UFC 143 wasn't expected to make a big splash at the pay-per-view box office.  With Georges St-Pierre off the card, and the UFC's PPV sales plummeting, I figured this event would be lucky to get 250,000 sales.  That is why the early estimates that last Saturday's event sold 400,000 PPVs is a real eye opener.  Did the UFC's second appearance on Fox help boost these sales?  Are things turning around for the UFC?

Maybe the proposed Nick Diaz-Carlos Condit rematch isn't such a bad idea after all.

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The early estimates for UFC 142's pay-per-view sales are in, and they are actually better than expected.  It is being reported that the event, which was headlined by featherweight champ Jose Aldo successfully defending his belt versus Chad Mendes, sold 225,000 PPVs.  While this is a better number than predicted, it is still historically low - UFC 136 sold around the same amount last year - to find an event that sold lower than that you have to go back all the way back to 2008 when UFC 85 sold 215,000 pay-per-views.

On a positive note, UFC 142 was also broadcast on free TV in Brazil, and a whopping 23 million Brazilians happily cheered on Aldo, Vitor Belfort and the rest of their "hometown" heroes on to victory.  This number is all the more impressive when you consider that the main card of the event didn't start until 1:00am in Rio.

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Another memorable year in mixed martial arts is in the books, so it's time for The MMA Manifesto to look back and reflect.  Next up: a ranking of the buyrate totals of all 16 of the UFC's 2011 pay-per-views.  Which event made the UFC the richest this year?

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The first estimates of how many pay-per-views last Saturday's UFC 140 sold are in: 480,000.  While this number is a significant increase over the sales they've been putting up as of late - it is the highest-selling PPV since UFC 129 and the third-highest selling PPV of 2011 - it is being reported that UFC brass are disappointed that the show didn't top the 500,000 sales mark.

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UFC's pay-per-view business, which the company is built on, continues to sink.  The early estimates for UFC 139 are in, and it marks the third-straight PPV that didn't crack the 300,000 sales mark.  UFC 139 reportedly only did around 270,000 buys, despite having big names on it like Dan Henderson, Shogun Rua, Wanderlei Silva, Cung Le and Urijah Faber. no comments

UFC 136, both on paper and in the cage, was one of the best events the UFC have put on this year.  Two title fights.  A couple of other top contender matches.  Should have been easy money for the UFC in terms of pay-per-view buys, right?  Wrong.  Early estimates are that the event only sold 225,000 - 250,000 PPVs, which are just horrible numbers for an event headlined by a title match (not to mention TWO title fights). no comments

By all accounts UFC Rio: Silva vs Okami (aka UFC 134) was a smashing success: the event sold out immediately and the crowd at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil were called by many as the best UFC crowd ever; the fighters on the card put on a great show, with plenty of exciting knock outs; and, most importantly to the people in the stands, the Brazliians on the card were overwhelmingly successful - 10 out of 11 matches involving a Brazilian saw a Brazilian come out on top. 

But unfortunately we have to rain on the UFC's parade - surprisingly the event bombed at the box office.  The early estimates are in for UFC Rio's pay-per-view buyrate and they aren't good - the event sold in the 250,000-300,000 range.  Considering we predicted the event to do in the 500,000 buyrate range (and we weren't alone in that prediction), the actual results have to be considered disastrous.

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The UFC has a license to print money.  The company's (Zuffa) rise from the ashes is legendary - five years ago, when attempting to sell the money-losing UFC, they could only get offers in the $4 to $2 million range.  Now the company is valued at over a billion dollars (Flash Entertainment paid $120 million for 10% of the company in 2010, which would make it's valuation at $1.2 billion).

But how is the UFC doing so far in 2011 compared to last year?  While Zuffa isn't a public company and therefore don't have to disclose their financial records, several of the company's key financial info is out there in the public for us to analyze.  These would be the UFC's pay-per-view buyrates, its live gate and its fighter salaries.  And taking a look at those stats, Dana White and the Fertitta boys probably wish it was 2010 again. no comments

Saturday's UFC 132 will be a historic moment for the company.  For the first time in the UFC's history, two men weighing under 155 pounds will headline a UFC event.  But will this be enough to entice fans to cough up $49.99 to purchase the pay-per-view?

The two "little people" headlining the card are of course UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz and the only man to ever beat the Dominator, Urijah Faber.  Faber is the most famous and popular lighter weight fighter of all-time, which must give the UFC hope that he can sell a few PPVs for them.  Add in the fact that, as mentioned, Faber is the only man to ever beat Cruz, plus the fact that there is genuine bad blood between the two fighters, and you've got yourself a solid main event to a card.  And that's not even mentioning the exciting show the two fighters are bound to put on in the Octagon, with the champ utilizing his highly effective and unique "stick and move" striking style, and Faber showing a well-rounded game and perhaps the biggest heart in the sport. 

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UFC 131 was supposed to be easy money for the UFC - plug Brock Lesnar into the main event and guarantee yourself over 1,000,000 in pay-per-view buys.  But, as the UFC's luck of late would have it, Lesnar had another flare up of his diverticulitis and is shelved once again.  Enter Shane Carwin, who is a formidable opponent for Junior dos Santos, but not a formidable box office draw (except when he fights Brock Lesnar).  To compound matters, dos Santos isn't a proven commodity at the box office either.  However, they are heavyweights who like to bang, so that will draw a few people to the party.
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