MMAterial Facts (02/08/10)

• UFC 109 UFC 109 Fighter Salaries: Couture Nabs $250,000
• UFC Undisputed 2010 Video Game Details, Images
• Ultimate Fighting Championship showing its age in Las Vegas
• How San Jose became a mixed martial arts hotbed
• Middle East could be focus of first international edition of “The Ultimate Fighter”

UFC 109 UFC 109 Fighter Salaries: Couture Nabs $250,000

MAIN EVENT FIGHTERS

-Randy Couture: $250,000 (no win bonus) def. Mark Coleman: $60,000
-Chael Sonnen: $64,000 (includes $32,000 win bonus) def. Nate Marquardt: $45,000

MAIN CARD FIGHTERS

-Paulo Thiago: $30,000 ($15,000 win bonus) def. Mike Swick: $43,000
-Demian Maia: $62,000 ($31,000 win bonus) def. Dan Miller: $15,000
-Matt Serra: $150,000 ($75,000 win bonus) def. Frank Trigg: $30,000

PRELIMINARY CARD FIGHTERS

-Mac Danzig: $40,000 ($20,000 win bonus) def. Justin Buchholz: $8,000
-Melvin Guillard: $28,000 ($14,000 win bonus) def. Ronys Torres: $4,000
-Rob Emerson: $24,000 ($12,000 win bonus) def. Phillipe Nover: $10,000
-Phil Davis: $10,000 ($5,000 win bonus) def. Brian Stann: $17,000
-Chris Tuchscherer: $20,000 ($10,000 win bonus) def. Tim Hague: $7,000
-Joey Beltran: $12,000 ($6,000 win bonus) def. Rolles Gracie: $15,000

UFC 109 DISCLOSED FIGHTER PAYROLL: $944,000

UFC 109 AWARDS & BONUSES
(Each fighter was awarded $60,000 per award, which is in addition to his disclosed salary.)

Fight of the Night:
-Chael Sonnen and Nate Marquardt

Knockout of the Night:
-Matt Serra

Submission of the Night:
-Paulo Thiago     (MMAWeekly) …  [MMA Payout's Perspective]

UFC Undisputed 2010 Video Game Details, Images

THQ Inc. and Zuffa, LLC on Monday announced the first game play details surrounding UFC Undisputed 2010, the follow-up to the critically and commercially acclaimed debut video game based on the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Poised to deliver intelligent and intuitive combat, increased fighter customization, robust career progression, challenging new game play modes and explosive online offerings, UFC Undisputed 2010 is currently in development for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation3 computer entertainment system and PSP (PlayStationPortable) system. Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 system versions are scheduled for release on May 25, 2010, while the PSP system version is scheduled for release later this year.

…

“UFC Undisputed 2010 will deliver the most advanced and superior virtual MMA action based on the world’s most prominent and respected organization in mixed martial arts, Ultimate Fighting Championship,” said Brian Coleman, Vice President of Global Brand Management, THQ. “Through enriched game play and extensive new options, players will understand and appreciate what it takes to be a real UFC fighter.”

“Brock Lesnar’s intensity and relentless commitment to the sport of mixed martial arts, as well as to the UFC, make him a perfect candidate to be the cover athlete for UFC Undisputed 2010,” said UFC president Dana White. “You want to be a fighter? Videogamers and fight fans around the world need to step up to Brock’s level when they enter the virtual Octagon in UFC Undisputed 2010!”  (MMAWeekly) … [MMA Payout's Perspective]

Ultimate Fighting Championship showing its age in Las Vegas

For the third consecutive Ultimate Fighting Championship event in Las Vegas, one question dominates: So, when is Brock Lesnar fighting again?

The UFC will stage a third straight title-less Vegas main event Saturday night when veteran light-heavyweights Randy Couture and Mark Coleman lead the card of UFC 109 at Mandalay Bay Events Center.

“There’s great fights on this card . . . me and Mark are a couple of old wrestlers banging heads, two active Hall of Famers,” Couture said.
…
Yet, in the final card before UFC’s biggest names — Silva, welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre and heavyweight champ Lesnar — finally start returning to action after injury- and health-related absences, pitting the 46-year-old Couture (17-10) against the 45-year-old Coleman (16-9) is not creating the buzz usually associated with UFC’s high-energy shows.

From the high of UFC 100 in July, when the organization claimed a live gate of about $5 million, MMA interest tailed off to the Jan. 2 card at MGM Grand, when the live gate tally was $1.9 million, with 8,004 tickets sold and 5,314 reported as comps to the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

And now, Couture-Coleman.  (LA Times)

How San Jose became a mixed martial arts hotbed

The nondescript gym is tucked away in a San Jose strip mall, book-ended by a Big Lots and a fabrics store. Shoppers, pushing carts on the sidewalk, glance curiously through the windows at the muscular men tossing each other around inside.

