Tag: UFC news

WWE names announced for UFC White House fan fest

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Several WWE names have been confirmed for the fan fest that’s being held during UFC’s Freedom 250 weekend.

It was announced on Monday that meet and greets with WWE stars would be part of the June 13-14 fan fest that’s taking place in Washington, D.C. during the weekend of UFC’s White House card. No specific names were mentioned in the initial announcement, but WWE confirmed on Raw last night those taking part will include Charlotte Flair, The Miz, Trick Williams, Chelsea Green, The Usos, Tiffany Stratton, and Bron Breakker.

“Hey folks, get ready for two unforgettable days of non-stop action at the UFC Freedom 250 Fan Fest,” Michael Cole said. “Don’t miss immersive fan experiences, live shows featuring UFC athletes, celebrity appearances, exclusive on-stage music, and more. Plus, meet and greets with your favorite WWE Superstars including Charlotte Flair, The Miz, Trick Williams, Chelsea Green, The Usos, Tiffany Stratton, and Bron Breakker.”

The fan fest is being held at The Ellipse, a park located just outside of the White House. Tickets to the fan event are free, but attendees must request them and then enter a random draw that will determine who gets tickets.

WWE and UFC are sister companies under the TKO Group umbrella. This White House event is a significant moment for TKO, with UFC hyping it as the “most historic sporting event of all time.” It’s happening as part of the United States’ 250th birthday celebration. The actual fights will be held on the South Lawn at the White House.

UFC Freedom 250 (Sunday, June 14 on Paramount+) —

  • Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje for the UFC lightweight championship
  • Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane for the UFC heavyweight championship
  • Sean O’Malley vs. Aiemann Zahabi
  • Josh Hokit vs. Derrick Lewis
  • Mauricio Ruffy vs. Michael Chandler
  • Bo Nickal vs. Kyle Daukaus
  • Diego Lopes vs. Steve Garcia

Ronda Rousey takes shot at UFC White House card

Posted on by Joseph Currier

While promoting her return to mixed martial arts, Ronda Rousey took a shot at the UFC’s recently announced White House card.

Rousey will return to MMA when she faces off against Gina Carano on May 16. It was announced today that former UFC heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou will also compete on the Netflix special, facing off against Philipe Lins in the co-main event. Rousey celebrated that addition today while slighting UFC in the process.

“NgannouVsLins joins #RouseyVsCarano on @Netflix May 16th! How’s THAT for a bamf laden double headliner? That’s what happens when you put fighters and fans ahead of shareholders @MostVpromotions,” Rousey tweeted. “P.S. @ufc’s White House card sucks”

This will be Rousey’s first MMA fight since 2016 and Carano’s first since 2009. Rousey initially pitched the fight to UFC, but negotiations ended up breaking down. The Netflix special is being promoted by Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian’s MVP Promotions. It’s the first MMA show MVP has promoted and the first MMA card to be broadcast live on Netflix.

UFC’s White House show is taking place in June as part of the United States’ 250th birthday celebration. The lineup was announced this past weekend with Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje and Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane as the top two bouts. Both are title fights.

UFC 324 Paramount+ debut event viewership revealed

Posted on by Josh Nason

This past Saturday’s UFC 324 main card debut event on Paramount+ brought in nearly five million views, according to Paramount Skydance.

Announced via a press release Monday, the show was seen in 7.18 million households — both of which were cited as “the platform’s largest exclusive live event to date.” The show also had 5.93 million concurrent streams.

Of note, NFL games are also available on Paramount+, but are non-exclusive. The 4.96 million views were their live average per minute audience and were also for the main card which kicked off at 9 pm Eastern. Numbers for the prelims were not announced.

Also in the release, the event “reached more homes than any other live UFC event in nearly a decade across linear, broadcast and streaming,” citing Nielsen and Adobe Analytics. The show streamed in the U.S. and Latin America exclusively.

