The UFC has a problem on their hands, an organization that has the biggest stars and most recognizable names in all of mixed martial arts. None of them are big draws anymore. Georges St-Pierre, who announced today he was taking an indefinite leave of absence and immediately vacating the welterweight championship, was the organizations biggest and lone huge pay-per-view draw who was still an active fighter. Here is a quick breakdown of the UFC’s top PPV draws of all-time:
- UFC 100 – Lesnar vs. Mir II (St-Pierre co-headlined)
- UFC 116 – Lesnar vs. Carwin
- UFC 158 – St-Pierre vs. Diaz
- UFC 66 – Liddell vs. Ortiz II
- UFC 121 – Lesnar vs. Velasquez (tied for 4th)
- UFC 91 – Couture vs. Lesnar
- UFC 92 – Griffin vs. Evans (tied)
- UFC 148 – Silva vs. Sonnen II (tied)
- UFC 94 – St-Pierre vs. Penn II
- UFC 101 – Penn vs. Florian
- UFC 111 – St-Pierre vs. Hardy (tied for 10th)
- UFC 124 – St-Pierre vs. Koscheck II
- UFC 129 – St-Pierre vs. Shields (tied for 12th)
- UFC 61 – Sylvia vs. Arlovski
- UFC 79 – St-Pierre vs. Hughes
- UFC 141 – Lesnar vs. Overeem (tied for 15th)
- UFC 126 – Silva vs. Belfort
- UFC 145 – Jones vs. Evans
- UFC 154 – St-Pierre vs. Condit
- UFC 71 – Liddell vs. Jackson
A more detailed breakdown of the list can be found here.
St-Pierre appears on this list eight times and when the list is updated to reflect UFC 167, it will most certainly be nine times, bumping UFC 71 out of the top 20. So nearly half of the top 20 events the UFC has hosted, nearly half of those were headlined by a man who walked away today.
Brock Lesnar accounts for five on the list, an impressive feat considering he only appeared in the octagon seven times.
Of the names who appear on the list and are still active, the majority of them were simply elevated by their competitor. As we see with the likes of a Dan Hardy, Carlos Condit or Josh Koscheck.
What I find interesting about this list is that Jon Jones, arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world today; he only makes the list once with his defense over Rashad Evans, who appears on the list twice.
Anderson Silva, one of the most dominant fighters in the history of the sport, also only appears twice and one of those fights is only on the list because of the work of his opponent Chael Sonnen in and out of the octagon.
Other names who appear have long since left the UFC such as Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin.
The UFC is not running short on talent; however they are running short on PPV draws. Having recently increased the price for an event on PPV, the news today is not a step in the right direction. The sport of mixed martial arts and the UFC are not going anywhere. The fans they currently have will remain loyal and continue to watch, albeit less and less on PPV. However, with the lack of a major draw that they had with a Georges St-Pierre, a Brock Lesnar or a Chuck Liddell, Dana White and the UFC are going to have a tough time taking this sport into more and more homes. White is continuously saying that we have yet to see how far this can go, but even as a huge fan of the sport, you have to wonder if the organization has peaked, or at least plateaued for the foreseeable future.
Where do they go from here? This month’s UFC 168 will certainly mask the issue. The event headlined by middleweight champion Chris Weidman and challenger… let that sink in, challenger Anderson Silva is going to be a massive PPV hit. It is one of the deepest cards the organization has ever been put together and has been gaining steam for months. But from there, what does the future look like? If Silva regains the belt, is anyone actually interested in seeing Silva-Belfort II? Now the initial match-up is in the top-20 draws, so maybe it will. If Weidman defends his belt, does a Weidman-Belfort match-up generate much interest?
Looking at some of the other divisions, heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez is likely out until late-2014. Jon Jones defends his belt next against Glover Teixeira, unlikely a fight that will break through on PPV. A future match-up against Alexander Gustafsson may resonate with fans on PPV, however a lot can happen before that fight is lined up.
At the light-weight division, there’s plenty of talent but hardly names that are going to headline or carry a card. When you get into the lighter weight classes, with the exception of a Urijah Faber, you do not see too many draws. The lighter divisions have historically filled out great cards, not necessarily headlined them.
These are the fights we talk about after the fact, not leading up to them. In the women’s division, Ronda Rousey has taken a bit of a hit on her public image during this season of TUF. While the UFC gives stage to more and more women fighters and trying to make more of them household names, it seems to be on Rousey to hold the division up for the time being. After her, there is nobody that is going to carry a card for the UFC.
In the absence of Georges St-Pierre, the UFC will now face its biggest challenge in years.
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Photo courtesy of Touch Fit.
