File Photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
Though the last-minute withdrawal of Thiago Alves grabbed headlines, the UFC still managed a successful Big Apple media push in the last week before what could prove to be one of its biggest pay-per-view events of 2010 -- UFC 111 from Newark, N.J., headlined by Georges St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy and Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin.
UFC President Dana White held a press conference and extended Q&A session before some 700 fans on March 24 at Manhattan’s Radio City Music Hall, where a closed-circuit screening of the show will be held. White announced that UFC 111 was entirely sold out, with some 17,000 in the building and a $4 million gate, a plateau the company only hits a few times a year at the turnstiles. It marks the first UFC card in New Jersey since November 2007.
The UFC was hoping the events created awareness in New York, where sanctioning of the sport remains before the state assembly. The UFC has estimated an event in New York could generate $11 million in economic activity.
Television hype of the card was effusive, from the conclusion of the “Primetime” documentary series on Spike TV and interviews with St. Pierre and Carwin on the UFC’s debut telecast on Versus to interviews with St. Pierre, Mir and Brock Lesnar on ESPN Sportscenter. It will be the first UFC event to air in movie theatres, distributed at some 300 outlets in the United States through the Fathom Events company.
The third and final installment of Primetime aired March 24, featuring mostly training footage and parting words from St. Pierre and Hardy. St. Pierre was shown sparring with Phil Nurse and Patrick Cote and bidding adieu to his Tri Star gym teammates, while Hardy was shown getting in jiu-jitsu work under Matt Serra’s tutelage and doing strength workouts -- including a 500-pound dead lift -- with Joe DeFranco. Viewers were also introduced to Jennifer Nickel, St. Pierre’s personal chef, who prepares three meals a day for the welterweight champion during the week of the fight, completely cutting out carbohydrates, sugar and dairy.
St. Pierre completed an Olympic-caliber weightlifting regimen for the fight in an attempt to add power and size. He expects to enter the cage around 192 pounds, compared to his typical 185. A massive betting odds favorite, St. Pierre looks to build on 20 straight rounds won, an all-time UFC record.
The third episode drew an average audience of 613,000 viewers on its premiere airing, according to MMAPayout.com, an increase from last week’s 506,000 but still below the one million average audience for the debut. Though the UFC’s second Primetime effort drew the bigger audience for the premiere episode, it attracted a smaller average audience than the GSP vs. B.J. Penn special in January 2009 (2,119,000 viewers over three episodes for the Hardy special, compared to 2,367,000 for Penn).
Seventeen of the 18 other fighters booked to compete at UFC 111 met their contracted weight requirements without incident at the official weigh-in. Rory Markham tipped the scales at 177 pounds and agreed to a catchweight bout with “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 5 winner Nate Diaz (171). St. Pierre checked in at 170 pounds for his main event with Hard (170). Co-headliners Frank Mir and Shane Carwin both hit the scales at 265.