“And they look at us like we’re from another planet, if we run out to our cars with our shirts off to grab something,” said Josh Thomson, one of the mixed-martial arts fighters who train at the American Kickboxing Academy.

Welcome to an unlikely epicenter of the MMA boom.

The facility has become a top camp with a who’s who of fighters including up-and-coming heavyweight Cain Velasquez. But just as a fight gym seems out of place in a shopping center, so is San Jose an improbable hotbed for an edgy sport that once was disparaged by Sen. John McCain as “human cockfighting” and wasn’t even allowed in California until 2006.

Strikeforce, which promotes fights that appear on CBS and Showtime, is based here. Its MMA events — which meld elements of boxing, wrestling and martial arts disciplines into a flurry of violence — draw thousands at HP Pavilion.
…

Some of San Jose’s MMA fixtures, like Mendez, are homegrown. Vietnamese-American fighter Cung Le grew up here. And Scott Coker, who has built scrappy underdog Strikeforce into a rival of industry giant Ultimate Fighting Championship, is a Gunderson High grad.

But any discussion of San Jose as an MMA destination begins with the arrival of Frank Shamrock, one of the sport’s pioneers.

There was an anything-goes sense of mayhem to “cage fighting” back in 1997 when Shamrock moved here from the small northeast California town of Susanville. He was “chasing a girl,” and the only other person he knew in town was Mendez.

“I asked if he minded if I come over and wrestled on his mats,” recalled Shamrock, who now runs two local gyms. “I guess it helped spawn a movement because San Jose has become the biggest producer of mixed-martial arts fighters in the industry.” (Mercury News)

Middle East could be focus of first international edition of “The Ultimate Fighter”

But really, the Middle East could be the first of the “TUF” international editions?

“Yup,” White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) over the weekend. “There are a thousand years of heat over there that we can do.”

Flash Entertainment, an event company and wholly owned subsidiary of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, recently purchased a 10 percent minority stake in Zuffa LLC, the UFC’s parent company. That opened the door for UFC 112, which takes place at Concert Arena at the Ferrari World theme park on Yas Island, and will also help fund the UFC’s continued international expansion.

White didn’t go into details about the Middle East edition of “TUF,” and its not known if it would extend beyond the UAE, but in November, he told MMAjunkie.com that UFC officials are working on distribution and production deals to bring UFC programming worldwide.

He said “TUF” has to be the foundation of those offerings, whether they’re through traditional television partnerships or online broadcast deals.

“How do we plug this whole thing in with television and how to watch it everywhere?” White pondered. “We’re trying to figure that whole thing out and build that now. But the groundwork for this thing is ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ and we’ve been working it very hard, and we’re making it happen. ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ is going to be all over the world. That’s the goal.”   (MMAJunkie)

QUICK HITS

• Warrior ethos emphasized in UFC partnership (Marine Corps Times)
• Season-one semifinalist Wilson Reis enters Bellator’s season-two 145-pound tourney (MMAJunkie)
• UFC 109 medical suspensions: Sonnen, Maia, Danzig and Guillard suspended (MMAJunkie)
• Hidehiko Yoshida to Retire on Inaugural ASTRA Card (MMAFighting)
• Chuck Liddell ‘Strong and Healthy’ Preparing for Tito Ortiz (MMAFighting)
• MMAjunkie.com poll results: How much would you pay for a WEC pay-per-view?  (MMAJunkie)
• Mixed martial arts appears to be nothing more than an act of bullying (BC Local News)
• The Case for WEC on Pay Per View (Heavy)
• UFC 109 Post-Mortem: Falling Hammer, Sonnen, More (Sherdog)
• Couture Chokes Out Coleman at UFC 109  (Sherdog)
• PVT Mag Profiles Belfort, Kyra Gracie & ‘Pele’ (Sherdog)
• Analysts: THQ Turnaround Underway, Proving Time Ahead (Gamasutra)

VIDEO OF THE DAY

• UFC 110 Promo:  This summer’s biggest event: UFC 110 from Sydney!

IMAGE OF THE DAY

TV LISTINGS

• HDNet Fights Presents K-1 Classics (Maeda & Teixeira, 2008)  at 8 PM ET on HDNet (02/12/10)
• InsideMMA (Randy Couture, Mike Swick, & Bobby Lashley) at 9 PM ET on HDNet (02/12/10)
• HDNet Fights Presents King of the Cage – Vengeance  at 10 PM ET on HDNet (02/12/10)
• Best of Pride FC at 10 PM ET/PT on Spike (02/12/10)
  

UPCOMING EVENTS

• HDNet Fights: King of the Cage – Vengeance at 10 PM ET on HDNet (02/12/10)
• UFC 110: Nogueira vs Velazquez at 10 PM ET on PPV (02/20/10)
• Strikeforce Challengers: Prangley vs  Amoussou at 11 PM ET/PT on Showtime (02/26/10)
• WEC 47: Bowles vs Cruz on at 10 PM ET on Versus (03/06/10)

Simpson vs. Leben Confirmed for UFC 114

Before his controversial split decision win to Tom Lawlor, Aaron Simpson appeared unstoppable. And although A-Train didn’t wake up until the second round of the UFN 20 bout, his resilience and toughness was as evident as fan favorite Tom Lawlor’s impressively improved hands.

