TUF 6 Finale vs. “Undefeated”

Dave Franklin
December 7, 2007

On Saturday night another “matchup” is taking place. This one has nothing to do with titles or records. It is about ratings and PPV buys, MMA vs. Boxing.

Saturday December 8th at 9:00 ET, two combat events that are targeting similar audiences will be taking place.

One event is the TUF 6 finale that will air for free on Spike TV (Check out my Preview and Picks here). The TUF 6 finale is headlined by two fights. Mac Danzig faces Tommy Speer for the title of TUF 6 winner and a 6-figure UFC contract and Clay Guida will fight Roger Huerta, in what could be a fight-of-the-year candidate, to see who moves closer to a title shot.

The other event has been given the moniker of “Undefeated.” This event features the two best welterweights in boxing, both of whom hold undefeated records, “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather and Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton. This fight is being compared to “The Fight of the Millennium” between Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad from 1999.

While I am interested in the fight between Hatton and Mayweather, I am an MMA fan to the end and will be watching the TUF 6 finale. Boxing continues to try and give fans a fight that will bring some prestige back to the sport. Remember Mayweather vs. De La Hoya earlier this year? That was supposed to be “the fight to save boxing,” and while the fight set the record for PPV buys for a boxing match at 2.4 million buys, many boxing fans found it boring.

UFC Odds and Early Analysis at the MMA Betting SuperPage

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Looking at boxing records against MMA records, on paper, one can argue that boxers are better fighters. The problem with that logic is that boxing is very one sided. If you are the best boxer in the world, no one will beat you. In MMA you may be the best in one style, but there is always someone better than you at something else. All of the #1 ranked MMA fighters in every weight class has at least one loss (though Fedor’s loss shouldn’t count as it came by a cut stoppage due to an illegal elbow. The fight was in a tournament and one fighter had to advance and therefore Kohsaka was awarded the win.)

The real question is how is both events occurring simultaneously going to affect ratings and PPV buys? In this time of advanced technology, Spike TV and UFC are going to benefit. Nielsen Media Research, who is responsible for TV ratings, includes DVR and TiVO viewings in their ratings. Many fans of both sports will order Mayweather vs. Hatton on PPV and “DVR” the TUF 6 finale. Another bonus is that fans of both sports who may have ordered the PPV because there wasn’t anything else on, will skip ordering the PPV and watch the TUF 6 finale.

I will be watching the TUF 6 finale. I will choose free MMA over PPV boxing every chance that I get.

Check out the current odds at the MMA Betting SuperPage.