If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
The pay-per-view (PPV) start time experiment for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will officially end with UFC 141: "Lesnar vs. Overeem" on Dec. 30, 2011, exactly eight months to the day that the promotion fiddled with its winning formula for UFC 129 on April 30, 2011.
Dave Meltzer of f4wonline.com (subscription required) reports that the PPV start times will revert back to 10 p.m. ET, indicating that the current 9 p.m. ET slot isn't having the expected impact on fight night sales. In fact, the switch back would seem to indicate that earlier start time had the opposite effect, hurting PPV sales rather than helping them.
For fans on the west coast, this is most likely good news -- settling in around supper time and simultaneously coordinating a viewing party was most likely far from ideal. However, those of us on the opposite side of the nation likely enjoyed having all the action wrapped up around midnight as opposed to 1 a.m.
Can't please everyone.
UFC has yet to confirm and/or deny the report, but expect word one way or the other to surface soon. With its box office behemoth, Lesnar, returning to the Octagon to take on the former Strikeforce heavyweight champion, Overeem, the promotion will want to ensure that there is zero confusion.
Stay tuned.
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