FACEBOOK TWITTER RSS APP PODCAST Interviews INTERVIEW - RETRO: UFC's first promoter/booker Art Davie talks to the Torch about controversy with new sport (pt. 1 of 3)

May 29, 2009 - 1:48:00 PM

Torch Talk with Art Davie, pt. 1 of 3
Originally Published: April 17, 1995
Torch Newsletter #330

Several years ago Art Davie, who was in the advertising business in California but had background in martial arts, came up with a concept to promote events on pay-per-view featuring a variety of fighting styles with the goal being to find the ultimate hand-to-hand combat fighter. After market research, he changed his original name "War of the Worlds" (W.O.W.) to "Ultimate Fight Championship," but the concept remained the same.

Today, the UFC events are rivalling wrestling as one of the main staples of sports-oriented events on pay-per-view. As majority shareholder in W.O.W. Promotions Inc., he co-promotes the events with Semiphore Entertainment, a pay-per-view distributor. In the following "Torch Talk" with Davie, he talks about Friday's event and what he learned from his fifth national pay-per-view show. The interview was conducted via telephone Apr. 11, 1995.

Wade Keller: Many of the fans booed at the end of the 36 minute draw. Did that concern you as it happened and does that concern you now a couple days later?

Art Davie: They cheered Royce Gracie when he arrived at the octagon that night. I'm not sure. We haven't polled the fans yet. We don't have a formal poll, so I'm not sure why they were booing. Was it the length of the match? Is it the outcome of the match? Were they booing a specific fighter? Until we have those answers, I think I'm going to have to reserve judgement.

I think a draw is never the most exciting end of a thing for any fans because it's inconclusive. It's like kissing your sister. I think those two guys went all out. We had the five minute overtime in the agreement. They both went and gave their best. Shamrock fought a very smart tactical defensive fight. He tried to stick very close. He didn't want to make any mistakes. That was the end result. We're gonna have to see after we do some polling and see what specific attitudes that emerge and what we're able to chart there and then draw some conclusions.

Keller: The most exciting part of that match seemed to be at 31:00 when they separated the fighters for the five minute overtime. Has there already been talk of changing the rules back to UFC1 where there were rounds or perhaps having rounds for specific matches?

Davie: I think at this point anything is possible if we thought it would improve the basic concept. If it violates the basic concept, I think it would be something we would hesitant to install.

Keller: Does it violate the basic concept to take out that street fight survival to the end concept that exists as the rules stand now without rounds because rounds are unrealistic in a street fight situation?

Davie: Again, I go back to the fact. What's the most attractive element of our event? What draws people to it the most? You may have as good of an answer, or the next fan may have as good of an answer. It could be what the press is saying about us, that we're the most barbaric, bare-knuckled, no-holds-barred event on the planet.

Keller: Does it concern you that the top matches could end up having the same problem they did in the 1920s with pro wrestling in that the good fighters learn to be defensive and not offensive and try to survive first rather than win first? Then you end up with 36 minute matches that to a certain extent are intriguing but maybe get old or redundant?

Davie: Obviously what we're interested in are the best forms of combat that we can stage, the most realistic forms. As long as we're true to that concept, I think UFC will be successful. Anything that compromises that is something we're going to have to look at very, very carefully.

Keller: Does it concern you that the striker category doesn't do nearly as well as mat wrestlers?

Davie: I talked to a boxing fan. He said, "This whole thing is going to change with the grapplers winning. When you start to get your Bowes and the Tysons, it will change. When you get the world class punches and these grapplers are going to have to say good night." There's something where the fans are saying, in effect, when the real strikers show up - by their definition, it would be a world class cruiserweight or heavyweight boxer, the balance of power will shift back in that direction. I think that's what drives the UFC more than anything. Everyone on this planet, other than soccer, the martial arts and the combat arts are the most ubiquitous physical activity on the planet whether you go to Thailand or Brooklyn or Stockholm, everybody's practicing something be it kempo or tae kwan do or you name it. Everybody's got a favorite.

The fan support for their own particular discipline is what drives the UFC. And the fighters of that discipline. Many times a guy will come in and get beat and say, "Well, you haven't seen the best kempo guy yet. Wait until you see this guy in Sacramento. He's 6-4, 230 lbs., 23 years old, 19 inch biceps, and he breaks bricks. Wait until you see him! He'll represent kempo." That's what drives us.

Keller: As time goes on if it becomes clear that certain styles or skills will dominate the best of other discipines, is there concern that in two years no fighters from any style other than the dominating one will agree to compete because they'll be embarrassed?

Davie: That's always possible. The beauty of the UFC is that it was structured in such a way as to find the world's best hand-to-hand fighter. There's one school of thought that says that style matters. There's another school of thought that says forget the style, it's the man that matters. So, the point that you raised which is a very good one, is that that point has to be tempered by the perception that no matter what style for a period of time seems to dominate, it is the individual fighter within it which is really the reason for the dominance. When that fighter loses or declines or retires, suddenly that entire equation that seemed so static at that point now all of a sudden, you get another person from another style who wins because he's the best fighter.

The beauty of the UFC is that unlike a structured, scripted situation where you do know where it's going, here's a situation where you go into each time like Star Trek, we're sailing into the unknown. We just don't know. I never know what's going to happen. I've had some where I thought so-and-so is going to win that and so-and-so wins. I really thought the other night that Oleg Taktarov would emerge as the UFC champion depending upon the draw. The reports on him were fantastic. The guy I thought he might meet in the finals, although they met in the semi-finals because of the way the draw came out at the press conference, Severn came hunting for bear. He threw five or six knees that were the difference. He totally cut him. I would have leaned toward Taktarov based on the grappling and technical skill of Sambo. His dominance of the Iron Gladiator tournament in Russia. But here's a case where Severn came in much more prepared this time to finish. Much more this time to hunt bear. He made the difference. He deserved the recognition he got that night.

Fans were lining up after the event to get his autograph. Phillis Lee called me up and said our phone is going mad. She said we're getting offers from Japan, from Europe, from this and that.

Keller: Looking back at Friday's event, what surprised you most about the promotion and the package as a show? What worked and what didn't work?

Davie: I feel overall it was the best show we've done. I think the numbers on pay-per-view will support that as we see them develop toward the end of this week. Overall, each one of them has a surprise element for me. UFC3 was the Alternate Fighting Championship. I could have never predicted that Steve Jennum was going to come in and win that thing. Overall, I would have to say it was the best show. I feel the fighters did a great job. They all fought their hearts out. I'm pleased.

Keller: Were you disappointed in anything?

Davie: Not really. I'm disappointed at the end that I was wearing a red silk jacket and a bunch of sweaty, big guys were hugging me. Other than that, I loved it.

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