and you don't believe that cards that the public perceives as being quality sell better than ones the public perceives as dog shit?Of course. But we are talking quality of the card, not whether it will sell.
and you don't believe that cards that the public perceives as being quality sell better than ones the public perceives as dog shit?Of course. But we are talking quality of the card, not whether it will sell.
Of course it is about greed but it is more specifically about the ESPN deal. Under the previous revenue-maximising structure, they would have bolstered this card a little. Now we are in a pure cost-cutting era. Because the lack of undercard will hurt buys, and they could have fixed it for relatively little cash. Now they say fuck it - it’s ESPN’s problem.Cards like this, with a mix of fighters who have something to prove because they're trying to get their shine back or because they're relative unknowns usually end up being the best cards. But this is mostly a payroll decision. Conor and whoever he fights eat up a lot of cash so they skimp on the rest because of greed. Eliot vs. Askarov is the sleeper fight.
I considered 177. Firstly, it doesn't meet the B) criteria as the main event did fall through even with a shitty replacement.Respectfully disagree OP. Besides a main event of the biggest star in MMA vs the biggest fan favorite in MMA, 246 has 3 HOFers, 3 former champs, a matchup of two top five female BWs, the 6th vs 11th ranked female straw-weights, the top up and coming female flyweight prospect, and one of the best HW submission specialists in the game.
I would say UFC 177 Dillishaw vs Soto was the worst PPV card ever. I’d say this meets your criteria because even though Barao dropped out in short notice, the main event went on with the champ still fighting. This event was doomed from the start with Jones/Gus and a Might Mouse fight both getting pushed to later dates. No one had ever even heard of Soto, and the biggest names on the card were Ferguson (who was not yet established at the time) and Brunson (who nobody cared about then, or now really).
I’d say based on the merits of the competitors, the level of divisional significance of the matchups, and star power, 177 is far worse than 246.
If Conor main event is worthless then this card qualifiesI considered 177. Firstly, it doesn't meet the B) criteria as the main event did fall through even with a shitty replacement.
As for the A) criteria, it's close. 177 still had a title fight, but obviously it sucked donkey balls. I rank Conor-Cowboy as marginally worse for the main being so worthless. But I wouldn't argue.
I did predict every card people would say. I'm interested in seeing if there is one I missed.
I feel compelled to ask, why do you have such an issue with this fight?I rank Conor-Cowboy as marginally worse for the main being so worthless.
You feel compelled to ask many silly questions.I feel compelled to ask, why do you have such an issue with this fight?
Didn't remember this one, this is more like it. That card sucks some serious anus. It is even worse than this card.If Conor main event is worthless then this card qualifies
Not, really no. You're a smart guy, so I figured you had some sort of irrational problem with this fight as it pertains to the integrity of the sport or some other such high minded nonsense. But it appears that's not the case, and that you're just very late to the party.You feel compelled to ask many silly questions.
It actually very much likely won't do a million and there's a good chance it won't even get close - but we'll never find out anyway. People are underestimating the impact of the ESPN subscription and double firewall on the casual PPV audience, not factoring in how Conor's inactivity, losses and rapeyness might impact views and not factoring in how shit the card is.Yet it will still get a million PPV's.
UFC is hip, and Conor is King Hipster.
Dude, just go get a @Onetrickpony beard from a wig shop and a @BirdWatcher stick-on chest tattoo.
Grab a guiness, paste your walls with green sparkly clovers, grab some Proper 12 and shot glasses and join theMMACommunity.com as they celebrate the diversity of Ireland and streaming options.
You're probably right. At least I hope you are.It actually very much likely won't do a million and there's a good chance it won't even get close - but we'll never find out anyway. People are underestimating the impact of the ESPN subscription and double firewall on the casual PPV audience, not factoring in how Conor's inactivity, losses and rapeyness might impact views and not factoring in how shit the card is.
Floyd did 4 million vs Pac, then 925,000 vs Maidana, then only 500,000 vs Berto. Quality of opposition matters. People think they're being clever when they say 'Conor could fight a cab driver and it would get a million PPV buys' but they're actually being retards. With mega-stars, you still get a baseline of high views, but if you don't match them up with a decent B-side you're pissing money away. Cowboy is a broken down B-side that only hardcores care about now.
Also, until he started raping people, I was a moderate Conor fan (never particularly liked the persona without hating it, and liked the fighter) and I won't have any particular hate for him in cage. In fact I hope he sends Cowboy into a needed retirement. As usual, people are falsely attributing my longstanding and obvious anti-UFC agenda to some other agenda.
you didn't address UFC 33 or UFC 149, unless I scrolled right past it...and that's a real possibility.Of course it is about greed but it is more specifically about the ESPN deal. Under the previous revenue-maximising structure, they would have bolstered this card a little. Now we are in a pure cost-cutting era. Because the lack of undercard will hurt buys, and they could have fixed it for relatively little cash. Now they say fuck it - it’s ESPN’s problem.
Notice of the 4 cards floated in this thread as the worst of all time, 3 of them are in the space of the last year. You can chalk it up to recency bias, but it’s really more than that. You just won’t be able to find undercards worse than the two Australian cards, and you won’t be able to find a worse main event-undercard combo than this card. It’s the ESPN deal.
UFC 149 is a valid contender for both worst card and worst fights, so it's a fair addition.you didn't address UFC 33 or UFC 149, unless I scrolled right past it...and that's a real possibility.
interested as to why this card sucks more than either of those.
Thanks.
Baseless speculation is the lifeblood of an MMA forum.It would be interesting to know how much the quality of the undercard is related to what they have to pay Conor. Besides the fact that Conor sells cards by himself, they could be stacking the card with lower-tiered fighters in an effort to increase profit margins/avoid a net loss.
The late, great @FrankieNYC predicted that the ESPN ppv deal would make contracts difficult with mega stars like Brock and Conor, simply because lower availability --> fewer PPVs sold --> less money made in PPV points by the mega stars.
We saw that the UFC was unable to reach a deal with Brock. Most analysts blamed the loss (for fighters) of PPV income as the reason.
I was surprised that Conor was able to reach a deal so easily, though we don't know how long the two sides negotiated. Maybe they offered him a guaranteed minimum purse of $15-20 million, which would explain the lack of big-name fighters on the undercard.
But idk. I'm speculating.