zuffa and wsof conspiracy?

[gevoudane]

Is WSOF Zuffa's way of trying to make Bellator the 3rd instead of #2 MMA Org? Seems like a lot of the good fighter being released by the UFC are going to WSOF instead of Bellator. What connection does WSOF have with Zuffa anyways?

 

[Furious George]

Matchmaker is a perenial arse licker.

Ray Zuffo is just a figurehead and doesnt actually do anything.

cross promotion idea with Bellator had me interested though

 

[FRANKIE 保憲]

Bellator usually brings in ufc guys that can make their home grown fighters look better, they aren't in the market for big names post ufc contract.

 

[Degen Gambler]

Bellator usually brings in ufc guys that can make their home grown fighters look better, they aren't in the market for big names post ufc contract.

 

[Jblizzle]

Is WSOF Zuffa's way of trying to make Bellator the 3rd instead of #2 MMA Org? Seems like a lot of the good fighter being released by the UFC are going to WSOF instead of Bellator. What connection does WSOF have with Zuffa anyways?

I believe Bellator came out and said that they weren't interested in Fitch, Okami, or Palhares

 

[FRANKIE 保憲]

Exception to the rule, page and Tito bring in big numbers on ppv, or potentionally can, most other guys they bring in, they try to feed them to up and comers.

 

[Amerikuracana]

If anything, I think they want another 'lower tier' org to compete with Bellator, attempting to keep the UFC on a sacred level lol

I can see that.

 

[mkt]

I believe Bellator came out and said that they weren't interested in Fitch, Okami, or Palhares

As a result, the WSOF has built a much better WW division plus a guy who could've given Bellator's MW champ a real challenge.

 

[Jblizzle]

As a result, the WSOF has built a much better WW division plus a guy who could've given Bellator's MW champ a real challenge.

I'm happy it's happened this way tho, It's nice having two other organizations who have a decent number of high level fighters

 

[ALAN PARTRIDGE]

maybe so

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

I believe Bellator came out and said that they weren't interested in Fitch, Okami, or Palhares

Because Fitch and Okami are not worth their asking price, and Palhares is a big potential liability. Same reasons the UFC did not want them.

 

[KeeSmyth]

All the big names WSOF signed Bellator came out publicly said they weren't interested

 

[maksy]

Ray Zuffo haha

 

[epathebay]

Bellator doesn't wan't boring fighters

/Thread

 

[kaya]

Page and Tito couldn't beat fighters in the UFC anymore. This has been true for Tito since, say, 2002. It has been true for Rampage since.. 2008.... maybe 2009?

 

[toagrodyf]

First of to set things straight. Sig Rogich & Lorenzo Fertitta are long-time friends. In politics, in business, and in public.

Sig Rogich is the CEO of WSOF. He is one of the most influential political players in Nevada. 'Maybe' even more influential as Frank & Lorenzo Fertitta. Rogich has been involved with a number of state & national political campaigns and been an adviser to a number of state & federal administrations. The biw-wig political circles are one thing... for MMA the NSAC is something totally different.

Like the Lorenzo Fertitta & UFC VP Marc Ratner... Sig Rogich is a former Nevada State Athletic Commission member. Actually, he was 'Chairman' of the NSAC and may have been involved in appointing Lorenzo and/or Marc Ratner to the commission.

IMO - This whole WSOF/UFC/Zuffa thing stinks to high heaven. It's hard to keep track of just how many different types of connections there are between the both company's ownership & some of their executives.

Almost more crazy is the convoluted direct involvement of both the UFC & WSOF owners with the Nevada state law enforcement agency that polices them. And then there's all of the NSAC former-executives and legal counsel working for the UFC that it makes the phrase "ripe for corruption" seem appropriate here.

You just gotta ask why Rogich would throw a big chunk of his cash in the ring to compete for assess in seats in Las Vegas, for TV viewers, for established & up'n'coming fighters, and a whole lot more... with guys he's connected to in so many ways.

One of possibilities some might say could be something called collusion. Another possibility some might say is that the new organization could be a front for the big power in the industry. If that's the case it sure would keep the federal government business regulators from coming sniffing around again after the FTC investigation of the Strikeforce purchase.

Exactly how is an organization that is getting like 200K tv viewers, and maybe a few hundred for a live gate, paying out the second biggest purses over Bellator which get up to 5X or 10X the viewers and their parent company also owns the TV networks they're on???

It's obvious that WSOF is a 'pay to play' infomercial format on NCB Sports. If it wasn't, the show would have been cancelled or the Network goes out of business. Simple as that.

These guys are losing money with no foreseeable way with their business model to ever to change this. So who benefits from all this???




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sig_Rogich
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Ratner
http://www.fightopinion.com/2013/12/04/bellator-wsof-ufc-mma/

 

[ShoelessRye]

Bellator doesn't want UFC cut fighters to come in and beat their current top guys - Fitch, Okami and now Jake Shields might be boring, but they're good fighters and if they ran through Bellator top guys as UFC cast-offs it wouldn't be a good look for Bellator branding/promoting of their home grown fighters.

 

[skeeza00]

All are past their prime.

Fitch, Shields, and Okami will cost a lot and not bring in the ratings they want. Not to mention beat a lot of fighters with what most see as a boring style.

Rampage and Tito bring in ratings. They also are typically in exciting fights.

WSOF has signed some top guys, but can they sustain paying that amount of money? I have my doubts.

 

[Pacemaker Joe]

The only real connection is that Sefo & Dana get along, unlike Dana and Bjorn, Dana and Coker, Dana and most other promoters.

I am wondering how WSOF will sustain paying the bigger names they've brought in.

 

[DizzyYeahYeah]

Bellator doesn't want UFC cut fighters to come in and beat their current top guys - Fitch, Okami and now Jake Shields might be boring, but they're good fighters and if they ran through Bellator top guys as UFC cast-offs it wouldn't be a good look for Bellator branding/promoting of their home grown fighters.

I'd take Askren over Fitch and Shields and Bellator let him go.

They should've got Okami and Guillard but they are expensive.