History was made yesterday when Zuffa LLC, the parent company to the UFC, bought out their biggest competitor in Strikeforce. This buyout puts practically all the world’s greatest fighters in the same organization. MMA is the world’s fastest growing sport and the UFC is now unquestionably the NFL of mixed martial arts.
Dana White, the president of the UFC and owner of 9% of the Zuffa empire, has went on record to say that the two organizations will continue to operate as two separate entities for the time being. Zuffa has past experience running two different MMA leagues at once when they bought out WEC a few years back. Eventually Zuffa folded the WEC and brought their fighters into the UFC and I would expect the same future outcome for Strikeforce once their current contracts run out. There is simply no point in continuing on with two organizations when Zuffa could bring in greater profits by holding all events under the popular UFC banner.
Many hardcore fans and Dana White haters are belly aching over this whole ordeal and arguing that this will be bad for MMA in the long run. Others, such as myself, see this as a good thing because it will lead to all the sharks being in the same tank. The truth probably lie in the middle somewhere in that there are definably pros and cons to this deal.
Competition breeds better pay days for many fighters. Look at Dan Henderson for example. Hendo is one of the greatest fighters of all time and was on a winning streak in the UFC when his contract ran out. The UFC and Henderson didn’t agree on what he should be paid so he left the UFC and signed a better contract with Strikeforce. His Strikeforce contract is up after his next fight though. This means that Henderson will be forced to either take what Zuffa wants to pay him or move on to another MMA league in which the options are very slim if he is looking to get paid. Henderson may have earned himself a little negotiating room with his recent win for the Strikefore light heavyweight belt but he also ruffled Dana White’s ass hairs when deciding to leave the UFC.
Dana White said in an interview yesterday that business will go on as usual with both organizations and that Strikeforce would still be ran by Scott Coker. I imagine this may be true when it comes to certain things but Scott Coker is now working with Zuffa’s money when it comes to renegotiating contracts so I have a hard time seeing Dana having to no say when the contracts are on the table.
Dan Henderson is such a well known commodity to the MMA world that it would be hard to imagine Dana not coming to an agreement to keep him around. Fighters such as Paul Daley and Josh Barnett will probably not reap the same rewards though. Fighters who have ongoing feuds with Dana White will probably not get their contracts renewed once their current contracts come to an end. I understand both sides of the argument but as a fan, I wish that personal conflicts wouldn’t influence professional decisions and that we could see the best fight the best regardless of their personalities outside the cage.
Most fans could care less what fighters are making and are more worried about seeing quality fight cards. The purchase of Strikeforce could lead way to seeing the fights that hardcore fans have clamored to be put on for awhile now. Diaz vs GSP anyone? How about Cain vs Overreem? Jacare vs Maia? Melendez vs Edgar? The possibilities are mind blowing for a true MMA fan.
As of right now, Dana White says those fights are off the table and that the organizations will continue to run as separate entities. Again, I don’t think this edict will last for too long. Dana White has always said that boxing failed because it didn’t give the fans the fights that they want to see. How can Dana keep a straight face as he claims that he basically plans on doing the same thing that he has deemed disastrous for boxing? Zuffa has become who they are by doing what is best for their own pockets and nothing will line their pockets quite like super fights between the two organization’s champions. There is too much money being left on the table for them to continue sticking to this initial flawed way of thinking. As soon as the Showtime contract ends we will get to see the dream fights that we are waiting for. In the mean time, I’d expect Zuffa to use their superior promotional power to build up the Strikeforce champions and challengers so by the time they make it to the UFC every fan will be sitting knee deep in their own slobber and anticipation waiting for the unification bouts to take place.
The purchase of Strikeforce also has a big impact on the amount of fight cards one could expect to see put on in the future. It is not inconceivable to imagine a fight card happening every week in the future. Zuffa has always had goals of making MMA the biggest worldwide sport and expanding into other markets is more realistic now that the UFC has increased the amount of fighters on its payroll. A major television network will eventually give Zuffa the contract and control over their own product that they are seeking thus putting the best MMA organization on network television on a regular basis.
Not many fans can afford 3 or 4 pay per views per month and Zuffa isn’t stupid enough to even float that idea. They know that they will eventually need the help of a major network to make this sport completely mainstream but they seem to be in no rush to do so at the moment. They are smartly holding out to receive an offer that will give them the complete control of their product. The last thing Dana White and company want is CBS forcing such atrocities as Gus Johnson on their broadcasts. Spike TV and Versus are a good start but they don’t reach the same number of household as NBC, CBS, Fox, or ABC so in my opinion its only a matter of time before the UFC calls one of those stations home.
This is an exciting time for fight fans so instead of dwelling on the things that could go wrong with this deal, let’s stay optimistic about what this means to our favorite sport. Zuffa has been responsible for making MMA what it is today and will hopefully continue to pave the road for success for MMA as a whole. No other organization has invested the time and money into making this sport as mainstream as possible as Zuffa has. Its time to stop worrying about the politics and business of MMA and concentrate on what is the most important aspect of MMA which is the fights themselves. Let’s get it on!
