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Torch Flashbacks
KELLER - Retro: To realize how far UFC has come in just five years, look to their Vegas debut By Wade Keller, MMATorch.com editor
Apr 22, 2007 - 2:22:00 PM
As UFC heads towards Saturday's event, another in a streak of what is sure to be a huge money-maker on PPV, it's easy to forget how not so long ago it was struggling to just get basic footing on PPV and develop a sustainable fanbase. Today, we flash back to the cover story from Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter #763, cover-dated October 6, 2001. I flew to Las Vegas to cover UFC's debut in that city, and the line-up looked strong at that time. It turned out to be anything but strong in the end.
ORIGINAL HEADLINE: UFC's anticipated return to PPV stage disappoints
SUBHEADLINE: All bouts end in draws, crowd chants "boring" and leaves early, event goes off air before finish
By Wade Keller, Torch editor
In the early 20th century, professional wrestling evolved into a worked athletic stage show because, well, the real thing was just too boring. After last Friday night's event at the Mandalay Bay Resort arena in Las Vegas, Nev., UFC empathized with early wrestling promoters. Their real matches could have used a little scripting to add excitement.
After several years off of cable television due to content issues and politics, UFC returned to national PPV penetration hoping to make a huge splash. In January, the inept and cash-strapped Semaphore Entertainment sold UFC to the much more ambitious and capable Zuffa Entertainment, led by Lorenzo Fertitta. Thanks in part to Fertitta's history in Vegas, UFC ended up getting sanction in Vegas in a unanimous vote on July 27. UFC quickly booked two events for Vegas this fall.
The sanctioning of UFC by not only the Vegas commission, but also by the New Jersey State Athletic Control board earlier this year, paved the way for UFC to regain cable PPV clearance. Several years ago, due to a variety of factors, UFC was taken off of cable PPV. Sen. John McCain led the charge against UFC and similar Mixed Martial Arts events, claiming the events were barbaric "human cock fights," not sport.
The image was false, yet UFC's fault. Semaphore Entertainment had needlessly and recklessly promoted UFC after its first event in 1993 as a "no holds barred," blood and guts spectacle, not sport. Their short-sighted marketing doomed them because politicians and image-conscious cable executives used UFC's words against them. Finally, with an established eight-year safety record of no major injuries, a set of rules that commissions could live with, a new ownership group, and a starving PPV industry suffering from the demises of WCW and ECW, UFC was back in the game.
UFC had struggled to survive with a small budget during the lean years when only DirecTV carried their events, meaning less than 10 percent of the PPV universe could order UFC. Now the new owners were pouring money into the events resulting in much better production values, including ring entrances that rival those of the WWF. They hoped the cable PPV buys would more than return their investment.
Coming off of a string of several outstanding and entertaining events, UFC hoped they would continue the streak last Friday for their first event in years on cable PPV. Instead, they were devastated by a string of bad luck events.
All five PPV matches (for complete results, see pg. 10) ended via decision rather than knock out. That had never happened in UFC history. What's worse, the time limit draws were below-average in terms of excitement and intensity. The sellout crowd in Vegas, paying between $30 and $300 per seat, booed during the two main events. There was a steady, embarrassing flow of spectators leaving the arena during the final round of the main event. The fans knew it'd be a draw; they knew Tito Ortiz, the charismatic champ, would win via decision. There was no need to stick around.
UFC reasonably expected to have a much larger audience than at any time in recent years, and they were eager to show off their improved product. The production values were excellent, but the matches weren't. Adding to their troubles, because every match went to a draw, the event ran longer than the allotted three hour PPV window. That meant many, if not most, cable systems cut off the event before the final round of the main event started.
Already stinging from a major boxing PPV event being moved to the night after their event due to the attacks of Sept. 11 and the marketable main event challenger Vitor Belfort suffering an arm injury just days before the event, now many of those who did order the event would be requesting refunds due to missing the finish of the main event. If there was a minor blessing, it was that the main event was so lackluster that many viewers may not have cared.
UFC targeted 100,000 buys as their break-even number. With the boxing event competing for PPV dollars that weekend, the chances of reaching that goal were diminished.
"We are devastated," UFC president Dana White told the TORCH after the post-event press conference. "We really wanted to impress new viewers. We had four great events leading up to this event. We did everything right, or so we thought. You just can't expect that every fight is going to be a draw. You can't control it, but you don't expect it, either."
White said they were aware of the time problems heading into the final two matches. "We had a lot of stuff planned that we cut, but it wasn't enough. We still ran eight minutes long," he said.
White was clearly dejected after the event. He had lobbied for prominent national sports and boxing writers to cover the event. He said several of those writers came up to him and told him the event was terrible. He said he hopes they give UFC another chance.
UFC does get a chance to redeem themselves quickly as they return to PPV in just a few weeks with the Nov. 2 UFC High Voltage event, headlined by Pedro Rizzo getting a title rematch against UFC Heavyweight Champ Randy Couture. Their last match earlier this year was very close, and very exciting, ending with a judge's decision in Couture's favor. After the fight Rizzo said he thought he deserved the win.
None of the fighters at "UFC: Victory In Vegas" had anything to complain about other than their performances. Tito Ortiz told fellow fighters just before the post-event press conference began that his main event opponent, Vladimir "The Janitor" Matyushenko, "held on for dear life" during their fight, relegating action to a monotonous stalemate.
"Vlad stopped a lot of things I tried to do," Ortiz said at the press conference. "I got cut for the first time. I saw blood. This was also the first time I have ever felt tired." He said he attempted several times to finish The Janitor, but his defense was too good.
There were big roadside billboards in Vegas promoting Ortiz vs. Belfort. Matyushenko was moved into the main event against Ortiz just days before the event after his scheduled opponent, Kevin Randleman, also suffered a last-second injury. "Tito was more prepared than I was," Matyushenko said. "He had a lot to lose. More than me. I thank Tito for a great fight. He's the man."
Dennis Hallman, whose fight against lightweight champ Jens "Little Evil" Pulver was the most anticipated of the night, acknowledged that his match was a letdown. "It may not have looked like a fight out there," he said, "but it was a fight. He pushed me like I've never been pushed before. I hope you weren't disappointed. There's not gonna be a mismatch. If you want to see the real deal, sometimes this is what happens."
White said afterward that he could book mismatches to ensure knockouts, but he didn't want to compromise the sport. "This was just a bad night, but those who watch us regularly know we're better."
