UFC 242: Fight Fans Abused Again

UFC 242: Fight Fans Abused Again

This weekend, unless I tap to the promotional pressure, will be the first time in living memory I won’t be watching a UFC event.

This weekend’s UFC 242 will be the second UFC card to be shown on BT Sport Box Office. At some point you have to say enough is enough.

Earlier in the summer UFC 239 headlined by Jon Jones was the first UFC event to go behind the double paywall.

The decision was quite rightly met with widespread criticism. Despite those protests, it was never going to be a one off, whatever the backlash BT Sport were always going to test the patience of their subscribers.

Almost certainly there will be one more UFC PPV before the year is out. Long-term the decision will ultimately be based on the numbers, how many buy against how many cancel their subscription. Business is always based on profit, this will be no different.

A number of 10,000 buys for UFC 239 was doing the rounds. There is no way of knowing if that was an accurate number, but even that relatively low number, would still generate £200,000 in extra revenue. Despite some cancelling their accounts in protest, a profit would have been made.

Including UFC 242, it will mean 2 out of the last 4 numbered events have been on PPV. The decision to put this weekend’s card behind a further paywall was always a cast iron certainty.

The show takes place in Abu Dhabi, an ideal time zone for UK viewers, fans are far more likely to be tempted for this rather than a show taking place in the middle of the night. Throw in a certain Khabib Nurmagoemdov to the mix, and you didn’t need a crystal ball to know what was coming.

Personally I don’t think it’s the greatest card in the world. Unusually for the UFC the main card looks relatively uncompetitive. 4 out of the 5 fights have pretty strong favourites, including Khabib against Dustin Poirier, the reigning UFC lightweight champion is 1/5 to retain his title.

The card is decent, but remove the main event, it’s more Fight Night than PPV.

Why are BT Sport going in the PPV direction with the UFC, is there a need or is it just greed, most will think the latter.

Following on from Sky’s Lomachenko PPV card this past weekend, UFC 242 this weekend and then the farcical Tyson Fury ‘fight’ the week after, takes it to a possible additional £60 outlay for fight fans in just 3 weeks.

To make the same point I did last week about Sky, do BT Sport charge us extra for various Champions League or Premiership games, so why is boxing and now the UFC treated so differently, why do fight fans always have to pay extra for their content.

Like many others I subscribe to BT Sport for one reason, the UFC. If the rights had gone to Eleven Sports, I would have gone with them. This is where BT Sport are playing a dangerous game, if the viewers are being asked to pay extra too many times, they are risking them leaving and they may never return.

BT Sport will undoubtedly push it as far as they can go, but the subscribers do ultimately have the power. It might come down to making that short-term sacrifice, resisting the urge to buy, even cancelling your subscription.

But sadly I fear that is where it will fall down. Despite the online hate, eventually it will lead to apathy and acceptance by the masses. Some will cancel but I fear nowhere near enough to make BT Sport back off.