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Manny and Mayweather is the biggest fight in boxing (AP Photo)
The proposed bout between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather will clash with a UFC event if the two are both held on May 1st. That date has come under threat for Pacquiao recently, who might be held up by his running for political office.
If Pacquiao is forced to pick a different date, then the UFC will no doubt view it as a victory with their struggle for market share against boxing. Although many people tend to like one or the other, as Bob Arum so tastefully points out, there are a lot of crossover fans as well. The card itself is one of the bigger events of the year, although lacks the UFC's biggest draws such as Brock Lesnar, who brings a lot of attention because of his previous career as a professional wrestler.
If both events go off on the same date however, what kind of effect will they have on each other?
In the past, the UFC has achieved big pay per view numbers, although the frequency of their cards has meant a lot of watered down events as of late. A rash of injuries to current champions is also hampering their efforts at the moment, although by May this should be resolved and they should be back to full strength. In the past the UFC has switched pay per views that were up against major boxing cards to free events, securing larger audiences than they would have if they were charging for them.
Mayweather vs. Pacquiao represents a bigger challenge than most boxing cards though, given that it will undoubtedly be the biggest fight in years if everything goes off without a hitch. Whether the UFC will have a big impact with a pay per view seems unlikely, but a lot of casual fans will probably be swayed by the prospect of a free event rather than an expensive pay per view. The fact that most fights can be found for free online the following day is another factor which can tend to put a lot of fans off paying for something.
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UFC 113 is one of the bigger UFC events (AP Photo)
Looking back to past events for some kind of guide is difficult, because in the past both sports have tended to avoid direct competition on the same night.
UFC 103 did go up against Mayweather vs Marquez though, so this is a good place to start. This particular UFC event did about 400k buys compared to Mayweather doing slightly over 1 million, although the UFC was lacking its biggest draws on the card.
I imagine the UFC behind closed doors will abandon trying to compete with Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, purely because of the interest that the fight will generate in the months leading up to it actually happening. When you couple this with the fact that many conventional news sources tend to ignore MMA even more than they do with boxing, and you have a recipe for disaster if they try to rely on pay per view buys for the event. A free show or change of date will be the most likely decision that the UFC is forced to make, with Mayweather vs Pacquiao perhaps even eclipsing previous records achieved by De La Hoya vs Mayweather.
Comments
Pacman vs Money will destroy UFC permanently if they go head to head 1000%.
Paquiao is not affected by ufc he doesn't care about it he has his own agenda to attend NO ONE CAN STOP PAQUIAO IN PURSUING HIS GOAL TO BE A CONGRESSMAN EVEN FREDIE OR ARUM THE FIGHT WILL NOT HAPPENED ON MAY THAT'S FOR SURE EVEN IT WILL END UP RESIGNING IN BOXING...
For my own observation, i have noticed most of the black fighters if not all, with the excemption of mike tyson,
are boring to watch, they inclined to clinch and run unnecessarily.
Most of them trashtalked their opponents, perhaps that's what fraud gayrunner strategy in order to dampen the morale of his opponents. Hey fraud stop playing the monkey games with your opponents, you should starts to fight like a man and not a freakin gay specially when you face the "warrior" Pacman hopely by next year. Just my 2 cents advice.
this article is too obvious.. it's like a repost of something.. write articles that are interesting dude.. if u dont write anything that has substance.. just dont write anything.. nwyz, it doesnt matter if brock lesnar fights on free tv on the same night, people will still be tempted to pay for pac-fmjr.. it's the Fighht of the Decade (at least)... and this is coming from a ufc fan
UFC is nothing without Fedor.
If Manny makes Cottos tail hide between his legs, like a scared puppy..then Floyd the BIG KID would surely hide at the back of the referee once they'll meet Manny. I want Manny to "TEAR OFF HIS THICK BLABBING MOUTH"..PERIOD!!
why they are competing? it's better that they'll set their main event on different date so that they maximize their profit.
s of now, no way ufc can match boxing especially when Pac is till round! but in my honest pinion, after 10-20 years, ufc will be the primary sport!
i promice that whatever the date of Mayweather-Pacquiao there will not be a ufc event. even dana white doesn't want to miss that fight and also lose alot of money. this fight will do 3 million buys easy and with pepsi and subway, not including other big sponsers will step up. ufc is smart and they will not host an event on that fight. i've been watching boxing for 30 years and this fight is bigger then hagler-leonard. mayweather will have the usa and uk watching while pacquiao will have the rest of the world watching. this is as big as ali-fraz and ufc knows this. the fight of the century is coming and might rival the super bowl in betting. its that big, the 2 best p4p, 2 biggest stars,same weight class and in there prime. also, different countries,personalities, and styles in the ring. ufc will buy this fight.
who ever said the ufc is nothin without fedor is an idiot. Fedor is nothing without the ufc. He will never be credible till he fights with best and the best are in the ufc.
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