UFC's new production changes – 'foundational work' – were years in the making

UFC 189, the anchor event of International Fight Week, was a rousing success. Fans and pundits were quick to rank the fight card among the best pay-per-view offerings in UFC history. With that type of effusive praise, it’s understandable the production overhaul the UFC rolled out during Fight Week took a back seat.

It’s understandable, but not entirely forgivable. After all, the changes were the fight promotion’s first major production updates since UFC 96, which took place in March 2009.

The flashiest upgrades were saved for UFC 189. However, improvements began earlier in the week at the annual UFC Fan Expo.

One of the noticeable differences at the fan festival and trade show was the type of exhibitors that had been present in the past was greatly reduced. The organization advertised more than 150 exhibitors for its fan expo in 2014.. This year, the list of dwindled to 27.

“This time it was about the UFC brand first,” UFC Senior Vice President of Global Brand Marketing Jackie Poriadjian told MMAjunkie. “We invested heavily in the experience.

“It’s that one moment, no matter what happens on the UFC calendar, we’re going to be in Vegas. We’re going to own our home city, and we’re going to have fans from all over the world. We really wanted to have the right platform, and there’s nothing that replicates that ability to physically take over a city with completely reimagined brand elements in a space like (Sands Expo and Convention Center), where you have 555,000 square feet.”

Another change was how the fighters were presented during the expo, who were put on a pedestal, both figuratively and literally.

“Instead of athletes just sitting at poker tables signing autographs, we elevated them on a stage,” Poriadjian said. “We had these gorgeous backdrops. We had video elements that talked about them.”

The reasoning behind the production changes was simple: It was time for the UFC to shore up its foundation.

The UFC was originally built on spectacle. The initial owners found some success with that philosophy, but by the early 2000s, success had been replaced by financial problems and finger wags from the likes of Sen. John McCain. When the current owners from Zuffa LLC bought the UFC in 2001, they purchased a bedraggled business.

Beset by multiple issues, Zuffa focused on regulation, presenting more events, transitioning from spectacle to sport, and most recently global expansion. During that time, the promotion’s foundation fell into disrepair.

“We see ourselves as a global sports brand, moving from spectacle to established sport to now a global sports brand,” Poriadjian said. “In order to grow, we felt like we needed to take that step back and do that foundational work.”

Following a global canvas of its fan base, the UFC mapped out potential upgrades. The changes fans began to see during International Fight Week had been in the works for a year. One refreshing change is arguably a greater focus on the fighters.

“We’re adding more storytelling elements,” UFC Vice President of Global Brand Creative Heidi Noland said. “Our match package (the teaser videos for the upcoming fights on a card), where we’re really elevating the athletes, (we’re) creating this very heroic footprint for our athletes. They feel larger than life.”

This change was noticeable in what the UFC refers to as the pre-fight name slam, the portion of the broadcast in which the fighters are shown on screen, close up, prior to walkout. The colors were brighter and the fighter images were larger. The UFC has also added additional elements to the name slam, including fighter quotes and the ability to bring in the country colors of the fighter. Gold will be the primary color for UFC champions.

The broadcast changes, which include the name splash, updated tale of the tape, updated graphics during introductions, center screen time clock, and split screen during the official decision, will not be visible across all UFC events. Fight cards on FOX, FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2 will not change. However, events that are shown on pay-per-view and entirety on UFC Fight Pass will have the updated visual package.

The theme behind the upgrades is to create a cohesive and immersive experience for fans.

“The insert package will start to tell more of a story as we go forward,” said Noland, referring to the center clock, tale of the tape, fighter rankings and upcoming fights. “In addition to the bouts that are coming up, there will be visuals, country of origin, storytelling on that fight and those fighters, getting the fans re-familiarized with the fighters in the crowded UFC broadcast landscape. The goal is to connect as many pieces for the viewer as possible to keep them interested.”

Almost all UFC-branded product will be included in the upgrade. This includes all fight cards as well as any ancillary UFC events. The updated look will place the UFC logo either top center or top left, and use consistent typography.

The UFC logo system will also receive an upgrade, with brand consistency being the goal. All UFC-branded products – from pay-per-view cards to “UFC Tonight” episodes to events such as the recent UFC Ulti-Man 5K Run – will have a similar look. The new logo architecture will place the UFC logo either top center or top left, and use consistent typography.

Event posters also will have a new look, with the event name on top of the poster and tune-in information placed at the bottom. Past event posters were more random, sometimes placing the event name at the top, sometimes featuring the names of the main event fighters. As with the new logo system, this is to provide fans with a more uniform product.

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The updated UFC visual identity was formed in partnership with Los Angeles-based Troika, a California-based brand consultancy and creative agency. During the process, Troika, which first worked with the fight promotion at UFC 175, had at least 30 people working on some aspect of the project while the UFC’s core team averaged three to five members.

The fact the UFC did not release much information about the enhancements prior to International Fight Week was always part of the plan.

“The goal was really to create that wow moment at UFC 189 and give the fans that made the trip out to Vegas that real first experience,” Poriadjian said. “Experiencing it is so visual, it’s hard to talk about it. It’s more something you have to experience.”

One of the biggest “wow moments” of UFC 189 was the in-cage graphics projected on the canvas prior to the main event. The striking and moving visuals were well-received by fans both in the arena and watching on TV. The work on that brief presentation was a three-month team effort between the UFC and Quince Imaging, a Virginia-based video-imaging company.

One update that wasn’t well-received? The remixed version of “Face the Pain” that opened the PPV broadcast.

“That is one of the elements that we want to continue to work on,” Noland said. “It may or may not evolve. That’s yet to come.”

Next up for an upgrade is the UFC’s online presence.

“Over the next six months to a year, we’re going to be looking at completely overhauling our digital experience,” Poriadjian said. “Not that anything’s broken, but wanting to be leaders and continuing to innovate, we feel like there’s a lot of opportunity to implement around consistency, greater navigational clarity and really creating connections between UFC.TV to Fight Pass and all of our social feeds to (ufc.com) and all of the apps.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.