The UFC has been criticized lately for putting on watered down cards and saturating the mixed martial arts market. Unfortunately for the UFC, they are in a sort of a bind due to the fact they have a huge roster of athletes that need events to fight at.
The result has ultimately left multiple UFC events with weak cards that have very little name recognition for casual fans. To make matters worse, injuries have plagued the UFC as of late, and specifically UFC champions.
Injuries have led to the cancellation of UFC 176, and marred tons of other events in between. The next UFC pay-per-view, UFC 177, has also been subject to multiple lineup changes that have left the card one injury away from cancellation.
The card is so poor that fans and pundits alike are questioning whether or not the $60 is worth the price of the event. Below is the scheduled pay-per-view portion of UFC 177:
T.J. Dillashaw (champion) vs. Renan Barão
Tony Ferguson vs. Danny Castillo
Bethe Correia vs. Shayna Baszler
Ramsey Nijem vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira
Yancy Medeiros vs. Justin Edwards
It does not take a hardcore fan to recognize that UFC 177 is arguably one of the weakest pay-per-views of all time. Instead of cancelling UFC 177 as they did 176, the UFC should instead consider airing the fight live on Fox Sports 1 for free.
Although there will likely be some difficulties in switching the broadcast to free television, it might be in the UFC’s best interest to do so. If the UFC has been willing to cut their losses before, they should be willing to do it now.
Instead of trying to sell a weak pay-per-view card that will ultimately do dismal numbers, the UFC should promote a free numbered UFC event on television headlined by an exciting bantamweight title rematch.
In the end, thousands of casuals will be treated to a great main event between two men who desperately need a casual fan base as a UFC champion. Setting up the fight on Fox Sports 1 will allow for many more people to be subjected to TJ Dillashaw and Renan Barao, and therefore be more likely to purchase the next UFC event featuring either man.
It may not be the the easiest decision for the UFC, but it is absolutely the right decision to put UFC 177 on free television.
