ROUNDTABLE: Has the UFC offered a weaker card than UFC 147 on pay-per-view in the last five years?

Is there anything on the UFC 147 card that still interests you? Has there been a weaker pay-per-view card offered by the UFC in the last five years?


RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

I'm not going to bag on the UFC for UFC 147. It is the worst PPV they've put together, possibly ever. It's easy to look backwards five years at some old cards and wonder what in the hell they were smoking, but at the time any of those cards were made, they were surely solid. Once they decided to make UFC 147 into a TUF: Brazil card, loaded with contestants from the season of TUF: Brazil, the card was predestined to go down as the least appealing UFC PPV of all time (with or without Vitor Belfort). June PPVs historically are always weaker than most, because they're smack dab in the middle of the Memorial Day and July 4 blockbusters, and I never for a minute believed Silva vs. Sonnen 2 was going to happen in June. Either watch it and enjoy, because cage fights are still entertaining, or don't watch and do something else on Saturday night.


FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

No, not really. I've always had a soft spot for both Rich Franklin and Wanderlei Silva. I have a lot of respect for both guys as fighters. However, this should not be a pay-per-view main event. I don't think this should be a pay-per-view fight period. This is more a special attraction fight. I might care some more about the rest of the card if I knew anyone fighting on it. There's no doubt that this is a pretty weak card, and should do pretty bad numbers. I would say that this certainly feels like the weakest card I can remember in UFC history, although I've always thought that UFC 119 (Mir vs. Cro-Cop) was a pretty cruddy card, too. That card was helped by having some name fighters on it, even if they weren't top contenders. I don't know the guys on this UFC 147 card, and that really hurts the appeal.


ANWAR PEREZ, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

I'm still excited for Wand and Franklin, but not much else. It's easily been a good 3-4 years since there's been this weak of a card, PPV wise. Maybe when both Wand and Franklin fought before, or Anderson Silva vs Patrick Cote (remember that one?) could I think of a super-weak card that just wasn't justifiable of a PPV purchase.


BRAD WALKER, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

If Rich Hansen came to my house, and wrote me a check to order this card - I would pocket the money and turn on anything else that is on television at that moment in time. I have 0 interest in seeing Werdum and Russow, I also don't have any interest in seeing two past their prime fighters battle it out for a sudden flash KO in the main event. It's the weakest pay-per-view card possibly in the history of the UFC, beyond the past five years. It's almost mind boggling to me that it's still going to run on pay-per-view. Just reading the lineup bores me, so no, nothing there interests me in the slightest bit.


DAN MOORE, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR

Russow vs. Werdum will be entertaining, ditto for Alcantara vs. Diaz and Franklin vs. Silva. However, only the former has any real relevance to their respective division, and that's minimal. I've not seen any of the TUF Brazil series either, so it will be nice to see what up and coming talent there is. Thankfully I don't have to pay hard earned money to watch this card. If I was required to pay for it, then forget it, and if that leads to accusations of being a "casual fan" then so be it. Brazilian fans are finding out quickly that once the UFC has you hooked, the standard of future cards in Brazil decreases at a rapid rate. Forgetting most of the cards that have taken place in Europe over the years, this is probably the weakest numbered UFC event for a long time. Having just paid a small fortune to see Struve vs. Miocic this September, my sympathies lie with my bank account balance right now, and not with my fellow fight fans in Brazil.


JASON AMADI, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

Yes and no. I'm intrigued by Mike Russow vs. Fabricio Werdum, but that's absolutely all that I'm interested in here.

The fact is there was a better UFC event on the day before UFC 147 that was free and featured more relevant matchups. I honestly can't even imagine a weaker pay-per-view offering from the UFC in recent years. To be honest, most free cards the UFC puts on these days are better than this event.

The UFC simply ran into a ton of bad luck with this card. Initially, it was supposed feature the biggest rematch in UFC history and take place in front of a record audience at a soccer stadium, but absolutely all of that fell apart. This was supposed to be a domestic and international success for the UFC with Sonnen-Silva driving interest stateside, but without the stadium or that fight, this card is just a Brazilian Ultimate Fighter Finale.

The original card was promising, but logistical issues and injuries just ravaged this card and what we're left with here isn't especially appealing.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/roundtables/article_13676.shtml

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