Double Post: Zuffa Buys Out, Showtime Sells Out

The recent purchases by Zuffa along with the information that just came out of the new Showtime MMA promotion has been so significant it waranted an extensive double post.

One of the biggest issues the hardcore MMA community has with the sport is the issues that have surfaced resulting from the two biggest organizations, Pride and UFC, not coming to an agreement that would enable the best fighters in the world to face each other. Depending on what camp your in the fault lies with either Zuffa or DSE when in reality fault has to be placed with both.

However, recent actions by Dana White indicate that perhaps UFC is more interested in providing the best possible fights for the fans than people initially thought. Recently, Zuffa purchased the flailing WFA promotion as well as the more successful WEC promotion. The WFA purchase looks to have essentially amounted to the acquisition of fighter contracts. Most notably, UFC now has Quinton Jackson on their roster. What's interesting about this is that UFC was heavily critisized for not signing Jackson immediately after his Pride contract ended. As it turns out their may have been some interference by Quinton's management that prevented UFC offers from getting through to the light heavyweight standout. Regardless, Dana White finally gets the opportunity to put together the Jackson vs. Liddell rematch that will promise to be another huge money maker for the company.

The purchase of the WEC brings different prospects to Zuffa. This will likely prove to be what amounts to a farm system for UFC. Look to see young fighters getting developed at WEC shows and veteran fighters sent down to help bounce back from injuries and losing streaks. A fighter like Mikey Burnett will be the perfect candidate for WEC events. He'll soon be coming of major neck surgery and should work his way back into the game slowly. Meanwhile, the prospect of seeing him fight on television is interesting to fans. This expanded content is going to further bolster the sport into the mainstream. In addition, with other organizations trying to get their start in the U.S., Dana White just captured some of the best young, developing talent in the sport. Anyone else ready to see Uriah Faber in the UFC?

This esentially leaves the IFL as the biggest competitor to UFC dominence in North America. Then again, the IFL concept essentially offsets the competition between the two organizations. The IFL has decided to localize its fanbase. UFC has promised to respond by booking shows in several new cities in 2007. Both organizations are also planning to go international next year as well which may make this race more interesting than initially thought.

While Zuffa has certainly proven to be an organization savvy in business and marketing, the powers involved in the new Showtime promotion are setting themselves up for disaster. The newly named Elite Xtreme Combat announced their first event and revealed more about what to expect from the organization. While the main event of their February 10th debut show; Frank Shamrock vs. Renzo Gracie looks promising, the way the sport will be presented to the fans is nightmarish at best.

Elite XC is run by Gary Shaw. Shaw is a boxing promoter who many thought would bring further legitimacy MMA. What is starting to become apparant however, is that Shaw wants to change the sport to more closely resemble what he knows. As reported at Sherdog.com it was announced in a press conference that Elite XC rules will limit time on the ground to 15 seconds. Whether or not this means that the fight will be brought to the feet automatically after 15 seconds of ground time, or 15 seconds of "inactivity" on the ground is unclear. Either way, this is a tragically poor desicion. MMA without a ground game is not MMA. These rules liken Elite XC more toward San-Shou than MMA. What's odd is that both Renzo Gracie and Frank Shamrock must have been aware of these rules when they signed to fight for the organization. How can a Gracie consider fighting with these types of limitations? And, assuming that 15 second limit applies only to inactivitiy on the ground, this will still result in crippling the ground game. Inactivity is a purely subjective observation. Every MMA fan has seen a fight wherein a stalemate on the ground should be reset. Likewise there are many situations where a fight is brought to the feet prematurely. Further, why would a fighter that has a strong ground game consider fighting for an organization that, by rule, will limit the effectiveness of their game? Will fighters like Matt Lindland or Tito Ortiz be remotely interested in this? Lastly, there is an inherent saftey issue to be considered. One reason MMA has proven to be safer than boxing is the options a fighter has to get out of trouble when dealing with a superior striker. By forcing the fighters to stand, Elite XC is putting fighters at risk of serious injury.

