After his impressive performance at UFC 234, rising star Israel Adesanya has turned his attention to all the potential ‘pay-per-view points being left on the table.’
This is a situation that would not even be happening had middleweight champion Robert Whittaker not needed immediate surgery to correct a hernia.
That, however, is the reality of the situation. Whittaker had a successful surgery and should be back to training in four to six weeks.
Dana White On UFC 234 Buyrates
At the post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White did something he usually doesn’t do. That is, he showed his hand and revealed that the PPV buyrates didn’t suffer too badly, or at all, as a result of the last-minute main event change.
“The pay-per-view wasn’t bad,” White said. “The pay-per-view wasn’t bad at all. It was a good night. I didn’t sleep at all, but other than that, it was a great night. Everything worked out. At the end of the day, you’re going to hear people bitch and if people don’t want to buy it, they don’t have to. But most fight fans want to see some fights and we did really well considering what happened to us.”
Adesanya’s Take
Despite being booked as the co-main event, Anderson Silva and Adesanya was the must-see attraction on this card. Couple that with all the work “Stylebender” says he put in and the fact that their fight did ultimately produce the “Fight Of The Night,” and Adesanya says his argument is clear.
“I’m working my a** off,” Adesanya said. “I feel like, man, I don’t know what the buy rates are because it wasn’t really my main event. It wasn’t really my show. They put me in the (expletive) regular hotel. I didn’t get the main event suite either. But the pay-per-view points I’m looking like, what happens to them? Maybe me and Anderson can split those because we got ‘Fight of the Night’ and that’s a lot of money being left on the table. We’ll see what happens with that.
“If you look at the YouTube, or just the numbers itself: The official ‘Countdown’ on YouTube, last time I checked it was like 300,000 views for Rob’s one with Kelvin. Me and Anderson, I’m pretty sure our one is past a million now. We’ve known who the people have wanted to see for so long.”
This article first appeared at LowKickMMA.com
