GDT: UFC on Fox: VanZant vs. Waterson

[Avs_19]

Date: December 17, 2016
Venue: Golden 1 Center
City: Sacramento, California
Time: 8pm ET/5pm PT
Viewing: FOX, TSN 4/5

MAIN CARD (FOX, TSN 4/5)

Women's Strawweight bout: Paige VanZant vs. Michelle Waterson
Welterweight bout: Sage Northcutt vs. Mickey Gall
Bantamweight bout: Urijah Faber vs. Brad Pickett
Welterweight bout: Alan Jouban vs. Mike Perry

PRELIMINARY CARD (FS1, TSN 4/5)

Light Heavyweight bout: Luis Henrique da Silva vs. Paul Craig
Featherweight bout: Cole Miller vs. Mizuto Hirota
Welterweight bout: Bryan Barberena vs. Colby Covington
Welterweight bout: James Moontasri vs. Alex Morono
Lightweight bout: Josh Emmett vs. Scott Holtzman
Women's Bantamweight bout: Leslie Smith vs. Irene Aldana

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass)

Bantamweight bout: Eddie Wineland vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Flyweight bout: Hector Sandoval vs. Fredy Serrano
Welterweight bout: Bojan Veličković vs. Sultan Aliev

Click to read more...

 

[Nurmagomedov]

OK now... PVZ v Karate Hottie is not a UFC caliber Main event. Sage v Gall is not a UFC caliber co-main event. Fine for Fight pass i guess but on Fox? Come on.

 

[Avs_19]

Certainly not the best Fox card but I'm looking forward to it just because of Faber. I've been a fan of his for a long time. He helped put those lower weight classes on the map and had some great fights in WEC. Hopefully he can put on one more great performance in his last fight. Seeing him come out to California Love in Sacramento will be cool.

 

[Rocko604]

Certainly not the best Fox card but I'm looking forward to it just because of Faber. I've been a fan of his for a long time. He helped put those lower weight classes on the map and had some great fights in WEC. Hopefully he can put on one more great performance in his last fight. Seeing him come out to California Love in Sacramento will be cool.

I remember watching when he fought Pulver at WEC 34 in Sacramento in 2008. Place was GSP-Montreal loud.

Fun fact, WEC 34 was Jose Aldo's WEC debut. Was the second fight on the prelim card.

 

[jw2]

OK now... PVZ v Karate Hottie is not a UFC caliber Main event. Sage v Gall is not a UFC caliber co-main event. Fine for Fight pass i guess but on Fox? Come on.

They're owned by a marketing company.
7 of those 8 are very marketable to casuals and people outside the sport.

 

[Avs_19]

I think the top two fights are still interesting, even if they're not main/co-main event worthy on a Fox card. PVZ and Waterson are two potential contenders in a division that needs them and then you have two young up and coming fighters with Sage/Gall. Jouban/Perry could be a fun striking match up as well.

It's free so it's fine.

I remember watching when he fought Pulver at WEC 34 in Sacramento in 2008. Place was GSP-Montreal loud.

Fun fact, WEC 34 was Jose Aldo's WEC debut. Was the second fight on the prelim card.

Yeah, they go crazy when his song hits in most places but it's especially loud in Sacramento.

 

[member 51464]

Predictions for Northcutt and Gall? Seems like a big step up in competition for Gall as Sage has actually won a fight before, haha.

 

[ck26]

12 Gauge Paige and Karate Hottie are the two hottest chicks to ever fight in the UFC. Super Sage and Alan Jouban are the two hottest guys to ever fight in the UFC.

I don't know why Faber isn't the main event here, Nor Cal, last fight ... but hey ... sex sells ...

 

[Wood Stick]

12 Gauge Paige and Karate Hottie are the two hottest chicks to ever fight in the UFC. Super Sage and Alan Jouban are the two hottest guys to ever fight in the UFC.

I don't know why Faber isn't the main event here, Nor Cal, last fight ... but hey ... sex sells ...

