News Wrap

• UFC Tackles Long Term Growth Issues - The last five pay-per-view events have produced three of the company's top ten events according to Dave Meltzer. UFC 79, 81, and 83 all drew between 525,000-650,000 buys and at $44.95. UFC 79 and 83 also produced the second and third largest gates in company history.
  
• Golden Boy Sticking to Boxing - Oscar de La Hoya recently said that Golden Boy will stick to boxing when asked about MMA.
  
• Viacom CEO Praises Iron Ring - Q1 profits for Viacom were up 33%. CEO Philippe Dauman said, "content creation is our central mission and our ongoing investments in programming are paying off as we see our television ratings continue to improve. Successful new programming across our networks during the first quarter included MTV's Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew, TV Land's High School Reunion and BET's Iron Ring among others, which joined new seasons of several proven audience favorites."
• Another Affliction Deal Falls Through - Negotiations with HDNet have reportedly fallen through. The promotion is now less than two months from its proposed first show and without a venue or television partner.
• UFC Targets Show for Latino Audience - El Octagono will debut on Galavision as the UFC attempts to expand MMA's demographic reach outside of 18-34 white males.
• WWE Q1 Results - Wrestlemania XXIV produced $31.3 million in revenue and $7.1 million in profits ($4.6 million net). The event drew 1,058,000 buys (including international).
  

Iron Ring Rating 4/15

The 4/15 episode of Iron Ring drew a 0.69 rating (663,000 viewers) on BET according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. That number was down significantly from what the series had been averaging.

Iron Ring Rating - Week 3

Iron Ring on 4/1 drew a 0.81 rating on BET according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The series is averaging an impressive 0.83 rating through its first three weeks.

Dave Meltzer breaks down the surprise success of the series at Yahoo!. Key quotes from David Issacs, co-producer of the series:

Isaacs noted the concept with “Iron Ring” is more WWE-oriented. They hope to create their own new fighting stars with the Kimbo-Slice-streetfighter aura and progress to live pay-per-view events, official soundtracks and merchandising built around the celebrity coaches...

“For us, this is a long process,” said Isaacs. “We were trying to find things that are different. We’re not trying to replace UFC or compete with UFC.”

Iron Ring Rating Flash

MMAPayout.com has learned that Iron Ring is drawing around a 0.8 rating in its new 10:30 time slot. That is a very solid number, particularly on BET, which isn't a top twenty-five cable network. For some perspective, UFC Unleashed is usually in the 0.7-0.8 range on Spike.

Iron Ring Premiere Rating Followup

More details have emerged on the rating for Iron Ring's premiere on BET on March 18. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the debut drew a 0.87 rating (981,000) viewers, 14% above what BET had been doing in that time slot. The audience wasn't the typical MMA audience, with men only accounting for 48% of viewers as opposed to the usual 70%. The average viewer was 24 years old.

Iron Ring Rating

MMAPayout.com has learned that Iron Ring was the fourth highest rated series premiere in BET history. Despite an 11:00PM post prime time slot, the program posted a 20% increase in viewers over its lead-in. As a result, BET has moved the series to 10:30PM starting with tonight's episode. The series will now follow BET's highest rated series, College Hill.

Tonight's half hour episode features three fights.

Iron Ring Review

Iron Ring premiers on BET this Tuesday night at 11PM EST. The format is basically The Ultimate Fighter meets the IFL with a twist, hip hop celebrity owners. The vehicle appears to be designed as something of an introduction to MMA for BET's primarily African-American audience. The lack of diversity in the MMA demographic has been a topic of concern for some in and out of the industry.

The one hour premier episode (two thirty minute episodes combined) focuses largely on the celebrity owners and their coaches. The show has a gritty feel provided by low key production and locations as well as a strong hip hop influence. The opening scenes looks more like the rawness of fight club than the spectacle of major MMA. Whether this will be the case once the actual competition begins remains to be seen, but the product definitely has a distinctive feel, unlike any other MMA production. Street Certified may be a more appropriate title for the series than it was for EliteXC's previous offering.

The competition features six teams and takes place in three weight classes, Lightweight (170lbs for purposes of the show), Middleweight , and Heavyweight. There was no sign of a cage in week one with all the action taking place in a ring. Rashon Kahn plays the Dana White role as "arbitrator" of the competition and motivational speaker, although I seriously doubt Kahn can live up to Dana's "do you want to be a fighter" speech.