Simpson will be facing another fighter with good hands at UFC 114 this May in a confirmed bout against Chris “the Crippler” Leben. Leben is also coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Jay Silva at UFN 20. Before that, Leben had lost back-to-back matches to Michael Bisping and Jake Rosholt, tested positive for steroids and served jail time for a DUI. Although his share of problems are quite evident to armchair fans nationwide, Leben is certainly a dangerous fighter with a record of 19-6 including ten knock-outs in his eight-year career.

“Chris Leben is the biggest name that I’ve faced,” Simpson said. “He is very tough and has fought some of the biggest names in MMA. It is an honor for me to fight someone of his caliber and I am really looking forward to battling May 29th in Las Vegas.”

Although the undefeated Aaron Simpson didn’t detail his game plan, his eye is certainly on the prize. “As always, my plan is to go as hard as possible and get my hand raised in the end,” he explained. “I have 16 weeks to prepare…and I will be ready.”

Although he certainly has a lot of wins under his belt, Leben may have trouble contending with Simpson’s right hand and wrestling prowess. If that is the case, I’m sure he’ll be prepared to give a laundry list of excuses aftewards as he does after every loss.

UFC 114 is shaping up to be an incredibly exciting card, with the long-awaited grudge match between Rashad Evans and movie star Quinton Jackson. Rumored fights include Forrest Griffin vs. Antônio Rogério Nogueira, Efrain Escudero vs. Dan Lauzon (the makings of a ground war right there), Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow, Diego Sanchez vs. John Hathaway and Ryan Jensen vs. Jesse Forbes.

More on UFC Undisputed 2010

The UFC and THQ announced over the weekend that Brock Lesnar would grace the cover of UFC Undisputed 2010, but they’ve since released more information regarding new additions and improvements to the game:

THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) and Zuffa, LLC today announced the first gameplay details surrounding UFC® Undisputed™ 2010, the follow-up to the critically and commercially acclaimed debut videogame based on the Ultimate Fighting Championship®. Poised to deliver intelligent and intuitive combat, increased fighter customization, robust career progression, challenging new gameplay modes and explosive online offerings, UFC Undisputed 2010 is currently in development for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system. Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 system versions are scheduled for release on May 25, 2010, while the PSP system version is scheduled for release later this year.

 

About UFC Undisputed 2010
UFC Undisputed 2010 is the only mixed martial arts (MMA) videogame this year that will deliver the action, intensity and prestige of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Players will navigate an unparalleled roster of more than 100 prolific UFC fighters, each fully rendered to convey a photorealistic appearance. Prominent UFC personalities, including commentators Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg, veteran voice of the Octagon Bruce Buffer, the Octagon Girls, referees, trainers and more, will return to showcase an authentic and memorable UFC videogame experience.

 

Enhanced combat will offer players a new Sway System with full upper body and head movement that allows for the dodging of attacks. On the ground, a new Posture System will enable players to deliver stronger, fight-ending strikes from every position. In addition, players will manage Octagon control with new strikes, submissions, transitions and cage positions, as well as experience added realism with the introduction of Southpaw stance. Players will also enjoy customizable freedom with created fighters by combining moves from numerous MMA disciplines, including new moves taken from Sambo, Karate and Greco-Roman Wrestling, to become true mixed martial artists.

 

UFC Undisputed 2010 will encourage online camaraderie like never before, as players will have the ability to form fight camps and leagues, train like real-life UFC fighters and go online to compete against other camps in the virtual UFC world. Career Mode will also return, including a new “Game Is Watching You” system that will track every action and use this information to dictate in-game commentary, opponent intelligence and overall career progression. In addition, players will enhance their Career Mode experience through online co-op sparring sessions with their respective fight camps and form unique personalities for created fighters to increase their cred, popularity and sponsorships based on interactions during weigh-ins and interviews.

 

UFC Undisputed 2010 will also introduce players to three new gameplay modes. Title Mode will enable players to fight through one of UFC’s five official weight classes to earn and defend a championship belt. In Title Defense Mode, players will see a fighter’s condition remain persistent but offer milestone challenges built in along the way. In addition, the game’s Tournament Mode will allow players to explore up to 16-player individual and team tournaments within one system. The mode will be compatible with both UFC and created fighters, as well as deliver two unique gameplay styles. Arcade-style play will offer the ability to repeat a fighter’s appearance, while simulation play will limit fighter representation to one appearance.

