Category: Combat Sports

Netflix drew 60 million for Tyson-Paul, which contributed to the buggy broadcast

Netflix apparently drew 60 million for Tyson-Paul, which likely impacted the buggy broadcast.

Netflix on Saturday revealed 60 million households worldwide spent (wasted?) Friday evening watching two annoying windbags pummel each other for money.

Oh yes, the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul “boxing match” apparently drew 60 million for its buggy live broadcast, according to the streaming giant’s Saturday estimate.

Netflix said the broadcast pull had “our buffering systems on the ropes.”

Fans who are worried about watching the NFL this Christmas or WWE Raw in January might be heartened to know the Tyson-Paul clown show drew much more of an audience share than your average football game or wrestling match.

In comparison, Amazon is reportedly averaging 13 million viewers a week for its Thursday night NFL broadcasts, per Front Office Sports. Last Monday’s broadcast of WWE Raw drew a little more than 1.5 million viewers, per Wrestlenomics.

Last Christmas, the NFL brought in an average viewership of 29.2 million for the Kansas City Chiefs-Las Vegas Raiders game, likely heightened by intrigue in Taylor Swift’s attendance.

With the Chiefs playing the Pittsburgh Steelers on one of the Netflix broadcasts and Swift’s attendance a definite possibility, the streamer could be attracting around 30 million viewers for that Christmas broadcast.

While Friday’s Tyson-Paul broadcast had its glaring issues (both in the ring and with the live-streaming), Netflix has time to amend its infrastructure before the holidays and its WWE broadcasts next year.

For bigger events than regular-season NFL games and WWE matches, Netflix might have its hands full with mounting a problem-free broadcast.

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Jake Paul admitted to pulling punches instead of knocking out Mike Tyson

“I just have so much respect for him,” Paul said.

A whole lot of people tuned into Netflix – and endured streaming issues – on Friday night to watch Jake Paul fight Mike Tyson.

And folks who remember the Mike Tyson of 20 to 30 years ago would have assumed that bout would’ve ended in a knockout in Tyson’s favor, against almost anyone, much less a YouTube star turned fighter. Drake was among those who thought Tyson would surely win.

But Tyson is now 58-years-old and seemed to be hobbled Friday night by a bum knee. And anyone who watched the fight would say that Paul was in control almost the whole time. And if someone was going to suffer a knockout, it would have been Tyson at Paul’s hands.

After the match, Paul even admitted to pulling some punches and carrying Tyson, ensuring the fight would go the distance.

“I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt. … There was a point where I was like, ‘OK, he’s not really engaging back.’ And so, I don’t know if he’s tired or whatever, I could just tell that his age was showing a little bit. I just have so much respect for him.”

Tyson’s boxing record is 50-7 after losing to Paul.

Mike Tyson unsurprisingly swatted at Jake Paul during their boxing match weigh-in

Mike Tyson swatted at Jake Paul at their boxing weigh-in, as if that’s any surprise.

Former boxer/convicted rapist Mike Tyson and noted grifter/YouTube idiot Jake Paul decided to do what they’re great at and cause an unnecessary scene to preview their live-streamed boxing match on Friday.

Ahead of Netflix paying these two blithering dunderheads obscene amounts of money to “punch” each other and degrade the sport of boxing for your morbid entertainment, Tyson decided to get a swipe in at Paul during the weigh-in as people looked on and pretended to be shocked.

Two boxers getting into it at a weigh-in is one of the oldest tropes in the sport. These two just made something so routine look like two third-graders getting into it while they’re in line walking to the library for a Scholastic Book Fair because one of them wiped a wet booger on the other’s Lightning McQueen backpack.

Only in this instance, Tyson was wearing an ugly Speedo and Paul looked like a Cobra Kai extra who got fired for flipping over the catering table because somebody pointed out he had toilet paper attached to his Crocs.

If you’re going to waste your Friday evening watching these two morons fight with each other in Jerry World, a stadium too stupid to put up curtains to block the literal sun during football games, godspeed to you.

