UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor (11/12/2016) - New York, NY (Madison Square Garden)

[Kevin Wilson]

I'm not usually a 'backstage drama' kind of guy but this situation that UFC created with Conor amuses me to no end and I am curious how they handle it. A guy has two belts, he doesn't want to give either up, wants a lot more money and likely wants to be able to hand pick his opponents for approval. But he does make UFC a whole lot of money so they want him to fight as much as possible. I guess we'll see where they go with it.

[supremebve]

Just now, Kevin Wilson said:

I'm not usually a 'backstage drama' kind of guy but this situation that UFC created with Conor amuses me to no end and I am curious how they handle it. A guy has two belts, he doesn't want to give either up, wants a lot more money and likely wants to be able to hand pick his opponents for approval. But he does make UFC a whole lot of money so they want him to fight as much as possible. I guess we'll see where they go with it.

I think it is probably a little overblown.  He does a hell of a lot of talking, but for the most part he's never been a problem.  The only thing that really makes it seem like he's been a huge headache is whatever was going on around UFC 200.  That card didn't need McGregor, it was going to be a huge success whether he was there or not.  UFC 202 did a huge number, for one reason and one reason only and it was Conor McGregor.  Nothing he does actually does anything negative for the UFC business wise.  If he fights Aldo, it will do huge numbers.  If he fights Ferguson or Khabib, it will do huge numbers.  There is also a Diaz Rubber match that will do astronomical numbers.  They have nothing but good problems.  

[Elsalvajeloco]

I think Conor believes this is his time to get in good with Ari and Patrick Whitesell, and basically gauge where they are at in terms of doing business with him. The sale was completed last week. Dana basically has no power now, and good ole Uncle Lorenzo who was the primary guy dealing with him is gone. Lorenzo and Conor had a great relationship, but Lorenzo never let Conor step all over him or anything like that. We saw what happened in April. The entire reaction was all Lorenzo's doing. Dana was just the frontman doing the media rounds. If Lorenzo didn't let Conor pull his card with the talk of co-promotion and fighting professional boxers, you think Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell are going to let him do that to them? 

Personally, I think the best either side can hope is making this thing somewhat mutual. If Conor continues to fight 2-3 times a year, they're going to have to continue to give him large purses. That's not really negotiable even though the current situation between Top Rank and Manny Pacquiao shows you what happens when a person's starpower is on a clear descent but the purses stay inflated. That's only being resolved because Manny needs the money. What's not negotiable on the WME-IMG's side IMO is the fact he has to show up and promote these fights in addition to fighting the people they need him to fight. There are going to be concessions over the latter, but largely it will the opponents they choose for him.

I think what's beneficial to both sides that isn't purses and buyrates is the response to McGregor from the fighters. People have been trying to build up their own fights, whether it has been entertaining, corny, and everything in between. In a time where it's clear at some point the UFC has to move past his way up, that's what they're going to get. People derided Zuffa so hard for that, but got quiet as fuck when Conor beat Mendes and Aldo. I think the new McGregor and Rousey, that's an extremely underrated aspect of the business, On the other side, the fact that McGregor has shown that he is able to get certain things and treatment is going to help fighters negotiate for the future. If one or two fighters become an attraction or draw to the point where it's a bit clearer that there are new stars on the horizon, WME-IMG is going to have to cater to them at some point. If they want the same things that Conor got on regime understands that they're not in a battle for legitimacy. That was Lorenzo, Joe Silva, and Dana's fight, and they won that. Not surprisingly, the first actual show after the sale completed was an event that symbolic of WME-IMG not really giving a damn about the former standard. You want the featherweight champ fighting the lightweight champ? You want three title fights? Why the fuck not? 

