UFC: Business vs. Talent

A lot of people on these forums are hardcore mma fans, and while there is nothing wrong with that you have to be able to look past the talent and ability part of this game to see the business side of it. MMA is a sport, and the UFC is the biggest organization in this sport. The UFC is what the NBA is to basketball, and what the NFL is to football. Everyone who is a fan of mma wants to see the best talent fighting and getting their opportunity at climbing to the top of the sport in their respective weight class, and that is where a lot of people complain about the UFC. But you have to look at it from thier side of the fence, and open your eyes to what the UFC has to do as the premiere fight organization in mma.

Right now not only is the USA in a terrible economic downfall, but so is most everyone else in the world. Everyone is basically struggling right now, and yet month after month the UFC has to try and sell a pay per view(sometimes twice a month) at $44.99 each. Now while to the hardcore fans it would be logical to put the best talent on these shows and in title fights thats not always the case. The UFC built itself to the level it is on right now by highlighting great fighters who have big ego's and personalities. Look to back when the UFC really started booming who was the main draw? Tito Ortiz, a great fighter with an even greater ability to play to the fans and hype fights like no other. When there was very few hardcore fans, Tito Ortiz sold pay per views to casual fans and people who didn't even know they were fans until they saw him fight.

It always makes sense to build up the guys who are undefeated and get on dominate win streaks, but until that guy becomes a markee name for pay per view it's tough on the UFC to try and build a event around him. Take Loyota Machida for example, a lot of hardcore fans want this guy to get his shot and really he has deserved it. But he still hasn't become a big draw to the casual fan that makes up the most of the $44.95 and $55.95 buyers. Does Machida deserve his due and a opportunity to be light heavyweight king? I certainly can't say that he doesn't, but when Dana comes out and says that Rampage Jackson wins his next fight he gets the next title fight it does makes sense to me. Rampage is a big name in the sport, and can sell pay per views to casual fans. A fight against Rashad Evans for Machida would be a hard sell for the UFC since neither has really stepped into their own as big name fighters. Whereas the UFC could easily sell the fight with Rampage climbing back up the ladder to reclaim the gold he lost in '08.

Another key example of business over talent is Brock Lesnar. All sorts of hardcore mma fans were upset when Brock received a title shot after just two fights in the UFC, and only three in his entire career. But when Affliction opened and took many of the big name heavyweight fighters it left the UFC to build up a new star, and Brock Lesnar was that man. Why? Because Lesnar brought an entire fan base with him to mma from professional wrestling. In his first year with the UFC, Lesnar's pay per view sells were only beaten by Tito Ortiz from several years ago when he was the markee man in UFC. Did Lesnar really pay his dues and earn a title fight? Probaly not, but he sold the pay per views and put the butts in the seats, and on top of that showed the raw talent and ability for the UFC to give him a title shot as they put their heavyweight division back together. But with a pro-record of 2-1 it's hard for the mma fanatics to swallow Lesnar's immediate push in mma.

No matter if we are casual fans, hardcore fans, or all out fanatics there is a method to the UFC's madness when it comes to putting these pay per views together. Right now in this economic crsis the UFC is flourishing while other major American sports are suffering. No matter what we want, we have to accept what the UFC puts on the table for us as the major company in mma. Now if you don't like it no one makes you buy the pay per views, but it's hard to ournumber the casual fans who buy certain pay per views because of certain big name fighters. Chuck Liddell will always have his fans that will buy his events because he's on them even though he's not the most talented mma fighter at 205. The same goes for Brock Lesnar, Rampage Jackson, and other fighters who seem to rotate at the top of their division. Not saying that any fighter I listed isn't a great fighter and haven't earned their spot, but sometimes a fresh face that has climbed the ladder has to get a shot sooner or later, and the hardcore fans will eventually get to see the fights they die to see.

Thank you all who take time to read my first blog, and this certainly won't be my last. Please feel free to leave comments, and I look forward to the opportunity to address differnt topics with each blog. I do try to stay bias, and don't try and cut down any fighter in my blogs and just try to shoot straight. Again thanks for reading and watch for another blog next week.