You will leave the event none the wiser, shamelessly chortling at the de-evolution of humankind and dreading the day you must explain to your children you spent your time watching this clickbait catastrophe instead of volunteering at a charity or cleaning out your sock drawer.

Fun fact: Mike Judge actually cut this fight from Idiocracy because it was too on the nose, and this is a movie where one scene shows a theater full of people dying of laughter at the suspended image of a human buttocks. Let that sink in; this ordeal is dumber than a photo of a butt.

The fight, if you really want to call it that and not a gross byproduct of the attention-at-all-costs economy, is Friday night at 8 p.m. ET on Netflix, unless the universe spares us all by sending a merciful asteroid to wipe out civilization for sanctioning such absolute buffoonery between two headline-starved narcissists who will do basically anything to capitalize on their festering boils of fame before they fade into the abyss. Eat at Arby’s.

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MMA heavyweight avoids TKO by kicking opponent square in the beans

Justice was served in the end, but hoooooo boy things looked grim for a minute.

MMA is a violent, occasionally beautiful sport. At its best, it pairs two elite athletes in a chess match of concussive strikes and savvy grappling. At its worst, it’s a slopfest where an overmatched opponent can save himself with stupid technique or illegal strikes.

On Thursday, the Professional Fighters League gave us the latter.

In a battle between heavyweights Tim Johnson and Danilo Marques, Johnson uncorked a massive left hand that sent his opponent sprawling to the canvas. He was unable to follow up, however, because Marques blasted a kick right to his cup at the exact same moment. Marques shook off the cobwebs and assumed he’d won, only to be reassured by the referee that, no, none of that was even remotely legal.

Johnson needed about three minutes of stoppage time to shake off the foul Despite the setback, he still managed to rally. Moments later, he dropped Marques en route to a first round TKO.

After the fight, Johnson discussed his roller coaster win.

“That hurt. That was definitely the worst groin strike I’ve ever had,” Johnson told former fighter turned interviewer Dan Hardy. “I didn’t know. I just heard everyone booing. So I was like ‘I’m sorry guys, I just got kicked in the groin. I’m trying.’ Then I found out they were booing at Danilo so, whatever.”

Johnson improved to 17-9 — and 1-0 in the PFL — with the win.

Pat McAfee seemingly doubled down on calling Caitlin Clark a ‘white [expletive]’ during WWE’s Monday Night Raw

So much for Pat McAfee’s apology.

Pat McAfee’s viral comments from Monday did not stop with Caitlin Clark. They extended to WWE’s Monday Night Raw, where he seemingly fanned the flames of the backlash he received.

McAfee is known for his sense of humor and ability to make sports relatable. These qualities have built his career and ESPN and helped him reach superstar status in broadcast circles. But he’s also brought plenty of controversy with him on the air. On Monday, he crossed the humor line and used misogynistic words when he called Caitlin Clark a “white [expletive]” as he explained his opinion on why the WNBA needs to stop hating on Caitlin Clark.

McAfee would later issue an apology. But, hours later, he seemingly doubled down on his actions as he used an opportunity to say Braun Strowman’s “one big [expletive]” tagline with an extra word added. In a recent clip from the show, MccAfee pauses mid-tagline before adding “white” to his words. (Warning: There’s NSFW language in the post and in the video.)

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AEW star Willow Nightingale surprised a middle school wrestling club in a heartwarming moment

Pro wrestling can be beautiful sometimes.

Willow Nightingale is having a moment.

The All Elite Wrestling star has planted her flag as one of the most promising talents in professional wrestling. After a long career as an underappreciated workhorse on the independent scene, she’s taken full advantage of the spotlight afforded by a national promotion. After a run as New Japan Pro Wrestling’s first ever Strong Women’s Champion, she harnessed a swell of fan support and recently defeated Julia Hart to claim AEW’s TBS title.

That admiration extends to members of The Wrestling Club, a group of students at KIPP AMP Middle School in Brooklyn. Students in the club, guided by English teacher Victor Perry, spent Monday’s lunch and recess watching Nightingale challenge Athena for the Ring of Honor championship at last year’s Death Before Dishonor. That’s when a special guest arrived.

