Cracks are starting to show on the UFC’s proverbial foundation.
You can see it with your own eyes. Despite the process hustle of advertising UFC media rights for sale at $1 billion, you can sense that something doesn’t feel right.
Sure, UFC is getting millions of dollars from New Jersey. They’re going to draw a $2M gate for Kamaru Usman in Atlanta. But you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see that things aren’t as they truly appear on the surface.
How can a ravenous government contractor and political mercenary struggle to produce warehouse MMA events?
It would help if Dana White was still a full-time active participant in UFC affairs. It’s clear that he is, at a minimum, very distracted. How timely was this MMA Draw podcast from three months ago?
Dana White prepares for a reduced day-to-day UFC role
Is Chael Sonnen warming up in the bullpen to become the next face of the UFC?
You would be hard-pressed to find a UFC card these days that doesn’t have fighters missing weight, backing out, or getting fights rescheduled for other cards. This is a circus that former Fertitta-era matchmaker Joe Silva would have never tolerated.
The fighters deserve better and the fans sure as hell deserve better, too. You’ve never paid more to get less.
This week’s edition of The MMA Draw podcast is our most righteous audio show ever. A true Fight Festivus.
The free portion of this week’s podcast compares and contrasts the Fertitta and Endeavor UFC eras in terms of what business practices were tolerated versus those not tolerated. The entire psychology of the enterprise has changed. Maybe you can’t put your finger on why things are slipping but you know something is wrong and it’s creating major frustration.
Consider this week’s podcast to be a very useful history lesson and a precursor of where we think things are heading under Mark Shapiro during a major UFC media rights negotiation period.
The paid portion of this week’s podcast talks about Vince McMahon’s new sports and entertainment investment firm and how Mark Shapiro has unwittingly (or wittingly) created the conditions for a Vince return. Not only is it possible but absolutely plausible. Vince has one big jackhammer that Mr. Cost Savings has to be weary of. Plus, just how much of a financial price did Vince pay when he got pushed out of his own company? It’s larger than you think.
Then we address the big news regarding the Phil Davis antitrust action against UFC. It appears, under the reasoning of judicial economy, that Federal judge Richard Boulware is going to get new antitrust actions on his docket. We break down both the tactics and the long-term strategy behind this maneuvering and how we think it is setting the table for a promoter antitrust action.
The big question is whether or not Donn Davis will bite and step up to the plate. From his point of view, there are both major pros and major cons in initiating an antitrust complaint against UFC. It’s a fascinating high-stakes situation and we’ll explain the various complications.
Plus, the latest on Triller’s economic collapse and what the legal scenarios look like in the coming months. A Triller collapse would raise the stakes for UFC Fight Pass in terms of promoter importance. What happens if UFC decreases the amount of money they pay for streaming media rights? How much longer can Bare Knuckle FC stay alive?
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