three premium cable tv fights which AT&T need not choose until two weeks prior to the fight. Additionally, the two companies agreed to a list of fighters that AT&T would find acceptable to sponsor.

Financial terms of the sponsorship were not disclosed although its believed that the deal could be worth in excess of $1 million due to Pacquiao and the rise in value of sponsorships for his fights.

Sponsorship would include logo placement on the ring mat and broadcast area. According to the Sports Business Journal, “It would also include arena and local activation rights, to use video and images in advertising and promotional materials and fight tickets.”

Payout Perspective:

The sponsorship deal appears to hedge the potential for a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight in 2012 although both camps still seem at an impasse. The deal boosts Top Rank’s sponsorship profile and allows AT&T the flexibility to pick and choose when it wants to involve its brand in a particular fight. Perhaps AT&T had the extra money as the deal was reported the same day it dropped its bid to purchase T-Mobile.

The Portland Business Journal reports that Respect Your Universe, Inc.(RYU) has struck a deal with the UFC to become an official event sponsor. Fans of MMA will begin seeing the name and logo of the clothing company based out of Portland, Oregon beginning at UFC 141.

RYU is a publicly traded company that is led by former Nike executives. The company is focusing its marketing efforts into the growing UFC market.

Via the Portland Business Journal:

…the RYU brand will be visible during and running up to the event (UFC 141), including logo displays, live announcements during bouts, TV promotions and placement on the UFC website.

The ads on UFC.com alone equal tens of millions of impressions, the company said. That’s before you tally the expected million-plus pay-per-view buys, a figure that grows exponentially figuring that as many as eight people are watching per buy.

RYU raised $5.3 million from investors this past summer in preparation for the release of its inaugural full clothing line coming out next spring. Its target is the MMA-inspired premium performance apparel market.

Payout Perspective:

With Nike-pedigreed executives managing this company, we will see if RYU can make an impression in the world of MMA. The sponsorship deal with the UFC should bring the company some notoriety and we will see how that equates to customers. The apparel market in MMA is competitive and there are many brands out there and we will see if the investment in sponsorship gives RYU an edge. Being a publicly traded company, we’ll be able to see how its doing financially as it goes.

Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective. This week we look at the UFC’s return to Toronto as the UFC made a stop at the Air Canada Center as Jon Jones defended his title against Lyoto Machida.

Jones chokes out Machida

Despite losing the first round, Jon Jones showed resolve to come back and defeat “The Dragon”. Jones used his size to complete a standing guillotine which rendered Machida limp.  Up next for Jones will be the winner of Rashad Evans/Phil Davis in January. At this point, Jones looks like he is gaining confidence and looks real comfortable in the Octagon, something to worry about for those in his division.

Mir snaps Big Nog’s shoulder

Frank Mir broke Tim Sylvia’s arm for his black belt and may have earned another stripe for his kimura on Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera. Big Nog had Mir in trouble but Mir was able to gather himself to reverse Noguiera, grabbed his arm and locked in the kimura. The gruesome replay were shown over and over again with the crowd “ooing” each time the arm seemingly snapped.

Zombie surprises Hominick

It took only seconds for the Chang Sung Jung to defeat Canadian favorite Mark Hominick. A disappointing return for Hominick.

Attendance, Gate and Bonuses

As reported earlier in the week 18,303 fans attended for a gate of $3.9 million Canadian ($3.77 million U.S.).According to F4Wonline.com (subscription required), about 15,000 paid although it was not a sell-out. F4WOnline opined that the disappointing turnout may be due to the UFC coming back too fast.

MMA Junkie reported the bonuses for UFC 140 with each receiving $75,000.

KO of the night: The Korean Zombie
Submission of the night: Frank Mir
Fight of the Night: Jones-Machida

Sponsorships

The Octagon included Xyience, Toyo Tires, Dodge, TapouT, Musclepharm, the UFC’s Ultmate DVD Collection, StubHub, Batteflield 3 had the side pads (including graphics) and was on the mat, Bud Light was present on the ring pads and center.

