The Xbox 360 getting UFC matches seemed like a good idea at the time. Pity Xbox Live couldn't actually cope with all the people trying to watch one.
Last Friday, UFC 141 was slated to appear on Xbox Live's fancy TV service. It was such a big deal that Microsoft gave away 30,000 coupons so people could watch it for free. Sadly, the freeloaders combined with the existing subscribers managed to almost completely ruin the experience for those trying to watch, so much so Microsoft has had to issue a surprisingly humble apology to Bitmob.
The broadcast of UFC 141 through the UFC for Xbox LIVE application was hampered by technical issues appearing in the hours leading up to the fight. Despite restoring service to some users during the course of UFC 141, there is a great deal of room for improvement. All 30,00 users who registered to view UFC 141 for free will be provided access to a future fight at no cost.
We want to ensure that the 30,000 giveaway recipients for UFC 141 have an optimal experience with UFC on Xbox LIVE, and we are currently working with our partners at the UFC to ensure we deliver just that. The gamertags of the 30,000 users who registered for UFC 141 are being safely kept on file for free access to a future UFC event, and we will have more updates to share in the near future.
"There is a great deal of room for improvement". Those are words you don't often hear in an official statement. You know when you do that things got real bad.
6 things UFC on Xbox Live does right (updated: plus recent problems, redemption info) [Bitmob]