UFC on Versus 6

[The HOFF]

Date: Oct 01, 2011
Location: Washington, D.C.
Venue: Verizon Center
Broadcast: Versus

• Dominick Cruz vs. Demetrious Johnson (bantamweight title)
• Charlie Brenneman vs. Anthony Johnson
• Mac Danzig vs. Matt Wiman
• Michael Johnson vs. Paul Sass

[The HOFF]

MMAjunkie.com has confirmed that Cruz will take on top contender Demetrious Johnson at October's UFC on Versus 6 event. The matchup was first reported by NBCSports.com.

[shady610]

I like the fights so far. Cruz would be a nice main event.

When was the last time a title fight was on a free card

[Vaughany]

Mighty Mouse vs Cruz is awesome matchup...gonna get dizzy watching-it

[Chairib]

Expelliarmus!

[Straight Cash]

Gotta love having a title fight on the card!

[Mr.Kitty]

Michael Johnson has shown himself vulnerable to submissions in the past (4 losses by submission) and that does not bode well against Sassangle! Sass lack in the wrestling department so he probably wont be able to take Johnson down but rather pull guard and go for submission attepts from his back. I like the Britts chance in this one.

[THE_LOCKSMITH]

looks like they don't have confidence of these lower weight classes to lure PPV buys. Thats why they have doubled up titles on UFC 136 LW and FW titles. But great for hardcore fans, free title fight

[Fiasco01]

I think it's because those weight classes don't have many "name" fighters...the casual fan doesn't know Mighty Mouse but this is a great chance to show them...even if the length of Cruz is going to be too much for him.

[Beelzebubzy]

plus this is a stab back at Spike.
This will help with the negotiations with NBC. good strategic move by UFC.

I am taking Mighty Mouse by Decision at +400 or better

[Vaughany]

plus this is a stab back at Spike.
This will help with the negotiations with NBC. good strategic move by UFC.

I am taking Mighty Mouse by Decision at +400 or better

I dont think it's great stylistically for Mighty Mouse. He couldn't outwrestle Picket so I doubt he's gonna have much success in the grappling aspect with Cruz. And he doesnt have the power to knock Cruz out, Cruz showed agaisnt Faber that he has a decent chin. So this for me means his only way of winning a decision would be to pick Cruz apart with his striking, which unfortunately for Mighty Mouse is Cruz's own game. Cruz by decision as always for me!

[Beelzebubzy]

good points, I have bet both consistently to win by Decision for the last several fight.

Im expecting Cruz to come in around -250 - -350

[Vaughany]

Pat Barry vs Struve added!

[GunShard]

This is probably the best free card.

[bjpenn85]

This is not good for struve. he is going to get knocked out as **** again, and he is the one coming from holland, how embarrassing

[Kaladarus]

Should be a great card and there should be lots of opportunities to make money on this one.

[kmdubya]

I can't believe Cruz is still getting disrespected. He's getting the free shows, while Faber is still getting PPVs. Cruz is the headline here, but I'm pretty sure main event (and co-main events) get a cut of PPV buys.

[Kaladarus]

I can't believe Cruz is still getting disrespected. He's getting the free shows, while Faber is still getting PPVs. Cruz is the headline here, but I'm pretty sure main event (and co-main events) get a cut of PPV buys.

I think it depends on the fighters contract. Usually the fighters that are main event have some type of contract deal. Even when they don't get a PPV cut though they usually get more money from sponsors so it works out. The problem with the free shows is the bonuses are less and sponsors don't pay as much. I agree with you that it is disrespectful to Cruz.

[v1y]

I can't believe Cruz is still getting disrespected. He's getting the free shows, while Faber is still getting PPVs. Cruz is the headline here, but I'm pretty sure main event (and co-main events) get a cut of PPV buys.

Dude, cruz is not being disrespected here at all. Headlining a free show can do A LOT for your marketability.

[The Bet Master]

Pat Barry vs Struve added!

[kmdubya]

Dude, cruz is not being disrespected here at all. Headlining a free show can do A LOT for your marketability.

In comparison to the treatment Faber continues to get after Crus just beat him, he's getting some disrespect (still).

[cheeese]

It does seem like they haven't even tried to market him. Maybe they put him on the free card so he can get some exposure and hype the eventual 3rd fight with their boy.

[sirchadwick1]

Holy crap, Barry looks like a peanut next to Struve! It's gonna be a fun fight to watch. Hopefully Barry uses those leg kicks to chop the tree down a notch and then finds his chin. I really hate to see either one of these guys lose again (especially by KO) but I'd rather Barry come out on top if I had to pick.

[Vaughany]

Yeah Barry looks tiny in tht, and not just in height!

[Vaughany]

[GoldRush7]

so whats up with struve and barry, they seem pretty chummy?

[v1y]

In comparison to the treatment Faber continues to get after Crus just beat him, he's getting some disrespect (still).

