"The UFC has ruined itself for $4 billion dollars." - The NY Post

[LilChuckLil]

The great circus sideshow that was Conor McGregor’s detour into boxing is over, and UFC president Dana White could not be happier about it.

“I’m ready to get back to the UFC and do what I do,” White said with a huge smile at the post-fight press conference in the early hours of the Sunday morning after the fight. “I’m not looking to do this again.”

The truth of the matter is White has absolutely no say in the matter. And he knows it.

“I want to get back to business doing what I do, which is the UFC.”

But nobody knows what the UFC even is anymore — including White.

It used to be so simple. The UFC was where the best fighters in the world duked it out to see which martial art was best. Once that was figured out — it turns out that mixing striking, wrestling and jiu jitsu together is the way to go — the game evolved into a straight-up battle for supremacy. Men, and eventually women, were sorted into weight classes and fought to see who was the best at their size.

Meritocracy was the bedrock principle from which the UFC built its hardcore fan base. Making the best fight the best was also how the UFC became a star-making machine because, unlike in boxing, the kings and queens of the organization were constantly under siege by up and comers. Therefore, anyone who could hold onto a belt for a long time was unquestionably great, and greatness is one path to stardom.

The old UFC hit its pinnacle with Ronda Rousey, whose reign of unprecedented dominance came to an end just as uber talent agency WME-IMG stepped in and purchased the UFC for $4 billion.

The May 2016 sale rocked the UFC to its core. On the management side, the man working in the shadows behind White, the company’s longtime match maker Joe Silva, announced his retirement. Worse still for the company as a whole, its stable of more than 500 contracted fighters all of a sudden knew exactly how much they were worth.

For years, the UFC paid its fighters next to nothing because there was nowhere else for fighters to go and because there was no way for the fighters to know if they were getting a good deal or not. Unlike the NFL or NBA, nobody knew what franchises were worth or even if the sport had a viable future.

As a result, the standard contracts for low-level fighters became what is called “5 & 5,” “10 & 10” or “20 & 20,” which means that the fighter is paid $20,000 to show up on weight on fight day and another $20,000 if he or she wins. Even champions coming in from other organizations, like Eddie Alvarez, were paid next to nothing. His first contract with the UFC paid him a measly “70 & 70,” according to MMA Junkie, a fact only revealed because his 2013 contract was part of a court case and thus became a public document. It is still the only full UFC contract to be made public.

The UFC’s $4 billion price tag has opened the eyes of its best fighters, who are starting to demand bigger pay days. McGregor is the prime example of this new trend, but others are learning from his example. Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, has been fighting with White about money and marketing opportunities for months, and the UFC boss has retaliated by threatening to dissolve the entire division. Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, meanwhile, said after his most recent fight, against Demian Maia, that he purposely fought conservatively because he was promised a super fight with Georges St-Pierre. That fight may never happen because Michael Bisping, the middleweight champion, hasn’t fought for nearly a year as he’s waited for the announced, then canceled, then re-announced gigantic GSP payday, which is finally set to go down at Madison Square Garden in November.

http://nypost.com/2017/09/14/the-ufc-ruined-itself-for-4-billion/

I recommend the link rather than my cut/pastes. The NY Post is spot on. The UFC has indeed jumped the shark and have nothing to show for it. Their big names are gone and there is just no spark to the company anymore.

Conor is a snake oil salesman and he will not be enough to carry the company.
Instead of 15 weight classes and WMMA that no one gives a damn about, the UFC needs to go back to the old format of mens only, 155 + divisions.

 

[Deleted member 429453]

I know words with more than 5 letters is a turn off for fanboys like yourself. Move along, child - this thread is for grownups.

It’s odd isn’t it how people are proud of mediocrity

THe didn’t read crowd are so pleased about their lack of focus

 

[Hard To Tell]

The UFC is definitely in a bit of a slump at the minute, there's no denying it.

Failed drug tests, especially the whole Jon Jones saga.
Their biggest star not defending his belts and going over to different sport for a pay day.
Boring/let down main events.
The constant pushing of terrible WMMA.
Substandard PPV's still being charged at regular price.

But then these things happen in sport, it's peaks and peaks and troughs, so things might pick up again soon.

 

[BryanTheFighter]

The UFC is definitely in a bit of a slump at the minute, there's no denying it.

Failed drug tests, especially the whole Jon Jones saga.
Their biggest star not defending his belts and going over to different sport for a pay day.
Boring/let down main events.
The constant pushing of terrible WMMA.
Substandard PPV's still being charged at regular price.

But then these things happen in sport, it's peaks and peaks and troughs, so things might pick up again soon.

they pumped and then they dumped

 

[BryanTheFighter]

you lazy bastard, you love to be stupid

you love to not know, YOU LOVE TO keep it real dumb!

Texts and books are like cryptonite to you!

 

[ChefC]

The 4 billion dollar price tag offers leverage and a starting point that otherwise wasn't there before.

That's it. That's the fucking point. I'm not gonna say it again.

The rest of your post was kinda junk...I mean debating Woodley's power play doesn't dispute that he's decided to play his hand by sitting instead of just fighting without question, any person the UFC put in front of him as all other champs did before...

Is English your first language because that isn't the fucking point at all.

The argument is that the sale of the UFC for $4 billion is what has sparked all of the recent behaviour, fighters pushing for more money, holding out for super fights etc.

"The UFC has ruined itself for $4 billion dollars"

As in, the sale has ruined the UFC, the sale is to blame for the current behaviour.

This is patently false. This behaviour existed beforehand.

Good to see you couldn't dispute my other points though.