 

More information about UFC Undisputed 2010 can be found at www.ufcundisputed.com and www.thq.com.

Serra thinks Hughes may be taking Gracie lightly

Now that Matt Serra is back on the winning track, he's ready to take some time off. When asked about who and when he wanted to fight next, Serra was non-committal on the topic saying whenever Joe Silva calls. If it fits in his schedule, he'll be ready to go.

His first order of business is to take in the Matt Hughes-Renzo Gracie at UFC 112 in early April. Serra said he'd love for the UFC to bring him over to Abu Dhabi in a promotional role so he could see the fight in person. Hughes has a rivalry with Serra from their appearances on Season 4 and 6 of "The Ultimate Fighter." Along with MMA trainer Marc Laimon, Hughes poked fun at Gracie jiu-jitsu. Hughes beat Royce at UFC 63 and Serra at UFC 98. Serra is a Gracie disciple.

Cagewriter asked Hughes at Strikeforce: Miami about why he took the Gracie fight. He joked " 'cause he's older than I am to be honest."

Serra was surprised by that answer.

"Maybe he's joking around that guy. He's doing that thinking Renzo's an easy fight. He's in for a rude awakening."

When asked about a rematch down the road, Serra said he doubts it'll happen and that Hughes wouldn't want it. If Hughes gets by the 42-year-old Gracie, let's hope there's a push for Hughes-Serra II. 

The Growing USMC-UFC Partnership

Amy McCullough of the Marine Corps Times writes about the growing relationship between the UFC and USMC on the sponsorship level, and how the two organizations share a similar target demographic in young people aged 17-24.

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. — The Marine Corps has formed a formal partnership with the Ultimate Fighting Championship that promotes more interaction between Marines and famed mixed martial arts fighters, and calls for a series of new recruiting advertisements that emphasize similarities between the two organizations.

 

The goal, Marine officials say, is to engage the UFC’s rapidly growing fan base of 17- to 24-year-olds by highlighting the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program and the parallel “sense of shared brotherhood” exhibited by Marines and pro fighters alike.

 

“The ideologies behind UFC and the Marine Corps now are very similar in a lot of ways — not just in the fighting techniques and mixed martial arts aspect, but … we both share that warrior ethos,” said Gunnery Sgt. Pauline Franklin, a spokeswoman at Marine Corps Recruiting Command. Pro fighters, she added, “are very intense people who like to push their limits, and they focus hard on training and believe in commitment, honor and courage.”

Below is the latest advertisement which attempts to highlight the similarities between the USMC and UFC

Payout Perspective:

MMAPayout.com has long advocated a greater degree of integration between the UFC and its sponsors, and the USMC clearly understands how to activate upon its sponsorship of the UFC. The more a sponsor can associate its own brand with the personalities and other artifacts of the UFC culture, the more successful it will be in attracting the attention of the UFC demographic.

It’s simply not enough to throw up a Bud Light advertisement, for example, during a TUF commercial break. A-B Inbev has to leverage that UFC theme in order to reach the UFC customer. Now, of course, there’s a question of funding – commercials and customized activation strategies are expensive – but that brings us back to the topic of current trends in sponsorship; being prepared not just to invest in a sponsorship, but also in the activation and evaluation of that sponsorship.

—–

The USMC article points out that this relationship wouldn’t have happened even just a few years ago, which is clearly a sign of the times right now. It’ll be interesting to see whether those that oppose MMA and yet support the war, will condone the USMC essentially using the UFC to recruit young people.

UFC 109: Saving Grace

It was a pitiful main event, a train-wreck of a match-up that saw two Hall of Famers clash in what would’ve been blasted as laughable had it occurred in another promotion, but because it was in the Octagon it was hailed as legitimate. UFC 109 saw Randy Couture, still moderately competitive at 46-years old, trounce 45-year-old UFC 10 tournament winner Mark Coleman in a predictably one-sided and ugly affair. If not for Chael Sonnen’s spirited three round war with Nate Marquardt – a virtuoso performance that cemented the former NCAA All-American wrestler’s status as top middleweight contender – the night’s marquee bout would’ve left fans with a bad taste in their mouths. Sonnen was UFC 109’s saving grace.

Who is this version of Sonnen and where did he come from? When he first ventured into the Octagon at UFC 55, he was just a wrestler who couldn’t stop himself from getting caught in submissions, and when he was cut from the organization he wandered, competing in BodogFight, Northwest regional promotion Sportfight, and then losing to Paulo Filho in the WEC. But somewhere between tapping out to Demian Maia at UFC 95 and now, Sonnen sewed up that hole in his game, polished his boxing, and turned into a righteous dispenser of beatings. Post-transformation, Sonnen dominated Dan Miller and top-ranked Yushin Okami, the latter earning him a duel with Marquardt for the right to face whomever holds the belt after the future Anderson Silva/Vitor Belfort dustup. Such was the stage when UFC 109’s co-main event kicked off.