I don't understand what you mean by "the treatment Faber continues to get". Do you know how much money each guy is making? If not, then how can you make such a statement.

Did you think it was disrespectful to jon jones too when they made him fight Brandon Vera on a free show?

[Vaughany]

so whats up with struve and barry, they seem pretty chummy?

Pat Barry is chummy with everybody he meets, and Struve is hardly the type to walk around with a chip on his shoulder!

[koscheckbaby]

Perhaps Barry will stop Struve on legkicks, instead of adding to Struve's dead braincell count

[Fiasco01]

Interesting match-up for Barry there...aside from the fact he can't afford to lose this fight (right?) he's going to have to chop SS down with kicks but that length could be a problem.

[kmdubya]

I don't understand what you mean by "the treatment Faber continues to get". Do you know how much money each guy is making? If not, then how can you make such a statement.

Did you think it was disrespectful to jon jones too when they made him fight Brandon Vera on a free show?

Faber is on a $32,000 per fight contract ($32,000 to show, $32,000 bonus to win). Cruz is on a $20,000 per fight contract ($20,000 to show, $20,000 to win). Granted these are still the WEC contracts they are running out. On a PPV, the main event and co-main event get a cut of the PPV buys, which is not usually disclosed. Faber's next fight I'm sure will get the "co-main event" treatment and will get an additional cut. Cruz is on Versus which does not offer any PPV cut, only fight contract and fight bonuses. It's pretty obvious one fighter is in a better financial position in the next few events as compared to the other.

The "Bones" treatment was unusual, but I have a crackpot theory on that. Bones was an obvious top 10 talent early on, but the UFC had a stacked (and aging) division at LHW, so they wanted to put as many fight combinations together as possible to cash in on those names. They purposely kept Bones out of the mix, knowing he's be the guy of the future once some of the other big names started to fade/retire. Hence still giving him exposure on the free shows.

Cruz is the champ, and they still give more promo time to Faber. Go back at watch the black and white intro to 132. When they were letting them do their fight talk hype, they went Faber, Cruz, then back to Faber so he could get in the last word. Faber is absolutely more marketable, but that was a disrespect to Cruz, flat out.

(end rant)

[kmdubya]

I think it depends on the fighters contract. Usually the fighters that are main event have some type of contract deal. Even when they don't get a PPV cut though they usually get more money from sponsors so it works out. The problem with the free shows is the bonuses are less and sponsors don't pay as much. I agree with you that it is disrespectful to Cruz.

Sponsor deals are well in advance of the event and are with the fighter (not the UFC). If you're marketable and you can get big sponsorships, then that is seperate from your fighting contract and fight bonuses/PPV bonuses.

It's not widely disclosed, but my understanding for the last while (over a couple years) is that for PPVs, the main event and co-main event get a percentage (albeit small) from the PPV buys.

[Educ8d Degener8]

Faber is on a $32,000 per fight contract ($32,000 to show, $32,000 bonus to win). Cruz is on a $20,000 per fight contract ($20,000 to show, $20,000 to win). Granted these are still the WEC contracts they are running out. On a PPV, the main event and co-main event get a cut of the PPV buys, which is not usually disclosed. Faber's next fight I'm sure will get the "co-main event" treatment and will get an additional cut. Cruz is on Versus which does not offer any PPV cut, only fight contract and fight bonuses. It's pretty obvious one fighter is in a better financial position in the next few events as compared to the other.
...
Cruz is the champ, and they still give more promo time to Faber. Go back at watch the black and white intro to 132. When they were letting them do their fight talk hype, they went Faber, Cruz, then back to Faber so he could get in the last word. Faber is absolutely more marketable, but that was a disrespect to Cruz, flat out.

(end rant)

No rant necessary km... anyone with a brain can see that Zuffa has a hard-0n for Faber and will do anything it can to get a strap around his waist. It's just a marketing strategy as you've pointed out.

[Vaughany]

There are a lot of undisclosed payments that fighters get that u dont hear, I guess for tax reasons etc... Only other day Dana WHite said that Anderson Silva gets a hell of a lot more than the $250,000 that was been thrown around on forums hence why he rejected Machida's demands

[kmdubya]

There are a lot of undisclosed payments that fighters get that u dont hear, I guess for tax reasons etc... Only other day Dana WHite said that Anderson Silva gets a hell of a lot more than the $250,000 that was been thrown around on forums hence why he rejected Machida's demands

Silva (and Brock Lesnar for that matter) are on a fight only contract. Silva gets $200,000 to show (no fight bonus). However he also gets a PPV cut much larger than the other fighters on a show/win contract. I'm not 100% sure on all the fighters with a show only contract, but I know James Toney had one, and Randy Couture near the end did as well.

In addition to all that, plus the regular fight bonuses, there is "locker room pay" that the UFC dishes out on a regular basis. It's totally up to the UFC how much and to who, but that never gets disclosed (other than to the IRS). It's usually for guys who accepted a fight on short term notice, put on a great show, or got an unfavorable judges decision.