Status of the UFC:
Following the aftermath of UFC 196 and today's release of EA's UFC:2 video-game, UFC is currently standing as the the world's premier professional fighting organization.
This week many fans and observers of the UFC have speculated how the results of UFC 196 will affect the company moving forward. Some believed that the first UFC losses for superstars Conor McGregor and Holly Holm was a negative result for the sport.
While these results may in fact hurt the folklore legends of the fighters individually, the truth is that UFC fighters and their story-lines have generated far more coverage and popularity than ever before. UFC President Dana White doesn't expect even the best fighters to win every single match they take. Not only that but being the excellent promoter that he is, White may even be at his best when selling long-awaited rematches.
Currently what we are noticing is that the victors of last Saturday's main events are getting the sort of coverage that we are only accustomed to seeing from the stars of the sport. Exponentially more people have heard of Nate Diaz this week than they had last week. Despite the loss, Conor McGregor still remains a staple of the UFC and still has over four million Instagram followers. Stars like him and Ronda Rousey have brought a world of attention to their competitors.
After Holly Holm beat Ronda Rousey she became a celebrity. She was on Regis and Michael and several other national television shows. Likewise the same is happening for Nate Diaz, who recently appeared on Entertainment Tonight. So while you may think that McGregor, Rousey, and Holm losing means less attention and revenue overall for the UFC, it isn't necessarily the case.
UFC 196 financially may have been the sport's biggest card despite not having it's biggest star on it in Ronda Rousey. Ultimately more attention will now be spread out more among the sports top 5 contenders in each weight division.
UFC 197 which will be take place in April will be the companies first event in Madison Square Garden. It will feature two championship fights, and the UFC hopes to cash in on the immediate fan following it may have gained. Dana White is likely to deliver big time cards for all of the soon to come pay per view events in order to keep them.
Fox Sports 1 will continue to broadcast fight nights on weekends and once a month UFC will lay out the top fights on pay per view. Even though the pay per view effect limits the audience to a paying few, the attention can still be harnessed. One of the problems of Rousey's stardom was that she would win her fights too quickly. People didn't have to watch the event live, they could find it on social media in its entirety moments after. Well now what we have are fights which last more than thirty seconds which are worth more to sponsors. Quick knockouts are what UFC hopes to turn into what others have made of highlights. It is now a larger bulk to the fights, because the specialists have been challenged and we now have longer prize fights.
- Updated- May 1st
The game received a 79/100 based on 32 reviews.
Conor McGregor continues making headlines as his fight with Nate Diaz remains on hold.
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