The UFC will return for its second show as part of a seven year, $7.7 billion domestic contract with this Saturday’s UFC 325, headlined by Alexander Volkanovski defending the UFC featherweight title against Diego Lopes in a rematch.

UFC reaches sponsorship deal to rename Apex facility

Posted on by Joseph Currier

UFC has entered into a sponsorship deal to rename its UFC Apex facility, a venue that has hosted many MMA fights and even an NXT PLE.

It was announced today that the Las Vegas facility will now be known as Meta Apex per a deal that UFC has reached with technology giant Meta, the parent company of Facebook. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg is a big MMA fan and has already partnered with UFC in a deal that’s made Meta the promotion’s official technology partner.

The Apex is a multi-purpose venue that hosts live events as well as serving as a production facility. A press release hypes that the Apex will showcase “Meta’s cutting-edge technology, including its AI, VR, and AI glasses advancements in real-world applications.” The naming rights agreement will also see Meta branding now integrated throughout the Apex.

“Meta is always at the forefront of technology and immersive experiences, and their enhancements will change the way fans view live fights,” UFC President Dana White said. “This rebranding comes at the perfect time as the facility is completing a major renovation, expanding capacity, concessions, hospitality, and UFC retail. For the first time ever, fans can come to Meta Apex and experience UFC fights with interactive VR, AI, and wearable technology. I can’t wait for fans to see it.”

The Apex is home to Dana White’s Contender Series and some of the UFC’s Fight Night events. In 2024, it served as the location for NXT Battleground 2024 with UFC and WWE both being under the TKO Group umbrella.

UFC’s ongoing expansion of the Apex will result in the facility accommodating up to 1,000 attendees. Tickets to UFC events at the venue had not been made available to the general public up this point, but that will be changing later this year.

UFC star Michael Chandler on potential WWE crossover: ‘It intrigues me’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

UFC star Michael Chandler remains intrigued by the idea of crossing over into WWE.

The 39-year-old Chandler has already made one WWE appearance, cutting a promo on a February 2024 episode of Raw. He’s spoken with Paul “Triple H” Levesque about the possibility of competing for WWE — and Chandler is still interested in making that a reality.

“I mean, I think it intrigues me. I think it intrigues me,” Chandler said on Insight with Chris Van Vliet. “I think it’s a lot of fun. I do think I would enjoy it. I think there would be some intrigue and interest on both sides. And I think, you know, spending some time with Sheamus and a couple of other friends I have.

“Diamond Dallas Page has been a friend of mine for a very, very long time also. And what’s really cool about him, too, which would be kind of similar to my story, where he’s like, you know, cause he always said, ‘My career didn’t take off until I was 40.’ Wasn’t he a manager or something? [He debuted at] 35, right? And then he took off at 40, you know?”

Chandler said he likes that wrestling has a lot of mature competitors who are able to thrive into their 30s and beyond. He doesn’t love being the center of attention in his personal life, but he’s able to turn on that side of his personality when it’s time to compete.

“So I’m just a fan of the sport. Love to go to the live events, obviously,” Chandler said. “Love to watch it on TV.”

Chandler named DDP and Steve Austin as some of his favorite wrestlers growing up. He’s even more into wrestling now than when he was a kid, listing Jey Uso, Seth Rollins, and Bryan Danielson as some of the people he’s liked watching.

At the moment, Chandler is still focused on his MMA career. Becoming a UFC champion is a big goal for him. He also has his eyes on the UFC’s White House show in June 2026, hoping to face Conor McGregor. A WWE transition does look to be a realistic possibility at some point in the future, though, especially given that WWE and UFC are owned by the same parent company.

“Obviously, they know I’m interested,” Chandler said about WWE. “I believe they’re interested. So we’ll see where we’re at.”

Conor McGregor suspended 18 months under UFC anti-doping policy

Posted on by Joseph Currier

If Conor McGregor returns to the UFC Octagon, it won’t be until March 2026 at the earliest.

