UFC 66 and its main event between Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz breaks all records, and Bodog Fight looks to capitalize
UFC president Dana White promises the hits will keep on coming in 2007 when the mixed martial arts circuit expands into Canada and England. This follows the mega success of Saturday night's UFC 66 featuring a KO by Chuck Liddell verses Tito Ortiz. Tonight was a big night for us, White said at a news conference Saturday after Liddell's third-round technical knockout of Ortiz in a light-heavyweight title defense.
UFC is already the fastest growing sport. Traffic for UFC unbelievably surpassed that of the Bowl games This weekend at Sports911.com.
Payton O'Brien, who monitors all incoming traffic for the site, was both shocked and elated.
We expected a decent showing for UFC 66, realizing its potential, but to have the traffic exceed that of the college Bowl games really took us by surprise, O'Brien said.
Thousands of UFC fans flocked to Sports911.
com the days leading up to the event and the day immediately following Chuck Liddell's win.
Much of the UFC content pertained to sports betting. Not only fans of UFC have a thirst for betting on these fights but the UFC is now embracing boxing fans who no longer find value in betting the sport.
Among those in online gambling who have jumped on the Mixed Martial Arts bandwagon beyond just offering odds on events such as UFC 66 is Bodog.com. That company has begun its own Ultimate Fighting venue, .
The Bodog Group recently staged a sold out event in Vancouver, British Columbia. The second season of their fight reality show is currently being taped in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Bodog will also be featuring female fighters on the show, including renowned Brazilian female mixed martial artist, Carina Damm.
In many senses, Bodog.com rode the wave of the online poker phenomenon (which is far from over) even though they were considered far behind the likes of internet poker behemoths PartyPoker, PokerStars and Paradise.
Now Bodog Poker has positioned itself to become one of the top three online poker rooms in the coming year. They have already enjoyed unprecedented success in the online sports betting arena.
Now come other venues such as Bodog Music - a Canadian record label whose marquee act was an already established punk rocker named Bif Naked - and Bodog Fight.
MMA fans worldwide are eagerly anticipating BodogFight's next television production, says Bodog.com Entertainment Founder and billionaire media mogul Calvin Ayre, whose digital empire includes Bodog Music, the international record label responsible for BodogFight's incredible soundtrack. As BodogFight takes the sport further into mainstream media, we are unrelenting in our commitment to produce the world's finest MMA attractions.
Fans and fighters are reaping the reward of phenomenal events and associating with the most recognizable brand in digital entertainment. The American competitors who earn victories in St. Petersburg will whittle the field from 16 to the elite eight who will forge Team USA.
Fans around the world await the battle between American lightweights Mike Brown and veteran Yves Edwards, whose striking accuracy has awed observers for years. Another highlight will be the bout featuring Season 1 standout Ice Cold Kyacey Uscola, who made it clear he'll take on whoever dares step in front of him for his second bout in the BodogFight series. The middleweight brawler has a heavy-handed, lights-out fighting style that always means intense action in the ring.
His opponent is yet to be named. While the Americans are battling head-to-head, the World Team will be chiseled to eight as well. International fans can expect to see one of the greatest female bouts to date as top-ranked athletes Rosie Sexton from the UK and Carina Damm from Brazil bring a unique ferocity inside the ropes.
Also among the 16 bouts will be the contest between heavyweights Roman Zentsov, a two-time Pride veteran who many view as one of the sport's hardest hitters, and Kristof Midoux, an incredibly strong boxer / kick boxer. Fans will likely see an action-packed stand up war in this one. All eight series episodes will deliver fans incredible elimination battles, behind-the-scenes training, fighter interviews, a soundtrack featuring Bodog Music artists, and lifestyle segments, with the finale leading into the PPV main event scheduled for March.
The finale will be headlined by Superfights that feature some of the most prominent MMA competitors in the world.
From the Calgary Sun, here is the breakdown:
- Record MMA gate receipts of US$5.397 million, up from the previous record of $3.
5 million. We might have beat every gate this year in boxing, White added. - A bumper pay-per-view audience.
No numbers have been released but White said before the fight he hoped UFC 66 would reach a record 1.2 million pay-per-view sales. At nearly $40 a shot, that translates into $48 million.
- A soldout crowd of 14,607 at the MGM Grand Market Arena that included Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, Kid Rock, Tommy Lee, Jason Giambi and Wayne Newton. Not bad when you consider the Zuffa group -- Lorenzo Fertitta, Frank Fertitta III and White -- paid just $2 million for the ailing UFC in January 2001. We stumbled upon a sport that's incredible, White said.
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