Bellator might surpass the UFC

Well, UFC belt can be sold for 1 dollar, had UFC agreed to that. The problem is, they won't agree to ANY price.
As of a fighter himself - well, you should pay him enough for the compensation of a huge lawsuit coming from Endeavor for breaking the contract, eventual fine, UFC's expenses on the lawsuit, moral compensation for loss of reputation etc.
And if UFC is lucky, the court might ban the fighter from competing in Bellator legally(?). Like they banned Rampage from competing in UFC.

So why do you think Viacom still didn't give Bellator enough money to outbuy Conor and Lesnar?


Here's my thinking.
  • Be prepared to absorb significant losses for 5-7 years
  • Capitalize on parent-company outlets
  • Pay more than the competition
  • One fight deals
  • Tweak the rules for excitement
Viacom has the connections and advertising budgets to give as much of a promotional push as the UFC can. If they offer more money to top talent then over the course of time they'll attract it. By offering one fight deals it's easier to pull free-agents because a top dollar engagement is better than getting roped into a low-ball contract that sounds long-term but doesn't guarantee anything past the next fight anyway.

There's only three ways to beat out the UFC. Buy 'em out. Beat them out by sucking up the talent. Or offer a superior product via different rules and combat arena.
 
Here's my thinking.
  • Be prepared to absorb significant losses for 5-7 years
  • Capitalize on parent-company outlets
  • Pay more than the competition
  • One fight deals
  • Tweak the rules for excitement
Viacom has the connections and advertising budgets to give as much of a promotional push as the UFC can. If they offer more money to top talent then over the course of time they'll attract it. By offering one fight deals it's easier to pull free-agents because a top dollar engagement is better than getting roped into a low-ball contract that sounds long-term but doesn't guarantee anything past the next fight anyway.

There's only three ways to beat out the UFC. Buy 'em out. Beat them out by sucking up the talent. Or offer a superior product via different rules and combat arena.

I like the way you're thinking.
Have you heard about PFL and what they're trying to do?
 
There are no easy fights in the UFC.
A debut in the UFC is tough.
That's the difference.
0:12 as an amateur!
That's illegal. It's a sham
No easy fights? I think maybe overall the competition is good from top to bottom, but no easy fights just isn't true. They keep guys who contantly lose on the roster for a reason, bc they're easy fights and the perception that there aren't easy fights in the UFC helps build the guy who beats the guy who isn't very good. Like an Artem Lobov, who is only in the UFC at all bc he's Conor's training partner and entered the UFC with an outstanding 11-10-1 record.

Yes, bud, there are easy fights.
 
Sounds like fun.

Beats that six-figure shit. What do the losers get I wonder.
They're actually paid decently for each round. I forget the actual numbers, @AimedWithV probably knows, or maybe @MMALOPEZ. Of course, wage goes up with each round. For many the money sounded too good to be true, but PFL is owned by a bunch of high profile celebrity investors (like Kevin Hart, which I find really strange but cool), and these people ponied up the money in advance, so the fighters are really being paid what they win. Ray Sefo is the Dana White of PFL. The product is really good, and there are a few familiar names in the field, like Will Brooks, Shawn Jordan, Jared Rosholt. Some of the rounds have shorter fights, and since it's a point based system you may have to get a finish to move on to the next round, so there is a lot of action. The guys who are unknowns, for the most part (there were a few guys, admittedly, who were obviously there bc they needed a slot filled and who had no business being in their weight classes tourney field) are very talented, and you can tell that for the most part the league scouted very well. Eventually, if the league continues growing a fan base and manages to stick around for a while, it is likely that real, true top talent will enter these tournaments. Fighters in the other orgs may grow tired of fighting for 16/16, 32/32 or whatever, and could try their hand at the million dollar prize. It is a great idea, and worked very well for the most part last season. Very little about it bothers me, personally, just a few minor gripes that I probably shouldn't be griping about. Overall, great product and most of us here in the Contenders want it to succeed.
 
