Surprisingly, or perhaps not considering the attention the Vasquez death is finally receiving, yesterday’s (blindsiding) item in Dave Meltzer’s daily update fell through the cracks. That is to say, the UFC story was not readily picked up by big time MMA blogging brass. I’d seen a note elsewhere that Matt Serra was hosting a UFC PPV party in NYC in lieu of not being able to compete. However, I did not see that the party had been moved from some Long Island dance club (not literally) to a bigger venue. What a sign of the times when even the announcement that UFC has rented out Madison Square Garden for a showing of the UFC 79 gets panned. And I get arguments about the lack of marketing stars or big fights like Liddell-Silva?!
I’m not saying the rental is a horrible idea, and I get why they would want to do it, but wouldn’t a more cost effective move be to rent out the old Paramount Theatre? The one that seats a few thousand connected to MSG? Because I know you desperately want the New York City market to recognize you, UFC, and I know that you want so badly to run the Garden and this helps prove people will pay to see you to the NYSAC (at least that would be the argument - that you weren’t even there and the tax revenue came streaming in). But won’t it be difficult to sell out the Garden for what amounts to a giant TV showing of the fights when you didn’t sell out Newark for a LIVE Pay-Per-View?
I’m not sure that 18,000, or even, 9,000 people want to pay to watch antiquated closed circuit TV with the guy who dropped off of the show when the show itself hasn’t been pumped to a point where there’s any mainstream buzz about it. Isn’t it a problem when obsessive hardcores who e-mail me to say Rampage was in some obscure mag as proof of marketing aren’t pumped about the 31st?
I feel like this 5% nation of know it all MMA obsessives (I mean hardcores, silly me) is the only faction anywhere that knows Liddell vs Silva has a five year history or that this could be considered a dream match. And I’m not tearing it down, I’m one of the few whose really excited for the show and the fight, but have you noticed people in the real world are just finding out Matt Serra isn’t fighting? And some of them - alot actually - probably don’t even realize GSP is an upgrade because he hasn’t been on TV building it up like Serra-Hughes. You can laugh, but TUF averages around 1.2 to 1.5 million viewers. UFC has an amazing retention rate of those otherwise oblivious to the MMA scene fanbase for it’s PPVs. 1.2 is alot more then 75,000, which is my guess-tamite of how many people would order the show if every single person who read Sam Caplan, Zach Arnold, Luke Thomas, Sherdog, MMAWeekly, Fightlinker, and myself combined each bought the show. I’m telling you, the MMA bubble is a five percent nation where even Fedor does NO BUYS!
So I have to think this Garden party is an ego driven calculated decision, not for the fans of New York City, but for a party of one. Dana White. MSG is the brass ring, and White wants it bad. I’d like to think they could grab 5,000 paying, but I have to think a smaller venue like the Roseland would have been more appropriate. Then again, maybe this show is for more then one but less then 5,000. Maybe it’s for two, because now that i think of it, Marc Ratner seemed pretty enthusiastic about New York a few weeks back too.
John Philapavage can be reached via e-mail at johnnyp@mmaopinion.com
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