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StoopTroup
1/15/2012, 10:47 AM
ESPN's Outside the lines poses a question now that Strikeforce and Pride are gone, is the way UFC does business now obsolete and should they legally be forced to change?

Fighters now say they have no idea what the revenue stream at UFC is since it's the only Game in Town now? They really have nowhere to go in the United States and if they aren't happy with the UFC Brand....they say their career is over.

As a Fan....do you see this becoming a problem for the UFC and MMA? Will they eventually have to go the way of Boxing and be up against more rules and possibly even Unions for the fighters?

Is this just some guys crying foul?

Although UFC did take all the risks and ended up being the only Game in Town, was it just because they do a great job or marketing and branding everything or is it because of the control they have over fighters, the brands and basically the way the fighters make money outside of the UFC?

Currently to even get inside the UFC you must pay them $150.000 just to get a fight? I'm not real up to date on that fact but ESPN and some ex-fighters were on the show saying something like this.

Does all this current controversy get worse just because of the money involved or is it just being questioned because of legitimate reasons that don't allow Fighters to even talk about their time fighting and being a Champion in the UFC? Has the UFC really hurt itself now in trying to protect their Brand?

If what I saw on Outside the Lines is true....it would seem to me that other Sports like Boxing that have been pounded with legalities and regulation would seem to be posturing to help MMA Fighters to combat the UFC because of the unknown revenue stream. Where there is huge money....there is greed. Where there is greed....there will be a fight for the pie.

This seems inevitable that the UFC will need to really defend itself against these claims now that ESPN has done this story.

reflector
1/15/2012, 11:51 AM
ESPN decided to do a story because Josh Gross wanted them to do the story. Dana White says that he has a lot of information to release once the story does air.

reflector
1/15/2012, 12:15 PM
I just saw the piece. That was really bad. They paint creating 39 millionaires since 2005 as a bad thing? The UFC is a privately owned company. They took a lot of risk and spent a lot of money back in the day. Other people have tried to do what the UFC has done and failed. Creating something out of thin air and being successful should be rewarded and not condemned.

I have followed the sport since 1994. The UFC was very small back then. I think it is inspirational that they have made so much money over the years.

StoopTroup
1/15/2012, 01:05 PM
I just saw the piece. That was really bad. They paint creating 39 millionaires since 2005 as a bad thing? The UFC is a privately owned company. They took a lot of risk and spent a lot of money back in the day. Other people have tried to do what the UFC has done and failed. Creating something out of thin air and being successful should be rewarded and not condemned.

I have followed the sport since 1994. The UFC was very small back then. I think it is inspirational that they have made so much money over the years.

I don't disagree....I just think that when you get to a point where you are making the kind of money they are....folks are gonna want more. Attorneys, Agents, Fighters, Promoters who can't get their fighter in the door etc....

Sounds like Dana will maybe be forced to make some changes or maybe fight off the allegations.

I mean....if you win and win and win and then want to write a book about your Career and you aren't able to mention anything about your time in the UFC unless Dana and the UFC get their cut or agree to let you write about it.....is that OK? I mean....it was your life we are talking about here. You are the one that fought and became a Champion and you can even put pictures of yourself or the guys you fought in your Story / Book? That doesn't seem right but evidently some guys are losing in Court. When the UFC wins those cases....do they then possibly face repercussions that they are a monopoly? It's the old story of being careful about which battles you fight if you want to win the War

reflector
1/15/2012, 01:39 PM
I don't disagree....I just think that when you get to a point where you are making the kind of money they are....folks are gonna want more. Attorneys, Agents, Fighters, Promoters who can't get their fighter in the door etc....

Sounds like Dana will maybe be forced to make some changes or maybe fight off the allegations.

I mean....if you win and win and win and then want to write a book about your Career and you aren't able to mention anything about your time in the UFC unless Dana and the UFC get their cut or agree to let you write about it.....is that OK? I mean....it was your life we are talking about here. You are the one that fought and became a Champion and you can even put pictures of yourself or the guys you fought in your Story / Book? That doesn't seem right but evidently some guys are losing in Court. When the UFC wins those cases....do they then possibly face repercussions that they are a monopoly?

The UFC is not a monopoly. Their main competitor right now is Bellator.

