MMA General Discussion and Fight Announcements 7.0

[Rocko604]

So apparently the UFC 217 is not doing well at the box office thus far. Could be because UFC prices the hell out of tickets for their MSG cards (which I understand given how in demand the building is, and the need to turn a profit. But it also could be because the UFC has done absolutely zero to promote the return of GSP. Absolutely nothing on Fight Pass, no All Access show, nothing. Yes, they did a few press conferences, but they weren't hyped at all. All of a sudden there was a live video. No one knew they were happening.

There's a bit of an MMA fan generation gap in play here with all the new casual Conor and Ronda fans not knowing who GSP is, and the UFC doesn't seem to care to introduce him to the new casuals. I still think the PPV will sell well, espeically when you take international orders into account, but it seems that unless a fighter can promote himself, ie. Conor or Jones, the UFC isn't going to bother doing any promotional work themselves.

 

[m9]

So apparently the UFC 217 is not doing well at the box office thus far. Could be because UFC prices the hell out of tickets for their MSG cards (which I understand given how in demand the building is, and the need to turn a profit. But it also could be because the UFC has done absolutely zero to promote the return of GSP. Absolutely nothing on Fight Pass, no All Access show, nothing. Yes, they did a few press conferences, but they weren't hyped at all. All of a sudden there was a live video. No one knew they were happening.

There's a bit of an MMA fan generation gap in play here with all the new casual Conor and Ronda fans not knowing who GSP is, and the UFC doesn't seem to care to introduce him to the new casuals. I still think the PPV will sell well, espeically when you take international orders into account, but it seems that unless a fighter can promote himself, ie. Conor or Jones, the UFC isn't going to bother doing any promotional work themselves.

I think you'll see the push next week. I don't think the UFC bothers as much with these long promo periods anymore as I doubt they make that money back, and the fighters hate doing it. Speaking of the new generation, people aren't going to care weeks out from something anymore, they can do a heavy push the week of the fight and be okay.

Lets see where we are at in 8-10 days.

 

[m9]

More noise between TAM and TJ...

https://www.mmafighting.com/2017/10...n-he-injured-chris-holdsworth-with-cheap-shot

His denial of doing what he's accused of while saying he went too hard in some sparring sessions screams that he did it...lol

This is probably nothing, that kind of stuff goes on everywhere. But I don't like Dillashaw so whatever, I'll assume he did it.

Sucks about Holdsworth though, one of the few TUF guys that seemed extremely promising.

 

[Avs_19]

More noise between TAM and TJ...

https://www.mmafighting.com/2017/10...n-he-injured-chris-holdsworth-with-cheap-shot

His denial of doing what he's accused of while saying he went too hard in some sparring sessions screams that he did it...lol

The reaction I had when this first came out is the same as Dillashaw in that interview, if he's so dangerous and such a terrible teammate, why were they all crying in the media when he left? Wouldn't you want a guy, who is intentionally injuring teammates, far away from your gym?

 

[LSCII]

The reaction I had when this first came out is the same as Dillashaw in that interview, if he's so dangerous and such a terrible teammate, why were they all crying in the media when he left? Wouldn't you want a guy, who is intentionally injuring teammates, far away from your gym?

Gyms love the prestige of having the ability to claim a world title holder as their own.

 

[m9]

Every single high-end gym has at least one "Dillashaw" that is tougher on training partners than other guys. Compared to some of the stuff that goes on at other places, this really isn't anything. The media is just fishing for stories between Dillashaw/TAM and are scraping the bottom of the barrel now in regards to the "feud".

I'm 100% sure this incident did happen just like I'm 100% sure the facts of the incident are exaggerated.

 

[LSCII]

Every single high-end gym has at least one "Dillashaw" that is tougher on training partners than other guys. Compared to some of the stuff that goes on at other places, this really isn't anything. The media is just fishing for stories between Dillashaw/TAM and are scraping the bottom of the barrel now in regards to the "feud".

I'm 100% sure this incident did happen just like I'm 100% sure the facts of the incident are exaggerated.

Exactly.

 

[Rocko604]

I think you'll see the push next week. I don't think the UFC bothers as much with these long promo periods anymore as I doubt they make that money back, and the fighters hate doing it. Speaking of the new generation, people aren't going to care weeks out from something anymore, they can do a heavy push the week of the fight and be okay.

Lets see where we are at in 8-10 days.

Was listening to the Luke Thomas Show yesterday, and according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the UFC recently did a marketing study and a "high percentage" of "the current PPV audience" do not know who GSP is. That has to be troubling if you're the UFC.

You are correct in that the audience may not care too much in the weeks ahead so we'll see what happens next week. Cormier/Jones seemed to be going down this path too but did reasonably well at both the gate and on PPV. But if the current buying audience is saying "We don't know who GSP is, and we really don't care what he's accomplished, when's Conor fighting next?" There's a serious problem here. And to combat this, the UFC is doing almost nothing on their media platforms.

 

[LSCII]

Was listening to the Luke Thomas Show yesterday, and according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the UFC recently did a marketing study and a "high percentage" of "the current PPV audience" do not know who GSP is. That has to be troubling if you're the UFC.

You are correct in that the audience may not care too much in the weeks ahead so we'll see what happens next week. Cormier/Jones seemed to be going down this path too but did reasonably well at both the gate and on PPV. But if the current buying audience is saying "We don't know who GSP is, and we really don't care what he's accomplished, when's Conor fighting next?" There's a serious problem here. And to combat this, the UFC is doing almost nothing on their media platforms.