Combat Sports Anti-Doping — UFC’s drug testing partner — announced today that McGregor has accepted an 18-month suspension for three policy violations that occurred in 2024. All three violations were for “whereabouts failures,” meaning that McGregor did not make himself available for testing. His suspension is retroactive to his third failure on September 20, 2024 and will run through March 20, 2026.

“Although McGregor failed to make himself available for testing on those dates, CSAD noted that he was recovering from an injury and was not preparing for an upcoming fight at the time of the three missed tests,” a press release said. “McGregor fully cooperated with CSAD’s investigation, accepted responsibility, and provided detailed information that CSAD determined contributed to the missed tests.

“Despite these mitigating factors, CSAD emphasizes that accurate whereabouts filings and the ability to conduct unannounced testing are essential to the success of the UFC ADP. Taking McGregor’s cooperation and circumstances into account, CSAD reduced the standard 24-month sanction for three whereabouts failures by six months. His period of ineligibility began on September 20, 2024 (the date of his third whereabouts failure) and will conclude on March 20, 2026.”

McGregor has publicly expressed interest in fighting on the card UFC is staging at the White House next year, though Dana White clarified that no deal has been completed for McGregor to fight as of now. The White House event is scheduled for June 14, 2026, so McGregor fighting at the event remains a possibility despite his suspension.

The last time we saw McGregor compete in UFC was more than four years ago, when he lost a pair of bouts to Dustin Poirier in 2021. The latter fight ended when McGregor suffered a broken leg.

A June 2024 return with McGregor facing Michael Chandler was planned until McGregor suffered a broken toe in training.

November 11, 2024 Observer Newsletter: WWE Crown Jewel recap, TKO financials, Wrestle Kingdom gets its main event

Posted on by F4W Staff

Image: WWE

Subscribers can now read this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter by our Dave Meltzer.

This week’s issue leads off with a look back at last Saturday’s WWE Crown Jewel that saw both Cody Rhodes and Liv Morgan leave as the inaugural Crown Jewel champions.

Dave also takes a deep dive into this week’s TKO Q3 financials including how both WWE and UFC did revenue-wise.

He also writes about the main event of this January’s Wrestle Kingdom — one he calls the “weakest” Tokyo Dome main event in recent history.

Get all this and more in this week’s newsletter. Click below to subscribe if you haven’t already.

August 5, 2024 Observer Newsletter: UFC lawsuit going to trial, AEW’s future, WWE SummerSlam preview

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Image: WWE

Subscribers can now read this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

This week’s issue leads off with the latest developments in the UFC class action lawsuit that saw the presiding judge deny a settlement both sides had agreed to, putting an October court date on the docket with a lot of questions as to where everything goes next.

I also look ahead to this weekend’s WWE SummerSlam which will see the return of CM Punk to in-ring action plus some other potentially pivotal storyline developments.

I write about AEW’s long-term future and how both their ability to sell the product to consumers and their impending next media rights deal play into it.

All that, plus the latest in G1 coverage, news, results and the like.

Read this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

July 22, 2024 Observer Newsletter: WWE & AEW prepare for major summer shows, UFC class action lawsuit still in legal limbo

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Our subscribers can now read this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter with a lead story on the latest developments on the ongoing class action lawsuit against the UFC that is still not settled.

“After a second hearing on 7/12, Judge Richard Boulware once again failed to sign off on the $335 million settlement in the Cung Le and Kajan Johnson lawsuits against UFC.

Boulware gave the indication he would make his final decision on 7/19, which would either be to sign off on the settlement or to not agree to do so and basically force both sides into a trial neither side wants.

Based on reports from those in the courtroom as the discussions were taking place, notably MMA reporter Joss Gross, it was very clear Boulware wasn’t happy with the terms of the settlement.

Boulware felt the total settlement number was far too low and also felt that the settlement shouldn’t combine the two lawsuits together. Eric Cramer, the lead attorney in both cases, argued that the number was the highest they could get UFC to agree to.