For three rounds Sonnen put the former King of Pancrase on his back, dodging a couple dangerously close guillotine attempts and peppering the Greg Jackson-trained fighter with fists from above. No slouch himself, Marquardt fired back from the bottom, opening up a nasty gash on Sonnen’s forehead that painted the violence crimson and made both men slick with blood. But that – and a reversal and brief stint on top in the final seconds of the bout – was all Marquardt had, and when the ultimate tally was read, the scorecards accurately reflected reality: the dominant Sonnen had won.

Next for Sonnen is a crack at the belt. Miraculously, this Sonnen may even have a chance.

Unlike the young wrestler, the aging Coleman did not stand a chance. But what did everyone expect? After a meager performance against an under-prepared Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and a narrow decision against Stephan Bonnar, it was clear the best days of the once-feared “Godfather of Ground and Pound” were behind him. Conversely, though on the far side of his 40s, Couture has remained in the mix with the upper echelons of the light-heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, and if Coleman pioneered the art of getting on top and raining down strikes, “The Natural” has refined the method into a science. So it was that the two met in UFC 109’s main event (instead of UFC 17, when they were originally scheduled to meet), and so it was that Couture bullied Coleman against the cage, dirty boxed him for the first round, and tossed him the canvas and went to work in the second. The end came when Coleman rolled to his stomach and Couture mercifully sank the choke – a sad finish to a sad and unnecessary bit of matchmaking.

Matt Serra proved he’s still got those heavy hands, which he used to send Frank Trigg into dreamland half way into Round 1 in their bout. Neither the jiu-jitsu master nor the ex-wrestler bothered with grappling, choosing instead to duke it out, and after a few select punches to the body Serra fired off a stunning overhand right. The trio of follow-up blows on the ground was just the icing on the cake, as Trigg was out. Also out was Mike Swick, who engaged in a stand-up battle with the big punching Paulo Thiago and paid for his folly with a right hook to the chops, a punch that sent him confused to the canvas. The Brazilian wasted no time applying a D’Arce choke, and Swick was asleep just shy of the two-minute mark of the second round. Coming off a crushing loss to Marquardt at UFC 102, Maia turned in a tame performance against fellow jiu-jitsu black belt Dan Miller, edging ahead with slightly more effective striking and a few takedowns to snag the decision.

In undercard action, both Mac Danzig and Melvin Guillard squeaked by Justin Buchholz and Ronnys Torres, with the TUF refugees’ victories more a matter of securing a dominant position here or landing one or two more strikes there than anything else. UFC rookie Phil Davis, however, left no doubt who was the better fighter in his bout with former WEC champ Brian Stann, with the highly-decorated wrestler getting the Marine Corps officer down repeatedly and beating on him for the decision. And if Rolles Gracie had wanted to make an impression in his first UFC outing, he certainly did – although probably not how he’d hoped. Controlling late-replacement Joey Beltran early with his groundfighting, Gracie seemed to live up to the hype his last name carries. That is, until he gassed. A minute and a half into Round 2 and he was done, exhausted and turtled as Beltran pounded out the TKO win.

Sonnen rips Showtime says he prefers to fight the best

Chael Sonnen has been on fire the last week. First with his dominant win over top five middleweight Nate Marquardt. He also sizzled in front of microphones and cameras. As if the bevy of fighters he tore apart wasn't enough he even shredded Showtime on Saturday night.

"At the end of the day, if you want to get to the top of the card in the UFC, you gotta fight tough guys," Sonnen said during the UFC 109 postfight press conference (2:01 mark). "If you want to be a fighter and get in the cage and be a big deal at your local strip club, go to Showtime. If you want to fight real guys this is the place to be."

Sonnen was referencing Strikeforce, where its top middleweights include Dan Henderson, Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler, Nick Diaz, Tim Kennedy, Frank Shamrock, Scott Smith, "Jacare" Souza and his own teammate Matt Lindland.  

Sonnen is now in line for a shot at the UFC middleweight title. Anderson Silva defends his belt on April 10 against Vitor Belfort. Sonnen said he hopes Silva wins so he avoids the tougher fighter.   

Couture may be on the shelf for a while

Randy Couture is now 2-0 in his latest return to the light heavyweight division. After wins over Brandon Vera at UFC 105 and Mark Coleman at UFC 109, he appears to be in line for a potential title shot. The 46-year-old Couture just finished his third fight in less than five and half months. He may want a break but he joked that if UFC president Dana White called him to fight next week he may take it.

"The training camps have been good. We shortened the camps because of the quicker turnarounds," Couture said during the UFC 109 postfight press conference. "Which I now see as a real positive. I like the shorter camps."

