The UFC’s pay-per-view pricing enjoyed a minor drop in cost for most of 2019, but that will change beginning with the new year.
The UFC’s pay-per-view pricing enjoyed a minor drop in cost for most of 2019, but that will change beginning with the new year.
When the UFC shifted the promotion’s pay-per-view distribution to ESPN+ in March 2019, the pay-per-view pricing dropped from $64.99 to $59.99, presumably to assist consumers with offsetting the $4.99/month charge to subscribe to ESPN+.
However, MMA Junkie has learned from ESPN+ officials that the pricing will return to $64.99 beginning with UFC 246, which takes place Jan. 18 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“ESPN+ is an incredible value to UFC fans, and this price change represents a return to the price that UFC fans traditionally paid, prior to ESPN+ decreasing the price for pay-per-view events for most of 2019,” an ESPN+ spokesperson told MMA Junkie.
For current non-subscribers to ESPN+, the pay-per-view and a one-year subscription to ESPN+ are being packaged together for $84.98, a similar increase from the current rate of $79.98.
According to an ESPN+ spokesperson, the UFC’s first year on ESPN+ featured more than 730 hours of programming, including 200 hours of live event coverage, as well more than 530 hours of original programs and on-demand content.
UFC 246 features a welterweight headliner between former dual-division champion [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] (21-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) and fan-favorite [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] (36-13 MMA, 23-10 UFC).
[autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] is set to make his octagon return at UFC 246, where he’ll face [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] on Jan. 18 in Las Vegas. Love him or hate him (and there’s been plenty of reason this year for the latter), it’s a big deal.
You’d think the UFC would want to make every effort to hype the return of its biggest star, go all out with the promotional materials. Like the official poster, for example. Really come up with something special.
Don’t mail it in on this one.
And yet, we got just a simple, non-symmetrical split image of both men that, for some strange reason, cuts off part of their faces.
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.
Khabib Nurmagomedov says the upcoming Conor McGregor-Donald Cerrone fight will have no bearing on the next challenger for his title.
A sizable chunk of the MMA world is getting excited about the UFC 246 clash between [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] and [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] on Jan. 18, but don’t count UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag] among that group.
“The Eagle” recently talked to the media at a press conference for regional Russian MMA event GFC 22 in Krasnodar, and was asked for a prediction for the upcoming McGregor-Cowboy clash.
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But, rather than offering a stylistic breakdown of the matchup, Nurmagomedov (28-0, 12-0 UFC) instead made clear his own view about both the matchup, and the respective records of both McGregor (21-4, 9-2 UFC) and Cerrone (36-13, 23-10 UFC).
“I think Cerrone lost seven or eight of his last 10 fights (actually six). The other one (McGregor) is going into his fourth year of no victories,” he said (via translation by RT Sport).
“It’s like the minor leagues – it doesn’t really matter who wins there.
Nurmagomedov also played down suggestions of a potential rematch with McGregor, and laid out specific criteria for the Irish star to earn his way back to a title shot.
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“I’m surprised that Dana White is saying that if Conor beats Cerrone and I beat Tony Ferguson, there will be a rematch,” he said.
“I decide who I’m going to fight next. To fight me he has to cut weight first, down to (lightweight), and win 10 fights in a row like I did. Then we’ll think about a rematch.
“But for now, he can fight second-rate fighters who lose seven out of 10 fights at (welterweight).” But to think he deserves the lightweight belt, while I’m champion that won’t happen, so everything’s alright. Don’t worry.”
Donald Cerrone is adding a wrinkle to his preparation for his fight with Conor McGregor at UFC 246. So will it pay off?
[autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] will be closing out his training at Roufus Sport ahead of the biggest fight of his standout career.
Cerrone headlines UFC 246 on Jan. 18, when he takes on returning former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] in a welterweight bout.
Speaking on “The Luke Thomas Show,” head coach Duke Roufus revealed Tuesday that Cerrone will pay a visit to his gym after Christmas in preparation for his fight with McGregor. Roufusport is home to the likes of former UFC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis, lightweight contender Paul Felder, and former welterweight champ Tyron Woodley.
The move to Milwaukee is so Cerrone can train with those fighters and work more closely with former kickboxing world champion coach Roufus in preparation for McGregor’s striking.