Boulware was convinced of the merits of the case and believed a jury would award a far higher number for damages to the fighters based on UFC dominating the sport and using that domination to keep salaries down, and particularly with treble damages from the antitrust aspect of the suit.”

This week’s issue also includes the following:

  • A look at how both WWE & AEW are preparing for major summer stadium shows in August.
  • AJ Styles and IYO SKY’s respective returns to Japan last weekend
  • A look at the kickoff for the NJPW G1 tournament
  • More developments in the Janel Grant vs. Vince McMahon lawsuit

Click here to read.

July 15, 2024 Observer Newsletter: John Cena to retire, Stephanie Vaquer signs WWE deal

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Subscribers can now read this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter with a lead story of John Cena announcing his impending retirement and a long farewell tour:

“John Cena, one of the biggest pro wrestling stars in history, announced at the 7/6 Money in the Bank show, that he would be retiring from pro wrestling, although not right now.

Cena has talked in interviews for some time about his time left in the business not being long. He had been very careful in the ring in recent years when doing occasional matches. He had said that he would definitely never wrestle after the age of 50, but this announcement seemed to cut back on that timetable by two years. It’s very clear the company and he figured that next year was the right time for a retirement tour, both to help kick off the partnership with Netflix and his being able to physically perform at the level necessary for the number of shows they are looking at doing.

Because of Cena’s acting fame, this announcement was the very rare situation where something in pro wrestling was covered as a major news story. For the next two days, news channels were covering it as a serious news story, noting in particular his “Peacemaker” character and pushing that next year would be his last WrestleMania, which in and of itself will make next year’s Mania the biggest of all-time. Retirements of Ric Flair, Undertaker and others that were at WrestleMania never broke through as one of the leading news stories of the day. On national news radio for the top of the hour top few news stories that were covered, the Cena retirement announcement was mentioned as one of the few stories covered along with weather-related news issues and the presidential race.”

Other stories this week include:

  • Stephanie Vaquer’s surprise signing with WWE and the reaction from AEW, NJPW and CMLL
  • A full recap & review of WWE Money in the Bank and NXT Heatwave
  • Dana White’s comments about unique stories in UFC history

Subscribers can click here to read this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

June 24, 2024 Observer Newsletter: WWE Clash at the Castle review, NJPW G1 tournament developments

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Image: WWE

WWE’s Clash at the Castle was the latest in the new version of five-match B PPV shows with roughly three hour shows so all the matches could get time.

Subscribers can click here to read this week’s issue.

Because they charged the highest ticket prices for an arena event in company history, the sellout crowd of 11,117 (via Wrestletix, WWE said 11,391 but of late WWE’s announced numbers have been way exaggerated even with Vince McMahon gone as noted by the real numbers coming out for Mania) at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow Scotland, produced the largest gate for an arena setting show in pro wrestling history. We don’t know the number, but given the ticket prices, it could have hit $4 million. It broke the record of more than $3.2 million just set on 5/4 with the Backlash show in Lyon, France. It was both the highest priced get-in ticket in pro wrestling history, as originally the cheapest ticket was priced at $419, but was lowered to $316 at the end to sell the remaining tickets as it was not sold out until the day of the show. It’s possible it was dropped a little lower, but even the secondary market price was more than $300 to get in.

In many ways this reminded me of years back when UFC came to the U.K. regularly and would charge high ticket prices and we’d hear how overpriced the tickets were, yet the event would sell out immediately. Even before dropping the prices a bit, most of the tickets were sold well in advance. There were a ton of complaints when the prices were originally released, but they had enough people who would pay those prices that they still sold out.

Some of the other stories this week include:

  • A look at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door
  • The latest twist in the Cung Le vs. UFC lawsuit
  • The NJPW G1 tournament taking shape

Subscribers can click here to read this week’s issue.