I don't think this card sells at all. I remember when Fox cards were supposed to be PPV worthy. Really disappointing Fox card as the majority of these have been. I understand not giving Conor away on free TV but with the deal ending soon, I think guys like Jon Jones, Jose Aldo, etc should be put on Fox.

 

[Rocko604]

Free tv is free tv. I don't care if it's Fox or FS1. It's all on TSN for me anyway, and I'd actually have to pay for extra for Fight Pass.

But seriously, I think serving up a card like this, on Fox, is maybe a middle finger to Fox as Ultimate Fighting Entertainment slowly makes its way to ESPN.

Unless Paige brings in a lot of viewers that are unbeknownst to us.

 

[jw2]

That's the point, it's free tv and UFC fans will tune in. There should be some good fights too. Casuals and non fans tune in and see good fights and pretty faces - that's to try to get them hooked. Putting Jones or Aldo on this card doesn't up the views enough, as opppsed to putting them on a PPV, which they sell more.

This card was strictly put together to get a new audience.

 

[Nurmagomedov]

That's the point, it's free tv and UFC fans will tune in. There should be some good fights too. Casuals and non fans tune in and see good fights and pretty faces - that's to try to get them hooked. Putting Jones or Aldo on this card doesn't up the views enough, as opppsed to putting them on a PPV, which they sell more.

This card was strictly put together to get a new audience.

Not giving the casual and non-fans a lot of credit there

I don't think anyone is unclear why those two fights are at the top pf the card. It's to make it seem like they are main-event caliber fights/fighters for marketing purposes.

Top of the card of UFC On FOX 17 (a year ago) for comparison:
Dos Anjos V Cerrone for the title
Overeem V Dos Santos
Nate Diaz V Johnson

There's not one fight on this card that comes anywhere close to the competitive standard and division importance of those three fights.

 

[Peter Griffin]

The next FOX card in January is shaping up to be no better with a main event of Shevchenko and Pena, although that fight has more implications in that division. Looks like as the deal is winding down the UFC is starting to focus it's efforts more into the PPV.

 

[BGDDYKWL]

The next FOX card in January is shaping up to be no better with a main event of Shevchenko and Pena, although that fight has more implications in that division. Looks like as the deal is winding down the UFC is starting to focus it's efforts more into the PPV.

Not to be one of these complainers, but 206 (name wise) was terrible, and 208 was cancelled, so the PPVs have been pretty thin as well unfortunately.

 

[kurt]

200 and 205 make me miss the old days of quality over quantity. What a diluted mess.

 

[m9]

12 Gauge Paige and Karate Hottie are the two hottest chicks to ever fight in the UFC. Super Sage and Alan Jouban are the two hottest guys to ever fight in the UFC.

I don't know why Faber isn't the main event here, Nor Cal, last fight ... but hey ... sex sells ...

You really think those two are the hottest two girls to fight in the UFC?

I mean, I don't want to derail the thread but Alexa Grasso and Veronica Macedo need to be in the discussion as well.

 

[m9]

This "UFC not caring about Fox" really snuck up on people?

We went from TUF Conor to TUF Benvidez vs Cejudo in a year. So yeah, this shouldn't be a surprise.

 

[Avs_19]

This "UFC not caring about Fox" really snuck up on people?

We went from TUF Conor to TUF Benvidez vs Cejudo in a year. So yeah, this shouldn't be a surprise.

TUF is pretty bad though and at least that's on FS1 where they still probably do better ratings than they would with any other programming. Fox is where it's really noticeable and some of it's because of injuries and other circumstances but just look at the main events compared to last year.

2015: Gustafsson/Rumble, Machida/Rockhold, Dillashaw/Barao (title fight), and RDA/Cerrone (title fight).

2016: Rumble/Bader, Glover/Rashad, Holm/Shevchenko, Maia/Condit, and PVZ/Waterson.

I don't know if it's because they're planning to leave Fox, too many events, or more focus on PPV this year but there definitely appears to be a change. They're no longer treating these events like they're almost on par with a PPV card.

 

[MD thaivuN]

Predictions for Northcutt and Gall? Seems like a big step up in competition for Gall as Sage has actually won a fight before, haha.

