UFC 131 was supposed to be easy money for the UFC – plug Brock Lesnar into the main event and guarantee yourself over 1,000,000 in pay-per-view buys. But, as the UFC’s luck of late would have it, Lesnar had another flare up of his diverticulitis and is shelved once again. Enter Shane Carwin, who is a formidable opponent for Junior dos Santos, but not a formidable box office draw (except when he fights Brock Lesnar). To compound matters, dos Santos isn’t a proven commodity at the box office either. However, they are heavyweights who like to bang, so that will draw a few people to the party.
A strong undercard could help save this event, but unfortunately one is nowhere to be found for UFC 131. The co-main event of Kenny Florian vs Diego Nunes would have a hard time making it on to the PPV portion of a typical UFC card. The only other match remotely interesting on paper is Demian Maia vs Mark Munoz.
Maybe the lack of interest in the event in Vancouver (it isn’t even sold out yet) really doesn’t have anything to do with the Canucks Stanley Cup run (as some claim) and more to do with the fact that the UFC is giving the city, after UFC 115 being held there last summer, its second straight weak card. Our pay-per-view buyrate prediction for UFC 131: 350,000 buys.
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