It was announced recently that Viacom had bought part of Bellator. Viacom owns CBS, MTV, MTV2, Spike and a bunch more television channels. They have way more money than ZUFFA (The people who own the UFC) does. Viacom is worth many billions of dollars. It is not the money that makes the UFC successful. It is that they are smart business people.

One of the things that was conveniently left out of the piece was the UFC in 2011 started paying for the insurance for their fighters. The NFL, NBA, MLB etc. had to have the unions fight for them to get their health benefits. The UFC looked at the books and realized that they could afford to provide the health insurance, and so they did it.

As far as your last paragraph quoted, It has to do with copyrights and patents. The pictures are protected as part of laws. There have been people who made videos about their fight careers and included copyrighted material and got cease and desist orders. People can still talk about their fights though.

It is funny because one of the guys who has made millions while fighting for the UFC is Ken Shamrock. He was one of the people in the video. He doesn't get along with the UFC owners now. He recently got busted for steroids. He got kicked out of the UFC because he kept losing at the end of his UFC career. Ken Shamrock was my favorite fighter back in the day, but I really don't like the fact that he comes across as a whiner now.

They were complaining about the contract amounts, but the fighters still have to sign the contracts. When outside forces start interfering with contracts, I think that is very wrong. The UFC does not hold a gun to their and force them to sign the contract. If they give a fighter an opportunity, it is still up to the fighter whether or not they sign the contract.

Since I have followed the sport since 1994, I have seen a lot that has happened in it. There have been a lot of companies that try to copy what the UFC has done and failed over the years. What sets the UFC apart is that they are run by smart business people.

Boomer.....
1/15/2012, 02:15 PM
It is a privilege and an honor to make it to the UFC. It is no different to other athletes making it to the NFL, NBA, etc. It is the big time. The better you perform, the more you make. That is no different than any other sport or job for that matter. Keep winning and you will get paid more money.

Breadburner
1/15/2012, 05:50 PM
It is a privilege and an honor to make it to the UFC. It is no different to other athletes making it to the NFL, NBA, etc. It is the big time. The better you perform, the more you make. That is no different than any other sport or job for that matter. Keep winning and you will get paid more money.

Bingo....!

reflector
1/15/2012, 08:39 PM
Lorenzo Fertitta on Fighter Pay



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbbs5nKXliU&feature=youtu.be


The UFC said that the ESPN video would be highly edited and that they wouldn't use a lot of what happened in the interviews. I am surprised that this portion did not air on the piece. :)

For those that don't know, Lorenzo Fertitta and Frank Fertitta are the two primary owners of the UFC. They own the largest percent of the company.

JiuJitsuSooner
1/16/2012, 01:20 PM
Dana White responds, rips ESPN pretty good

http://t.co/cV7ByvMP

northspeter
1/16/2012, 02:30 PM
The Dana White video is pretty interesting... I like the part where Lorenzo brings up how little ESPN pays fighters compared to how much money ESPN makes...

badger
1/16/2012, 03:12 PM
I love seeing sports entities and people rise up against ESPN. I'm listening to the uncut interview now.

The fact of the matter is that ESPN has it's own little lucrative sports monopoly that it has 100 percent control over. I'm referring to the X Games, both the winter and the summer, they're ESPN owned and operated. Others have tried having their own extreme sports events, but nothing compares to the size and magnitude of the X Games.

I don't even know if ESPN pays their X Games participants to perform, and those sports are damn dangerous. I think all the athletes get out of it are the chance to earn endorsements and get on national TV. Other than that, a medal that you stick in your mouth and chew on for the cameras. Grrrrr.

By comparison, at least UFC pays their fighters, not just award them TV time and a medal if they take 1st through 3rd.

I also have no doubt that ESPN blacklists X Gamers that don't perform. There was a Broken Arrow biker that chickened out of his stunt jump a few years ago and I haven't seen him back since.

reflector
1/16/2012, 04:23 PM
Dana White responds, rips ESPN pretty good

http://t.co/cV7ByvMP

Just to get this embedded on here.


Dana White Responds to ESPN



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7neKshmjzI&feature=youtu.be

Boomer.....
1/16/2012, 04:50 PM
This is awesome! I wonder if ESPN will respond?