Having dropped his last two fights to Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje, respectively, Cerrone finds himself with his back against the wall. It’s not unfamiliar territory for the 36-year-old veteran, only this time the magnitude of the fight – and the money and opportunities that come with a win over a star like McGregor – should add motivation for Cerrone at this point in his career.
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So is the move to Roufusport a good one? Well, for starters, he wouldn’t be short of training partners to drill with. The likes of the Pettis brothers, Felder, and UFC welterweight Belal Muhammad might not mimic the exact style of McGregor, but they would certainly give Cerrone some good sparring rounds.
Working with an experienced coach like Roufus, who boasts a decorated kickboxing background, as well as the experience of cornering numerous championship fights, Cerrone will find himself training under the tutelage of a coach that has pretty much seen it all in combat sports.
“Cowboy” should be in good hands. But what do you think? You can vote in our poll below.
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.
UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz says he’s siding with Donald Cerrone ahead of “Cowboy’s” UFC 246 bout with Conor McGregor in January.
UFC Hall of Famer [autotag]Tito Ortiz[/autotag] has given his early backing to [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] ahead of “Cowboy’s” main event clash with [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] at UFC 246, saying McGregor’s recent out-of-cage behavior may come back to haunt him on fight night.
In an interview with Submission Radio, Ortiz said he was a big fan of both fighters, but admitted McGregor’s recent episode in which he struck a man in a Dublin pub left a sour taste in his mouth.
“I am (backing Cerrone), just because of Conor punching that old man on the barstool,” he said. “That was not respectful, man. And the guy got charged like $1,000 or something (expletive) like that. That is just baloney. Karma’s a (expletive), and it always bites everyone in the ass at the end of the day, and it always comes around, man.
“I like Conor. I think he’s an amazing guy. I just think that that wasn’t something you should do ever as a human being – not even just let alone a pro fighter, just as a human being in general. You always should respect your elders, and that’s always the right thing to do.”
Ortiz is all set for the latest chapter of his evergreen fighting career as he prepares to face former WWE champion Alberto Rodriguez at Combate Americas on Saturday. The former UFC light heavyweight champion said he likes Cerrone’s chances against McGregor, with the Irishman’s competitive inactivity, plus the fact the fight is taking place at 170 pounds both playing in Cerrone’s favor.
“Donald Cerrone is a tough guy. I love Donald Cerrone. He’s a good, good dude,” he said. “I really respect him and I think this is his time to shine, and I think he has a great chance of beating Conor.
“And it’s at 170. Conor actually is a 155-pounder, truthfully, and 145-pounder. So 170 is a big jump up for him. But I don’t know – did the time off help Conor? Sometimes when you get a little time off, it helps the body recover a little bit more. And Donald Cerrone’s been in some battles in his last couple of fights. So, it’s just one of those things.
“I just hope both the guys put on a great show, and I would like to see ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone get his hand raised. But I would like to see Conor put on a good fight.”
Tony Ferguson has an interesting prediction for the UFC 246 headliner between Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone.
Everyone has their opinion about who will win the UFC 246 headliner between [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] and [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag].
Perhaps owning an opinion worth a little bit more of your attention than the average Joe is UFC lightweight contender [autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag].
A former interim lightweight champion, Ferguson (25-3 MMA, 15-1 UFC) seemingly was in the running to fight McGregor (21-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) next. Alas, the Irishman will face Cerrone (35-13 MMA, 22-10 UFC) next month at UFC 246.
When he joined “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show” on Monday, Ferguson weighed in on how he sees the matchup playing out between his former divisional rivals.
“I have to say, if Cerrone kicks him in the chops, McGregor’s going to fall like a ton of bricks,” Ferguson said. “But like I always say, I’m going to go for the double knockout. I think they’re just going to go in there guns blazing. It’s going to be a good fight. I can’t wait to watch it.”
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Three months after McGregor and Cerrone settle business at welterweight, Ferguson will challenge lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov for the title. The fight will headline a pay-per-view event expected to be UFC 249 on April 18 in New York.
UFC 246 will take place Jan. 18 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The card will stream on pay-per-view following prelims expected to on ESPN/ESPN+.
MMA Junkie’s John Morgan, “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” unpack the latest MMA news and notes in Episode 5 of “Spinning Back Clique.”
Welcome to “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts. In this week’s episode, John Morgan, “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” react to the latest news, notes and fight bookings, as well as look ahead to UFC on ESPN 7 this weekend.
