Written by Ricky Leone at MMA Manifesto
What is UFC’s Superbowl card, and why is it important?
At some point (I actually have a year on this—coming next sentence!), UFC made it an annual tradition to host a larger-than-usual show on the eve of the biggest sports event of the year, the Superbowl. At UFC 46 in 2004, the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion, Randy Couture, rematched former foe, Vitor Belfort (they first faced off at UFC 13).
Also at UFC 46, lightweight BJ Penn shocked the world and won the UFC welterweight championship from the seemingly invincible Matt Hughes, heavyweight prospect Frank Mir and former UFC welterweight champion Carlos Newton were on the undercard, and on the prelims? Matt Serra opened up the card, followed by Josh Thomson, and headlining the prelims, a judo-based prospect named Karo Parisyan faced off against another prospect who was making his UFC debut: Georges St-Pierre.
I guess you could say that on the biggest sports weekend of the year, the UFC has alwayswanted to make a good impression.
Last year’s Superbowl card may have indicated an important trend, and that’s headlining the Superbowl card with a big marquee non-title fight. Silva vs. Diaz brought in an estimated 650,000 buys (one of the better buyrates of the year), and was largely built on the triumphant return of Anderson Silva—how would he fare after the adversity he faced (in Silva’s case, his gruesome leg break)?
A similar storyline looms on the horizon for another one of the UFC’s biggest stars, albeit under different circumstances. Jon Jones is on his way back, and the foregone conclusion appears to be that he’ll immediately rematch Daniel Cormier in a big undisputed title fight, but is that really the best route going forward?
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