Bony Acai, Harley Davidson and StubHub were presenting sponsors for UFC 140. The U.S. Marines had its usual “mini-fighter”  matchup for Jones-Machida.

UFC.com Store owned the fighter prep point.

Harley Davidson is taking part in the UFC Hometown Throwdown promotion which had been previously promoted at other events as well as 140. Similar to the WEC version, it asks fans to pick a city in which they would want the UFC to hold an event. The promotion asks for fans to provide an email address in order to take part. The UFC will email the fans when the final cities are chosen.

Mark Hominick wore the CFL’s Hamilton TiCats gear once again.

Jon Jones wore his Form Athletics jacket in the back and during the walkout.

Brian Ebersole is now sponsored by TapouT as one witnessed via the logo shaved into his chest. He also was sponsored by BuyMMACards.com, which replaced MiddleEasy.com on his shorts.

Logistics company and fight sponsor Blue Grace made subtle changes to its logo including a visible web address for people to see.

Notably, EBX, which is a Brazilian investment company, sponsored the Nogueira brothers. We might expect more Brazilian and South American companies jumping into sponsorship with the upcoming card this January and with TUF: Brazil.

No Suffer on Mir this time as he sported a simple Jaco Hybrid Training Black t-shirt in his walkout.

The Korean Zombie did not wear his popular shirt but a white shirt with his Korean sponsors.

UFCstore.com had the Fighter prep point

More info on walkout wear here.

Jon Jones and Frank Mir broke out Xenergy drinks immediately after their win before their post-fight interview.

Not a lot of notable new sponsors here. The Octagon seemed UFC heavy. Perhaps this is due to the anticipated holiday shopping season. The UFC had indicated that new sponsors would not occur until the first quarter of next year.

Post-UFC 140 Headline

The only real headline coming out of this event is what’s next for Jon Jones. While some wish for a Jones-Anderson Silva matchup, its more likely that Jones face Rashad Evans provided he gets past Phil Davis and stays healthy enough to make it to the showdown.

Odds and Ends

- Tito Ortiz is now calling himself “The People’s Champ.” I thought the Rock was “The People’s Champ?” Copyright issues? Of course, I thought that Marshawn Lynch would have copyrighted “Beast Mode” too.

- UFC Countdown show aired on the Fox Regional Sports Networks as early as Sunday before the fight (according to the Direct TV guide) but either I was not paying attention or there was a lack of notice, but I missed the Countdown show when it was on my RSN. It appeared on the Audience Network later in the week and was online so I was able to catch it. Not sure if anyone else had a problem finding it on their RSN.

Buy Rate

Early estimations on the buy rate for UFC 140 by the Wrestling Observer have it at 440,000 buys in the US and 480,000 buys worldwide. This is a positive considering the UFC’s string of sub-400 PPV buys.  It also shows that Jones is beginning to grow as a PPV draw. Jones vs. Rampage did 475,000 buys and it has improved if you take the worldwide buy rate.

The Sports Business Journal released its results from its annual reader’s survey. While the UFC received some praise, the most telling result was whether sponsors should align its brand with the UFC.

According to the industry publication, of the 1,158 respondents to the question: “If you were a chief marketing officer, would you align your brand with the UFC?” 55 percent of the readers said it would not align its brand with the UFC. 28 percent of the respondent believed it would fit its demo while the other 16 percent had no opinion.

Another survey question indicates that its believed that sports sponsorship will increase slightly in the next five years.

Despite the result that many would not align its brand with the UFC, other responses were positive. Readers ranked the UFC third as a sports property/organization with the most potential growth. Of almost 1,500 respondents, 14 percent ranked the UFC behind the MLS and NHL. It also ranked fourth behind the NFL, MLB and the NHL as the most innovative property. It ranked ahead of the MLS and NBA.