I'm surprised Northcutt is the betting underdog. Gall has yet to prove that he was UFC caliber; hell, he's not even tested regionally. Beating a photographer and CM Punk in the UFC isn't exactly good competition. I'm not particularly high on the potential of Northcutt in MMA (especially if he stays in the UFC during his development years) but it's probably a fight he should be winning

 

[m9]

TUF is pretty bad though and at least that's on FS1 where they still probably do better ratings than they would with any other programming. Fox is where it's really noticeable and some of it's because of injuries and other circumstances but just look at the main events compared to last year.

2015: Gustafsson/Rumble, Machida/Rockhold, Dillashaw/Barao (title fight), and RDA/Cerrone (title fight).

2016: Rumble/Bader, Glover/Rashad, Holm/Shevchenko, Maia/Condit, and PVZ/Waterson.

I don't know if it's because they're planning to leave Fox, too many events, or more focus on PPV this year but there definitely appears to be a change. They're no longer treating these events like they're almost on par with a PPV card.

I think they know they aren't getting paid anywhere near what they are worth on this deal and know they can mail it in a bit on some of these cards.

I also wonder when the negotiating of the next contract really starts, because I can guarantee later this year you are going to see a couple of huge Fox cards to try to pull in a massive rating. I don't know if you do Jon Jones return next August on Fox or something like that, but it wouldn't be a huge surprise to me.

 

[ck26]

You really think those two are the hottest two girls to fight in the UFC? I mean, I don't want to derail the thread but Alexa Grasso and Veronica Macedo need to be in the discussion as well.

Alexa Grasso looks 14. My ranking among legit, serious fighters is Carano, Karate Hottie then some combination of Paige, Miesha, Joanna Violence and Felice Herrig. Michelle Waterson is 10x hotter than the ring girls, and anyone who thinks that isn't a huge part of Paige/Waterson getting the main event is fooling themselves.

I'm surprised Northcutt is the betting underdog. Gall has yet to prove that he was UFC caliber; hell, he's not even tested regionally. Beating a photographer and CM Punk in the UFC isn't exactly good competition. I'm not particularly high on the potential of Northcutt in MMA (especially if he stays in the UFC during his development years) but it's probably a fight he should be winning

Gall has a slick ground game, and Northcutt's best win is ... Cody Pfister? And his one loss was by sub. Dangerous fight for Super Sage. No line, straight up bet, I'm taking Gall.

 

[zombie kopitar]

Maybe it's my norcal bias speaking here....but what are you guys talking about, I'm stoked for this card. It's not super deep, but the main card looks great to me.
You got Mike Perry swinging mad, Uriah's last fight + 2 fights for the new fresh face of the sport.

It is a main event to also help determine future marketing/matchmaking...there's nothing wrong with it.

Gall has a slick ground game, and Northcutt's best win is ... Cody Pfister? And his one loss was by sub. Dangerous fight for Super Sage. No line, straight up bet, I'm taking Gall.

Yeah he looks slick was from who he was fighting..... Sage was actually fighting real fighters. Imo he's looked really nervous/green more than anything.

Just go watch their footage and tell me who actually looks better. Sage has huge potential if he can work on his fight iq, he should have smoked Marin but he was not making any effort to try to keep the fight standing. That said, I like Sage but maybe not enough to put money on him.

I do not get Uriah being such a heavy favorite though, I mean he's been pretty garbage and this will probably be a boring ass grapple match that goes to decision.

 

[Neutrinos]

You really think those two are the hottest two girls to fight in the UFC?

I mean, I don't want to derail the thread but Alexa Grasso and Veronica Macedo need to be in the discussion as well.

I just Googled your nominees

I'd say Veronica is definitely in the running and I'd certainly put her ahead of Vanzant

Alexa Grasso shouldn't be in the conversation though

 

[darko]

Grasso > VanZant

 

[Wood Stick]

To be honest, Sage has fought Legacy level fighters in the UFC and Gall has fought guys that aren't exactly pro level fighters. I think I have Gall though.