Executives at Showtime should take notice of what Elite XC is doing and take steps to ensure that unified rules are followed at these events. The first Elite XC event is in Mississippi. I'd be curious to see what other rules the group will employ that differ from NSAC rules. Overall this setup is going to prove disappointing.

Does He Mean it This Time?

SpikeTV has added yet another show to it's considerable lineup of UFC content. The new show, hosted by Joe Rogan, is called Inside the UFC. In the premier episode, Joe sat down with UFC president Dana White to discuss the past, present and future of the UFC. One topic they touched on is how to ensure UFC champions are fighting the best fighters in the world. Basically, Joe and Dana were dancing around the Liddell vs. Silva debacle that left Dana White watching Pride run a show in Las Vegas while he sat with a very large dose of egg on his face. It's obvious that Dana has learned his lesson about announcing unsigned fights for good this time as no names were mentioned during the show's discussion. Dana did however, make a promise to provide fans with fights that included the best possible combatants regardless of organizational affiliation. He even eluded to a plan that will be put in place to make these types of fights happen in 2007.

My first thought was to say "Yeah, yeah. We've heard that before". Then I started thinking about how Dana approached the subject and something was different. I realized that there was caution in his statement this time as opposed to bravado. I believe Dana truly wants to see Chuck fight Wanderlei, Dan fight Anderson and Tim fight Fedor. I think he has to recognize that he's out of blockbuster matchups following the December 30th rematch between Chuck and Tito as stated previously.

One of the big factors that may help him sign these fights is something that didn't happen this year. Pride FC was unable to secure an agreement for a Japanese TV network to carry their New Years Eve show. For those who don't know, New Years Eve programming in Japan has become a very competitive event for the networks' ratings. Typically, K-1 and Pride would be going head-to-head trying to win the ratings battle but this year K-1 finds themselves the only horse in the race. Pride will have to rely solely on gate and PPV revenues to pay expenses and try to stay profitable. Based on who they list as competitors for the event, payroll should be very high. This could cause huge financial difficulty for Pride moving forward which could open the door for UFC to start bringing in some of the fighters that are bound to leave as opportunities diminish.

Another key element to this issue has got to be general motivation. Dana White got beat to the punch by J.D. Penn when it comes to securing a deal with a premium cable network. Penn was able to secure a legitimate deal with Showtime to promote MMA fights in 2007, something Dana claimed was to happen between the UFC and HBO months ago. The best way for White to best the Showtime-Penn deal is to promote better fights on a competing network. (Incidentally, the fact the Showtime took the MMA leap first is going to force HBO's hand in '07. As it is, they will simply look like copycats when they do sign a deal so it will be criticall that any deal they do sign be a blockbuster type arrangement. Only UFC can provide that.) In addition, the way Pride used Dana and his audience to promote themselves prior to the Pride U.S. debut has to be a huge thorn in Dana's side. It's hard to believe that he's not looking at that and trying to restore some face for himself and his organization.

The biggest reason to believe White is going to make these huge fights happen this year is money. It's now official: UFC has more money to spend on fighter salaries than Pride. Just about everyone was surprised to see what Pride fighters actually make when the Nevada State Athletic Commssion rules dictated that DSE reveal fighter purses following the Pride 32: The Real Deal show took place in Las Vegas. The prior prevailing opinion was that UFC salaries paled in comparison to Pride payouts. This turned out to not be the case. It turns out the two are just about even keel. However, the UFC continues to increase revenues while Pride is looking for revenue sources just to stay afloat. There has been a huge shift in spending power in favor of UFC. This is likely going to result in some major Pride talent jumping ship to UFC.

If ever there was an opportunity in time for mixed martial arts fans to see the best fight each other, 2007 may be it. It likely won't be until later in the year but it has to happen. Dana needs these fights to take his organization to the next level. Further, he's taking a more cautious approach to securing these matchups. So when White promises to provide fans with the fights they want to see in 2007, does he mean it this time? The answer looks to be a cautious Yes.

Will