[Kevin Wilson]

At least the UFC has always been smarter than boxing in that they stack the cards with the big draws so they can try to make new stars. If 1.5 million buy a PPV to watch Conor, they are also watching Romero and Joanna and Woodley, not a bunch of scrubs that will never amount to anything like boxing likes to do. Then those fighters can get a fan base and while they likely won't reach Conor levels it can still help with Fox shows and co-main other PPVs without Conor. I never understood why boxing doesn't do that too but I don't think anyone does, besides 'it saves a few bucks now, who cares about the future.' Anyone that wasn't too familar with Thompson for example now likely is, I am not saying he made a million new fans but I bet more people know who he is than last week due to his gutsy performance, and now those two can easily main event their own PPV and likely do a pretty good PPV buyrate for a show without one of the bigger draws (Conor, Bones, Rousey, and GSP assuming he comes back).

[Elsalvajeloco]

57 minutes ago, Kevin Wilson said:

At least the UFC has always been smarter than boxing in that they stack the cards with the big draws so they can try to make new stars. If 1.5 million buy a PPV to watch Conor, they are also watching Romero and Joanna and Woodley, not a bunch of scrubs that will never amount to anything like boxing likes to do. Then those fighters can get a fan base and while they likely won't reach Conor levels it can still help with Fox shows and co-main other PPVs without Conor. I never understood why boxing doesn't do that too but I don't think anyone does, besides 'it saves a few bucks now, who cares about the future.' Anyone that wasn't too familar with Thompson for example now likely is, I am not saying he made a million new fans but I bet more people know who he is than last week due to his gutsy performance, and now those two can easily main event their own PPV and likely do a pretty good PPV buyrate for a show without one of the bigger draws (Conor, Bones, Rousey, and GSP assuming he comes back).

Boxing usually features some good talent on the undercard depending on the promoter. The problem is kinda two fold. First, the amount of mismatches is a pretty consistent. If the in house fighter is the A side, there is very little upside for them to be matched with someone tough who not in house. Over the last 2-3 years, we've gotten a few surprises but it has been few and far between. As a hardcore boxing fan, it's kinda feel like you're forced to choose. You can either see this up and coming Olympian fight this somewhat half decent fighter or maybe someone on their level on World Championship/Boxing After Dark or you can see him blow this person out in under six or seven rounds on PPV. Worst case scenario, they cruise to an uninspired or boring 10 or 12 round decision to win wide on the scorecards. As a result, that kinda fuels the second part of the problem which is it being ingrained that the main event is the only thing that matters. The talent level on PPV undercards is good now IMO (safely assuming in lieu of terrible buyrates), but there is hardly anything you have to track down because all that talent is on the A side for the most part. If I'm ordering a PPV based on a fighter X in the main event as a casual, what incentive is there to watch these fighters fresh from fighting 6 and 8 rounders? It's not like 10, 15, or 20 years where you had to watch certain fighters maturate. A lot of these dudes honestly are going to be still on PPV undercards randomly 2-3 years from when they debuted on their first PPV undercard. HBO has a stable of maybe 6-10 fighters that they feature prominently on their network. None of those dudes are going to be slotted together on PPV together when it counts. Even when they are, it's something like Golovkin vs. Lemieux where featuring that other fighter (in that case Roman Gonzalez) isn't going to help him since hardly anyone is purchasing that PPV.

[The Natural]

So I called the main event right at least. Conor McGregor destroyed Eddie Alvarez in two rounds, the first to hold two UFC Championships at the same time. The jumping knee Yoel Romero used to beat Chris Weidman was nasty. LOL at Michael Bisping’s reactions to Yoel Romero’s post-fight interview giving him the double bird, telling him to fuck off and an injection signal. Bisping is the best dickhead in MMA.

I’ll miss Miesha Tate who retired after losing her fight to Raquel Pennington. Tate was involved in for me, the best WMMA fight against Ronda Rousey, Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey. Fuck Kelvin Gastelum again for not making weight so Donald Cerrone missed out on fighting on this show. 

[turk128]

EDIT: He also did the Ceronne combo...

[Elsalvajeloco]

The NYSAC has suspended Kelvin Gastelum six months for failing to show up to the 205 weigh-in.