UFC 94 Will Do 1.3 Million PPV Buys? Good Or Bad?

by Kelvin Hunt on Feb 5, 2009 1:37 PM EST in News Comment 20 comments

Dana White spoke with the Las Vegas Sun and covered a variety of topics. One thing he mentioned:

While official numbers have yet to be released, White said he expected UFC 94 to surpass both UFC 91 (Randy Couture-Brock Lesnar) and UFC 92 (The Ultimate 2008) as the top-selling pay-per-view event in the organization’s history, with more than 1.3 million buys (which would top the 1.25 million pay-per-views that the Oscar De La Hoya-Manny Pacquiao “Dream Match” in December generated).

If true that's an astounding number considering the circumstances so that's always a good thing. One perspective that got me thinking is this. If the show did that many buys, how many of those buyer's were first time buyer's? The main event of GSP/Penn itself was hyped up so much that it was nearly impossible to live up to the lofty expectations expected from the show. That fight was a one sided beat down. Only 5 fights were shown, and two of those fights involved relatively small amounts of action, and went to the judges. Do you think the card was intriguing enough for a fight time buyer to purchase say UFC 96 or UFC 97? Or do you think some of those first time buyer's walked away with that "I don't know if I'll buy another one of these cards again" feelings? Talk to me.

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Between Jones/Bonnar, Machida/Silva, and GSP/Penn, I can’t imagine somebody thinking to themselves, “Wow, that sucked; I’ll never do that again!”

Even with as uninteresting as Guida/Diaz and Parisyan/Kim may have been to the casual fan, I don’t think that they outweighed the other three shown.

Hell, the Jones fight alone made me want to purchase everything he even walks near for the rest of his career.

"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR

by Rundownloser on Feb 5, 2009 1:49 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Jon Jones alone probably convinced alot of people that MMA can be dynamic and fun.

by 3PA on Feb 5, 2009 1:55 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

While I agree on Jones….you must take the mind set of a casual viewer. Obviously we know MMA and can appreciate the subtle pts more so than a first time buyer.

http://www.mmaforreal.com

by Kelvin Hunt on Feb 5, 2009 2:11 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

The throws of Karo Parisyan were what brought me into the sport. Given that Jones’s were just as, perhaps more, spectacular, I think that he alone probably drew a few.

"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR

by Rundownloser on Feb 5, 2009 4:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I hope so

I hope they can build on that spectacular number if it’s true.

http://www.mmaforreal.com

by Kelvin Hunt on Feb 5, 2009 4:43 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

I had a buddy of my who loves boxing tell me that this UFC was weak. He said the margarito vs Shane was better then UFC 94.

"No matter where you go, you are what you are playa"-Jay Z

by Wmillion on Feb 5, 2009 5:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I told him boxing vs MMA

boxing undercards start a 7, you show up around 845-9 for the main event

MMA undercards start a 7, you show up at 645 because you don’t want to miss a fight.

"No matter where you go, you are what you are playa"-Jay Z

by Wmillion on Feb 5, 2009 5:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yea, when I went to UFC 88. I was at that jawn EARLY! Charles(contributor to MMA4Real) was too!

http://www.mmaforreal.com

by Kelvin Hunt on Feb 5, 2009 5:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, you know MMA is what’s up when Ryo Chonan was getting a big reaction (he was in the opening undercard fight) I seriously think I’d fall asleep during a boxing event…not hating on it at all…

by Charles Walker on Feb 5, 2009 6:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I’ll watch it on TV, but I doubt I’d ever pay to go to a boxing event.

http://www.mmaforreal.com

by Kelvin Hunt on Feb 5, 2009 6:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Actually, 3PA is kind of spot on, because I guage this sort of thing with my family’s reaction and that was the fight that really got them watching. Hell, my brother in law fell asleep during Kim/Parisyan..lol…but I think seeing the dynamic style clashes like that of Jones/Bonnar and even Machida/Silva to a degree will keep some people around. My dad of all people says that Machida is his favorite fighter now..lol

by Charles Walker on Feb 5, 2009 2:40 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Oh snap. That’s what’s up…but will they buy another one without you being there, or do yall watch all of them together?

http://www.mmaforreal.com

by Kelvin Hunt on Feb 5, 2009 2:44 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

My dad likes seeing the bigger weight guys go at it, so if a heavyweight or light heavyweight is fighting, he’ll usually order it…I usually tell my sister and brother in law when they come on, so they pick and choose…anyone with Rampage though, they ordering

by Charles Walker on Feb 5, 2009 3:11 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Gotta support ya peoples!

http://www.mmaforreal.com

by Kelvin Hunt on Feb 5, 2009 3:14 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

i’m hoping that a big part of those of 1.3 million are returning customers, after watching 91 or 92 which were great events. it seemed that 92 definetly got a boost from 91. i’ll admit that 94 was a bit of a letdown, but it’s not the ufc’s fault, these were great match-ups on paper. then again the casual viewer wont care about that. i think saturday’s ufn and especially 95 have an excellent chance of being barn burners even without the “star power”. there are some really great match-ups style wise and best of all they are free! hopefully the will make the fans thirst for 96. i’m also very excited about strikeforce’s buyout of elite and have read that they will have a big event on april 11 and it could possibly be on showtime or (hopefully) cbs. more free fights! it’s a great time to be an mma fan. :)

by bdw on Feb 5, 2009 8:22 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yep….bdw….you need to join us here on saturday night in the open thread.

http://www.mmaforreal.com

by Kelvin Hunt on Feb 5, 2009 8:41 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

will do

by bdw on Feb 5, 2009 9:22 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Good stuff!

http://www.mmaforreal.com

by Kelvin Hunt on Feb 5, 2009 9:40 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

my dad, a boxing fan thinks the heavyweight title in MMA means more than say the welterweight or something. He finds it hard to get pumped up about the lighter weight classes for some reason.

I think if this was anyones first PPV they have got to be impressed by the overall event. The main bout was one sided but still entertaining.

Guida was the only guy who pretty much did nothing. The Kim/Parisyan fight was bound to be boring with two judo guys going at it. Basides this was Karo’s first fight in a long time.

I really hope Guida gets to boot. Even against Danzig, all he really did was cling on to him throughout the fight without doing much damage. The Guida brothers suck balls.

by cauliflower_ears on Feb 6, 2009 4:53 AM EST reply actions 0 recs