Show rundown:
Finally, we can discuss [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] news that has to do with cagefighting, as the former two-division UFC champion was booked to headline UFC 246 against [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag]. But the Jan. 18 fight isn’t taking place at lightweight; it’s taking place at welterweight. So, what exactly is at stake here?
It’s happening. … We think. … We hope. For the fifth time, [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag] has been booked. The 155-pound title fight is set for what should be UFC 249 on April 18 in New York. Will the fifth time be the charm in us finally seeing this fight, and what can we expect from this point on?
Whether it’s MMA or grappling, former UFC middleweight champion [autotag]Luke Rockhold[/autotag] just seems off. He was cut early before losing a decision to Nick Rodriguez last week at Polaris 12. Combine that with two devastating knockout losses in his last two MMA fights, as well recent comments that his heart isn’t into fighting anymore, and you’ve got to wonder: Where does he go from here with his combat sports career?
UFC Hall of Famer [autotag]Tito Ortiz[/autotag], who meets ex-WWE superstar Alberto El Patron this weekend in Combate Americas, got mad at MMA Junkie last week, calling us “click bait” for writing a story highlighting his comments about current UFC light heavyweight champ [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag]. “I think I can beat Jon Jones,” Ortiz said. “I think I have a good chance – I really do think I’ve got a good chance.” His words, not ours. So when you hear that, what’s your take on it?
UFC on ESPN 7 this Saturday features [autotag]Alistair Overeem[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag] in a heavyweight main event. And in the co-headliner, [autotag]Cynthia Calvillo[/autotag] fights [autotag]Marina Rodriguez[/autotag] at strawweight. Of those four fighters, who has the most to gain with an impressive victory?
For answers to all of those questions, watch Episode 5 of “Spinning Back Clique” in the video above. And make sure to weigh in on McGregor vs. Cerrone in our poll below.
A timeline of all the key moments that led to Conor McGregor vs. Donald Cerrone in the UFC 246 headliner.
How did we get to [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] at UFC 246? Check out this timeline of all the key moments that led to McGregor and “Cowboy” sharing the octagon in the welterweight pay-per-view headliner on Jan. 18 in Las Vegas.
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Jan. 16, 2015: Cerrone’s first words on McGregor
After McGregor defeated Dustin Poirier at UFC 178 and Cerrone beat Eddie Alvarez on the same card in September 2014, both men once again landed on the same show at UFC Fight Night 59 in January 2015, with McGregor taking on Dennis Siver in the main event while Cerrone faced Benson Henderson in the co-headliner.
Cerrone is asked about a potential fight between the two by MMA Junkie’s Matt Erickson at media day.
“Sure, (I’ll fight him),” Cerrone said. “Conor won’t be able to talk (expletive) to me, though. He won’t be able to do that (Dustin) Poirier stuff because I’ll (expletive) him up whenever I see him. Because that don’t fly with me. I don’t play that game. He’s a good dude. I get along with him just fine.”
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March 13, 2015: Cerrone praises McGregor at fan Q&A
McGregor’s win over Siver at UFC Fight Night 59 set him up for a featherweight title shot. He was already talking about moving up to lightweight, though, and Cerrone is asked about a potential fight with McGregor during a fan Q&A prior to UFC 185 weigh-ins in Dallas.
“I’d fight anybody if they paid me – free – I’d do it,” Cerrone said. “Conor’s doing it. Great job. Talked himself right into a title shot. Hell yeah. Good job, buddy. Son of a (expletive) fights. He fights. Everyone is like, ‘Wait until he gets a test.’ Then he wins. Now he’s got a real test. What if he wins? Then you’ve got to shut the (expletive) up, huh? Who am I to say he can’t win? I don’t know.”
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Sept. 2, 2015: McGregor rips Cerrone’s pay ahead of his title fight
During a media luncheon with reporters in Los Angeles, McGregor, who had just beaten Chad Mendes for the interim UFC featherweight belt two months prior at UFC 189, ripped the scheduled UFC on FOX 17 lightweight title fight between Cerrone and then-champ Rafael dos Anjos
“Rafael has nothing; Donald has nothing,” McGregor said. “Rafael will be lucky to make six figures this fight – and rightfully so. He shouldn’t even make six figures because he doesn’t even bring in six figures. Donald will probably scrape six figures because he shows up and fights every couple weeks, and he earns that six figures. But he don’t earn much more than that.