Couture said he likes being so active. This is the first time he's fought this often since 2003. He's also been wise with his conditioning between fights hovering around 217 pounds. But after staying so busy recently, Couture may be in store for a long break. He's stuck in 205-pound limbo while the other top fighters return from injury and making movies.

Couture said he wasn't very interested in going back up to heavyweight because the size and skill of the top fighters has improved so much. But White indicated later that he wasn't ruling out Couture back at heavyweight (video below 0:20 mark).

White scoffed at the notion that Couture may not return until August but that looks like the most realistic timeline unless he's a fill-in for an injured fighter. At 205, the title is up for grabs between Mauricio Rua and Lyoto Machida on May 8 and Rashad Evans meets Quinton Jackson on May 29. Is there another 205er worth pitting against Couture? And more importantly, one that he'd be interested in fighting? One possible scenario is an injury to Forrest Griffin before his May 8 fight, where Couture could fill in against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

At heavyweight, the top four guys behind Brock Lesnar are fighting on Feb. 21 and Mar. 27. Even if one of the fighters got injured, there wouldn't be enough time for Couture to get ready for the fight unless Frank Mir or Shane Carwin were dropped from UFC 111 in the next week or so.

White said repeatedly before and after the fight that he thinks Couture is top five in the world at 205. Is that inaccurate? Are the USAToday/Bloody Elbow rankings correct in slotting Couture at No. 11 behind guys like Griffin, Nogueira, Rich Franklin and Thiago Silva? Who else are we missing? Who could Couture fight instead of waiting for Evans, Rua, Machida or Jackson?  

Wisconsin officially regulates MMA

Wisconsin yesterday became the 43rd state in the United States to regulate the growing sport of mixed martial arts.

Senate Bill 290 was first proposed in September, and was signed by Gov. Jim Doyle in early February.

“Duke and I are both very pleased to have been involved in the process of regulating the safety of athletes involved in the sport (of MMA) in Wisconsin,” said Scott Joffe, WFC officer and Roufusport MMA academy partner, in a statement to CONCEDE.  “Everyone involved with the process should be proud of this historic day.”

MMA events have taken place in Wisconsin, but have never been regulated and overseen by an athletic commission.  Wisconsin lawmakers expedited the process faster than MMA fans realized, helping start dialogue between the two sides.

“This process actually went really quick,” said Mark Ratner, UFC Regulatory Affairs VP, in a statement.  “I was very impressed with everyone involved.  We had a wonderful lobbyist and I am very pleased with the entire process here in Wisconsin.”

The MMA legislation was heavily based on boxing rules already in place, with several new additions:

Each promoter must be licensed through the state to hold sanctioned events; promoters will have to pay an annual fee that takes city size and ticket cost into consideration; all fighters, physicians, referees, managers, and matchmakers have to be licensed through the state; and a Wisconsin inspector will be at each regulated show.

As expected, fighters must pass a physical and blood work before receiving a license to fight in the state.

Furthermore, a doctor and EMTs must be available at the event for the duration, the new MMA regulation notes.

The UFC could now plan an event in Milwaukee, as the the No. 1 MMA organization in the world continues to host shows across the United States.

UFC officials previously said Wisconsin provides good pay-per-view buy rate along with UFC and WEC events aired on Spike TV and Versus.

The UFC and WEC visited the midwest a number of times in 2008, but has mainly focused on other markets outside of Las Vegas in 2009 and 2010.  I think it’s more plausible for the UFC to bring its Fight Night events to the larger cities in the state.

I’d honestly like to see a Strikeforce Challengers card take place in Wisconsin sometime in the future.  Strikeforce benefits by  sticking to San Jose and other select locations, but there are plenty of rising midwest MMA talent that could greatly benefit from Strikeforce making an appearance in Milwaukee.

A leading reason as to why the bill passed so quickly stemmed from the grassroots effort from the MMA community in Wisconsin.  The state of New York has attempted to regulate MMA for several years now — and still has been unable to do so — as many lawmakers still consider MMA a barbaric sport.

UFC 109: Payout Perspective

Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective! This week we’ll be taking a look at UFC 109: Relentless, which was held on Saturday, February 6th (Superbowl Weekend) from the Mandalay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event featured a heavyweight clash between Hall of Famers Randy Couture and Mark Coleman, in addition to a middleweight contender bout between Nate Marquardt and Chael Sonnen.

UFC 109 by the Numbers

Attendance & Gate

In the post-fight press conference, Dana White announced the attendance for the event as 10,687 which generated $2.27 million in gate revenue.

