Bellator's Golden Chance?

[Fod1987]

If Zuffa does sell the UFC, isn't this a great chance for Bellator to rise exponentially in status. I mean, if you're a UFC fighter and with free agency a hot topic right now wouldn't you have to consider testing the open market now more than ever?

Combining the Reebok deal and a new power structure, if indeed sold, I think most fighters should maximize their value once their contracts run out. Bellator has a gaint media empire backing them in Viacom. They aren't going anywhere and Coker is well liked and respected in the MMA community. With all this talk about the UFC becoming bland with no personality Bellator seems to be fighter driven, albeit sometimes to cringe worthy results, rather than company driven. If a few top stars make the jump it could signal a turn in momentum.

What do you guys think? Seems likely a few fighters such as Rory were already ready to make the jump but maybe now more top tier talent will consider a move now more than ever.

 

[robjenkins2]

Can't wait for mma to be like boxing, just what it needs.

 

[TheBrownRanger]

I don't think Bellator will ever be as big as the UFC but they've developed their own style in contrast to the much grayer UFC. Bellator would have to get a ton of fighters, including champions, from the UFC to be on even terms. The UFC roster is just too big for Bellator to make a dent. For every Michael Chandler Bellator has, the UFC has five fighters who are equally popular.

 

[caged_mma]

This is HUGE for Bellator! For me the question is: can Bellator capitalize on the opportunity without blowing their shot?

If Zuffa does sell the UFC, isn't this a great chance for Bellator to rise exponentially in status. I mean, if you're a UFC fighter and with free agency a hot topic right now wouldn't you have to consider testing the open market now more than ever?

Combining the Reebok deal and a new power structure, if indeed sold, I think most fighters should maximize their value once their contracts run out. Bellator has a gaint media empire backing them in Viacom. They aren't going anywhere and Coker is well liked and respected in the MMA community. With all this talk about the UFC becoming bland with no personality Bellator seems to be fighter driven, albeit sometimes to cringe worthy results, rather than company driven. If a few top stars make the jump it could signal a turn in momentum.

What do you guys think? Seems likely a few fighters such as Rory were already ready to make the jump but maybe now more top tier talent will consider a move now more than ever.

 

[CC27]

Chance to do what? I mean yeah I guess if UFC was sold and new owners decided they didnt want to keep anyone then yeah Bellator would be in a great spot.

But odds are if they were sold nothing would change, they'd continue to pay more than Bellator ever could to the top stars and they'd keep fighters they want and some guys would leave.

 

[CC27]

Can't wait for mma to be like boxing, just what it needs.

I'm a fan of boxing but if mma turned into boxing my interest in mma would really go down.

Great for some fighters if they can get big paydays to fight random guyslike McGregor gets 10 mill to fight Nick Lentz in Ireland but I wont be buying those fights or staying home on weekends to watch it like I do now.

 

[JosephTessaro]

Fighters should promote themselves and not sign multi fight contracts. Freelance. If you are good, sign a fight, win the UFC belt. Then go to Bellator, win that belt. Now some noise is being made and the spotlight turns on the fighter and not the organization. Now everyone wants to see this guy fight because he has two belts. Now the next person he faces is going to be rich on one fight.

Conor promotes himself well, look at all the buzz generated by the talks of a boxing match with Mayweather and McGregor. There are people that would buy that fight, a lot of casuals because of all the noise Conor has made.

I know, its a pipe dream...

 

[JosephTessaro]

I'm a fan of boxing but if mma turned into boxing my interest in mma would really go down.

Great for some fighters if they can get big paydays to fight random guyslike McGregor gets 10 mill to fight Nick Lentz in Ireland but I wont be buying those fights or staying home on weekends to watch it like I do now.

There are a some great boxing matches on tv for free, or on Showtime if you have it. PBC has put on some great stuff in the past year.

 

[JosephTessaro]

I'm a fan of boxing but if mma turned into boxing my interest in mma would really go down.