In the midst of dueling “Let’s go Willow/Let’s go Athena” chants, Nightingale snuck into the classroom with her TBS title draped over her shoulder. After a moment of recognition, the classroom exploded in cheers for the subject of that day’s Wrestling Club. Students shouted in disbelief as the women they’d been watching high-fived any and every student who came up to say hello.

It’s the kind of uplifting moment that transcends the weird tribalism that too often dominates wrestling discourse.

Nightingale, Perry and The Wrestling Club helped remind us why we watch the spectacle inside the squared circle. It can be terrible, and it can be empty calorie television at times. But at its best, pro wrestling is its own mythology, creating larger than life heroes — the kind who can make a middle school classroom explode simply by walking in.

On Monday, Nightingale got to pull off an ultimate babyface move. In the process, she proved she’s more than just a champion; to members of The Wrestling Club, she’s a straight up legend.

Ryan Garcia really downed a beer at his ceremonial weigh-in with Devin Haney

We’re not kidding. A beer…was drank…in the middle of a weigh-in.

Ryan Garcia had one of the wildest weigh-ins in quite some time. At the ceremonial procedure Friday with Devin Haney, the boxer he’ll face on April 20, Garcia promptly downed a beer mid-weigh-in.

Fighters do all kinds of wild things at weigh-ins to get into their opponents’ minds: trash talk, shoving, staring them down, etc. You know, the typical stuff we’ve come to expect.

But Ryan Garcia was so amped for his weigh-in with Devin Haney that he didn’t even wait for Haney to get on stage. He hopped on the scale with a random beer that he brought with him and totally chugged it. Making matters worse, Garcia also lost over $1 million for being overweight.

Sting’s retirement match was a beautiful, bloody spectacle that left fans in awe

Sting’s retirement match was proof he understood wrestling better than 99.9 percent of his peers.

Sting is one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. Not just because he was an icon, but because he was never afraid to change.

The WCW, TNA and AEW icon wrestled the last match of his storied, five decade career at AEW’s Revolution pay-per-view event. It was pure spectacle, a main event befitting a legend from the moment the 64-year-old wrestler walked onto the ramp to the guitar riff of his first entrance song; Metallica’s Seek and Destroy.

What followed was a match replete with Sting tributes — including from his sons decked out in different eras of Sting fear, wrestling legends like Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat and a litany of broken glass and shattered tables.

The match was unrecognizable from the ones Sting put on in the 80s or 90s. It was unfathomable to dream up when he appeared to be winding down his career in the 2000s. But there he was, in his 60s, crashing through pressed wood and panes of glass.

This wasn’t a man who coasted to his finish. He kept his foot on the gas, evolving with the game and leaving as one of the most compelling figures in the sport. In the end, Sting and Darby Allin retained their world tag team championship over the Young Bucks, surviving some truly absurd bumps on Allin’s part and an extended two-on-one beatdown from the AEW executive vice presidents on the sextagenarian opposite them.

A scorpion deathlock iced the deal, but the crowd watching at home was treated to one last touching throwback. In true WCW fashion, the pay-per-view broadcast cut off exactly at midnight ET as Sting was still winding down his retirement speech. For the former face of the company that mastered the “folks, we’re out of time” finish on Monday Nitro and who once had to re-air a pay-per-view headliner on cable TV the next day after running long, it was a fitting inconvenience.

Fortunately for us, one fan at ringside captured his full monologue:

Sting can always return on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite for a proper goodbye alongside a Darby Allin who, at least theoretically, will have fewer open wounds. But if he doesn’t, fans took to Twitter to express their appreciate for a man who spent nearly 40 years in the ring before going out on top.

WWE Raw’s $5 billion price tag at Netflix means most of the sports you love will be streaming soon

Get ready to watch Big Ten football on Crunchyroll, or whatever.

Soon you won’t be able to find the WWE’s flagship weekly program on cable television. Beginning in 2025, Raw — formerly Monday Night Raw — is headed to Netflix.

