Dan Henderson made an interesting claim last week that forced us to reexamine who we will root for in the heating promotional rivalry between the UFC and Strikeforce. Henderson brought up a fundamental free-market economic principle: competition breeds innovation at lesser prices. In other words, if the UFC remains on top of the MMA mountain alone, we as MMA fans and, more importantly, other quality professional MMA fighters lose out on a more evolved MMA game at the cost of brand supremacy.
What Dan Henderson is saying is pretty much undeniably true from an economic theory standpoint, but you have to remember everything the Zuffa Cartel has to offer. And I say Cartel, not to insinuate that the Fertitta brothers commit any crimes, but that Dana White and company have a freaking premier Las Vegas Casino as their damn bank. For the UFC and WEC, financing, in reality, is artificially distorted.
Now that Lorenzo Ferittita, NYU MBA Graduate, has taken a more active role in the direction of the company, Zuffa has become much more active in their global ambitions. Dana always talked about globalizing, but Lorenzo really accelerated the whole process, recently acquiring key contracts in extraordinarily populous countries, such as Mexico and China.
You could say Zuffa is heading towards violating the Antitrust Act if they are able to keep pac-maning the competition. But then again, the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB haven't been called on it yet, so there is precedence.
So why not adding another three letters to that American marquee? To be NFL Champions, means that you're the best American football team in the world that year, and if you win a UFC Belt, it should mean you're the best fighter in the world in your weight-class at that moment. Look at the mass hysteria Fedor created when he once-again shunned the UFC and left us again debating and wondering if our heavyweight champion (if he ever gets and healthy and returns to form) is truly peerless.
I am a proponent of having one premier promotion and letting the rest battle for second tier status. I wish the WEC would just extend what they do with their lightweight division with Cerrone, Varner, Henderson onto their other divisions and start serving as the UFC's bounce back platform for talented fighters who, by some unwarranted misfortune, find themselves on a losing streak.
If the WEC acted as a minor league and the UFC absorbed the lighter divisions, it would provide the sort of depth no other promotion could match. Adding guys like Torres, Bowles, Faber, and Aldo, all headline-worthy fighters, could help plug the holes for what has been an absolutely injury-infested end of the year card.
At this point last year, we were tickled dizzy thinking about the ridiculously top heavy UFC 92, while this year all you hear is grumbling , and questions about the main event fighter, Rashad Evans, potential next fight with nemesis and UFC outcast, Rampage Jackson. The casual fan has no clue who is fighting in the Co-Main Event by now. More main event quality fighters, equals less headaches and excuses for profanity tirades for Dana.
What MMA needs now more than ever is a skipper to navigate us from the dark depths of obscurity to the top of mainstream consciousness; like real ESPN coverage. Dana is that skipper, and the Ferittita brothers are providing the super yacht. Together, with their ambitious vision for the next decade, bountiful financing pool, and historical precedence that favors sports leagues featuring one powerhouse, the UFC stands on the best vantage point for taking MMA forward.
Again, Henderson's still not wrong. We are losing out on a better more developed and refined game all at a lesser PPV price. I just think the unique position that the UFC holds, offsets any disadvantage. I'm hopping on the UFC's Billionaire-financed locomotive and hoping its destination is Dana's promise land of 2020.
Make no mistake, Dana better deliver, because UFC's dominance is costing us!
Happy New Years Fellas
===
Any questions, comments? Bjorn.hansen@fiu.edu.
[Dan Henderson art credit Cory Gould (c) MMATorch]
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major sports do not face anti-trust suits because they have anti-trust
exemptions.
CK
04 Jan 2010, 19:43
Part of the reason that the NFL, NBA, MLB etc haven't been called on
anti-trust law is A)they have collective bargaining agreements, which the
UFC does not and B)they operate real leagues with multiple ownerships (in
most cases 30 or more), also which the UFC does not boast. Pretty simple
mathematics; 30 owners versus 1 owner, much more competitionis inherent in
those models.
CK
04 Jan 2010, 19:44
See David's point. And then see my post as the reason they aren't exempt.
Serge
05 Jan 2010, 10:23
You guys think a UFC monopoly will make it tougher for fighters, as
they’ll have no alternative if mistreated by the UFC? (Henderson’s
situation is not the best example, but valid).
I think the other side of the argument is if the UFC gets huge, they could
pay fighters significantly more than other promoters can, acquiring all
relevant talent and thus killing the competition (possible in theory).
This would be great for fighters, some of those guys are really struggling
too. This makes it harder for fighters to make a career, or want to make a
career in MMA, and really results in a smaller talent pool for us to enjoy.
So better pay would be sweet, but will the UFC stop fair pay once it runs
the competition out of town? There are not even teams in the sense that
the MLB or NBA have teams as a buffer, the UFC could tell any one guy to
screw off and scare the others.
It’s conceivable the situation would give rise to a fighters union, but I
doubt it. I think the UFC will promise every newby the world if they get
on top (which is true), but will also ask them sacrifice until then, and
pressure them into not joining a union.
Do you think the fighters could ever get paid fairly, thus really bringing
out the MMA talent around the world? Or will the UFC owners siphon too
much of that growth $ for themselves?
