The UFC has signed a 5-year TV deal with ESPN, at $150MM per year. Beginning in 2019, ESPN will stream 15 events per year on ESPN+ ($5/month subscription), and they will also air an undisclosed number of cards on their TV networks. They will also air 30-minute specials previewing each PPV.
Originally Posted by kstater:
So essentially the FS1 cards are moving to a paid model?
So we have to pay for ppv, pay for the fight night cards, and pay for the big fox shows assuming they move the half dozen big fox shows a year to ESPN
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The UFC is expected to sign a deal with FOX soon. This isn't going to have much of an impact on FOX or FS1. The UFC does about 40 cards per year, so 15 isn't even half of it.
Regarding ESPN+, Jeremy Botter is reporting that people who subscribe to ESPN+ in 2019 will get the option to add Fightpass for only $5 instead of $10. So, the price won't increase for current Fightpass subscribers. [Reply]
The good news is that we have televised MMA this weekend after a couple week break. A PPV even, seriously! This one kind of snuck up on us since the UFC decided to save on their marketing budget and didn't really try to promote this one.
The bad news is.... well...
Saturday
noon - (Fightpass) - Glory 53
Its kickboxing. I don't know if this card is good or not, but its something to watch Saturday afternoon.
8pm - (Paramount) - Bellator 199, Bader vs. King Mo
This is a below-average Bellator card and they have made the very questionable decision to compete head to head with a UFC PPV. Bader is usually a fun fighter to watch, but his opponent is one of the most dull, uninspiring wrestlers on their roster so the main event for their heavyweight freakshow tournament could suck.
7pm TV - (5:15pm Fightpass/7pm FX/9pm PPV) - UFC 224, Nunes vs. Pennington
This would have been a decent little card if it was free. As a PPV though, its below average, though probably not the worst of the year. (UFC 221 and 222 are both probably worse than this) Belfort vs. Machida would have been great and compelling 6 years ago. Jacare vs Gastelum is also going to be a good fight. If this holds together, then I'll go ahead and watch it because it just barely clears the bar for me on a PPV, but if any of the 3 more interesting fights fall out this week, then I'm probably out.
edit: This will apparently be Vitor Belfort's retirement fight, win lose or draw. So, there's that. [Reply]
The UFC cut Yair Rodriguez (12-2, #11 FW) after he turned down two fights.
Originally Posted by :
“The guy’s off a year, rejects a fight with Lamas and then doesn’t want to fight a guy below him in the rankings?” White said. “He can go somewhere else. We have no use for him. He calls that fight fake news. This is real news.”
LOL, wow. One of the strawweights missed weight by 7.4 pounds, which is an enormous miss at 115. The fight would be called off in many states, but Brazil's AC just shrugged and let the fight go on.
edit: According to MMAFighting.com, Brazil's AC was just going to give 10% of Dern's purse to Cooper, but the UFC then stepped in and basically said "no, fuck that. If she agrees to the fight, then Cooper's getting 30%"
Not shocked @MackenzieDern missed weight but 7.4lbs over is a disgrace to all professionals. She’s not getting out of this fight that easy. Fight is still on. ABCNation get ready. #ufc224 strawweight vs flyweight tomorrow night in Brazil
— Amanda Bobby Cooper (@ABCnation115) May 11, 2018
Originally Posted by alnorth:
LOL, wow. One of the strawweights missed weight by 7.4 pounds, which is an enormous miss at 115. The fight would be called off in many states, but Brazil's AC just shrugged and let the fight go on.
Not shocked @MackenzieDern missed weight but 7.4lbs over is a disgrace to all professionals. She’s not getting out of this fight that easy. Fight is still on. ABCNation get ready. #ufc224 strawweight vs flyweight tomorrow night in Brazil
— Amanda Bobby Cooper (@ABCnation115) May 11, 2018
For someone with so much hype, she's been nothing short of a disaster.
Originally Posted by alnorth:
The UFC cut Yair Rodriguez (12-2, #11 FW) after he turned down two fights.
They needed to start doing this. I can see turning down fights with short notice but they had a lot of people turning down fights for no good reason and with plenty of time to train and they needed to put a stop to that. [Reply]