Dana White: UFC 92 'crushes' pay-per-view (PPV) records

by MMAmania.com on Jan 9, 2009 12:33 AM EST Comment 25 comments

Quoteworthy:

"I think [Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn on January 31 is] going to be the biggest fight we've ever done. The last Lesnar pay-per-view did really well, and then our Dec. 27 show crushed it. I don't want to get into numbers too much—that's our policy. But it crushed it. I'll say this: The Christmas show crushed the Lesnar fight by 150,000-175,000 buys... We lowballed our preflight estimates on that card and were blown away. I think what happened was two things. One, it was a kick-ass card. Two, I think we were a little off because of the holidays. I guess everybody thought, you're burnt out by everything, what do you want to do? You want to get back together with your buddies and watch some fights. We were crapping our pants when the calendar came up when we saw the last Saturday of the year fell two days after Christmas. Then the economy went down. We didn't know exactly what to expect. But we were surprised by how well it did."

UFC President Dana White reveals that UFC 92: "The Ultimate 2008," which took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 27, was a massive success on pay-per-view (PPV). In fact, he says it outperformed UFC 91: "Couture vs. Lesnar," meaning that it was the most successful show of 2008. It would also mean that UFC 92 was the biggest success ever for the promotion -- UFC 91 was second all-time behind UFC 66, which genreated an estimated PPV 1,050,000 buys. It's hard to nail down an exact figure because the information is never made public; however, trends are often released weeks after the fights as the numbers are tallied from around the globe. Therefore, stay tuned for additional information. For complete coverage and results from the entire UFC 92 event click here.

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Comments

I honestly believe the Penn/Pierre card will indeed whoop on the current record. Just look at the posts for god’s sake, every thread gains like 100 posts soooo much faster than anything else, there is such a cult built up behind both Penn and Pierre. I don’t think there has been a fight with two opposing fan bases so strong.

by The Anomaly on Jan 9, 2009 12:40 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

then i’ll go ahead and say that ppl are kinda tired from all the shows being so close, and it won’t be anywhere near breaking the record.. I don’t think those 2 guys are as big for the casual fans as they are for the hardcore

by RoB on Jan 9, 2009 12:43 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Actually yeah now that you say that, they probably are a bit bigger with the hardcore fans than just the casual so we’ll see.
But as far as the shows being close together, I didn’t get that part of your post, was that in response to my prediction coming true or something?

by The Anomaly on Jan 9, 2009 12:46 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

yea i think they’re a little too close together now right after UFC 92 to break the record, but anyways they should get pretty good numbers..

by RoB on Jan 9, 2009 1:54 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

What he means is…
PPV on Jan 17
PPV on Jan 24
PPV on Jan 31
Fight Night on Feb 7
UFC on Spike on Feb 21

It’s the 3rd weekend in a row that has a PPC. there are 5 big shows in 7 weeks. It’s gonna hurt the buy rate tremendously.

by duh on Jan 9, 2009 3:35 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

THats why Pride was so great! Most of their cards were so STACKED. Even more then UFC 92. YOu buy a Pride dvd and some of the under card fights would make it onto a UFC ppv main card!

Damn I miss Pride!

What would have happened if Pride had purchased the UFC?
in my Freaking DREAMS!!!!!

by john on Jan 9, 2009 10:14 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree, Pride was the shieeeet! I loved their tournaments..

by RoB on Jan 9, 2009 12:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

im with yous on that one, life would be better with pride. although i prefer a cage over the ring because the fight doesnt have to constantly change positions. but the way pride events were set up made everything epic about it. Pride may be dead, but its legend lives on…

by Jared on Jan 9, 2009 3:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

i bought it and watch ramp-izzy knock out wandy-

by mikeybear2009 on Jan 9, 2009 2:10 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

No way. People have to pay bills first.

by MrFyer on Jan 9, 2009 7:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Everyone wanted to see Mir, cause he ain’t no loser.

by Bigmcmac on Jan 9, 2009 12:48 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, Dana stop being stingy by spreading the good fights out over the year… give us more blockbusters cards and it will all be $$$ signs for the UFC PPV’s.

by THORAZINE on Jan 9, 2009 1:52 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

i believe they could stack alot more cards than they do, as many fighters like to fight atleast 3 times per year and many of the ufc’s top stars are only fighting twice, such as liddell, evans, griffin, penn, franklin, henderson, etc.

by matt on Jan 9, 2009 2:18 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed. Cards are spread too thin sometimes.

by Master Ishi on Jan 9, 2009 2:04 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Also agree. They should put the thin cards on spike for free like they do sometimes with the UK shows.

by ProKev on Jan 9, 2009 3:33 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

“which genreated” typo.

Also I think the economy being down is not that bad for the UFC, lots of people would skip going out to the bar and just have some friends over and drink some beers & watch the UFC instead.

by DirtyML on Jan 9, 2009 2:23 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

thats what me and my buddys do but the card finishes 6am so we tend to drink alot more than on a night out lol

by ukmma on Jan 9, 2009 4:44 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

definately, that was my reasoning.. I would spend just as much had I gone out to the bar that night, unfortunately the main bouts weren’t what I expected at all so it kind of sucked.

by Chris on Jan 9, 2009 7:12 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Better yet…go to the bar & watch it. Hang out with some buddies, drink some beers, watch some UFC. Doesn’t get any better than that. Most of the places I’ve gone to have a small cover for it, but it’s always a good time. And the people there are all MMA nuts too…..so it turns into a real party.
I’ll never watch UFC at home again

by MMAFiend on Jan 9, 2009 10:41 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I like to read the live blow by blows and then watch the fights the next day for free on the internet. Anyone who thinks the UFC will be breaking any PPV records this year isn’t following the news.

by MrFyer on Jan 9, 2009 7:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

cool

by Shadow side on Jan 9, 2009 7:45 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

This is excellent news. But is there no love for next weekend’s Franklin/Henderson card? :)

by Graham on Jan 9, 2009 9:50 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

UFC 92 looked great on paper (and did very well), but fell a bit short for me. None of the three main fights turned out how I had expected. However, it was definitely one of the most stacked cards ever.

UFC 94 is like the ultimate showdown! Asking who’s going to win this one is like asking ‘what happens when an unstoppable force hits an unmovable object?’. Although, GSP has my vote.

UFC 93 isn’t a bad card, but it pales in comparison to 92 & 94, I think almost anything would (being stuck between these two juggernauts). I also agree cards are sometimes spread too thin, maybe they could have rolled the headline fights from 93 into 94 and make it another real blockbuster!?

by JS on Jan 9, 2009 11:24 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

The only reason they split these two ppv up is bc then want it to affect buys for Affliction on the 24th, whos going to buy 3 straight weekends of ppvs. Not I!

by fokman on Jan 9, 2009 12:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Of course. That’s what happens when have a stacked card and not a just a good main event with a mediocre undercard. If the card as a whole is good I will order it. If there is only one or two decent fights and the rest is fluff I will pass. But two title fights and Rampage v. Silva, that’s worth the price!

by CAP on Jan 9, 2009 11:47 AM EST reply actions 0 recs