UFC / WEC Merger Key For Continued International Expansion

Another cheap plug for my latest article. I know, I'm such a whore. In the mean time I leave you with the gift of this genius UFC 121 Mexploitation promo you may have missed.

Cheers.

http://www.cagesideseats.com/2010/10/30/1783392/ufc-wec-merger-key-for-continued-international-expansion

It's a well written article, but i don't agree at all. Zuffa own the WEC and they could just as easily have put money in that company and promoted it on a bigger scale. Fighters, and the sport in general, will suffer and lose out because of this merger. The top fighters with the bigger names, Aldo, Faber, Torres might gain from this, but the majority will suffer.

WEC suffered due to the success of the UFC's brand strength. Nobody outside the hardcore cared about the WEC and as a result fighters were paid less, got less sponsorship and less exposure. Most fighters that have been asked are happy about the news.

Now, it may be fighters in WEC will get cut if they don't perform well enough under the UFC banner but that's the same for any weight class. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing to sink or swim in the UFC since it's the top promotion with the top fighters. The only ones who will suffer are the mediocre who shouldn't be there in the first place taking up space that a true prospect could be filling.

I also don't see why the UFC should have put more money into what was a sinking ship, at least ratings and attendance wise. Dana White can claim Versus were happy with the ratings, but really they want better ratings which UFC shows bring and Zuffa were losing money on these live WEC shows. The only reason the PPV was a success was because for all intents and purposes it may as well have been a UFC card. WEC branding was absent, Dana White was everywhere promoting, Buffer announced and Rogan and Goldberg commentated.

Simply not true.

The PPV was a (relative)success because of Faber. He's a big draw with the PPV being held in his home town and he was the draw behind the 150,000 PPVs. Had ZUFFA put the money behind the WEC they could have done great things with it. To say nobody outside the hardcore cared is ridiculous. Maybe the UFC fanboys didn't care, but they also don't care about Strikeforce, Dream or Sengoku.

Most fighters asked?? You mean Henderson(being gifted a title shot), Aldo, Faber, and Torres? You mean all the fighters guaranteed a job and certain of making more money? What about the other 60 fighters on the WEC roster??

Fighters on both the UFC, and WEC, rosters will be cut and fighters used to fighting on main cards will now find themselves on undercards earning LESS money. I will guaranteed that, on average, WEC fighters end up making less money as will a lot of the, already underpaid, young prospects in the UFC. A handful will get better money, most will see a drop in pay as the slip from co-main eventing WEC cards to UFC unaired prelims.

Zuffa were losing minimal money and that was due to the lack of exposure given to the shows. they broke even on many shows, to call the WEC a sinking ship is ridiculous. And it wasn't only Dana claiming that Versus were happy, Versus confirmed it.



You write your articles very well, but the content, viewpoints and research put into them are questionable.

Not only will a good few fighters get cut easily from the UFC and new WEC Roster if they dont perform. But there will be less shows for UFC/WEC next year. UFC are only allowed 4 shows on Verses next year as opposed to the 9 they had this year. The UFC's roster is now huge. Not has ever been compared to this! It will suffer from oversaturation next year.


So this means that fighters cant be as active as in the past, and due to exclusive contract there pretty much stuck.


This merger is bad news for alot of fighters (excluding the top tier UFC and WEC fighters who are guaranteed big fights and big bonuses) for sure, but from us fans point of view its absolutely great.

I disagree that it's great for fans. How could it possibly be great for fans to see LESS MMA events? and not only that, less GREAT MMA events. The WEC was putting on the best cards in North America, and now it won't be. I can't remember the last GREAT UFC card. UFC 100 maybe? and even then not every fight was fantastic. Of the 6 biggest MMA organizations, UFC, Strikeforce, Dream, Sengoku, WEC and Bellator, IMO the UFC puts on the worst cards by a distance, and charges the most for tickets and PPV by a distance.

It doesn't matter if the best fighters are going to the UFC. You take a great WEC match-up, Torres vs Faber for example. It would headline in WEC and with the usual brilliant match making they had for the rest of the card it could be the card of the year. Put that same fight in the UFC and it would be co-main event at the very best and surrounded by a standard UFC card it would be just an average card with a highlight fight.

Always enjoy reading your stuff, KJ.

Thanks!

Another Good article KJ

I think this merge is absolutely fantastic and the UFC have just taken a huge step forward,towards putting the majority of the best fighters in the world,in all weight classes under one banner,so us fans get to watch the best vs the best in all weight divisions on the same cards,you'll be getting near enough 10 world class fights on the same card near enough twice a month,every month.

So what if a few average guys get cut,if they do,then that means they are just not cut out for the UFC yet or just not ready to belong in the very top end of MMA,the UFC's aim is to just have the cream of MMA in all divisions,which IMO just being a fan that wants to see the very best against the very best,would be a dream scenario,it's not as if those fighters have nowhere else to go,there are still smaller shows they can go to,to improve there skills and earn another shot,plus there will be more fighters for other Orgs like Strikeforce,bellator and Dream,to pick up.

I completely agree that this will also make a huge difference to attracting alot more of the best fighters in the world to the UFC also and I don't think it will be long before your Omigawa's are having another crack in the UFC now they have the lighter divisions.

The UFC are putting on 24 events in 2010 and are talking about doing more of them in the next year in more countries,that all get broadcast to millions of homes all around the world,at the moment loads of you lads from back home have been complaining that you can't get to watch these WEC fighters and also alot of homes in the US couldn't watch them either,because they couldn't get Vs,now you can,everyone from around the world is going to get to see them all showcasing there skills on the same cards as the already established big named fighters,so fans,now are getting the best of both worlds,I can't possibly see how this is not great for us fans.

This has just made all UFC cards,that much stronger through out.
I don't buy into Anfields,the UFC put on the worst cards,(IMO give me a UFC card over any Org by a distance,you don't become the biggest Org and constantly have fans keep tuning into and paying PPV prices for your events,one after another,by considerably larger numbers than any other Org,if the majority didn't enjoy the product they are getting),but that's his opinion and that's mine.

I could be wrong but I find your opinion Anfield,hard to believe that it's not largely based on his obvious dislike towards the UFC,so anything the UFC does,that most would see as a good thing,you'll try to shoot down because you don't want to see the UFC get stronger and increase there dominance on the MMA scene,which this has just done,and put them leaps and bounds even further ahead of any of there competition,which your completely entitled to do so,(and it's always fun to read your difference of opinion on this board)but to me it just smells of bitterness,towards the UFC progressing.

From reading other boards,I can't say I've really come across many at all,that has been negative towards this merge,infact I'd say judging by 90%+ of positive things I've read,most fans are excited by this and can't wait to see this happen.

You believe that the UFC puts on the best cards out of all organizations, and you don't care about fighters.

You are a fanboy and nothing more.

I along with the majority of MMA fans believe the UFC put on the best cards,as I keep saying all figures in every possible scenario back this up,from viewing figures to merchandise sold.

I don't train in anything anymore,apart from helping out with my kids sports and lifting a beer glass from the table to my lips and backdown again,I'm feeling to old now days(and lazy) and I have more important things that I put first,that take up most of my free time.
I just love the sport and like watching as much MMA as possible,so yeah,there's no denying that I'm just a fan,I don't see how being called a fanboy is a slight in anyway,it's true for most MMA fans,and I don't see how just because i'm not active in the sport,that somehow make my opinions invalid or something.

I used to play semi pro football,I don't now,and I don't lose any sleep with the fact that your Gerrards,Lampards and Rooneys earn more individually than the whole of my Forest team combined or that you could near enough save all these teams that are flirting with bankruptcy with the price either one of them would fetch or knowing those prices could rescue and keep the whole of the lower leagues out of financial troubles,does that somehow make me all of a sudden less of a football fan now?

Why should I care about what fighters get cut or how much they are earning,I can disagree with them and discuss them,but for the main part,the guys who get cut are not the ones that I'm really bothered about and I don't think, in anyway that will stop my enjoyment of future cards,if anything it makes room for better fighters or new exciting prospects,so there's more chance that the next cards that they would of been on are now even more entertaining.
There pay makes no odds to me either,they agree to contracts and except the pay they can can get in the sport,it's then down to them to improve get the wins and improve there contracts,so it's there choice if they except it or not,nobodies is forced into anything,the same as it is for any other job in the world,be it a laborer or a pro footballer.

