Dana White and the UFC demonstrate once again that they have the mixed martial arts world by the balls. Affliction, which was the UFC's main rival, if you can call it that, had to cancel their latest promotion due to the positive steroid test of Josh Barnett.
Barnett was slated to fight Fedor Emelianenko, whom many believe to be the best mixed martial artist on the planet. Not only did Affliction cancel the whole card, but they also announced that they would no longer be in the business of promoting fights. Affliction will instead work with the UFC. No one is quite sure what this means, but you can bet the terms of the deal will be controlled by Dana White.
White always said that "Affliction made great T-shirts but they're not in the fight business, we are". The collaboration between the companies probably means that UFC fighters can now expect sponsorship deals from Affliction and who knows, maybe it means that Fedor will one day fight for the UFC.
This a great example of 'if you can't beat them join them'. Affliction definitely had the money to compete with UFC but their fight promotion IQ was too low. The only other orginization in North America that has been able to survive outside of the UFC has been Strikeforce, based in San Jose California.
Strikeforce never set out to compete with the UFC. Instead, they went after smaller, local markets and created a niche and are thriving in their own way.
So after being at odds for a little over a year I think this re-kindled partnership between the UFC and Affliction will good for both the fans and the fighters.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
UFC 100
UFC 100 came and went without any real surprises, except for Brock Lesnar yelling at Frank Mir after opening a can of whoop ass on him then in the same sentence snubbing one of the UFC's main sponsors, Bud Light, by choosing to drink Coors Light instead, and then having to apologize for his behavior in the post-fight press conference.
Oh ya, what about Dan Henderson laying out Michael Bisbing with the right hand that Bisbing was circling into all night. To talk all that trash and to then be laid out like that, I thought Henderson killed him. It's kind of ironic, Bisbing looked exactly like his countryman Ricky Hatton when he was sent crashing to canvas courtesy of Manny Pacquiao's right hand. They both fell flat on their backs and looked quite peaceful as their corners tried to revive them after the referee counted them out at 30.
What can you say about GSP. He gets better with every fight and continues to put pressure on Anderson Silva for the pound for pound title. St.Pierre was never in any real trouble during the fight and again was able to take his opponent down at will. St Pierre is methodically cleaning out the welterweight division and in my opinion has already surpassed Matt Hughs as the greatest welterweight of all time.
Who's up next for GSP? Does it really matter, St Pierre is one of those rare athletes that it doesn't matter who he's competing against you'll want to witness every masterful performance.
Oh ya, what about Dan Henderson laying out Michael Bisbing with the right hand that Bisbing was circling into all night. To talk all that trash and to then be laid out like that, I thought Henderson killed him. It's kind of ironic, Bisbing looked exactly like his countryman Ricky Hatton when he was sent crashing to canvas courtesy of Manny Pacquiao's right hand. They both fell flat on their backs and looked quite peaceful as their corners tried to revive them after the referee counted them out at 30.
What can you say about GSP. He gets better with every fight and continues to put pressure on Anderson Silva for the pound for pound title. St.Pierre was never in any real trouble during the fight and again was able to take his opponent down at will. St Pierre is methodically cleaning out the welterweight division and in my opinion has already surpassed Matt Hughs as the greatest welterweight of all time.
Who's up next for GSP? Does it really matter, St Pierre is one of those rare athletes that it doesn't matter who he's competing against you'll want to witness every masterful performance.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Rags to Riches
With UFC 100 coming up the Spike network has a special called 'UFC's 100 Greatest Fights'. Watching it, I realize how far mixed martial arts has come from it's beginning as a side show with no weight divisions or gloves into a legitimate sport with some of the greatest athletes the world of athletics has seen.
Owning my own business, I look at the UFC a little differently. What really fascinates me is how the UFC went from near bankruptcy in 2004 to what it is today. How close was the UFC to just closing shop? Owner Lorenzo Fertitta called Dana White, president of the UFC, in 2004 and said "I can't do this anymore. I am blowing all my money."
He told White to get out on the street and and see how much he could get if they sold it. White was able to raise about $6 million, the bad news being that they were $38 million in the hole. Lorenzo and his brother Frank decided at the last minute not to sell, to figure out how to make it work instead.
Dana White has always said that one of the best moves in turning everything around was getting the Ultimate Fighter series on Spike TV. It was a huge gamble. The first season cost them $10 million with no guarantee that it would even work but before the show aired the company started building some momentum. Tickets where starting to sell and pay-per-view numbers showed some improvement, not to the point where they were making money, but enough to know that something was changing.
When The Ultimate Fighter finally aired everything took off, but it had taken $45 million before the business started to sustain itself.
So personally, when I look at the UFC I'd almost rather listen to how White and the Fertitta's brothers were able to dig out of the hole that they got themselves into than focus on who's on the next card.
Owning my own business, I look at the UFC a little differently. What really fascinates me is how the UFC went from near bankruptcy in 2004 to what it is today. How close was the UFC to just closing shop? Owner Lorenzo Fertitta called Dana White, president of the UFC, in 2004 and said "I can't do this anymore. I am blowing all my money."
He told White to get out on the street and and see how much he could get if they sold it. White was able to raise about $6 million, the bad news being that they were $38 million in the hole. Lorenzo and his brother Frank decided at the last minute not to sell, to figure out how to make it work instead.
Dana White has always said that one of the best moves in turning everything around was getting the Ultimate Fighter series on Spike TV. It was a huge gamble. The first season cost them $10 million with no guarantee that it would even work but before the show aired the company started building some momentum. Tickets where starting to sell and pay-per-view numbers showed some improvement, not to the point where they were making money, but enough to know that something was changing.
When The Ultimate Fighter finally aired everything took off, but it had taken $45 million before the business started to sustain itself.
So personally, when I look at the UFC I'd almost rather listen to how White and the Fertitta's brothers were able to dig out of the hole that they got themselves into than focus on who's on the next card.
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