Matchmaking in the UFC is probably harder than it looks

[Willek]

I'm sure it's more difficult than the Champ is fighting the #2 contender so #1 and #3 should fight.

Dealing with 600 fighters, managers, injuries while still trying to create stars and not having prospect vs prospect too early in their careers seems like a tough job.

 

[MuyThaiElbows]

It's really not. Match the fights that make sense. A ranking system screws things up sometimes.

 

[Your Account]

It's hard and tough job that's what it is.

 

[Biggamer86]

People think it's easy but realistically you have to be thinking a year down the road as well. But everyone will come in here and say it's a absolute joke. You can't just go and stack every single card by any means.

 

[iwhoopedbatman]

Of course it is. Anyone can come up with great top of the card fights. Try finding fighters for 12-15 fights that make sense and don't destroy all options for the next 3-6 months. Plus you have to deal with all of them and their people making demands and trying to negotiate every point, looking for every advantage. Plus you have to take travel, accommodations and a million other small factors into account. Then when you've finally got things in place, you get to deal with all of the injuries that spring up. It's a hard job. Doesn't mean it wouldn't be a fun, exciting and awesome job, but anyone who thinks they could just sit at Joe Silva's desk for a few hours and solve all the problems around matchmaking are either naïve, arrogant, stupid, or some combination of the three.

 

[Air Lats]

Yeah, really hard.

Like almost as hard as seriously managing a fantasy football league.

Sorry, if you have UFC matchmaking as a full-time job, 8-12 hours a day, 5-6 days a week, with all the resources you need, it really shouldn't be that hard.

 

[Air Lats]

Of course it is. Anyone can come up with great top of the card fights. Try finding fighters for 12-15 fights that make sense and don't destroy all options for the next 3-6 months. Plus you have to deal with all of them and their people making demands and trying to negotiate every point, looking for every advantage. Plus you have to take travel, accommodations and a million other small factors into account. Then when you've finally got things in place, you get to deal with all of the injuries that spring up. It's a hard job. Doesn't mean it wouldn't be a fun, exciting and awesome job, but anyone who thinks they could just sit at Joe Silva's desk for a few hours and solve all the problems around matchmaking are either naïve, arrogant, stupid, or some combination of the three.

I choose ... naive and stupid with just a touch of arrogance.

 

[myjohnson9]

Pay me 100k per year and working 20 hours a week to make maybe 500 match ups per year and I'll do it... Really doesn't seem too difficult

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

No its not that hard, I made a UFC fight card on EA UFC 2 on Xbox, it wasn't hard. You just have to enter the mode and move the fighters you want into the empty slots by pressing A button and directional buttons. Honestly its not hard to match make, took me 10 minutes and maybe not even that!.

 

[Roca]

NOPE SORRY JOE

 

[SuperNerd]

If you're an adult saying this is easy, make a list of your 20 closest friend and book an event together.

See you guys in 7 months.

 

[Hoof Hearted]

It's a tough job, especially with the number of fighters they have to manage. It's not always just a case of picking 2 fighters and that's it; they have to negotiate with the fighters or their managers and deal with short notice changes (which I'd imagine is a lot of pressure for big events). The UFC matchmakers also have to deal with signing and letting fighters go.

 

[gogogoalex]

Matchmaking in the UFC has to be a joke, easy peasy. U have all the fighters u want and u can force them to fight each other without problems. What is hard is making fights in boxing, with all the serious variables around. But UFC matchmaking, u have all the fighters, u can force them to fight, u can choose who gets the title shots. So easy they can negotiate and make fights u'll never saw if they were free agents with their own promoters, tvs,...

 

[The Big Babou]

I recently watched an interview with Joe Pesci, I mean Silva... & was surprised at the complexity of the match making process. It reminded me of those crazy riders that entertainers often demand... such as the time Van Halen asked for m&m's but the brown ones had to be removed or there'd be a massive penalty.

Having said that, & as a mma fan, it's an awesome job, but I think you'd be open to a lot of criticism from all sides (fighters, fans & media).

 

[laleggenda27]

It's certainly more difficult than fans like to pretend. It's not as easy as simply "matching two guys because it makes sense." A match maker has to consider the fighters' schedules, injuries, rankings, etc. And of course the fighters themselves have their own ideas on whom they want to fight. They also have to worry about creating entertaining fights and making sure that new challengers are positioned for title shots. All this for the 500+ fighters on the roster. And let's not forget about the armchair quarterbacks second guessing them at every step.

Yeah, I'd say it's a difficult job.

 

[HIMBOB]

They can't even get the obvious ones right.


Its got to be tough when they so clearly have their favourites who they wish to protect.

 

[flux capacitor]

Plus you have to deal with all of them and their people making demands and trying to negotiate every point, looking for every advantage

Maybe for their stars but thatd be pretty ballsy for the average fighter for the ufc to make such crazy demands to the point that it would effect matchmaking that much. I can only speculate though.

 

[Hi-Tech]

It's maybe not an easy job but it's still a great job to have if you're a fight fan.

 

[BisexualMMA]

Leaked footage of Joe Silva on the job.

 

[iwhoopedbatman]

Maybe for their stars but thatd be pretty ballsy for the average fighter for the ufc to make such crazy demands to the point that it would effect matchmaking that much. I can only speculate though.

It's not about crazy demands, it's about all the negotiation points that go into it. All the people and organization skills required to hear everyone's needs and accommodate what you can without agreeing to too much. I'm sure there are some fighters who really just say yes to everything, but not many. And even if they do, if they work with professional coaches who aren't at their first rodeo, they'll be watching their fighter's interests as well. Can be boring, even common negotiation points but I'd be willing to bet they are extensive (billing on the card, money, accommodations, reffing, locker room needs, etc., there are a billion little things that might seem inconsequential, but matter to the fighter, who needs to be comfortable enough to focus). You get to deal with all that shit until the matches are all set.