UFC Sold -- What's Next?
August 3, 2016 9:51 AM   Subscribe

Last month, UFC, the largest mixed martial arts promotion in the world, was sold for $4 billion.

The new owners, WME-IMG (whose co-CEO is Ari Emanuel, of Entourage-inspiration and brother-of-Chicago-mayor-Rahm fame), are leaving controversial president Dana White in charge as they "[pursue] new opportunities for UFC and its talented athletes to ensure the sport’s continued growth and success on a global scale.”

UFC is coming off of its most successful pay-per-view ever, UFC 200, which saw Amanda Nunes beat Miesha Tate for the women's bantamweight title in the main event and barnstorming WWE employee Brock Lesnar beat Mark Hunt on the undercard. The Ringer's Chuck Mindenhall and David "The Masked Man" Shoemaker take a look at what the league needs to do next.
posted by Etrigan (6 comments total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
That's going to be the most interesting Google "Alphabet" acquisition for sure.

Oh wait, WME-IMG. ignore me.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 10:52 AM on August 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


Are there any other unions representing professional players in individual sports (as opposed to team sports)? That's got to be a crazy hard organizing effort.
posted by Mitheral at 11:09 AM on August 3, 2016


In a sense, Tennis is governed by player-run organizations, the WTA and the ATP.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 1:39 PM on August 3, 2016


I've been watching UFC fights since the very beginning and have seen it grow from a rabid blood sport into into a highly professional, regulated product.

The UFC has done a lot of good things for fighters - such as regulating the sport with strict rules, increasing exposure for a sport that many considered brutal and unethical.

The UFC introduced female fighting weights at a time when there was still a lot of opposition to the idea. And they have shown that female fighters are just as tough and exciting as male fighters. Plus, they are able to draw crowds, despite the long held view that female fighters were a novelty only.

More recently, the UFC introduced a strict anti-doping policy. While it has had some bumps in the road, it is still a radical act for a company that could have simply ignored the problem.

All of these are good things.

However, the UFC have also done bad things to their fighters. They continually exploit fighters, especially younger low ranked ones. A recent comparison to other sports such as NFL suggested that salaries were extremely low when compared across company spending etc.

As others have mentioned above, the UFC have even taken away the fighters ability to get their own sponsors - claiming that this is actually better for fighters as they have a more stable income. The Reebock deal has caused many fighters to speak out including Brendan Schaub and Matt Mitrione.

There has been growing concern about concussions and sustained injuries to fighters. In recent podcasts, Joe Rogan has made many references to this concern.

Another disturbing aspect is freedom of speech. Any fighter who criticises the organisation could potentially risk their career - such as being sidelined and not given opportunities.

Dana White, the UFC president has a proven track record for bullying and berated fighters who try to stand up for their rights, such as Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture and most recently, Holly Holm and her manager.

There is also the friction between the concept of independent contractors and employees. fighters are starting to realise the downside of this arrangement, such as T.J. Dillashaw.

There have been rumblings about fighters union for some time. And fighters are starting to speak up in support of other fights, as the recent Mark Hunt incident showed. But this is a long way from an organised, single voice. The main problem is that the UFC is a glowing example of capitalism. It rewards star fighters, who are reluctant to help those "below" them.

So, to me, the sale of the UFC is bitter/sweet. I applaud what they have accomplished, and am horrified about many of their day-to-day acts towards the fighters.
posted by greenhornet at 3:15 PM on August 3, 2016 [7 favorites]


These days whole cards come and go living in the shadow of other cards, which are cut into by yet other events. To follow it all, you can’t just be a UFC fan — you have to be UFC obsessed. In July alone there was nearly 12 hours of actual fight time spread across six fight cards.
This is the core issue to me. I watched just about every PPV from the last Shamrock/Ortiz fight all the way through to Anderson Silva's first loss to Weidman, and it became increasingly impossible to keep up. Combined with the decline of former favorites, whose stories I had a clear idea of, and the rise of new stars whose rise happened across Spike, network TV, PPVs and even Facebook fights made it impossible to get to know them.
posted by mph at 9:14 AM on August 4, 2016


There has been growing concern about concussions and sustained injuries to fighters.

On the plus side, there is FAR less head trauma than in boxing. While the blows they do take tend to be much stronger, there so many fewer of them (since you're spending so much time grappling and/or kicking) that there is thought to be a lot less cumulative damage.

There is a part of me that misses the original UFC. IIRC, the first four had only two rules:
1. No biting
2. No gouging

They added "no blows to the crotch" for the fifth. It was just pure combat, no weight classes or anything. In the very first fight, there were almost 200 Lbs difference between the two fighters and the smaller guy won.
posted by VTX at 1:39 PM on August 4, 2016


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