White interview: No need to lower PPV prices for UFC 108

[Clark Kent]

12-15-2009 05:25 PM:

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The fight card with the black cloud over it is just a few weeks away. UFC 108 has been plagued by a record number of injuries and bout reschedules. UFC president Dana told Cagewriter you have to roll with the punches:

"In almost 10 years this stuff has never happened," said. "[But] it's part of the business. Trust me bro, guys getting injured and falling off, I got bigger problems than that everyday. Guess what, it's our job to make other fights."

Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva is the main event but that wasn't part of the original plan(s). We're including rumored bouts like Anderson Silva versus Vitor Belfort. Silva was unavailable because of elbow surgery. Shane Carwin was under the impression he and Brock Lesnar had their bout pushed from UFC 106 to UFC 108 that was before we knew how serious the champ's health issues were. Then came Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira versus Cain Velasquez. But Big Nog had to drop out because of staph infection.

On the undercard, Gabe Gonzaga, Carlos Condit, Tyson Griffin and Rory Markham have all pulled out because of various ailments and injuries.

White is confident UFC 108 will deliver:

"If you're a fight fan and want to see good fights, how many bad fights have we really put on?"

MMAWeekly has the latest update on the rumored card:

PPV:
Rashad Evans v. Thiago Silva
Junior Dos Santos v. Gilbert Yvel
Paul Daley v. Dustin Hazelett
Joe Lauzon v. Sam Stout
Sean Sherk v. Jim Miller

Preliminary Bouts:
Dan Lauzon v. Cole Miller
Vladimir Matyushenko v. Steve Cantwell
Mark Munoz v. Ryan Jensen
Mike Pyle v. Jake Ellenberger
Martin Kampmann v. Jacob Volkmann
Rafaello Oliveira v. John Gunderson

When asked if the card should discounted on pay-per-view or at The MGM Grand Garden Arena, White vehemently defend UFC 108:

"Our business hasn't been affected one bit. If you're a fight fan, I don't know how you don't think that that card is a great card."

White says it's not all about Lesnar, Silva and Georges St. Pierre:

"Do we have the card stacked with all those A-list guys? No, but it's a card stacked with great fights."

As I said in the video, in some ways it sends an odd message to slash the price of a pay-per-view. On the flip side, would there be anything wrong with kicking off the year with a fan appreciation PPV rate?

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Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield.

 

[MJS]

What would be really nice, is if they took off the block to prevent recording the event. IIRC, I think it was 103 that I tried to DRV, because I wasnt going to be home. The picture would come in nice and clear but then fade to almost total darkness, with shadows, then back to clear again.

Needless to say, I called my cable co. and told them to remove it from my bill, which they did. This has never been an issue before, so I asked the girl, who stated that it wasn't the cable co., but the UFC. I made the comment that in a few months, I'd be able to walk into best buy or stores of that nature and buy it for $20. She said that was the idea....to get the customers in PPV land to enjoy it so much, they spend the cash to get PPV and then more to buy it at the store.

Needless to say, I've been saving myself an extra $45 or so every month, as I'll wait until it comes to the store. Besides, getting the store copy, removes all the extra side BS that takes place on PPV. I'm paying to watch the fights, not listen to a bunch of interviews and side chatter.

 

[theletch1]

I refuse to pay the PPV price they've been charging the last several UFCs. I go to the local sports bar and watch it for free while enjoying a few beers and time with friends. That way when the card sucks or Joe Rogan's voice starts to get on my nerves too much I can concentrate more on beer and friends.

White is a douche. If the UFC didn't have the money to pull big names then I think groups like Strikeforce and Dream would soon overtake them.