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In this edition of “from the squared circle to the octagon”, I’m going to take a look at the concept of WWE 24/7 On Demand and apply it to the UFC. For those who don’t know, WWE 24/7 On Demand is a cable service provided by the WWE where you get to choose and watch past programs from the WWE video library for a monthly fee. Now, before I continue on with this column, the UFC already has an on demand like program on the internet, UFC On Demand, but I’m going to discuss a cable format for a potential UFC 24/7 program.
Currently, WWE 24/7 On Demand has five different programming options to choose from, so I’ll use the same format for UFC 24/7. The five programming options for the UFC 24/7 would be past UFC events, fighter of the month, UFC documentaries, UFC TV episodes and WEC/PRIDE/WFA footage.
The UFC currently has a library of nearly ninety pay-per-view events and twenty one Spike TV live events to use on the past UFC events section of UFC 24/7. Each month, starting with UFC 1 and going up to UFC Ultimate Fight Night 14 (last completed UFC event as of this column) could be shown by airing one event each month to its customers. This could give the new school fans who’ve jumped on the UFC bandwagon post UFC Ultimate Fighter era to watch the events that built the promotion and give the fans who have been there since day one an opportunity to view the classic encounters they first watched nearly fifteen years prior.
The fighter of the month portion of UFC 24/7 could feature a look at a top UFC fighter each month with their classic fights included in the programming. With a roster of past and present stars like Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture, Royce Gracie, Rich Franklin, BJ Penn, Andrei Arlovski and others, it wouldn’t be to hard for the UFC to pick a fighter to feature once a month. For example, lets say the UFC chooses Matt Hughes for their first month, they could should classic fights that Matt Hughes has fought against Carlos Newton (UFC 34 & UFC 38), Frank Trigg (UFC 45 & UFC 52), Georges St. Pierre (UFC 50), Royce Gracie (UFC 60) and BJ Penn (UFC 63).
My third selection for my version of UFC 24/7 may currently be the weakest of my five programming choices, but with the massive tape library the UFC has acquired in recent years, could become the strongest of the entire UFC 24/7. This section would be the UFC Documentary section, where such documentaries like Ultimate Iceman: The Chuck Liddell Story, Tito vs. Dana: Bad Blood, The 25 Toughest Moments In TUF History and other UFC documentaries would air. Like I have mentioned earlier, this would currently be the weakest section initially as far as content goes, but it could substantially grow with the ever growing UFC tape library.
Up next would be the UFC TV show section, which could show past episodes of past UFC television programs like UFC Ultimate Fighter (Seasons 1-7), UFC Unleashed, UFC Wired, UFC All Access, UFC Countdown, UFC On FSN, PRIDE On FSN and WEC Wreckage. Besides the massive fight tape library, the UFC is definitely starting to build an impressive library of television programs and this would be the perfect opportunity to capitalize on all this media.
Speaking of tape libraries, the final section of my UFC 24/7 would use footage from the promotions that the UFC has purchased like PRIDE, World Extreme Cagefighting and World Fighting Alliance to air their events on UFC 24/7 like the WWE does with WCW, ECW, WCCW, WWF, NWA and other organizations on WWE 24/7 On Demand. There is easily over a hundred different events from these three previously mentioned organizations that the UFC could and should use on UFC 24/7.
Currently, there is no plans for any form of UFC 24/7 On Demand type of program, outside of being able to order past UFC pay-per-view replays on the On Demand channel. However, if a UFC 24/7 program were to materialize, this could be a huge moneymaking opportunity for the UFC and another opportunity for the UFC to reach a new fan base.
You can contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com