The first thirty minutes offer no fights or fighters, focusing exclusively on the owners and coaches of the teams. The only two coaches familiar to MMA fans are Krazy Horse Bennett and Shonie Carter. The second half of the premier episode focuses on the tryout process, one TUF style workout followed by a win and you're in type exhibition tryout.

Team Luda and Dipset are announced on the show with the tease for the following week built around a cut fighter trying to fight his way back onto the show. The complete team rosters are:

• MONEY MAYWEATHER BOYS
• Owner - Floyd Mayweather
• Coach - Roberto Traven
• LW - Andy Roberts
• MW - Dymond Jones
• HW - Abdelaziz Essafoul
  
• TEAM LUDA
• Owner - Ludacris
• Coach - Abdul Mutakabbir
• LW - Joe Comacho
• MW - John Fields
• MW - Franz Mendez
• HW - Joe McCall
  
• TEAM NELLY
• Owner - Nelly
• Coach - Jermaine Andre
• LW - Eric Marriott
• MW - Darryl Cobb
• HW - Mike Cook
  
• TEAM GRAND HUSTLE
• Owner - T.I.
• Coach - Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett
• LW - Josh Gaskins
• MW - Primus Moore
• MW - Jamie Yager
• HW - Joe Thomas
  
• TEAM DIPSET
• Owner - Dipset (Julez Santana & Jim Jones)
• Coach - Novell G. Bell
• LW - Josh Key
• MW - Daniel Akinyemi
• HW - Carlos Moreno
  
• HEAD BUSTERS
• Owner - Lil John
• Coach - Shonie Carter
• LW - Macrus Brimmage
• MW - Brian Rodgers
• HW - Abongo Humphrey

Ultimately, Iron Ring is likely more interesting for what it might inspire rather than what it actually is. Expanding MMA's demographic reach is an important component in the sport's continued growth and mainstream acceptance. Instead of just another MMA series, it may ultimately be remembered as the industry's first inroad into the African-American demographic.

Press Release: BET Slams Into the Arena of MMA with Iron Ring

Introducing celebrities from theworlds of hip-hop, sports and Hollywood to the competitive ranks of mixedmartial arts (MMA), BET showcases a twist to this exciting format with itsnew original series IRON RING premiering Tuesday, March 18 at 11 p.m. ET/PT. IRON RING, a 13-episode half-hour weekly series showcasing mixed martialarts-- the fastest-growing new sports format in entertainment -- pairs celebrity team owners, trainers and fighters to produce some of the most compellingmatch-ups on television. Headlining the show is boxing champ FloydMayweather (with the assistance of hip-hop star Rick Ross) managing the Money Mayweather Boys, along with hip-hop heavyweights Ludacris and Nellyrepresenting Team Luda and Team Nelly (respectively); T.I. with the help of Big Kuntry, Young Dro, DJ Drama and Alpha Omega leading Team Grand Hustle;Juelz Santana and Jim Jones heading Dipset; and Lil Jon with the HeadBusters. "When I heard BET was bringing IRON RING to the air ... I wanted to be involved in any way I could," said team owner Ludacris. "... What people will get out of IRON RING is that it's less about the man in the fight andmore about the fight in the man." With $100,000 in prize money up for grabs, these skilled competitors gotoe-to-toe in the IRON RING using the combined fighting techniques ofjiu-jitsu, judo, karate, boxing, kickboxing and wrestling. From competitiveteam tryouts and grueling practices to the final face-off at the livechampionship, IRON RING not only exposes the hardcore sport of mixed martialarts, but also uniquely explores the human element by providing insight intothe lives of the fighters and coaches." With IRON RING, BET is delivering on our mission of providing a wide rangeof programming for our audience, while also creating another forum for black athletes to showcase their martial arts talent," said Reginald Hudlin,President of Entertainment for BET. IRON RING is produced by Zilo Live, Inc. in association with the WarringtonHudlin Organization. Executive Producers are Campbell McLaren and DavidIsaacs, originators of the popular Ultimate Fighting Championship franchise, along with Warrington Hudlin, best known as the producer of the popular feature films House Party and Boomerang. Integrated marketing partnerships include Sony PlayStation's "God of War,"Old Spice and Summit Entertainment's film "Never Back Down" featuring Djimon Hounsou. For up-to-the-minute and archival press information including releases andphotographs, visit BET's press-only Web site at http://www.bet.com/pr.For show highlights and access to the exclusive IRON RING blog, visithttp://www.bet.com/ironring.