UFC President Dana White is setting the bar high for the promotion of his organization's January 31 fight between lightweight champion B.J. Penn and welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.
The Penn-St. Pierre fight, which is the main event at UFC 94, will be the subject of UFC Primetime: St. Pierre vs. Penn, a three-part special on Spike that will air each Wednesday night for the next three weeks. And White is calling it "the best television show we've ever done."
I talked to White today from Dublin, where he's preparing for Saturday's UFC 93 show, and he said the UFC has spared no expense in promoting St. Pierre vs. Penn.
"This thing is going to be 69 minutes," White said of the three segments, "and it's costing us $1.7 million to produce."
White said the finished product is going to be a dramatic look at the daily lives of Penn and St. Pierre in the weeks leading up to their fight, and that the faster turnaround time will give Primetime a more urgent feel than UFC's Countdown.
"It's more like a docu-drama or a docu-soap," White said. "It's so real time following the fighters that we're still editing now and it airs tomorrow night. The voiceovers will be done tonight and we'll literally still be working on this thing -- we'll get it to Spike two hours before it airs. ... Stuff that happened today will air tomorrow. These editors are working in shifts, working basically 24 hours around the clock in shifts. It's going to be the best show we've ever produced."
UPDATE: Read a review of the first episode.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
White knows how to sell it. I'm super excited to see how these guys have been and are training prior to this.
It will be interesting if people's opinions change on who the favorite is after the show.
i wanna see the lesnar/ mir fight soon. looks like march 7th at this point. after that they need to bring fedor to the ufc...
Go Penn
It's easy to go back and forth on this one ...
GSP is a comsummate professional ... we have seen him at his best in all of his fights. BJ on the other hand has had his ups and downs ... with even his downs being pretty damn good!
I have no doubt that BJ is training like never before ... I think he is going to shock the world with an incredible performance in this one. BJ being taken down and outpointed is the only way I can see him losing.
I dont see BJ being "taken down" man. What are you talking about? What is BJ's main discipline? Brazilian Jiu-Jitsui in case you dont know. Do you know? That fag, GSP is going to get whipped. Go BJ.
Have you not seen the first fight? He was beaten with the takedown in their first matchup.
BJ has always had a problem with stamina. GSP will take him into the third round and win via ground-n-pound!
I saw BJ beat GSP like a drum the first time they fought, although he "Lost" the decision. GSP knows he lost that fight and he will need a new tactic to even stay close to BJ. GSP looked like he had been hit by a truck and BJ did not have a mark on him. I think BJ will be very confident entering this fight and the UFC will have a new welterweight champion.
I don't know what TV you were watching when BJ and GSP fought the last time, but from where I was sitting GSP won on points with the most clean hits. I know his face was bloody and looked bad but he won on points. I don't see anyone beating GSP anytime soon. January 31st we will see!
Boxing is dead all hail the new king UFC!!!! thank you
FEDOR WILL BE THE UFC CHAMP ONCE HE GOES TO UFC. THAT GUY IS THE MONSTER AND NO ONE.....NO ONE CAN BEAT HIM. DON'T EVEN GO THERE. FEDOR IS THE BEST.
i really like the UFC. but how can Brock be the champ in his third fight in the ufc???????????? but i think this is the sport over wrestling and pro boxing, of the FUTURE!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree! What happened to earning a title shot? He needs to fight up through the ranks and then fight for the title. I sure hope the UFC isn't all staged like the pro wrestling is.
It will be a good fight. Give edge to gsp.To KRIS... hate to tell you this but Fedor is extreamly overrated. He has a weak chin and a amature stand up. He has not fought anybody worth talking about and has almost been knoked out in a couple of those fights. Had his opps. been better finishers Fedor would have at least 2 losses under his belt. Ive been watching UFC since day one over 16 years ago and Fedor is just another good, not great, fighter. Please bring him to the UFC so he can fight with the best in the game. If he can beat the UFCs best heavyweights, or even drop to light heavy (would love to see anderson silva vs fedor) then he might be considered as great, until then, like I said, overrated
If B.J. is in shape, he will take Georges out! Georges heart has never really been tested, nor has his chin. B.J. will knock him out in the 2nd....
Dave M,
BJ only lost that fight because of our terrible "round by round" scoring system. If the fight had been in Japan, where a fight is scored in it's entirety, BJ would've been the clear winner.
BJ turned GSP's face into ground beef in less than 1 round.
True but it's a three round fight and as usual BJ ran out of gas and GSP took him down about 8 times.
MAN ! I LIKE BOTH OF THESE GUYS , I GUESS ILL CHEER FOR THE ONE WHO IS BEATING THE CRAP OUT OF THE OTHER ONE..........GO PENN, GO GSP