UFC Continuing Strong-Arm Tactics

No one would dispute the UFC’s place as the top MMA organization in the world today.  The growth of the UFC has been great for fighters in a lot of ways: increased awareness of the sport, higher pay for fighters inside and outside of the UFC (imagine Affliction paying six figures without the mainstream acceptance of the sport spear-headed by the UFC), and more.  However, there’s a dark side to their dominance.  Occasionally, the brass behind the UFC decides to throw their weight around in rather unsavory ways.

In the past we’ve seen fighters get seemingly black-balled from the organization for decisions to align themselves with rival promotions, and we’ve also seen sponsors get banned from UFC events, such as clothing maker/MMA organization Affliction.  That one makes a lot of sense, as you can’t have fighters in your event advertising a rival promotion with their t-shirts.  This week, there have been two widely-circulated stories about how the UFC chooses to deal with sponsors, fighters and rivals in the MMA business.

First, a few days ago word spread that a number of sponsors had been banned from the UFC, including One More Round and Dethrone.  Of course, the sponsors that have somehow fallen out of favor with the organization don’t stop at clothing companies.  If you have watched any recent UFC events you have undoubtedly noticed that gambling sites such as Full Tilt Poker, Party Poker and Ultimate Bet have been sponsoring fighters with increased regularity.  Well, that will be a thing of the past in the “Super Bowl of mixed martial arts”, as those sponsors have apparently been banned, as well.

The motive behind banning sponsorships by gambling sites makes a little bit of sense, as the Fertittas are themselves casino moguls, but are these online poker sites really a substitute for going to Las Vegas and gambling in a real casino?  Are they really that much of a threat?  As for the clothing companies, we all know that the UFC itself has had its own clothing line out for awhile, but why ban just some clothing companies and not others?  Will we eventually get to the point where UFC fighters will have to wear either UFC-branded clothing or Tapout attire?

This is hard to swallow for fighters who depend on these sponsors for the income that they need to train.  Somebody like Georges St. Pierre wouldn’t have to get a part-time job if he lost a sponsor or two, but what about the guys on the bottom of the card who are making ten or twenty grand?  Now they have to tell Full Tilt Poker or One More Round “sorry, but I can’t wear your logos anymore”?  This would all be easier to understand if there was some sort of obvious rationale behind it.

Then, word circulated that the UFC will supposedly “ban” fighters from their organization if they choose to appear in EA Sports’ upcoming MMA videogame.  There’s nothing illegal about doing so; the UFC can sign whom they want, and doesn’t have to sign anyone that they don’t want.  Who’s to say if they are not signing a fighter for any specific reason, right?  It’s their choice.  Still, it’s really a pretty dirty move that will not help MMA in the long run, but instead only the UFC.  And once again, fighters who are not currently in the UFC are losing out, as they are missing a potential chance for income and exposure by not being in the videogame, if they take the threat seriously.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to succeed in business, or to be the best at what you do.  The problem is when companies get into trying to make it so that no other organization can even compete in the first place.  I have no problem with the UFC running counter-programming against Affliction pay-per-views, or Dana White going into f-bomb laced tirades against whatever rival promoter has provoked his anger.  When you start to use fighters who are just trying to make a living as leverage, it becomes clear that the wrong people are paying the price here.

Now, an up-and-coming fighter has to wonder whether they should pass up a chance at great exposure by being in an EA Sports game because the UFC might be interested in his services in the future.  Meanwhile, if he does get to the UFC, he has to wonder how long his sponsors will even be allowed there.  Tapout and Cage Fighter can only support so many athletes, you know.

Hopefully the fighters outside of the UFC do the right thing here and sign up to be in the videogame, anyway.  There’s really nothing to gain by living under the dictatorial fist of an organization that doesn’t even write you any checks, and if the top fighters outside of the UFC refuse to be intimidated by this crap, then what is the UFC going to do?  Not sign Fedor Emelianenko, Robbie Lawler, Takanori Gomi or other top non-UFC fighters, just to prove a stubborn point?  And what is that point, exactly?

Oh, that’s right: The UFC is MMA, and no one else is allowed to prosper.

by Jon Hartley for Fightmania.com

Tags: Dana White, Fedor Emelianenko, Georges St. Pierre, Robbie Lawler, UFC