The Heat and the Shine

It is time for another edition of Coors Light Cold Hard Facts (because Bud Light doesn't pay me).  Whenst last we separated Fact (not actual facts) from Fiction (more predictions, really), it was to discuss cable and satellite providers' distaste for WWE Network .  Your humble essayist is back, this time to discuss the business issue of the moment: UFC's declining pay-per-view and television numbers. Fact or Fiction: UFC's pay-per-view decline will reverse itself this year Fact. Yes, there are fewer MMA fans than ever (at least since the boom).  Yes, GSP is gone.  Yes, Cain and Ronda are hurt.  Yes, (about) 500k for Weidman/Ronda is unimpressive.  But it's got to get better. The first half of 2014 was about as ugly as it can get.  UFC has had exactly one PPV main event in the marquee weight classes (Light Heavy and Heavy) this year, and it went head to head with LeBron and Kevin Durant in the playoffs.  Ronda fought twice, which helped.  Otherwise, it's

The Cost of Abandoning Fair Play: Why UFC 155 Won’t Draw By Ben Miller Email: benjamiller@icloud.com Twitter:  @benjamiller   The temptation is to blame the mismatch.  A year ago, the striker knocked out the wrestler in a minute.  What has changed?  The wrestler still wants everyone on the ground.  The striker still seems to always be able to stay off the ground.  The striker isn’t getting any shorter and the wrestler isn’t getting any younger. And so maybe the mismatch is the reason that Junior Dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez for the heavyweight championship at UFC 155 has tepid interest.  No front page headline on ESPN.com a day out.  The sports section of the Los Angeles Times (the newspaper from the nearest major media market to Las Vegas, the site of the fight) has nary a mention.  Deadspin.com has a feature, but even that is a feature about the  bumbled promotion of the challenger . The problem with blaming the mismatch is that the sporting public seems fine with