The Apex - It's Here to Stay!

[David]

It seems every time a fight card is announced for the Apex it sends people into a right tizzy. I'm not all that sure why, really.

Look, the UFC has a huge roster. There has to be somewhere for the up & coming guys, and some of the ageing vets to ply their trade. There's not space on the bigger events for them, so this is as best a next option as they have available.

I mean, let's be honest, who in their right mind is buying tickets to see that Song Yadong vs Ricky Simon card? Or the recent Pavlovich vs Blaydes fight card? It costs a decent wedge to stage a fight card with a crowd in attendance, including renting a building, all the ticketing and health and safety etc that comes with that, then the staffing, the concessions and so forth. 

These Apex cards are, for the most part, a mix of younger names, up & comers, and older vets who aren't at the top of their game, with the odd decent main event chucked in. They're fine for what they are, and the Apex is perfect for these types of line ups. They still get televised and the wider UFC audience can catch a night of fights if they so wish.

As (the now) Skinny Uncle D would say, "it is what it is." 

[Bus Surfer]

It's probably not feasible long term and would take some planning which will cause its own headaches and costs, but the fight with Cummings and Herman a few weeks back playing out in front of Cummings home town really felt like a bit of a spectacle because the crowd had some investment in what was otherwise a pretty nothing bout (double retirement not withstanding) 

If the UFC could do the Fight Night shows and stick a few hometown people on the card it would make for a much more lively and fun show. Again I understand its probably an effort they don't think it worthwhile, but anything beats the souless Apex. 

Edited April 27, 2023 by Silky Kisser

[Zebra Kid Mark]

If they don't want to travel across the country, they should at least set up base in a place where you can get a few thousand fans in like the Virgin hotel which is in Las Vegas. The small venue that Merab and Yan fought in. I have no idea the financials behind it, but surely they were able to break even and not run the event at a loss.

#anythingbuttheapex

[Egg Shen]

17 hours ago, David said:

It seems every time a fight card is announced for the Apex it sends people into a right tizzy. I'm not all that sure why, really.

[wandshogun09]

On 4/27/2023 at 3:14 PM, David said:

These Apex cards 

They're fine for what they are

the Apex is perfect

Skinny Uncle D 

[neil]

I don't mind the apex myself, yeah mostly shitty cards but whatever. I did love them during the pandemic though, no Rogan and no shitty crowd, was great.

[David]

On 4/27/2023 at 10:34 PM, Zebra Kid Mark said:

If they don't want to travel across the country, they should at least set up base in a place where you can get a few thousand fans in like the Virgin hotel which is in Las Vegas. The small venue that Merab and Yan fought in. I have no idea the financials behind it, but surely they were able to break even and not run the event at a loss.

#anythingbuttheapex

I don't think it's a case of them not wanting to travel across the country, but who is actually buying tickets to see the kind of cards we're getting in the Apex? It simply wouldn't be worth it is my guess.

I think the operational schedule at the UFC has grown to such an extent that they maybe don't have the manpower or ability to run cards in live arenas on an almost weekly basis. This isn't pro wrestling, there's a ton more that they have to take into account such as commission presence, medical and emergency protocols and so forth. And that's before we even get to the standard tasks behind running a staffed, populated event.

The Apex is fine for the "contender" type events, where it's mostly unknowns looking to get some wins under their belt, and the occasional veteran who's maybe on the way out or looking to bounce back. 

[Egg Shen]

The UFC were running 40+ shows per year pre-pandemic, they can do it. There's obviously benefits to them financially and logistically to run at the Apex but from a spectator and television standpoint it sucks. 

 

 

[David]

1 hour ago, Egg Shen said:

The UFC were running 40+ shows per year pre-pandemic, they can do it. There's obviously benefits to them financially and logistically to run at the Apex but from a spectator and television standpoint it sucks. 

Yeah, but that doesn't mean it was profitable, which is what really matters. They're not going out there and putting in time and effort marketing, selling tickets, booking fighter hotels, security staff for arenas and all that jazz to maybe break even.

The shows I've seen from the Apex are not shows I'd personally be arsed buying a ticket for. And I guess if someone who's enough of a hardcore fan to spend time discussing the sport on an internet forum isn't into it, the general paying public probably wouldn't be either.

It is what it is, as the main man says. They're smaller shows with lesser known fighters. Tune in if you want. Or don't. Many times I don't bother. 