The longtime cable staple was a ratings tentpole for the USA, what used to be TNN and, briefly, Sci-Fi Networks. Now it’s headed to streaming thanks to a megadeal that will put the WWE belts alongside Bojack Horseman, Stranger Things and Bridgerton next January. All for the price of $5 billion over 10 years.

This is a story with two narratives. The first is that pro wrestling’s wide appeal is the strongest its been since WWE’s Attitude Era where “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Rock, Degeneration X and various versions of The Undertaker and Mick Foley battled in the squared circle. The world’s biggest promotion has been operating at a different level from both an in-ring and storytelling level, creating a product that’s worth $500 million annually for 52 three-hour programs.

The other is that streaming services aren’t ceding any growth when it comes to live sports — or, in this case, sports entertainment. Raw marks Netflix’s first major foray into both sports and live streaming. It’s far from the first platform to break into the field.

Netflix could not ignore the success of Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football simulcasts. Or the loud grumbling and eventual submission to Peacock’s exclusive broadcast rights of the 2024 Wild Card showdown between the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs. And while those programs were handled very differently — Prime’s ability to mesh live advanced stats and predictive analysis added a unique layer to its coverage, while Peacock offered fans the opportunity to see plays three plays behind the box score and various buffering screens — they both served as drivers for new signups in an increasingly fractured streaming landscape.

That’s a big deal for Netflix, who’ll bid adieu to its most-watched property — Stranger Things — this year. Live sports was the one genre missing from its lineup, and while pro wrestling doesn’t have the cache of the NFL or NBA or MLB (streaming, occasionally, on Apple TV in the past and likely on Prime going forward) it’s more than a niche broadcast. It’s a part of the zeitgeist, a product that maintains a steady viewership and occasionally reaches greater heights on the shoulders of larger-than-life stars. It’s also a property that won’t be folded into Disney’s empire as the parent company of ESPN and all the over-air and streaming broadcasts that come with that.

This $5 billion deal is another cannon blast in the war for live broadcast rights. It’s terrible news for basic and premium cable channels. The only reliable driver of traditional Nielsen ratings — the metric through which advertising slots are priced and sold — is live sports.

Losing Raw is a bitter pill for the USA Network to swallow, but what happens when Prime or Max or Paramount+ or Netflix make a play for the NBA rights that will be up for bidding in 2025? Prime already has access to the regional networks that carry local MLB and NBA games following the bankruptcy of the brand behind Bally Sports Network; is the company whose goal is to be ubiquitous with selling everything you could ever want going to stop there?

The Pac-12 fell apart, in part, because a television deal with Apple TV couldn’t match the revenue more stable major conferences could offer schools via more traditional media rights deals. That’s something that is going to change significantly by the time Big Ten broadcast rights reset in 2030 or Big 12 rights do a year later. It’s possible we’re looking at a future where Wisconsin-UCLA is shown exclusively in seven minute clips on Quibi (I’m kidding, of course. Quibi died, if I remember correctly, because it couldn’t bear to part with its prosthetic golden arm).

This is great news for sports leagues and a further step into Darwinian survival for traditional networks. Major conference college sports and NFL games could be headed for a streaming service that doesn’t yet exist. Raw’s move to Netflix isn’t the start of this trend, but it’s a sign it won’t slow down.

And as long as the broadcasts are more Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football than Peacock, uh, anything, that’s good for sports fans too.

Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis take their vicious UFC 296 fight in crowd to social media

The two fighters went at each other as fans at UFC 296.

One of the biggest fights at UFC 296 wasn’t in the octagon.

Nope, it was in the crowd. But it was between two MMA fighters who will be facing each other in the future.

Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis will face each other at UFC 297 in January, and they had words for each other at a recent press conference. Oddly, the pair were seated near each other and came to blows in the crowd — MMA Junkie reports Dana White and security broke up the melee and Strickland was forced to leave.

But the fight didn’t stop there: The two called each other out on X (formerly Twitter):

And here’s footage of the fight: