The Stagnating UFC
2015 was a great year for the UFC on all fronts. They had signed the Reebok Deal in which fighters were supposed to be better compensated (total joke) and had unearthed a legitimate megastar in the form of Conor McGregor, a fighter who could sell out arenas with his braggadocio and rich man persona. They had also had a great year of fights, Holm v Rousey, McGregor v Aldo and the epic clash between Jones and DC. In 2015, the UFC was a growing brand which was still a little rough around the edges, Dana White was a loose cannon but to nowhere near the extent he is now. However, as a whole the UFC was a growing brand that was in the ascendancy in relation to other combat sports like boxing.
In 2017, we saw Conor McGregor use homophobic and racial slurs, fighters such as Tyron Woodley and Colby Covington clamouring for money fights. We also saw a more ugly side of the sport with Dana White declaring a cold war upon the fan favourite Mark Hunt due to Hunt’s criticism of the company’s policy towards fighter pay and allowing Brock Lesnar to fight under the influence of Performance Enhancing Drugs. If you look at the current UFC roster, there are no true megastars left who can be relied on to sell fights and generate fan interest. In the past there was George Saint Pierre and Anderson Silva. Before that it was Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz and BJ Penn as guaranteed PPV draws and fighters who were just down to fight.
Jon Jones done fucked up and was caught for clomiphene, a masking agent for PEDs that dates back to steroid using East German athletes. Ronda Rousey came back and got knocked the fuck out by Amanda Nunes and the aura of invinciblity was destroyed in just 48 seconds, the female Mike Tyson had been dethroned and has since disappeared from public life. Conor McGregor did fight in 2017, he fought Floyd Mayweather in August in a fight that was utterly pointless and a circus designed to generate one last payday for an aging boxer and more money than McGregor would see in his UFC career. Conor has now disappeared from mixed martial arts circles and seems to spend more time partying in Ibiza than training.
Furthermore the UFC has shown no interest in protecting the value of the championships, Michael Bisping fought GSP in a middleweight even though every man and his dog knew that GSP was not going to defend at middleweight. It was a great fight and UFC 217 was a great card but it was pointless to have the card headlined by a meaningless title fight when a seismic shift like Namajunas v Jędrzejczyk could have produced another young star and generated interest in one of the more exciting UFC divisions. At the same time, you had the logjam at lightweight meaning that true contenders like Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov could not fight and finally resolve the age old question, ‘who is the best lightweight in the UFC’. It also meant that the goodwill Conor had built had turned into apathy and many fans do not see him as a legitimate champion anymore.
The talents that the UFC had built up do not appeal to a wide and diverse group of people. Sage Northcutt and Paige VanZant have stalled out like crazy. Both fighters seem to have shown no progression or charisma. PVZ is known for here stint on DWTS but her style leaves her very hittable and therefore means that she has not won many fights. Sage Northcutt is literally known as the guy who does backflips and is trained by his dad. But beyond that, you can see that this 20-year old fighter is woefully out of his depth. It is time for him to rebuild his game and gain some experience in a promotion like Bellator. However there are serious issues in terms of the fighters who the UFC chose. The UFC chose two cookie-cutter white fighters who appeal to only a certain market and are unbelievably boring.
A fighter like Angela Hill could seriously revitalise the UFC’s product. She has a quirkiness about her with her love of cosplay and openly displaying this passion at weigh-ins. I feel that with the right exposure, Angela Hill could be a star. She is a former world kickboxing champion who has already won fight of the night honours, this is an action that casuals and hardcores would tune in to watch. Max Holloway is another fighter who can sell fights and become an unbelievably popular fighter. He is a pure action fighter who will fight anybody at any time and always provides entertainment. A moment that sums up Max Holloway’s entertaining style was the last ten seconds of the Ricardo Llamas fight. He was easily winning the fight but he decided to swing for the fences in the last ten seconds in order to entertain the fans and secure a dominant victory.
The UFC has development issues in terms of progressing talents but there is an underlying problem that has poisoned the well from which Zuffa and now William Morris Endeavour draw from. A quote from the movie ‘The Godfather’ comes to mind.
“If Don Corleone had all the judges, and the politicians in New York, then he must share them, or let us others use them. He must let us draw the water from the well.” Don Barzini — The meeting of the Five Families
The UFC controls everything about the fighters’ career, the Reebok deal means that they have no financial independence which is unthinkable when you consider that these fighters are “independent contractors”. The status of “independent contractors” is ridiculous, these fighters have to take risks in the octagon but they are not afforded the rewards that would be expected of being an entrepreneur. They are locked into restrictive contracts that forces them to give up their financial independence and wear a certain type of fight gear. The Reebok Deal has never been about the quality of clothing, for the UFC it was about profiting from their high stocks. However for fighters, it meant that they do not have the option to give the UFC the bird and go to Bellator where sponsors are allowed. The Reebok Deal meant that fighters lost all of their previous Octagon sponsorships and may have damaged their business relationships for an entire career. In a career which is short and violent, this could be of serious detriment to creating a decent life after Mixed Martial Arts and avoiding a Bigfoot Silva type predicament.
Furthermore for fighters who are not Conor McGregor, Sage Northcutt or Paige VanZant it means that they are getting paid peanuts. Rory MacDonald was paid just $50,000 for his war against Robbie Lawler. This was a fight that had main billing on the card and was a huge selling point for the UFC. Referring back to ‘The Godfather’ quote, the UFC is ‘Don Corleone’ and the rest of Five Families is the fighters. The UFC control everything, USADA, Reebok and exposure to fans. They even refused to pay Vitor Belfort for the fact Uriah Hall failed to weigh in for their fight and it was cancelled. Belfort did refuse a last-minute replacement but it is unreasonable to expect a fighter to take an unknown variable on a few days’ notice. In legal terms, Belfort fulfilled his obligations and was ready to fight Uriah Hall, his consideration was sufficient. It was the UFC who failed to provide an opponent, he deserved his payout.
A fighter who earned $50,000 would only see $13,500 dollars once all expenses such as management, camp and medical costs are considered if the numbers quoted by Myles Jury are anything to go by. A fighter will only fight about three times a year if they are lucky, that is a total profit potential of $41,500 before injuries and any other potential expenses. That is not much to live on, especially in a country like America where healthcare is paid for using insurance premiums. It may seem unusual to calculate healthcare costs in a professional sport where physical injury is probable. The NFL covers healthcare costs, so does the NBA but there is a key difference. Football players and basketballers are employees rather than ‘independent contractors’. By law, the UFC has no right to cover any work-related expenses and therefore it is left to fighters to cover expenses that are incurred at the benefit of the UFC.
Also like ‘The Godfather’, Dana White wars with any fighter who quarrels with him. Mark Hunt, a notable fan favourite and draw has been killed in a UFC Cold War. Mark Hunt brought a lawsuit relating to fighting a known steroid user. Dana White went full mob boss and brought out all of the weapons, he went on a public verbal assault of Mark Hunt, destroying the fighter’s credibility. Then when Mark Hunt questioned fighter pay, Dana enacted another scene from ‘The Godfather’. The Tommy Gun maiming of Sonny Corleone. Dana unleashed the full clip and stopped any Mark Hunt fights from being booked and refused to terminate the contract. In one stroke, Dana killed a fighter’s financials.
But the mob-like ruthless destruction can only continue for so long before fighters wise up to the game. Fighters such as Michael Bisping, Tyron Woodley and Demetrious Johnson only take fights that they want. They have began to use fighter power for their benefit. The UFC product is fighters and to do that, they need human bodies engaging in the cage and creating a beautiful form of drama. The UFC did not let ‘others draw from the well’ and the money poisoned the water. Fighters realised that they were getting fucked over and started to make a stand, Ryan Bader made a stand and stood for principles and went to Bellator.
That is the reason why the UFC has stagnated, the fighters have had enough and finally have stood up for their rights. Without fighters, you do not have enough product to satisfy PPVs and the Fox Deal, there is a reason why Fox Sports are playing hardball over the price of the UFC television rights. Money which drove UFC to the front in 2015 has now caused the backward slide in 2018. As is in a fight, victory is relative. The UFC may have avoided expense through the legal status of their fighters and succeeded with the Reebok Deal but they have alienated their fighters and created a lacklustre product.