 

[ChefC]

you know the UFC was popular before Ronda and Conor right? Those two came, they brought a new wave of casuals, but, it's not like it's that much more popular now. It's still a niche sport.

Of course I'm aware the UFC had a viewership before Ronda and Conor, however in terms of popularity now is the most popular the UFC has ever been. The UFC has grown in popularity in the last 10 years or so thanks to key stars such as Lidell, Ortiz, Rousey, Lesnar (brought in a lot of new fans) and of course McGregor.

Just look at the historical PPV buyrates;

UFC1 @ 86,000
UFC 91 Couture vs Lesnar @ 1,010,000
UFC 66 Liddell vs Ortiz 2 @ 1050,000
UFC 193 Rousey vs. Holm @ 1,100,000
UFC 202 Diaz vs. McGregor 2 @ 1,600,000

And UFC 66 is a bit of an outlier, as they didn't crack the 1,000,000 buyrate again until over 2 years later with Couture vs Lesnar. Which goes to show the UFC popularity pretty much revolves around a few key stars.

Compare that to;
UFC 213 Romero vs. Whittaker @ 130,000

McGregor broke all PPV records, the recent fight with Mayweather has put the UFC in a commercial light it has never been in before however without key stars to bring in the casuals it doesn't matter that much. The popularity of the UFC isn't pushed at all by a 'meritocracy' as the article tries to argue, if that's the case why is Diaz vs McGregor 2 the highest bought fight in UFC history?

It's simply pushed by interesting fights between interesting fighters and always has been, long before the sale. The article is trash.

 

[LilChuckLil]

you lazy bastard, you love to be stupid

you love to not know, YOU LOVE TO keep it real dumb!

Texts and books are like cryptonite to you!

 

[nhbfan8080]

I agree by no means has the problem been solved. But the $4 billion price tag does shine a bright light on the inequity.

The UFC still has the upper hand. Remember MLB, NFL, NHL and NBA didn't establish unions/associations until years into their sports. I tend to think the NFLPA is almost completely useless but perhaps that is harsh. The point is some small progress has been the inadvertent result of the sale of the UFC. More fighters are standing up and complaining about pay with less fear of retribution. Towing the company line is no longer the norm.

McGregor made a nice comment about feeling he is owed equity in the company after the sale. The tide is slowly turning. It won't happen overnight, but maybe one day the fighters will get a fair shake.

Yeah but the free market nuts will continue to mutter that fighters are only worth what their contracts say. I know that players unions didn't just pop up and they are still having to fight to get a decent share of the revenue. There are smaller leagues in smaller countries who seem to thrive better than the UFC because the revenue is portioned out more fairly.

I think fighters threatening/complaining about pay using the $4B sale figure is the wrong way to go about it since it looks like they are doing a shakedown or panhandling. What needs to be done is to end the monopoly of big promotions being the gatekeepers who rake in the big profits but do little of the real work that pulls in the fan's dollars. And elite fighters and champions also have to be forced to fight (not in boxing like Conor) and stay healthy or lose their belts/rankings which should affect their pay.

 

[Maori]

I disagree. The UFC wouldn't be the UFC without star power and personas of guys like Tito, Chuck, Silva, Jones, GSP. The fighting aspect is not enough.
People don't want to see Ryu vs Ryu. They want Blaca vs Sagat.

Ufc has said they want 450 millions over 10 years in the next tv deal.

Live sport is worth billions

 

[BVG]

Is English your first language because that isn't the fucking point at all.

The argument is that the sale of the UFC for $4 billion is what has sparked all of the recent behaviour, fighters pushing for more money, holding out for super fights etc.

"The UFC has ruined itself for $4 billion dollars"

As in, the sale has ruined the UFC, the sale is to blame for the current behaviour.

This is patently false. This behaviour existed beforehand.

Good to see you couldn't dispute my other points though.

You wanna compare fighter paychecks before and after the sale, dipshit?

You can start with Conor.

Then you can stick your head up your own ass and rotate.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

The article doesn't take into account potential long term development strategies for the UFC. While it may be a mess right now, I believe that the martial arts community is sufficiently behind the UFC to allow it to persevere until the next big boom of popularity, which should eventually come. All things experience the ebb and flow of popularity and the ones that end up thriving are the ones that establish themselves firmly enough during their initial period of success to weather the inevitable decline and make it to the next eventual boom.

MMA is no longer the fringe sport that trailer trash and sociopaths congregate around, the idea of it has permeated the mainstream at least a bit and it has the potential to be what pro wrestling was in the mid-nineties if it can only cultivate the right two or three stars.

It was an article, not a book. And the article rightly pointed out that the UFC has been a mess since the acquisition, something I see said daily by some of MMA's most committed fans.

And I agree with you that MMA has emerged or is emerging in the mainstream consciousness. But that emergence into the mainstream is going to mean more criticism from the media than the UFC has heretofore experienced.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

Ufc has said they want 450 millions over 10 years in the next tv deal.

Live sport is worth billions

The price of live sports is probably dropping like a rock right now, as the other networks look at how ruinously large NFL and NBA contracts are crushing ESPN.

 

[RJK]

NYP is not the messenger but the author and as such is garbage.

Actually it's the publisher.

You're acting like it's the Huffington Post.

 

[PorkPiePusher]

It was an article, not a book. And the article rightly pointed out that the UFC has been a mess since the acquisition, something I see said daily by some of MMA's most committed fans.

And I agree with you that MMA has emerged or is emerging in the mainstream consciousness. But that emergence into the mainstream is going to mean more criticism from the media than the UFC has heretofore experienced.

Could be that I read too much into it and took "mess" as to mean "unsustainable". And let the mainstream criticism come, we survived "human cock fighting", we'll survive more if we have to.