After failing to get the 24/7 concept off the ground for Lesnar/Couture, the UFC is on the ball early for Penn and St. Pierre according to MMA Junkie:
To hype the upcoming mega-fight between Georges St. Pierre and B.J. Penn that takes place Jan. 31 at UFC 94, Spike TV and the UFC will roll out a three-part preview series beginning Jan. 14.
The shows are modeled after the successful “De La Hoya-Mayweather 24/7″ series on HBO that hyped a super-successful May 2007 boxing match between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. that set a record with 2.4 million pay-per-view buys.
Whereas the UFC let Randy and Brock sell itself due to star power and ESPN coverage, it appears they are going to devote significant resources to hyping and selling this show. It should be interesting to measure the UFC’s ability to sell a big fight against what a mainstream press push can do. Then again, they may get both.