The decline of the 155lb division as a moneymaker
There are a few things that caught my eye in the world of mixed martial arts recently. The departure of Forrest Griffin as another monster to leave from the previous generation of stars. TRT use spreading, and the decision to use it or not as a competitor. Punches and elbows to the back of the head of a staggered opponent seeming to happen more often, and the little attention its being paid because “the guy was probably done already”.
Each of these is a great topic. Forrest is a former champion, and an icon to hard work paying off. Testosterone usage has seemed to move through the weight classes of mma like a wildfire, but a few (such as Shane Roller) have decided to compete without it (before he retired) because of the stigma behind its use. Errant shots to the rear of a combatant’s noggin occurring when a fighter is rocked already is something that should be receiving much more attention than it is. However, I decided to focus on a different subject; the 155lb division’s decline from valid PPV seller.
4 years ago you wouldn’t think of lightweight title being defended on free television. BJ Penn was firmly entrenched as the champion, and was about to give Kenny Florian a beatdown at UFC 101. BJ and Anderson Silva seemed to be PPV buddies in those days as a string of PPVs with either main eventing, and the other co-main eventing was the usual (outside of BJ’s move up to face Georges St. Pierre). At 101, they did their biggest damage (buyrate wise). An estimated 850,000 purchases took place the night BJ took apart Kenny, and Anderson played mixed martial arts’ version of Mozart’s 40th against Forrest Griffin. Penn was the headliner that night, and the lightweight division seemed destined to occupy space with the big boys from there on out.
Sadly, that did not turn out to be the case. The next three defenses of the title saw buys go from 620k to 500k to 570k (an event that had Couture vs. Toney as a co-main event). The drop from above 800k to just over 550k is bad enough, but after BJ dropped the second fight to Edgar things got worse. Both of Frankie’s fights against Gray Maynard earned a combined 495,000 purchases. A number that didn’t even match the lowest earning of fight of BJ’s championship reign.
The decline still hadn’t plateaued either. If Edgar’s numbers were low, then Ben’s are ground level. The first fight between Edgar and Henderson could be defined as a success as it got 375k buys (although it did have a great card and was the first UFC in Japan since the year 2000). The second one pulled in a mere 190,000, though. Since then, the title has been relegated to free TV status. Each of Ben’s defenses against Diaz and Melendez took place on Fox (where it did decent numbers compared to other shows that have been placed on the channel). It appeared as thought the UFC was trying to build Henderson up with some momentum to get bigger payouts from him on PPV.
However, after Grant beat Gray Maynard this past weekend it became apparent that was not the case. I was leery of White and co. giving the shot to Grant, and possibly putting him “in the mix” purgatory because he isn’t a draw. But Zuffa pleasantly surprised me by keeping that #1 contender part from the aforementioned match in tact. The only bad part about it is Grant isn’t any type of draw at the moment (somewhat a fault of the UFC itself). So not only is the lightweight title still not on PPV, but if Zuffa is telling the truth (…) than it will be relegated to Fox Sports 1 sometime this Fall.
So I ask you, Lowkickers all over the world. What is it that has turned the masses off to the lightweight division? Was its height all predicated on BJ Penn‘s dominance? Are Ben Henderson and Frankie Edgar just not that fun to watch to the casual fan? Is the never ending spree of questionable calls in the divisions title fights (5 out of the last 8 decisions were highly debated) taking a toll on who the audience actually sees as the best in the division? Does the sometimes mma fan see Ben as a paper champion?
Personally, I’m not sure. I happen to believe that the sports popularity is waning a little bit, and a lot of those fans that have shied away from purchasing the shows just don’t feel like 155lbs is worth it anymore. I also happen to think that, while the lightweight division is extremely tough, the four best fighters in the world are either competing in another promotion (Mike Chandler) or in another weight class (Anthony Pettis, Frankie Edgar, Jose Aldo). Now, do I think all four would run the table with the current top 10 in the UFC? No I don’t. But I can’t watch something like the fight between Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar, then come to the conclusion Ben (or Gilbert Melendez) is better than either guy.
What is it guys? Just a down streak for entertaining fighters at 155? Or is it something else? Let us know in the comments!
