Brendan Schaub believes the days of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) needing big pay-per-view draws are over.
The UFC scored big when it was purchased by Endeavor for $4.2 billion. Less than three years later, the promotion has landed on ESPN. With the UFC making big money moves, many have questioned the need for a massive pay-per-view star in 2019. Schaub, a former UFC heavyweight, believes the promotion no longer needs big names.
Brendan Schaub Speaks On New Era For UFC
Schaub took to his “Below the Belt” podcast on Showtime to explain why he feels the UFC isn’t longing for stars anymore (via BJPenn.com):
“The power has left the fighters, all the fighters. Because now that they have this guaranteed nut, they’re covered, they’re balling, there’s no more pay-per-view stars. The pay-per-view star model is over. It was a business model that was predicated on huge pay-per-view stars. Brock Lesnar, Ronda Rousey, you know, obviously Conor Mcgregor, Anderson Silva, these guys, these bigger than life names and they put all the resources into them and they had the marketing machine behind them. You’re never going to see that anymore. That’s over with. So if you didn’t think your fighter got huge kind of push before, it’s going to get way worse. They don’t have to. They’re set. They’re in cruise control in America. They just went cruise control. Cool. We don’t have to bank on stars.”
Do you agree with Brendan Schaub, or do you believe the UFC is still in need of big pay-per-view stars?
