UFC open to digital platform
Dana White spoke to the Wall Street Journal on a podcast, The Unnamed Podvideocast, about the current state of negotiations regarding a new broadcasting partner. The UFC’s contract with FOX Sports is up at the end of 2018 and will consider a digital platform over a cable network.
“Absolutely. That stuff is all about to change. When I grew up, we had Channel 3, Channel 5, Channel 8 and Channel 13. And then the channel Sesame Street is on. Those are all the channels that we had, right?”
On what he watches on when at home DirectTV and cable: “Nothing is on. I think that we have the type of content that people will watch. Not every fight that I put on is a mega fight and a fight that spills over into the mainstream, but I’ll get those twice a year.”
On over-the-top services gaining traction: “I think where you really see it is, look at ESPN. Look at how powerful ESPN was five years ago, what they were getting per sub. Their subs are dropping. They’re scrambling to figure it out right now.
“There’s no doubt that the internet and OTT is where it’s all going. So, it’ll be interesting to see when the smoke clears who’s still around and who’s not.”
“Fighting, it works everywhere, all across the planet,” White said. “Now with technology, we’re getting to the point I always dreamed about. I always used to say, ‘We’ll take this thing all around the world, build a fanbase, build some talent in every country around the world and then we’ll get to a point in time where everybody can watch it at the same time — on the same platform.’ We’re getting to that day.”
Jim Lampley thinks Mayweather threw rounds against McGregor
Floyd Mayweather tweeting a video of himself hitting a heavy bag has people speculating on what exactly his motives are considering he said the McGregor fight was his last.
HBO broadcaster Jim Lampley spoke to TMZ and said he thinks Floyd Mayweather threw rounds against Conor McGregor in an effort to set up a big money rematch.
“Why else is he putting out videos of him working out? He allowed Conor McGregor to ‘win’ three rounds. Why did the whole thing last 10 rounds, etc.? It’s all a setup.
“Why should he retire? He created a marvelous scam with this whole thing. He allowed Conor to quote ‘win’ three rounds, so the whole global MMA wish community could have something to latch onto. I think there’s a decent chance, there’s enough suckers out there, Floyd could maybe make another $150 million.”
Bellator considering five round main events
Scott Coker was on the MMA HOUR and discussed the possibility of Bellator going to five round fights for their main events.
“It’s something that we’ve debated internally, and like I said at the press conferences, once you do it you can’t go back. There’s been some thought on both sides, but right now we are going to continue with the three-round main events and five-round title fights. But it’s still being debated internally and I think it will just be a matter of when it happens, but I think eventually we’ll head in that direction.
“I’m not opposed to three rounds to be honest, because it’s something that when you go in there and you know it’s three rounds, you’re going to fight your ass off for three rounds and go at it. You can’t pace yourself, it’s going to be a much quicker paced fight than a five-round fight.
“But I have people debating me here and it makes a lot of sense because if this fight was a five-round fight, clearly I think it would have gone Shlemenko’s way. I’m kind of in the middle here. We’ll see what happens. It’s being debated, that’s for sure.”
White says Mayweather-McGregor did 6.7 million buys
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal’s The Unnamed Podvideocast, Dana White now says the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight drew 6.7 million buys worldwide.
“We broke the record in Australia,” White said. “We broke the record in the U.K. at 4 in the morning, broke the record in Spain, Canada and the United States.”
Fight Announcements
Will Brooks vs. Nik Lentz has been rebooked for UFC Fight Night 121
Anthony Hamilton vs. Adam Wieczorek has been rebooked for UFC Fight Night 121
Damien Brown vs. Frank Camacho is set for UFC Fight Night 121
Sam Sicilia vs. Marcos Calvao is set for Bellator 189
Alexis Dufresne vs. Amber Leibrock is set for Bellator 189
NOW CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS NEWS: Mousasi talks about his fight at Bellator 185, Velasquez talks about Jon Jones’ PED usage, Poirier to sell fight kit for slain officer’s family
Leave a Reply