Payout Perspective:

While the results do not define the future of the UFC, or MMA in general, the Sports Business Journal is regarded as an informative source in the sports industry. Its read by many mainstream sports people and I would gather that they are just being introduced to the world of mixed martial arts. The UFC-Fox deal certainly will help with the education and we will see how it will do in next year’s survey. While the UFC is receiving recognition for its growth potential and use of new media, it still seems as though skeptics are concerned about the violence in the sport. This could hurt with the future of landing mainstream sponsors despite its ties with Fox. With the belief that sports sponsorship will increase its spending in the future, the biggest hurdle that the UFC much face if it is to garner sponsors is educating a mainstream audience about its sport.

Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective. This week we look at UFC 139 at the HP Pavillion in San Jose, California where Dan Henderson defeated Maurico Rua in a 5 round battle.

Henderson defeats Rua in instant classic

It appeared that Dan Henderson would make short work of Mauricio Rua as it appeared that Rua was a goner in the first round. However, Rua survived, the referee did not stop it prematurely and fans saw an epic back and forth fight. Rua came back in rounds 4 and 5 but it wasn’t enough. While both fighters were gassed at different points of the fight, this is probably the reason why the UFC wanted main events to go 5 rounds. Both fighters showed a warrior mentality and left it all in the octagon.

Silva KOs Le

Sandstorm may be heard again in the UFC. Wanderlei Silva defeated Cung Le in front of Le’s hometown crowd. The win likely ensures that Silva will fight once again in the UFC. For Le, it appeared that he lacked the cardio needed to fight three rounds. A disappointing debut.

Faber submits Bowles; another rematch with Cruz next

Urijah Faber choked out Brian Bowles to earn another shot at Dominick Cruz. It seemed as though Faber’s presence on this card was undersold. Yet, there are rumors that Faber and Cruz will be the next TUF coaches. Based on Faber’s post-fight trash talk, this isn’t a bad idea considering the solid ratings this season’s TUF. The animosity between the two fighters and its debut on the FX channel should propel next season’s TUF.

Attendance and Gate

MMA Junkie reports attendance of 13,173 for a gate of $1.268 million. In comparison, Fedor vs. Werdum in June 2010 drew 12,698 fans for a gate of $1.1 million at the HP Pavillion in San Jose.

Bonuses

MMA Junkie reports the bonuses for UFC 139. Each fighter received $70,000. Interesting that there was a tie for Fight of the Night. In my opinion, Rua vs. Henderson was the clear winner for FOTN honor. If there was a tie, I would have given the bonus to Chris Weidman for Sub of the Night.

Fight of the Night: Cung Le vs. Wanderlei Silva; Mauricio Rua vs. Dan Henderson
Submission of the Night: Urijah Faber
Knockout of the Night: Michael McDonald

Sponsorships

-The usual suspects were in the octagon for UFC 139. Xyience, Dodge, Tapout, Harley Davidson, MusclePharm and Bud Light had the center of the Octagon a well as the side pads. The UFC also advertised its Ultimate Fight Collection just in time for the holidays.

- Clinchgear was featured via Dan Henderson. I really like Henderson’s branded DH apparel.

- Tom Lawlor was sponsored by XBox as part of its Kinect Sports 2 launch. He sported a t-shirt at weigh-ins and XBox 360 on his shorts. It was the only sponsor on his shorts. According to an XBox rep, this is just a one-time opportunity as it was specifically for the launch. Pat Barry had a similar sponsor opportunity with XBox 360. Demetrious Johnson remains as the only UFC fighter to continually be sponsored by XBox 360.

Twitter

Notably, Dan Henderson and Shogun were trending an hour after the PPV. In Brazil, Rua and Wanderlei Silva were trending topics after the PPV. The Henderson-Shogun battle received a lot of buzz via twitter. On another note, Bellator’s Chandler-Alvarez fight received its share of twitter buzz too.

Post-UFC 139 Headlines

- What’s next for Hendo? Does Dan Henderson fight at 205 or 185? Either division would present interesting title match-ups. At 205, Henderson would come up against Jon Jones, a guy almost 20 years his junior. At middleweight, Henderson could get a rematch with Anderson Silva.  Or, a Team Quest alum fight with Chael Sonnen. Either middleweight match-up seems more attractive than Jones.