Great for some fighters if they can get big paydays to fight random guyslike McGregor gets 10 mill to fight Nick Lentz in Ireland but I wont be buying those fights or staying home on weekends to watch it like I do now.

I don't buy all of the UFC PPV's anymore because there are so many UFC events, sometimes the free cards are better than the PPV's.

 

[Sherdoggy]

The average price to sales ratio of the S&P 500 companies right now is 1.84. The UFC sales have been announced as 600 million a year. Using the 1.84 S&P 500 average, that would give it a value of 1.1 billion. However, financial ratios are based on growth prospects. If the UFC had a lot of growth prospects, I don't think they would be selling it. They now have about an event a week. How many more can they have? As you have more and more events you have more and more that have no title fights in them and more and more fights that don't contain a title contenders.

But having said that, rich guys are willing to overpay for sports teams, so overpaying for a sports organization is in line with that.

 

[Sherdoggy]

If Zuffa does sell the UFC, isn't this a great chance for Bellator to rise exponentially in status. I mean, if you're a UFC fighter and with free agency a hot topic right now wouldn't you have to consider testing the open market now more than ever?

Combining the Reebok deal and a new power structure, if indeed sold, I think most fighters should maximize their value once their contracts run out. Bellator has a gaint media empire backing them in Viacom. They aren't going anywhere and Coker is well liked and respected in the MMA community. With all this talk about the UFC becoming bland with no personality Bellator seems to be fighter driven, albeit sometimes to cringe worthy results, rather than company driven. If a few top stars make the jump it could signal a turn in momentum.

What do you guys think? Seems likely a few fighters such as Rory were already ready to make the jump but maybe now more top tier talent will consider a move now more than ever.

I don't think a sale changes the fact that the UFC still has a near monopoly on the top fighters and will still have the money to pay fighters more than Bellator can afford to.

 

[VIP1349]

From what they have reported they'd be selling to the richest guy in China and his group. Wouldn't you want to give that a go first rather than jump ship to a company that isn't exactly showing that they know how to make any sort of progress?

 

[Kinger85]

I honestly don't think much is going to change if the UFC is indeed sold.

Business as is I feel.

 

[robjenkins2]

I'm a fan of boxing but if mma turned into boxing my interest in mma would really go down.

Great for some fighters if they can get big paydays to fight random guyslike McGregor gets 10 mill to fight Nick Lentz in Ireland but I wont be buying those fights or staying home on weekends to watch it like I do now.

I won't watch if that's what it turns into.

 

[Thread]

You mean the Viacom where their shares fell more than 21 percent after it reported a 10 percent drop in profits and a 6 percent drop in revenue in the quarter?

If Zuffa does sell the UFC, isn't this a great chance for Bellator to rise exponentially in status. I mean, if you're a UFC fighter and with free agency a hot topic right now wouldn't you have to consider testing the open market now more than ever?

Combining the Reebok deal and a new power structure, if indeed sold, I think most fighters should maximize their value once their contracts run out. Bellator has a gaint media empire backing them in Viacom. They aren't going anywhere and Coker is well liked and respected in the MMA community. With all this talk about the UFC becoming bland with no personality Bellator seems to be fighter driven, albeit sometimes to cringe worthy results, rather than company driven. If a few top stars make the jump it could signal a turn in momentum.

What do you guys think? Seems likely a few fighters such as Rory were already ready to make the jump but maybe now more top tier talent will consider a move now more than ever.

 

[Zombie Prophet]

If this is an opportunity for Bellator they will likely step on their own feet and fuck it up

 

[FrodoFraggins]

No Bellator isn't going to be suddenly seen as being better than it is. It really doesn't pay more when it comes to most fighters. Also, whoever buys the UFC is going to have Dana white and key personnel stick around for a couple of years if they're smart.

 

[kimocomplex]

yea Bellator is gonna sign some big names and sit them for 6 months only to end up injured the week before the fight

because they always make the best decisions over there

 

[CC27]

Sounds like UFC is only selling 10 percent to someone in China to build that market like they did with guys in Middle East.

they arent selling the whole company and nothing will change.