Were you one of the 800,000-850,000 (numbers courtesy of Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer) people to tune into UFC 91 to watch Brock Lesnar become the new UFC heavyweight champion? I know I was.
Dana White and the UFC projected bigger numbers (around 400,000 more buys), but people are saying that it was just so they could get ESPN to cover the event. If that was the case, then it worked out perfectly.
The reports show that it looks to have beaten UFC 61 (Ortiz vs. Shamrock) but not UFC 66 (Ortiz vs. Liddell). At any rate, though, the No. 2 highest selling PPV of all time isn't bad at all considering the shape of our economy.
- B/R Ticket Guide
I have a feeling we are going to be seeing some numbers on par or possibly even bigger with some of the events coming up, as well.
UFC 92—Dec. 27
Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans (for UFC light heavyweight title)
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir (for interim UFC heavyweight title)
Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva
UFC 94—Jan. 31
Georges St. Pierre vs. B.J. Penn (for welterweight title)
Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva
Jon Fitch vs. Akihiro Gono
Karo Parisyan vs. Dong Hyun Kim
With the right advertisement, these two cards alone can be blockbuster successes. We'll see how Dana White and company handle these ones.
P.S.: All of my new articles from now on and other great MMA news can also be found over at Atlantic MMA.
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about 1 month ago
800,000 is an awesome number in this economic climate.
from about 1 month ago
Yes indeed, MMA is on a nice path at the moment.
about 1 month ago
Nice I just pocketed $50 bucks from my friend that bet me it would do over 1M buys. UFC91 just paid for itself.
If Dana purposely fabricated the calculated PPV buys number just to lure in ESPN then shame on him because they'll probably never cover MMA again. Regardless 800k is pretty decent considering the quality of the fights other than the two main events. It ended up being a good event but on paper it was ho-hum.
Do you think GSP-Penn II beats UFC 91? I do.
from about 1 month ago
I feel card-wise so far, it definitely does. The only problem is that Lesnar was on this card, which created the giant boom in PPV buys (wrestling fans who want to see if their former champ can win a real title and whatnot). BJ Penn and GPS II is another astronomical fight, but I feel it will come up slightly short to the UFC 91 buys.
from about 1 month ago
I'd be surprised if GSP Penn doesn't do over the magic 1M mark.
from about 1 month ago
They are hyping the crap out of it. More specials, and UFC sponsored joint appearances. I think the UFC is investing more in the promotion of GSP-Penn than Couture-Lesnar because towards the end all the UFC did was say that it was the "biggest fight in history" as if they assumed everyone was going to buy it because of that alone.
about 1 month ago
Are you going to post stuff on here and Atlantic or just over there. Congrats on the new gig.
from about 1 month ago
Thanks a lot man. Probably both for now.
about 1 month ago
I don't know whether or not a "Brockless" card will hurt the numbers, but even without the pro wrestling fans, the match-ups on the vent couple of UFC events are pure dynamite!
I've been trying to boycott the UFC (by not buying their product), but I'm shelling out my 50-bucks to catch those fights!
from about 1 month ago
Randy's highest selling card before this one was 550,000 PPV buys. Brock is a messiah to the WWE fans. They follow him everywhere.
about 1 month ago
One thing I'll say about Brock is: He's one bad dude.
Other than Big Nog (he's hand-grenade proof), I wonder what UFC heavyweight can hang with him for five-rounds.
about 1 month ago
One thing I'll say about Brock is: He's one bad dude.
Other than Big Nog (he's hand-grenade proof), I wonder what UFC heavyweight can hang with him for five-rounds.
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