They're actually paid decently for each round. I forget the actual numbers, @AimedWithV probably knows, or maybe @MMALOPEZ. Of course, wage goes up with each round. For many the money sounded too good to be true, but PFL is owned by a bunch of high profile celebrity investors (like Kevin Hart, which I find really strange but cool), and these people ponied up the money in advance, so the fighters are really being paid what they win. Ray Sefo is the Dana White of PFL. The product is really good, and there are a few familiar names in the field, like Will Brooks, Shawn Jordan, Jared Rosholt. Some of the rounds have shorter fights, and since it's a point based system you may have to get a finish to move on to the next round, so there is a lot of action. The guys who are unknowns, for the most part (there were a few guys, admittedly, who were obviously there bc they needed a slot filled and who had no business being in their weight classes tourney field) are very talented, and you can tell that for the most part the league scouted very well. Eventually, if the league continues growing a fan base and manages to stick around for a while, it is likely that real, true top talent will enter these tournaments. Fighters in the other orgs may grow tired of fighting for 16/16, 32/32 or whatever, and could try their hand at the million dollar prize. It is a great idea, and worked very well for the most part last season. Very little about it bothers me, personally, just a few minor gripes that I probably shouldn't be griping about. Overall, great product and most of us here in the Contenders want it to succeed.

Wow.

Personally, as a viewer, I want the best combination of talent and entertaining rule-set. By entertaining, I mean that less is more. :)
 
Wow.

Personally, as a viewer, I want the best combination of talent and entertaining rule-set. By entertaining, I mean that less is more. :)
If you're not watching RIZIN then, jump on board. They putting on fights with soccer kicks, downed knees, and elbows. They've brought in some violent foreigners to fight the best they've got, Jiri Prochaszka, Luiz Gustavo, Daron Cruickshank, Diego Brandao... Crocop has gone on a violent streak too, fighting in Japan again. Then they have some excellent kickboxing matches, and Tenshin always puts on a show in those fights. He fights in MMA too, and has put on some shows there too. Horiguchi is the man though, he's fighting up in weight now and has looked absolutely amazing since leaving the UFC. One of the most talented and exciting fighters in the world, and if he isnt the best fighter outside of the UFC, he's probably only number two, to Mighty Mouse.

It's a really good time to be a fan of MMA. The things Bellator, PFL, RIZIN, Combate Americas (another league putting on exciting tournaments), ONE and others are doing makes one wonder how MMA is on a downward slide. Sure, there are a lot of leagues to consider, which makes it seem watered down in general, but anyone who watches fights and truly loves the sport has more than enough to keep a fix. Hell, DAZN has Fight Nights, KSW (also a great product, which seems to take a cue from Japan on how they present their product, aside from the cage), ROAD FC, and EFC (an African org) on top of Bellator and Combate. Jump in head first, bud. Life is good for the fight fan right now. You watch the events put on by these orgs, you can see there is talent out there in the world. It's tiered, in a way, but all of these orgs have either some talent or something unique to offer that is different from the UFC. Hell, ONE Championship isn't just putting on MMA matches, they're doing Muay Thai, boxing, and grappling too, and all of their cards are streamed for free on their app. If you desire something different from what is becoming a stale product in the UFC, go find it, it exists. And it's AWESOME.
 
If you're not watching RIZIN then, jump on board. They putting on fights with soccer kicks, downed knees, and elbows. They've brought in some violent foreigners to fight the best they've got, Jiri Prochaszka, Luiz Gustavo, Daron Cruickshank, Diego Brandao... Crocop has gone on a violent streak too, fighting in Japan again. Then they have some excellent kickboxing matches, and Tenshin always puts on a show in those fights. He fights in MMA too, and has put on some shows there too. Horiguchi is the man though, he's fighting up in weight now and has looked absolutely amazing since leaving the UFC. One of the most talented and exciting fighters in the world, and if he isnt the best fighter outside of the UFC, he's probably only number two, to Mighty Mouse.

It's a really good time to be a fan of MMA. The things Bellator, PFL, RIZIN, Combate Americas (another league putting on exciting tournaments), ONE and others are doing makes one wonder how MMA is on a downward slide. Sure, there are a lot of leagues to consider, which makes it seem watered down in general, but anyone who watches fights and truly loves the sport has more than enough to keep a fix. Hell, DAZN has Fight Nights, KSW (also a great product, which seems to take a cue from Japan on how they present their product, aside from the cage), ROAD FC, and EFC (an African org) on top of Bellator and Combate. Jump in head first, bud. Life is good for the fight fan right now. You watch the events put on by these orgs, you can see there is talent out there in the world. It's tiered, in a way, but all of these orgs have either some talent or something unique to offer that is different from the UFC. Hell, ONE Championship isn't just putting on MMA matches, they're doing Muay Thai, boxing, and grappling too, and all of their cards are streamed for free on their app. If you desire something different from what is becoming a stale product in the UFC, go find it, it exists. And it's AWESOME.

RIZIN sounds good. And you're right. Options abound. Just takes the right confluence of circumstance for an org to overtake the UFC. Might not be in America, but the whole world loves fights and commerce is global.
 
