DE LA HOYA-MAYORGA TAKES TOP SPOT TWICE
San Francisco, CA-Before I list the Pay Per View numbers for the year 2006, let’s talk about the December 10th 60-Minutes segment about the UFC. Although the CBS piece itself was “lacking” some thought, it did near record numbers. According to Dave Meltzer of the WrestlingObserver.com, the UFC segment itself was watched by something just shy of 16 million viewers. The only 2006 story that beat out the UFC on 60-Minutes for ratings, was the death of Ed Bradley, the iconic CBS journalist.
BOXING TAKES FIVE OF TOP TEN PPV EVENTS
Oscar De La Hoya’s almost “domestic-like” beating of Ricardo Mayorga, it drew 925,000 PPV buys at around $50 bucks a pop! 2. Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock II, 775,000 UFC buys. 3. Matt Hughes vs. BJ Penn, 700,000 UFC. 4. Wrestlemania with John Cena-HHH, 616,000 WWE buys. 5. Chuck Liddell vs. Renato Sobral, 500,000 UFC. 6. Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin, 425,000 UFC. 7. Floyd Mayweather vs. Zab Judah, 375,000 boxing. 8. Manny Pacquiao vs. Erik Morales II, 360,000 boxing. 9. Manny Pacquiao vs. Erik Morales II, 350,000 boxing. 10. Shane Mosley vs. Fernando Vargas II, 350,000 boxing.
HOPKINS-TARVER & DANA VS. MR. MCMAHON!
Out of the top 25 or so “PPV” events, the only boxing entry at # 13 was Bernard Hopkins-Antonio Tarver with 330,000 buys. And while I’m not seeing the boxing base being chipped away by the UFC as much as I thought, professional wrestling fans are flocking to the UFC in droves! That’s why the WWE is scrambling to do something different, maybe a “shoot” fight, or the like. The face of the UFC is Dana White, while the WWE is run by Vince McMahon.
MERCHANT CONFIRMS HBO HAS MMA DEAL!
During a telephone conversation on Christmas with HBO’s Larry Merchant, he put things like this. “People look at it (UFC) as real wrestling. And next year HBO and Showtime, they both will test the waters and see if this works. I don’t know what Showtime is doing, but we’ll do four and see how it goes.”
SOMETIMES I’M SO FAR AHEAD I GET LONESOME!
This confirms my story of July 3, 2006 at www.RingTalk.com where I had indicated that a deal would be struck that would culminate with Mixed Martial Arts and the UFC coming to HBO.
UFC WILL PROBABLY BREAK RECORD SATURDAY
Although it’s pure speculation, I can see Saturday’s UFC 66 and the Chuck Liddell-Tito Ortiz card drawing close to 1,000,000 buys. Liddell, although he is 38 years of age is probably close to peaking. Chuck is also one of the few UFC champs that can really punch from a standing position. He battered Ortiz “quick-style” last time out, and is expected to do so again. Liddell is the hottest non-boxing fighter in the United States today. He makes seven figure purses, and takes in nearly $1 million annually in endorsements. Expect plenty of heat in this main event, for however long it lasts. And remember, on any given night, people that fight in full contact competition can lose. Be it by KO, submission, a choke out, or on points. With defeat a possible in a multitude of ways, nobody stays unbeaten!