“Make no mistake: They want it as well,” he said. “They don’t give a (expletive) about each other. If either of them had the opportunity to scrap that fight and come fight me, I can change their life. I can make them rich. I have the numbers.”
It didn’t take long for McGregor’s comments to reach Cerrone, who sent a stern warning over Twitter, reminding the Irishman that the two would share the same building later that week for the UFC’s “Go Big” press conference in Las Vegas.
Just focus on your task at hand @TheNotoriousMMA you do realize you have to see me face to face in 2 days
The true genesis of McGregor vs. Cerrone starts here. McGregor, who was at the press conference to promote his UFC 194 featherweight title unification bout with Jose Aldo, turns his attention to the lightweight division and has words for Cerrone, planting the seed for a future fight.
“I see stiffness when I look at that 155-pound division,” McGregor said. “Slow, stiff. I feel like they’re stuck in the mud almost. The featherweights, they hit like flyweights. So it’s nice down there just destroying them and killing that division. But I have my eye on that 155 division and I see them all stuck in the mud in there. We’ll see over time. But have I been wrong yet? No.”
Cerrone offers his response: “You have a monster here at 145, Aldo, about to beat your ass. You’ve beat nobody and you think you’re going to come up to 155 and make a statement? Sit down.”
Of course, though, McGregor gets the last word: “You’re fighting a guy (dos Anjos) that whooped your ass next. So you’ve got to come through that. Then I’ll consider. I’ll check the numbers with Frank (Fertitta), then I’ll decide if I want to change your bum life, as well.”
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Dec. 2, 2015: McGregor says UFC wants lightweight title fight vs. Cerrone
As McGregor gears up for his UFC 194 title unification bout with Aldo, he continues to discuss his plans to move up to the lightweight division in the near future. He reveals he spoke to the UFC brass about the move, but claims the promotion was only interested if Cerrone beat dos Anjos at UFC on FOX 17.
“I think the brass want that; they said to me that if Cerrone wins, they would do the lightweight fight,” McGregor said. “They would do a lightweight title fight because dos Anjos wouldn’t bring the numbers. It wouldn’t be as big with dos Anjos. But really, the fight will decide what happens. If it’s a war, if it’s a great fight, then all of a sudden dos Anjos’ stock rises and I’m sure he’s going to call me out. Then it’s there.
“I feel it’s almost set in stone. KO Jose and then KO whoever holds that lightweight belt. Within the next two fights I will be a two-weight world champion once again, but this time in the UFC.”
Did the UFC make the right move booking Conor McGregor vs. Donald Cerrone? MMA Junkie’s Matt Erickson, Farah Hannoun and Nolan King discuss.
The fight had been rumored for a while, and Thursday it was made official. Conor McGregor will return from what will be about a 15-month layoff to headline UFC 246 in Las Vegas against Donald Cerrone. But was this the right fight for the UFC to make right now? MMA Junkie’s Matt Erickson, Farah Hannoun and Nolan King break it down in the latest edition of Triple Take.
Matt Erickson: This is smart matchmaking for everyone involved
The oft-rumored [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] fight became a reality Thursday – the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S., of all days.
It’s a fight pitting arguably the most bankable star in UFC history – McGregor – against the promotion’s all-time leader in fight-night bonus awards, which makes the matchup seem like a slam-dunk no-brainer where the hype-o-meter is concerned.
But like nearly everything in this sport, we can’t just have nice things without the naysayers getting their $0.02 in. You know the types. They’re the ones who can’t just cruise past a tweet or Facebook post or Instagram photo without chiming in, just so everyone knows they’re here. Gotta put that thumbprint on everything.
We can’t just be happy with a perfectly good fist fight between two fighters who essentially are legends and future UFC Hall of Famers. We have to put it under a microscope and pick it apart and find some kind of fault with it, right? That’s just how we do it in the Twitter Era!
It almost didn’t matter who McGregor was matched up against. The talk was going to be just that he was coming back, period. He’s been out since his UFC 229 submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov and the subsequent post-fight brawl between their camps. And not coincidentally, that was the matchup (and the UFC 223 bus incident that preceded it) that seemed to kick off McGregor’s spate of outside-the-cage troubles. Add them all together – the bus arrest, the Miami Beach arrest, the Dublin pub incident – and it presents a troubling pattern.
Throw in a couple of reports of sexual assault allegations that have been vehemently denied – and that McGregor hasn’t been charged with – and a case could be made that until the Irish superstar gets his proverbial ish together in the real world, the UFC should just not book him at all.