RIZIN sounds good. And you're right. Options abound. Just takes the right confluence of circumstance for an org to overtake the UFC. Might not be in America, but the whole world loves fights and commerce is global.
Idk if others agree, but to me, KSW has great chance of eventually being that major international player. Their numbers in Poland are enormous. They're way more popular there than the UFC. If they can continue doing what they're doing while slowly branching out (they already are a bit) and signing better international talent, they've got a bright future. They haven't blown their wad so far like some other orgs have. They've mostly stuck to what has worked for them and they've continued being successful. It may take time, but I could see them being a solid number two or three org eventually.

The other is ONE. I think Chatri overstates some things, but they've actually proven that they can pull huge ratings (25 million watched a card in Thailand, and that is backed by Nielsen). They've got a pretty good following in Asia (mainly Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, and Singapore), they're moving into Japan in a couple of months, they've got a US deal with Turner now, and they're already signing bigtime foreign talent in Mighty Mouse and Alvarez. They're in debt though, or they're at least losing money every year.

Most fans here don't really think like you. Since most here are from the States, they don't see any rig outside of the UFC, and to a lesser extent, Bellator, as being viable organizations with futures. But the world is a huge place, and Asia has like 2 or 3 billion people living there, so it isn't farfetched to think that ONE could eventually become something similar to the UFC. Having different types of combat sports involved under the same umbrella makes it seem easier to bring in more eyes. If they've got MMA, Muay Thai and a big boxing match all on the same card, you're potentially getting viewers from three seperate demographics for one show. It's kinda brilliant. Hope it works out for these orgs and they all find huge success.
 
Idk if others agree, but to me, KSW has great chance of eventually being that major international player. Their numbers in Poland are enormous. They're way more popular there than the UFC. If they can continue doing what they're doing while slowly branching out (they already are a bit) and signing better international talent, they've got a bright future. They haven't blown their wad so far like some other orgs have. They've mostly stuck to what has worked for them and they've continued being successful. It may take time, but I could see them being a solid number two or three org eventually.

The other is ONE. I think Chatri overstates some things, but they've actually proven that they can pull huge ratings (25 million watched a card in Thailand, and that is backed by Nielsen). They've got a pretty good following in Asia (mainly Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, and Singapore), they're moving into Japan in a couple of months, they've got a US deal with Turner now, and they're already signing bigtime foreign talent in Mighty Mouse and Alvarez. They're in debt though, or they're at least losing money every year.

Most fans here don't really think like you. Since most here are from the States, they don't see any rig outside of the UFC, and to a lesser extent, Bellator, as being viable organizations with futures. But the world is a huge place, and Asia has like 2 or 3 billion people living there, so it isn't farfetched to think that ONE could eventually become something similar to the UFC. Having different types of combat sports involved under the same umbrella makes it seem easier to bring in more eyes. If they've got MMA, Muay Thai and a big boxing match all on the same card, you're potentially getting viewers from three seperate demographics for one show. It's kinda brilliant. Hope it works out for these orgs and they all find huge success.

You clearly know the landscape fare better than I. But yeah, there's plenty of room for growth and competition worldwide.

One factor though is time zones and people liking their events live.
 
I'd say there's very little chance of this happening. Less than 1%.

SneakyHandsomeAssassinbug-size_restricted.gif


UFC would have to show staggering incompetence to squander their current dominance.
 
new to the sport i see. cain vs ngannou, whittaker vs gastelum. if those dont interest you then you should quit.
From memory Whittaker Gastelum, TJ Cejudo and Khabib Tony are the only good fights on the horizon. It looks absolutely rubbish at the moment
 
No easy fights? I think maybe overall the competition is good from top to bottom, but no easy fights just isn't true. They keep guys who contantly lose on the roster for a reason, bc they're easy fights and the perception that there aren't easy fights in the UFC helps build the guy who beats the guy who isn't very good. Like an Artem Lobov, who is only in the UFC at all bc he's Conor's training partner and entered the UFC with an outstanding 11-10-1 record.

Yes, bud, there are easy fights.
As easy as 0:12 in the debut?
When did something remotely similar happen in the UFC?
 
You out did the troll before you.... amazing. Lmao
Find me an example when someone was fighting an amateur fighter with a losing record in his (or her) UFC debut.
Going against 0:12 amateur in a promotional debut? C'mon
 
Bellator might surpass the UFC

What do you think?

They make 1/30-1/35 of the revenue & ratings dropped 25-35% last year.

Conor vs Khab made roughly 3x+ more rev than Bellator did in 2018 & UFC 232 roughly the same
 
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