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[Sakara=Excitement]

UFC 111 vs. Wrestlemania: The Fight for Canada - Bloody Elbow

UFC 111 takes place on March 27, a day before the WWE's biggest event of the year, Wrestlemania. Competing with WWE on PPV is nothing new for the UFC, they do it all the time. The most interesting story of the weekend is whether Georges St. Pierre can draw a bigger number in Canada than Bret Hart's return to wrestling against Vince McMahon.

Dave Meltzer has a lot of valuable information on the race between Bret and GSP in Canada this week in his newsletter:

St. Pierre's strength as a PPV draw in Canada is something to behold: he first set the Canadian PPV record against Matt Serra in 2008, and went on to set it again at both UFC 94 and UFC 100. It will be interesting to see how well he draws in Canada against Dan Hardy, who is nowhere near the draw BJ Penn was. I don't know anybody that sees Dan Hardy as a legitimate threat to St. Pierre, and it's not as if this card is anywhere near the epic card that UFC 100 was. If St. Pierre breaks the record again against Dan Hardy, it will go a long way in cementing St. Pierre as the top drawing star in the UFC.

[James Deuce]

I'm not a WWE fanboy or anything, but WWE will most likely rape them.

[Adambomb]

The Hitman via sharpshooter in round 2...oh wait that's not what this thread is about?

[Fedorlei Gomipierre]

I'm watching both next weekend because I'm utterly loyal to both. It's my most expensive weekend this year probably, but Bret Hart is a fucking icon and St. Pierre is an amazing talent. If I had to decide, I'd probably have to take the one time return of Bret to Mania over a most likely massacre of Dan Hardy, but that's too tough a decision.

The one big push factor here is pricepoints, they're both damn expensive, but I'm quite sure Mania's a bunch more, but the card(which is the only WWE PPV I order ) is usually pretty great. All in all, it's gonna be a great weekend for sports and spectacle.

[Sakara=Excitement]

Originally Posted by James Deuce

I'm not a WWE fanboy or anything, but WWE will most likely rape them.

Did you not read the article at all?

GSP has drawn the three biggest buy rates of any kind in the history of Canada, with the two biggest in his last two fights. UFC 111 right now is trending 24% ahead of Mania in the U.S., with Arizona being the WWE strong point. In Canada, UFC 111 is tripling Mania as of this week. Bret Hart, on the other hand, trends stronger than GSP by 14% in Canada this year, with Montreal and Vancouver the only major markets in GSP’s favor. But in the past week, GSP has tripled that of Hart.

[NAL987]

I always wonder what type of people still watch the WWE anymore, I'd like to believe its just kids still in grade school and guys in their 30's + that work at a videogame or movie store.. (I only say these things cause I grew up on "wwf" when I was a kid but grew out of it once I got into high school and started watching a lot more MMA, though I knew about the UFC when I was still watching WWF) I think of course the WWE has more of a 'kids' following and MMA is starting to get more of the young adults and boxing crowd and people who grew out of the WWE

[mattc25]

.....I'm sorry,but I thought only a handful of mma fans even give a shit about the WWE anymore......am I wrong about this ?....I would think the UFC will have their fans and the WWE will have theirs.

.....In my opinion this will be one of the biggest cards of the year for the UFC because of the names one the card alone. Frank Mir is a draw to the casual fan now and GSP is a huge draw to the casual fan and a lot of hot chicks to along with...lol.

[MMA, Esq.]

I've always been a huge WWE fan, but I don't follow it nearly as much as I used to. The WWE brand as a whole has been in a slump for a while. Whether it's their move towards G-rated programming (and away from the attitude era), or they're diluting their talent pool too far by having 3 different shows, it just isn't the same and isn't nearly as entertaining.

I do still have great respect for the wrestlers as entertainers, though. They live a tough schedule to do what they do.

I'm sure it's deliberate, though. I'm sure the WWE has consciously moved towards G-Rated programming to capture the under 18 y/o demo because the UFC has become so dominant in the 18-35 demo that WWE once held.

[krayven]

as one of the bigger WWE/ Wrestling fans on here, I can say




i'd be VERY shocked if the UFC doesn't win this "battle"


pro wrestling is in a horrible state right now and GSP is RED HOT marketing wise right now, plus they got a strong undercard. Mania does not. Its kinda obvious HBK is gonna lose to take time off, Cena and Batista don't generally have good matches unless Cena gets hurt. Jeff Hardy is in TNA and so is RVD. And they don't have a "mainstream celebrity gimmick" to bank on this year.

[MixtapeCeaser204]

I can almost guarantee WrestleMania out draws this PPV. The Royal Rumble buyrate increased from last year so the interest is there. WM did 960,000 last year, 1 mil in 2009, 1 mil in 2008, and 1.2 mil in 2007. Even if it drops the UFC card will have to get at least 800,000 to have a chance but given the awesome WM card with Taker/HBK II an Bret/Vince it should hit 1 million. Just cant see GSP/Hardy coming even close, I see 5-600,000 buys for the UFC. Im hittin up a sportsbar for UFC an ordering WM at home.