Hey Not The Face! Podcast

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit heynottheface.substack.com Today’s episode is the larger portion of our hodge-podge segment. Our coverage included a full breakdown of the Fury-Usyk numbers and what they mean, what exactly is the transactional relationship with Donald Trump and UFC, a revised estimation of Conor McGregor’s expected antitrust settlement payout, and more...

This week’s segment is a hodge-podge of several questions based on current MMA and boxing news. We also have more detailed information from the antitrust case settlement documents that we’ll present, as well. Once again, we’ve divided it into two episodes, one for today and the other half on Thursday. Today’s portion is free . Thursday’s will have part of it behind a paywall. *Please note that we’...

On Tuesday, we released the first half of this episode. In Part 1 , we broke down the antitrust suit, the settlement details, how much the attorneys for the Plaintiffs are seeking and began discussion on the two classes. In Part 2, we go over what each class should be getting, how and why the money will be divided up between the classes, how fighters can ensure they receive their money and more. F...

Over the last couple weeks, filings from the settlement in the UFC antitrust case have been made available, so we figured this would be a great time to do a complete rundown of the antitrust case and its settlement, but this time, it’s geared towards the fighters aka the Plaintiffs. We’ve addressed a variety of topics to help fighters understand the case, the settlement, the two classes and who is...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit heynottheface.substack.com On Tuesday, we released the first segment of our in-depth interview with freshly retired UFC star Matt “The Immortal” Brown. The longtime fan favorite fielded all our questions, giving us nearly an hour of his time. Part 1 involved the following topics: * It’s been three weeks or so since you announced your re...

A few weeks ago, Matt Brown announced his retirement from the UFC. Fans around the globe registered outright shock at the longtime crowd favorite’s decision to step away from the game, but we wished him well and shared our favorite memories, happy that he was able to escape the sport on his own terms and with his wits about him. He’d hoped to go out with UFC 300, and when Jim Miller asked for that...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit heynottheface.substack.com On Tuesday, we released the first half of this segment on how the UFC is basically a microcosm of the U.S. economy. Today, we’re releasing the other half. I’ve copied over that post, since the outline applies here, as well. We hope you’ll find part 2 of this in-depth explainer illuminating. The UFC has done no...

The UFC has done nothing but grow exponentially since The Ultimate Fighter basically saved the promotion’s bacon back in 2005. These days, TUF doesn’t even bring in new eyeballs, but its place is secured as one of the reasons the UFC is the money-making juggernaut it is today. And with the antitrust case being wrapped for the bargain price of $335M, with no real changes to their business model, it...

Canelo Alvarez and Naoya Inoue have had enormous success in the ring this month, with both men enjoying big wins last week. In the days since, PPV buyrate numbers have been released for Canelo’s fight that might have you scratching your head as you try to determine if the tally Dave Meltzer put out should be considered a success or not. We also took a look at Naoya Inoue’s promoter’s comments abou...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit heynottheface.substack.com Last week was a busy one for the UFC. The company had their quarterly earnings call and latest SEC filing both make the news cycle. Fresh off the UFC 301 PPV card that very likely didn’t break 200K buys, the promotion is still sitting pretty. Through previously released documentation, we know that they make $2...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit heynottheface.substack.com A few weeks ago, Forbes released an article comparing the finances of the more established and well-known combat sports promotions. While they were correct in their ranking of the UFC at number one and WWE at number two, they seem to have missed some details in their estimations of some of the promotions’ fina...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit heynottheface.substack.com Last fall, rumors began swirling that Showtime Boxing was being shuttered after their last event of 2023 to the dismay of boxing fans around the world. It would only be a matter of weeks before the rumors were confirmed that not only Showtime Boxing was being shuttered, but all of Showtime Sports, which meant...

The FTC recently announced a ban on all non-compete agreements, including those already in practice. To this point, it was up to the individual state whether they were legally enforceable. Some states, like California, have banned them altogether, while others embrace them. Now, the choice has been removed. But don’t let this wonderful news lull you into a false sense of security. It’s already bei...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit heynottheface.substack.com UFC 300 has come and gone, but since it was such an important card, there’s been a lot of news for us to parse. In this episode, we take a look at the UFC’s claims of how well the card did and estimate how well the card actually did financially. Spoiler alert: It’s a lot. From there we had a side-discussion ab...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit heynottheface.substack.com Ryan Garcia shocked the world when he put Devin Haney on the canvas three different times and rocked him a few more en route to his majority decision victory Saturday night. Since then, Ryan has claimed that he successfully trolled the world and he was never having a mental health crisis, proclaimed that he dr...

The lead-up to the boxing match between Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia has been anything but traditional or ordinary. Ryan Garcia, either through advice from his management team or strictly on his own, has opted for a salacious, oft-times concerning approach that has left many wondering if he’s even fit to compete. There have been numerous incidents including a purported kidnapping, Live spaces where...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit heynottheface.substack.com With UFC 300 in the books and the antitrust settlement all but ensuring that the promotion will continue doing business as usual, we thought a thorough analysis of what the current state of MMA is, what its future looks like and if any of the more prominent promotions will be around by the time UFC 400 gets he...

UFC 300 is just hours away and the PR machine is in hyperdrive. From revelations of newly designed gloves to announcements of massively increased bonuses (sorry, Fighters, it’s just for this event), there’s a lot of fluffy, sugary, feel-good stories dominating community media. We decided to tackle three topics to shine a light on some things you may not be aware of. The glove redesign announcement...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit heynottheface.substack.com UFC 300 will undoubtedly be the the most stacked card of the year, but it remains to be seen if it will do the highest PPV buy rate, especially with rumors of a Conor McGregor return this year, but for now, this mega-event is the big one. With 12 current or former champions, it could be the most talent-rich sh...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit heynottheface.substack.com Matchroom is an entity that is far more than just a British boxing promotion. As a matter of fact, there are multiple Matchroom branches, both in the UK and even in the USA. Their financial filings were released a few weeks ago, so we scrutinized them, crunched some numbers and have those findings here in an e...

The UFC contract has long been the blueprint by which all other promotions modeled their own contracts upon, so it stands to reason that most contracts look similar. That said, some promotions go the extra mile to be even more draconian and restrictive than their predecessors. PFL is certainly trying to outdo all the others with theirs. The Hey Not The Face! Podcast is a listener-supported publica...

Now that the UFC antitrust case has ended with a settlement, many are left wondering what the detail of it are aside from the settlement total the community was given. As it stands right now, we know the amount was for $335M and that both cases were settled. Outside the 50 day suspension of the trial (so they can wrap the case) and an order for both parties to file a status report on or before May...

Earlier today, it was announced that the Plaintiffs (the fighters) in both UFC antitrust cases have reached a settlement with the Defendant (UFC/Zuffa) in the amount of $335M—a figure that will end up being tax deductible for the UFC. No further details were released other than a 50 day suspension of the case (to approve the settlement) and an order for both parties to file a status report on or b...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit heynottheface.substack.com In part 1 of our UFC antitrust case primer, we went through the suit, starting with its inception, then going through the entire process. We broke down legal terminology, who the named Plaintiffs are and who the Defendant is, when they filed and why it took so long to get to trial. There is also a thorough exp...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit heynottheface.substack.com After being in what seemed like limbo for the better part of a decade, the UFC antitrust case is finally headed to trial in about four weeks. The Plaintiffs (the fighters) will present their case via a crack team of attorneys including MMAFA founder Rob Maysey. The Defendant, better known as Zuffa and/or the U...