Disclosed Payouts

Randy Couture $250,000 def. Mark Coleman $60,000
Chael Sonnen $64,000 ($32,000 show/win) def. Nate Marquardt $45,000
Paulo Thiago $30,000 ($15,000 show/win) def. Mike Swick $43,000
Demian Maia $62,000 ($31,000 show/win) def. Dan Miller $15,000
Matt Serra $150,000 ($75,000 show/win) def. Frank Trigg $30,000
Mac Danzig $40,000 ($20,000 show/win) def. Justin Buchholz $8,000
Melvin Guillard: $28,000 ($14,000 show/win) def. Ronys Torres $4,000
Rob Emerson: $24,000 ($12,000 show/win) def. Phillipe Nover $10,000
Phil Davis: $10,000 ($5,000 show/win) def. Brian Stann $17,000
Chris Tuchscherer: $20,000 ($10,000 show/win) def. Tim Hague $7000
Joey Beltran: $12,000 ($6,000 show/win) def. Rolles Gracie $15,000

Total Disclosed Payouts: $944,000

Disclosed Bonuses

Fight of the Night: Chael Sonnen vs. Nate Marquardt ($60,000)
Knockout of the Night: Matt Serra ($60,000)
Submission of the Night: Paulo Thiago ($60,000)

Total Disclosed Bonuses: $240,000

PPV Buyrate Prediction

UFC 109 was thought by many to be a candidate for the UFC’s lowest PPV total of the year, but a great deal of the indicators we’re seeing suggest that it will likely garner a higher buyrate than UFC 108’s 300,000.

Interestingly, Spike scheduled the debut of Countdown to UFC 109 following last weekend’s UFC 107 replay that countered Strikeforce: Miami on Showtime. The Countdown capitalized on UFC 107’s massive lead-in to draw 881,000 viewers, which is the 2nd highest reported viewership for a Countdown show (4th highest when you include last year’s UFC 94 Primetime shows). Moreover, the reported gate revenue for the event was $2.27 million, which is generally correlated with a buyrate above the baseline of 300,000.

The regression predicts the following:

• Countdown to UFC 109 (881,000 viewers): 869,000
• UFC 109 gate receipts ($2.27 million): 438,000

The UFC 107 replay lead-in really boosted the Countdown to 109 viewership, which wouldn’t have been nearly as high without it. The Countdown replay shown later in the week experienced a steep drop off with 323,000 viewers. If you take 323k figure the prediction is 200k, which is probably too low. So, the Countdown numbers really make it tough to sound out a prediction.

Randy Couture’s popularity continues to increase with every fight, but the UFC’s attempt to sell this as legend’s bout largely failed. The organization doesn’t have the momentum it had when Couture fought Nogueira in August, either (a fight that did 435,000 buys). Thus, while that exposure from the UFC 107 lead-in to the Countdown program should help, the ceiling for this fight is likely to be the gate predicted buyrate of 438,000. The low end is probably the UFC’s base of 300,000.

Greg Saks of Tapology uses internet buzz statistics to predict the popularity of a PPV, and estimates 315,000. Seems perfectly reasonable.

Business Story Lines:

Couture victorious, enters contenders picture at light heavyweight:

Randy Couture didn’t prove much in beating a clearly over-the-hill Mark Coleman, but the win is his second in a row at 205lbs. and likely enough for the UFC to give him a serious contender at the weight class. You can never discount Couture, and if he were to win his next fight it would likely provide the UFC with all the incentive it would need to give him a big money title shot against whomever happens to be the champion at the time.

Couture-Coleman underwhelms the casual crowd:

Dana White suggested at the post-fight presser that Mark Coleman’s match against Randy Couture was likely his last in the UFC, and given what we all witnessed, the UFC really has no choice. Coleman looked awful. Even despite the post-fight chirping with Tito Ortiz, there’s really no way the UFC could sell its organization as featuring the best fighters in the world when Coleman is so clearly not.

I brought several of my MBA cohort to the bar – as I often do to get their thoughts/ideas and expose them to the sport – and they made it clear that watching two 40 somethings in the main event was a farce. I can’t help but think that impression was largely representative of most casual fans that don’t have the perspective of history to understand how much these two men have done for the sport.

Yes, the UFC likely profited from this event in the short-term, but you have to wonder if the main event didn’t turn off more people than it recruited. MMA is trying to sell itself as a sport which requires tremendous athleticism, skill, and discipline, but the casual fan would not have received that message by watching Mark Coleman moving stiff and upright, with his hands down, taking jab after jab without offering anything in return.

The injury situation didn’t help the UFC – hopefully we’re through the last of that cursed period – but perhaps the answer is to simply cut an event when it looks like there won’t be enough talent available to provide a card commensurate with the level that fans have come to expect and casual fans have come to hear about.

Sonnen dominant, likely the next challenger at 185lbs:

The flamboyant Sonnen likely wasn’t in the title picture, even with a win over Marquardt, until he started trash talking just about every fighter in the UFC in the lead up to his bout with Marquardt. Then he came out on Saturday and absolutely dominated Marquardt with his wrestling, which provides the UFC with the justification to throw him in against the winner of Silva-Belfort.