- Cruz-Faber trilogy. Can this rivalry assist the lighter weight divisions? Certainly this season’s TUF is helping draw a steady viewership. A possible TUF with the animosity of these fighters should propel next season’s version.

Odds and Ends

- Talking about a guy’s widow’s peak and hair gel is pretty personal Mr. Faber. This rivalry is heating up and that’s a good thing.

- I wrote about the interesting weigh-ins this time around and the opportunity for a fighter to create their own personal branding. It also helps to make weight.

- Was Stephan Bonnar’s post-fight apology attempting to mitigate any possible lawsuit from Josh Koshcheck about making t-shirts with his likeness?

- For as good as Hendo-Rua was Dana White stated that the fight would have been too violent if it had aired on Fox as the UFC is still in the “education process.”

-UPDATED: Fighter Wear and fighter entrance music here courtesy of FighterxFashion.

Conclusion

After the big UFC on Fox airing, UFC 139 seemed like an afterthought. It was a very good card but lacked the buzz. One reason may be that Fuel aired the one hour countdown show instead of Spike TV before Spike aired it late Thursday night. Second, many casual viewers may not know Dan Henderson or Mauricio Rua. Certainly, these guys showed that they could put on a good fight. Yet, they aren’t known names. Finally, there is a level of fatigue the casual viewer (or perhaps every viewer) has with these PPVs. It seems like every other week fans are spending money on fights.  With the holidays coming up, some budgeting has to take place and that may mean a decline in PPV purchases. Based on the last couple of PPVs (UFC 136-225K buys, UFC 137-280K buys), it would not be out of line to state that UFC 139 is in the neighborhood of 250K buys. With that being said, it may be time to recalibrate how many PPV buys makes a card successful.

UFC 139’s weigh-ins last night provided some comic relief and three overweight fighters in preparation for tonight’s PPV. With some of the weigh-in comedy, one wonders whether the weigh-ins are now a place to work on fighters’ personal branding.

Remember when putting on a Jabawockeez mask to intimidate your opponent at the weigh-ins caused a near riot? It seems like the weigh-ins are becoming much more entertaining than just that.

Here are some highlights from yesterday:

-Danny Castillo wearing a tux which you could zip off from the back scored major points in the creativity department
-Tom Lawlor going Steven Seagal (shooting glasses and all). He also did his best Baron Von Raschke impression during the staredown as he gave the infamous claw. He also sported an XBox 360 shirt. In speaking with an XBox rep, Xbox is sponsoring Lawlor for its launch of the Kinect Sports 2. Demetrious Johnson remains as the only UFC fighter to be exclusively sponsored by XBox.
-Kyle Kingsbury and Stephan Bonnar hammed it up with a WWE-type posedown on the scales. With his patented fanny pack, Kingsbury is Zubaz and doo-rag away from being a 1980s wrestler from the Mid-South region.
-I’m not sure why more t-shirt sponsors of fighters allow the sponsored fighter to throw out free shirts to the crowd at weigh-ins. It gets your brand out there to the fans with the hopes of them coming back to purchase shirts. Of course the other side of that is the crowd is a considerable distance from the fighters. Thus, you get the Rick Story problem as he was unable to reach the crowd with some of his t-shirt throws. Since the NBA is out for some time, could the UFC borrow some of those t-shirt cannons to shoot out into the audience?
-Was Nick Pace confused in what division he was fighting in? Six pounds over really means that he should fight at 145 not 135.

Payout Perspective:

The weigh-ins seemed unorganized in terms of the actual weigh in. Whether there were issues with the scale or operator error, the weigh-ins seemed much more of an issue. Even though there were several fighters overweight, it usually doesn’t stop the pace of the weigh-ins. Also, it didn’t seem like the woman operating the scale knew about the one pound weight allowance as she grimaced each time she had to move the scale.

Similar to how the UFC wants its fighters to use twitter as a way to market themselves, the weigh-ins seem like an opportunity for fighters to promote themselves as well. Yes, the weigh-ins are usually something people pass over as its just guys getting on a scale. But, with a little more personality, it could be something that can be capitalized on in the future.