But c’mon … we all know that’s not gonna happen. When McGregor fights, he makes money for everyone. And with his slate clean from the things he has been charged with, there’s really no reason to keep him on the sidelines if he wants to finally get back to work.
So why is this a good matchup? I’ve got two reasons for you. The first is, while Cerrone might not be a Conor McGregor fan, he almost certainly respects not only his fighting ability, but the way he’s able to get people to pay attention to him. Cerrone goes about it in a much different way – he just puts his head down, does his work, and when he’s off the clock, he goes full-on “Cowboy” doing what he wants to do.
But I’ll predict Cerrone is not going to be the type of opponent for McGregor who will engage in a whole bunch of social media trash talk. More likely, he’s the type who might not be a fan of the guy, but after they fight he’ll smile at him and raise a glass to him for going to battle. And that’s just the type of opponent the UFC needs to give McGregor right now – one who is not a major risk of baiting McGregor into Twitter wars of words, or who might turn things ugly come fight week. McGregor has had enough trouble of late – so put him in there with someone who has the potential to just show up to fight and not turn the whole thing into a sideshow leading up to it.
And secondly, this is the perfect matchup to make not for McGregor, but for Cerrone. The UFC shouldn’t book this fight as any kind of favor to McGregor. They’ve done him enough solids already, and he should just be happy to get a fight. But Cerrone? He’s been just about a perfect company man through the years. He takes fights on short notice, he takes hard fights, he fights up-and-comers – and all he does time after time is deliver. You don’t wind up with 18 fight-night bonuses if you’re not bringing it every time out.
We’ve all heard McGregor talk about the kinds of pay days he brings to the fighters he steps in against. They can be life-altering. And while Cerrone doesn’t seem to have any issues with the checks he gets from fighting, if anyone deserves a pay-per-view main event and the type of check that can come with a fight against McGregor, it’s “Cowboy.”
Everyone wins with this booking. The UFC gets McGregor back in the cage and a likely blockbuster pay-per-view event out of the gate in 2020. McGregor gets back to work against an opponent who is likely to be willing to just fight him in the cage, and not on social media. And Cerrone gets his “Red Panty Night.” It’s a trifecta, and it’s perfect.
Who has the edge in the newly announced UFC 246 main event between Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone? Dam Tom breaks it down.
As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, former UFC champion [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] will be making his return at UFC 246 opposite fellow fan favorite [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag].
The event will take place on Jan. 18 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and the headlining matchup at hand will be contested at welterweight.
McGregor (21-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) is coming off of a failed attempt to regain his lightweight crown against current champ Khabib Nurmagomedov back at UFC 229, and has spent the bulk of 2019 with battles outside of the cage that range from formal assault charges to sexual assault allegations.
Whereas Cerrone (36-13 MMA, 23-10 UFC), who – despite starting the year off strong with wins over Alexander Hernandez and Al Iaquinta – is currently coming off of a pair of stoppage losses to two of the toughest hombres at 155 pounds in Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje.
Both men will have ample opportunity to take steps in the right direction come January, but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to lay out some of the things that I’ll be looking for from an analytical/technical perspective, using a fun point/counterpoint format to help primer the McGregor-Cerrone collision ahead.
Point: Lengthy layoff for McGregor
With most metrics traditionally indicating long layoffs as a negative, it’s hard to ignore the fact that it will be a solid 15 months since we’ve last seen McGregor compete in a cage come January.
If you count his special attraction with Floyd Mayweather inside of the boxing ring, then McGregor’s second-longest layoff comes out to 14 months; but if we’re just sticking to MMA, then his longest layoff technically jumps to a grand total of 23 months – – both of which roads resulted in a loss upon return.
Counterpoint: Prior comebacks and adjustments
Although McGregor’s most recent comeback bore little fruit, he has shown the ability to adapt and overcome adversity at earlier points of his UFC tenure.
After tearing his ACL mid-fight against Max Holloway back in 2013, McGregor took recovery and reinvigoration to a new level, making a successful return the next year (after an 11-month grand total). And in 2016, McGregor, despite suffering a crushing defeat to Nate Diaz at UFC 196 and nearly severing ties with both his head coach and the UFC that same summer, managed to turn things around in just 5 months time – showing off an improved arsenal and ability to manage pace.
Next page: “Cowboy” vs. southpaws, McGregor vs. kickers