Most are going to view Sonnen as the middlweight version of Dan Hardy; an opponent without much of a chance, but the mic skills necessary to sell his place in a title fight. The difference between Sonnen and Hardy is that Sonnen is more outlandish, while Hardy is more playful. Sonnen is the type of guy that most people love to hate; and if he manages to trash talk Silva like he started to last week, many are going to tune in just in the hopes of seeing him get his ass kicked (minus those in my adopted state of Oregon, of course).

This could be an excellent way to further showcase the tremendous skills of a guy like Silva – provided he gets by Belfort in April. While fans like a good, evenly matched barn burner, they also like seeing a dominant champion dismantle an opponent using his tremendous skills (Silva-Griffin for example).

This fight could really do big business for the UFC if they promote it strongly enough.

UFC 109 the biggest experiential sporting event this weekend? Maybe:

Sports marketing guru Joe Favorito writes in the Huffington Post:

This weekend there will be an event with lots of buzz, a sellout crowd, fans from all over the world tuning in, passionate supporters of the athletes buying up thousands of dollars in merchandise and brands looking to engage a core base of loyalists who spend money to support and activate against their brands. And then there will also be the Super Bowl in Miami.

 

The event we are referring to is UFC 109, which will take place at the Mandalay Events Center Saturday night in Las Vegas, and has become a great alternative for those who love football, but may love Mixed Martial Arts just as much or even more.

 

While there is still more than a little contention over how “hot” professional Mixed Martial Arts is as a sport, one thing is for sure, the UFC as an experiential brand, is certainly very hot and very active for the men’s demo. That will be in full view again Saturday, both in Vegas on one of the biggest wagering weekends of the year and for all those who will but Saturday night’s Pay-per-view. The event will feature a number of rising stars on the undercard, but will cap off the night with two of the UFC’s biggest veteran draws, Randy Couture and Mark Coleman, meeting in the main bout. So what’s the buzz all about?

 

The experiential brand the UFC has created for professional fighting is what is the base of the draw. The pay per view and attendance, carefully crafted by UFC head Dana White and his team, is fueled by the free cable TV model with Spike TV and their “Ultimate Fighter” cornerstone show, as well as their World Extreme Cage Fighting cards on VERSUS. Those platforms create the UFC promotional tool for their athletes. The UFC branding is consistent, and unlike many sports, they know how to speak right to their core fan and keep him and her motivated and engaged. When the UFC show goes on the road from their Las Vegas stronghold, they are able to pull in the casual fan to come and see what the excitement is all about. That’s how the experience and the spectacle works, and how it will make Las Vegas a huge hub of activity this weekend. From UFC-branded poker events to club after parties, the fan will be interested, engaged and immersed in the UFC lifestyle all weekend long. At least until Sunday night’s Super Bowl kickoff.

Prospect Watch:

UFC 109 saw the participation of some highly touted prospects in Phil Davis, Phillipe Nover, and Rolles Gracie, but only Davis was able to secure a victory. Davis demonstrated a ton of potential in defeating Brian Stann via unanimous decision – good wrestling, power and athleticism – but his technique still needs work as he swung wildly at times. Rolles Gracie, the first Gracie to fight in the octagon since Royce, was touted because of his name, but looked terribly sloppy in his debut. There ’s a reason this fight was the first of the night, and if Rolles is going to stay in the UFC his game will have to improve dramatically in just about every aspect: footwork, striking, take downs, etc.

Sponsorship Watch:

Musclepharm and Silver Star continued to dominate the sponsorship scene at UFC 109 with prominent sponsorships on many fighters. Musclepharm, in particular, was really visible, but the company must ensure that it’s logo (”MP”) is linked to Musclepharm and what the company does. Musclepharm’s investment in sponsorship must go beyond individual fighters, and involve other forms of activation so that they can round out the message and really identify with that target UFC audience.

MMAPayout.com had an interesting conversation with some readers over Twitter regarding the t-shirt Nate Marquardt wore to the cage. The problem with the MMA t-shirt market right now is that there exists an abundance of imitation. Tapout and Affliction no longer own the skulls and bones image, because everyone is doing it; an Affliction shirt could just as easily be a Silver Star, Throwdown, or Dethrone t-shirt these days.

What that means for t-shirt companies is that they must become more creative when designing signature walk-out t-shirts, because they have to find a way to differentiate themselves from other brands. It must be a distinct design with prominent logo displays – especially on the front of the shirt (the camera rarely follows the fighter to the cage, it leads him to the cage). Tapout has one of the most recognizable logos in the industry, but it was far from visible (especially in a dark arena and confounded by the Ed Hardy like glitsy graphic adds).

These companies are paying big money to support these fighters, but also to promote their brand and influence purchasing behavior. Yet, the consumer can’t be influenced to buy the product if he’s confused about which brand the fighter is wearing.

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