Zuffa to air two UFC Fight Night events on Versus Network in 2010; WEC PPV event possible

by Adam Wagner on Dec 16, 2009 4:27 PM EST

During today’s media conference call, UFC president Dana White confirmed that the two UFC events to be aired on the Versus network in 2010 will be UFC Fight Nights similar to the events normally broadcast on Spike TV.

White addressed the press along with Versus executive Marc Fein to discuss the network deal announced earlier this week between UFC-owned Zuffa and the Versus network. The deal puts two live UFC events on Versus during 2010, along with seven events from the UFC’s sister promotion, World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC).

Which events are still left to be determined, but White promises that they will not be watered-down shows.

"This will be a Fight Night," White said. "It will be like a Fight Night card … We have some big plans, but the first card we put on Versus, it’s going to be a good one."

Whether or not that rules out UFC events that are held overseas — including UFC 110 in Sydney Australia on February 21 — and then aired in the States via tape-delay remains to be seen. Versus executive Marc Fein pointed toward the new year for a timeline on when more decisions will be made, including which day of the week the UFC events would air.

"I wouldn’t say there’s one given night," the partners are looking toward, Fein said. "We just want to make sure whatever night we pick maximizes ratings. ... If it cranks out the attendance and maximized viewership, that’s where we’ll land."

White also didn’t shy away from questions regarding a potential deal to air UFC events on a major U.S. network. Comcast, the parent company of the Versus network, recently merged with NBC Universal.

"Comcast and Versus have been great partners for us," White said optimistically. "They have some interesting things going on. … You never know."

And what of Zuffa’s long-running plan to push the WEC into Pay-Per-View (PPV)? It might come with cross-promotion, believe it or not.

"Absolutely," White said. "Our goal has been to get the WEC on Pay-Per-View this whole time. … The hard part about it is that there are so many dates taken, you know, between us, the WWE and boxing. It’s tough to find dates, or trying to line up fights. It’s a lot more than just throwing something on Pay-Per-View. There’s a lot of work and planning that are involved in it, but our goal is to put a WEC fight on Pay-Per-View."

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How? They only have one overlapping weight class.

Good times and riches and son of a bitches
I've seen more than I can recall.

by P-Dub on Dec 16, 2009 4:39 PM EST reply actions

IDK if cross promo is possible

especially with salaries…the WEC guys will be fighting on the same cards as UFC guys for a fraction of the UFC purses.

Same reason why fighters like Frank Edgar wont drop to 145, If he can make UFC money why would he go down just to be a bigger guy there.

I would love to see taht though if it were possible

dude.....i am

by brendog on Dec 16, 2009 4:45 PM EST reply actions

I'll answer both of you

Even though I’m not interested, they are talking about some 155 UFC guys moving down (Faber/Penn for example) or 45ers moving up. basically it would be good for the WEC guys as they would more than likely make more for the fight as well as in sponsorship money. I posted this news earlier today by the way!

by kevjack115 on Dec 16, 2009 4:51 PM EST up reply actions

thanks

makes more sense for 45ers to move up. I dont see any LW moving down unless theyre promised the same amount or more

dude.....i am

by brendog on Dec 16, 2009 4:52 PM EST up reply actions

if they have a contract, theyd obviously make what their contract stated theyd get paid. there was an article at BE mon. saying BJ should move down to 45. I personally disagree, I think he’d wipe them out too, but guys like edger or florian even, have no shot at beating Penn, but may do well at 145

by kevjack115 on Dec 16, 2009 4:57 PM EST up reply actions

They should pay them better money.

I think weight should have nothing to do with what fighters make. Talent, excitement, and how much fans they can bring in should. If they paid them decent, people like Edgar, Griffin, Stevenson, and the rest of the 5’6ers would drop down and make WEC a ton better.

by Bill Maher on Dec 16, 2009 6:48 PM EST up reply actions

it’s not weight, it’s the organization. even when WEC had higher weights, they didn’t make much either!

by kevjack115 on Dec 16, 2009 7:02 PM EST up reply actions

The WEC doesn't earn enough money to pay UFC level salaries

Until they can get some sort of PPV or network TV deal rather than just deals with obscure channels like Versus their talent won’t be paid as much, as Zuffa wouldn’t make a profit from their shows. I agree that the smaller guys deserve just as much money and attention but until they get the chance to fight in front of bigger crowds and on a bigger format then they’re going to end up stuck with crap wages.

If the UFC can get some WEC guys onto their shows then they should have Faber or Brown in a superfight, as they’re big names and a loss wouldn’t damage their reputation or make the 145 title meaningless. I’d love to see Aldo fight some top 145 and 155 guys on UFC cards but I’d start with a name contender first and see how it goes from there. Maybe a Griffin-Faber rematch would be a good start before putting the likes of Penn and Aldo in cross-promotional fights.

"If you’re a fight fan, I don’t know how you don’t think that that card is a great card…." Dana White on UFC 108

20%: Percentage of MMAManiacs buying UFC 108 (I guess the other 80% aren't "real fight fans" according to Dana)

by David W-S on Dec 16, 2009 7:49 PM EST up reply actions

These guys think a PPV model for WEC will fly

Guess again.

@fjbar75 on twitter...formerly El Mexicutioner

by _Felix_ on Dec 16, 2009 5:16 PM EST reply actions

Agreed, a WEC PPV event would completely bomb

The WEC just doesn’t have enough big name fighters to put on a PPV card, and you can’t expect people to start shelling out $50 for something they’ve been getting free for years. I love the WEC and always watch the fights on VS, but hell no would I pay for a WEC PPV event.

There are no such things as lesbians, just women who have not yet met Chuck Norris

by the rock on Dec 16, 2009 11:42 PM EST up reply actions

Garbage

This is garbage considering Comcast has a monopoloy on Versus and doesn’t allow Direc TV to broadcast versus. Since Comcast wants to be a greedly little asshole company WEC (and now UFC it appears) are losing huge numbers of viewers. Whoever has DirecTV won’t be able to watch these events because of Comcast’s bullshit.

by BlackBeltMarketing on Dec 16, 2009 7:49 PM EST reply actions