Few things here. 4 year between fights is a lifetime. So it's not surprising newer fans to MMA have no clue who GSP is. Secondly, GSP's style is boring as f***. So it's not like you get to see a ton of his highlights on Fox when they air Top 10 KOs and other programming. Thirdly, the sport has bypassed him. He's part of the history of the sport, but I'm not so sure this return will be a good thing for him.

 

[m9]

Few things here. 4 year between fights is a lifetime. So it's not surprising newer fans to MMA have no clue who GSP is. Secondly, GSP's style is boring as ****. So it's not like you get to see a ton of his highlights on Fox when they air Top 10 KOs and other programming. Thirdly, the sport has bypassed him. He's part of the history of the sport, but I'm not so sure this return will be a good thing for him.

Agreed with all of this.

 

[Rocko604]

Few things here. 4 year between fights is a lifetime. So it's not surprising newer fans to MMA have no clue who GSP is. Secondly, GSP's style is boring as ****. So it's not like you get to see a ton of his highlights on Fox when they air Top 10 KOs and other programming. Thirdly, the sport has bypassed him. He's part of the history of the sport, but I'm not so sure this return will be a good thing for him.

I agree with all of this as well. I'm looking at this more from a business/marketing perspective and not as a fan. The reasons for the new fans not knowing who he is aren't too hard to understand, I'm just surprised at the UFC's response to it all. That, on top of Dana's near reluctance to even talk about this fight.

When tickets went on sale, Dana tweeted "For those that give a shit about this fight, tickets went on sale today." to Dana being asked how he feels about GSP being back and what it means for the UFC: "Awesome." That's it.

The hardcore fans may be quick to hear Dana say something and take it as the exact opposite, but a lot of casuals aren't going to get excited for something if Dana isn't.

 

[Rocko604]

On another topic, Dana hinted the next TV deal might be more of a digital platform.
https://www.mmafighting.com/2017/10...n-to-digital-platform-for-next-broadcast-deal

 

[m9]

On another topic, Dana hinted the next TV deal might be more of a digital platform.
https://www.mmafighting.com/2017/10...n-to-digital-platform-for-next-broadcast-deal

I like the sounds of it, though I think it could just be a leverage thing.

 

[Rocko604]

I like the sounds of it, though I think it could just be a leverage thing.

I think it would be difficult for the UFC to ignore the success of the WWE Network. Not that they would go full on streaming, though, but I could see FIght Pass being a bigger entity in the future than it is now. (I know we've been over this before so I'll leave it there). It's no secret that ratings for professional sports are down everywhere it seems, and the number of cable cutters keeps growing. I'd be surprised if WME isn't taking that into account.

 

[jaric1862]

feel like GSP is going to be a big draw once hes 2 fights in. The newer/causual MMA viewers need to get introduced to him and how dominant he was. He's also canada's best fighter, which is something that will definitely help him draw in more viewers. As for ticket sales, it is always speculated before big events (remember what they were saying before mcgregor vs mayweather) that they are not selling well. It always seems to turn out fine

 

[Rocko604]

Barboza vs Khabib, UFC 219, December 30th.

 

[Avs_19]

Barboza vs Khabib, UFC 219, December 30th.

Nice. That was the fight to make. They need a legit main event, preferably Conor/Ferguson, but I like the look of that card so far.

 

[LSCII]

Nice. That was the fight to make. They need a legit main event, preferably Conor/Ferguson, but I like the look of that card so far.

Let's see if Fatty Khabob can make weight for a change.

 

[LSCII]

More on the Dillishaw/Holdsworth story about training when TJ was with TAM, and this is from CH's mouth...

https://www.mmafighting.com/2017/10...h-breaks-silence-about-t-j-dillashaw-incident

 

[m9]

More on the Dillishaw/Holdsworth story about training when TJ was with TAM, and this is from CH's mouth...

https://www.mmafighting.com/2017/10...h-breaks-silence-about-t-j-dillashaw-incident

Pretty much what was discussed here. Yes it happened, yes Dillashaw is over-aggressive in training. Was Dillashaw going out of his way to hurt Holdsworth? No.

 

[m9]

I can't find a version of it to post here (hopefully someone has it) but I was really impressed by the statement issued by the UFC/Dana White in regards to Mark Hunt. Maybe the bar is set low for in regards to how White handles these things, but this was well-done.

 

[LSCII]

Pretty much what was discussed here. Yes it happened, yes Dillashaw is over-aggressive in training. Was Dillashaw going out of his way to hurt Holdsworth? No.

Yep. Just threw it out there since it was now Holdsworth commenting, and not some random TAM person on his behalf. I did find it interesting that he said how if you bested TJ in training, he'd go look at film and try to find ways to beat you. That's impressive in terms of his competitiveness. I've never been a huge Dillishaw fan, but I have to respect that dedication to improving.

 

[Rocko604]

So Uriah basically fire Justin Buchholz as head coach of TAM and demoted him to teaching one muay thai class a week.

 

[Kitten Mittons]

Till vs Wonderboy in February.

Literally worst possible matchup for Till.

 

[MD thaivuN]

Till vs Wonderboy in February.

Literally worst possible matchup for Till.

Dunno about worst matchup possible. Both men wants a low-output counter striking game and both men will get what they want. And we'll probably get a starring contest. Oh god, why did the UFC book this?