Great Night Seen by Few
The UFC is the top promotion in the world of MMA because they have constantly looked for ways to grow their footprint on sports.
Their ability to find the next thing has always kept them a step ahead whether it be creating a reality show or signing TV deals that nobody had thought of before.
They are constantly on the cutting edge of how to grow their promotion and make it into one of the biggest sports in the world.
A part of that plan was to create their own subscription service called UFC Fight Pass and begin what so many other places are beginning.
With more people cord-cutting than ever before online services are going to start becoming the norm for TV.
So far sports have become the only programming that is immune to the cord-cutting because it is always better to watch big games live.
That will eventually change though and sports networks are starting to realize that moving online is a good plan.
The best way to do it is by creating a subscription service where fans can pay a monthly fee to see the programming.
This option is usually cheaper than paying for cable packages and lets fans see exactly what they want to see.
The UFC recognized this and like the WWE did, they created their own subscription service to give fans the opportunity to see more UFC online.
The problem has been that Fight Pass has not been as successful as they had hoped with low subscriptions since the service began.
Lately though they seemed to have renewed their commitment to the service creating more original content for fans to take advantage of if they subscribe.
What will put the service over for any fight fan though, is the exclusive fights that they host on the service.
They have always done this putting fights on fight pass and nowhere else in order to bring more value to a subscription.
Most have been fights that not many people care about though and so the subscriptions have stayed low.
They are hoping to change that though with a new plan to host one Fight Pass fight every month for the next few months.
They have scheduled some big fights for these special broadcasts and it all started at UFC Fight Night 93 in Hamburg.
The fight to kick-off this run of monthly fights featured two veterans in the promotion and in MMA in general.
Both Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett had started their UFC careers long ago and both had captured a UFC title long ago.
Then they found themselves out of the UFC travelling in plenty of other promotions around the world.
Eventually both found their way back to the UFC where they looked to try to get another UFC title and did well when they began.
It hasn’t been perfect for Barnett or Arlovski as they have both struggled to keep winning streaks going.
That has hurt them in their charges towards another title as both looked like they were on the path to that but when they got close they began to lose.
Barnett impressed in his latest return to the UFC when he beat Roy Nelson which put him into the title conversation.
A loss to Ben Rothwell followed though and the talk of a title disappeared quickly.
Arlovski had a similar experience when he re-joined the UFC by winning four straight fights.
He was right on the edge as many thought he might get a shot soon and his chance came when he fought Stipe Miocic in what would have likely put him at least within a fight of the title.
He lost that fight and followed that up with a fight against Alistair Overeem that he also lost.
His resurgence fell short and the title that many thought he could take was no longer a possibility.
Both looked to turn things around on Fight Pass as they needed wins if they wanted to make a run before their careers ended.
They faced off in this important fight and from the start, it was an even fight as the first round saw both fighters almost end the fight early dropping each other.
The second saw Arlovski attempt to take the fight to the ground only to be reversed and mounted by Barnett who dominated the round.
In the third, the fight was close again until Barnett took the fight to the ground and went to work looking for submissions.
Eventually, he landed one sinking in a rear naked choke and ending the night early with a big win against a legend.
Arlovski took the loss and has his career with the UFC in danger as he has now lost three straight and is further away from the title than ever before.
Barnett took the win and the finish to find his way back into the win column as he gets new life in his attempt to get another title.
The fight was a good one and for Fight Pass it could do big things as not everyone got to see it but if people see it they may very well look into the subscription service especially with the next fight pass card featuring the return of BJ Penn.
The Sport Addiction 