[Egg Shen]

Yeah but the reason the cards can be presented weaker is because they are at the Apex. If a show was shipped out to a cetain city more effort would have to be placed into card placement and the like. You just put the right fights in the right places.

The Apex has bascially given them an excuse to be lazy with it. Dana even admitted it recently, saying something along the lines of "we've gotten too comfortable"...before then announcing another run of Apex shows a week or so later 😄

It sucks, it's always sucked and it will continue to suck. Even though it's perfectly fine to do so, the UFC shouldn't be giving you reasons to skip shows.

[David]

They have a huge roster of talent though, and all of those guys and girls need to be given fights as per their contracts. The lower end fighters who no one cares about (yet) need somewhere to do their stuff, and the Apex is the place for it. 

When they're doing that many cards and have a roster so bloated they will be pumping out cards that have maybe one or two fights worth seeing. No point in putting them in front of an audience of half a building in some town in Shitsville, USA. 

[Keith Houchen]

6 minutes ago, David said:

When they're doing that many cards and have a roster so bloated they will be pumping out cards that have maybe one or two fights worth seeing. No point in putting them in front of an audience of half a building in some town in Shitsville, USA. 

By not marketing every single event as a must see top tier type event, it makes the arena shows seem more big time. We’ve long said how over saturated UFC can be with numerous events a month. By having a lower tier event as it were benefits the middle tier and the top tier. 

[Egg Shen]

Nah, not having that @David

You're admitting yourself here that you're not even watching these shows, why are you defending them 😄 The UFC have the strength of roster to be presenting good cards in front of crowds on a weekly/bi-weekly basis. Again, you just put the right fights in the right locations. 

Here's a Dana White quote from 2021:

“No,” White responded, when asked if the UFC was going to keep their Fight Night cards at the Apex permanently. “One of the reasons that I believe personally that this sport has grown as big and fast as it is, is because we take this thing all over the world. We go into Oklahoma and places where people usually don’t get fights. So the Fight Nights are a big part of our brand. We’ll continue to do it when the whole country opens up.”

and another...

“We should be in sold-out arenas, fans packed, going crazy,” White said. “And unfortunately, we’ll all have to start traveling to all these cities again. But that’s the right thing to do.

“This is the easy, lazy thing to do, and it’s nice, and it was awesome while it lasted. But hopefully, this is over.”

 

 

 

 

[Carbomb]

Random thing, seeing that Nottingham Forest sticker in pride of place on his laptop.

[WeeAl]

A big thing that is fairly recent is the site fees issue. The UFC don't just want to bring their show to town and make money off the gate by pricing it whatever way they need to in order for it to be profitable. They want a site fee from the city they are going to, so that the show is paid for before a ticket is sold. It's a large part of why from they have started touring again, they haven't actually went to a great variety of places even with the PPV's. It's been Houston, London, Vegas, Abu Dhabi etc. It's the exact reason why Dana doesn't have any interest in Hawaii - their tourism board essentially laughed them off the island for wanting site fee's. 

Another reason is that it allows the UFC to not need to be as competitive with salaries to be able to keep names on the roster fighting regularly. The UFC have plenty of name talent to put on at least decent strength shows every week. They aren't willing to keep them all happy and active though. They have their core group at the minute that are used for PPV's, and then the fight night's don't need any depth because they don't need to shift tickets. However if they were wanting to shift tickets, you can bet your ass the cards would look different. They wouldn't really need to go out of their way to hire many more people, but the people fighting once a year might get paid the incentive to fight twice, and the twice a years to squeeze in a third etc. 

The Apex makes perfect financial sense for the UFC because of guaranteed income structures. However it's a pile of wank as far as keeping fan interest. I've went from being a weekly watcher, to only watching PPV's and whatever fight night's have a fight that I want to go out of my way for (Holloway/Allen recently as an example). Let's be honest too - it's not just a lack of name value - the talent themselves on these cards? These aren't all prospects. There are a lot of no hopers in there that aren't 'UFC quality' but the company are getting away with sticking their badge on it and selling it as the elite of MMA, due to perception being reality. 

It's actually very reminiscent of WWE going onto the Network and suddenly not needing to try and sell you an interesting match each month. They already have the 9.99, they make it awkward to cancel, and they don't worry about putting in the effort for the extra tenners because it's not do or die on the PPV revenue anymore. 

Edited May 2, 2023 by WeeAl