The UFC's Global Domination

The UFC’s Global Domination

 

After an impromptu trip to NYC, the death of Michael Jackson, and some weird writers block… which is strange since I am not a real writer, I have decided to just get something down: ANYTHING.  I thought what better way to force myself back into the swing of writing than to pick what might be the most complex topic in MMA and just free-write. I promise one day I will come back to this with more thought.

 

 

It is not novel to suggest that the letters MMA and UFC are interchangeable to a significant segment of the population upon which this sport relies. One might even argue that the letters MMA mean nothing to a startling number of those people. I am not just talking about fans; I am talking about sponsors, commissions, building executives, and so on and so forth.  I would be tempted to say that this phenomenon extends to a number of fascinating oddities in the American manifestation of MMA culture.  I bet Stephan Bonnar is a more recognizable name in the United States than Fedor Emelianenko. Even if that is an overblown statement now, before Affliction: Banned, it was not at all.  This and many other situations are not odd because they don’t make sense, they make perfect sense when one understands the total and complete domination of the UFC over the domestic and now international MMA market.  The UFC’s systemic tentacles have reached as far as the most legitimate sites for MMA news and discussion. So many writers have been accused of brown nosing Mr. White and his Zuffa support system and who could really blame them for not biting the hand that feeds.  That is just what the UFC is. It is the hand that feeds the MMA universe. 

 

Now I am not saying it is inherently good or bad that the sport be dominated by one private company, but I am saying it is absolutely important that we try to understand this beast. MMA can’t survive without the UFC just as much as the UFC can’t survive without MMA. Sometimes I think the UFC would survive longer just on interviews and Dana White video blogs than MMA would without its most lucrative company.  As this sport grows, this relationship is going to become more and more important.  Take for example women’s MMA.  Strikeforce and before it EliteXC have done a fantastic job of pushing Women’s MMA into the mainstream of the sport and for that I will continue to applaud them.  Lets face it though, Gina Carano vs Cyborg Santos will make a big impact as a title fight headliner with five minute rounds under the Strikeforce banner but it would make just as much if not more headroom for women’s MMA if it were the first of its kind on a UFC card with three minute rounds on the under-card of a fight night.  Women’s MMA has been taking the extra long road to popular legitimacy because it must add a lack of acknowledgement from the sports don to the myriad obstacles it faces.  Tim Sylvia has become the butt of countless MMA jokes as of late and while his last two performances have a lot to do with that, he was well on his way to this fate when Dana White mocked him all the way out of the UFC’s door and down the block a good ways.  Certainly the UFC does not have a total monopoly on legitimacy in MMA. Strikeforce and Affliction are doing their part to show the world the talent outside of Zuffa contract.  Fedor has been the rock that supports legitimacy outside of the UFC, having a solid claim to the pound-for-pound crown and never stepping foot in a UFC cage.  These are the things that keep Zuffa’s power over the business in check, a check that I fear is necessary. 

 

The power relation will not stay like this forever and as the market for this sport grows, things are going to have to become more unified. The question remains weather the UFC will be the one calling some of, most of, or all of the shots as the sport become more mainstream. Dana White says the sport will be an Olympic event and the biggest sport in the world soon enough. Don’t you think he wants Olympic MMA to look as much like the UFC as possible. Don’t you think he wants the whole culture of the sport to be a reflection of his company and its events?  The UFC’s domination could be great for the sport and has been great for it so far. However one company making this much money for this long on physical violence is bound to be problematic. Fighter rights could become a bigger issue in the future. Fighter relations and fighter/owner relations could become an issue. As of right now the MMA world is fragmented and the only way to get past it is cross promotion, something the biggest player in the game has zero interest in. If the UFC waits long enough and plays its cards right, MMA could be united under its banner much like football is united under the NFL.  This is a sport born of capitalism and it may very well be manifest as such.  If this were to happen, could the UFC help it reach the mainstream status it aspires to as a sport or will it be always understood as a commodity first. There is a difference and it could be profound.