I pay to watch great MMA and that's why,when I'm paying PPV prices,I want to see the best most skilled fighters doing it,a weaker fighter on a losing streak is not who I'm tuning in to watch.

I'm a fan that pays to watch them fight,just like I go to the movies and pay to watch an actor act,or go to a footy match to pay and watch my favorite footballers play football.

It doesn't mean because I'm not active in any of those fields that i can't appreciate a good fighter,Actor or footballer does it,surely?

I think the WEC has put on the most entertaining cards over any other promotion. But UFC is the promotion thats gets you talking and excited about a fight months before it even happens.

Not caring about the fighters is not caring about the sport. The UFC is not the sport, it's simply one promotion.

Personally I would rather watch a great WEC or Sengoku card with a lot of fighters I don't know putting on great fighters than the usual average UFC card with the more well known fighters boring me to sleep.

"I along with the majority of MMA fans believe the UFC put on the best cards,as I keep saying all figures in every possible scenario back this up,from viewing figures to merchandise sold."

Firstly, you and the casual fans might believe this, the truth is something completely different. Secondly, numbers would not indicate anything of the sort, and thirdly, just because the UFC has more merchandise for sale, that does not relate to the quality of their cards in any way, shape or form.

UFC cards are, by and large, an over-hyped and over-rated pile of shit. They either lack names but produce exciting fights, or have the big names and produce borefests.

Brown Pride wrote:I think the WEC has put on the most entertaining cards over any other promotion. But UFC is the promotion thats gets you talking and excited about a fight months before it even happens.

The UFC hypes their fights better and can put more money into promoting them but from top to bottom their cards are nothing close to what the other organizations are putting on. And the other orgs aren't charging 50 bucks for the pleasure of helping you sleep.

Why is not being bothered about who gets cut from the UFC and who earns what,not caring about the sport?

Should we all be bothered when football teams cut players from there youth or reserve squads,when they don't make the step up into the first teams,or when one player on the same team is making 5 times what his team mate is earning?
Not caring about the fighters is not caring about the sport,is a naive and silly statement.


What you claim is the better quality of cards is just your opinion though mate,you stick to watching weaker less skilled fighters squaring off if thats what floats your boat,yeah they can be exciting but then again so can a watch two lesser skilled toughman brawl or a butterbean 4 rd exhibition fight,doesn't mean I'd prefer to watch that over two top end pros fighting.

I thought you appreciated the skills and techniques of the worlds best fighters and the sport,I didn't realize you prefer watching lesser skilled fighters throwing caution to the wind and brawling.
It's fun no doubt,but I thought skills and technique and solid game plans would be in the better interests of the sport.

Thinking about that,I'm really surprised you don't like Brock then,he puts on exciting fights or does him being compared to fedor and him being a UFC champ at the time,have anything to do with your change of attitude on this one

I never denied that the WEC have been absolutely brilliant,I love watching the little guys put on a show,but that doesn't mean I have to stop enjoying what got me into the sport in the first place,the bigger weights,for me,this is a dream move because we now get the best of both worlds on one card.

I've never as much as you'd like to make out tried to claim the UFC is MMA,I just claim that it is by a distance the best ORG in MMA and now to even compare any other Org is IMO laughable.

(well not completely,the strikeforce HW division makes good competition to the UFC's HW division,but that's only if they can get there fighters to actually fight each other)

Firstly, you and the casual fans might believe this, the truth is something completely different.

Would you like to enlighten us with the truth then?

Secondly, numbers would not indicate anything of the sort,

Would you like to show me some numbers from any other Orgs that beat the UFC's

and thirdly the Merchandise thing was to show the UFC's popularity compared to any others,not to say that proves the cards were stronger,the people that constantly tune in to watch the UFC,more so than any other Org even though it's PPV and not free like the others is what IMO shows that most fans enjoy what the UFC put on and thats why they keep coming back and paying PPV prices to watch it.

More people watch Dream and Strikeforce live than watch the UFC live. That's an indisputable fact.

Again, just because the UFC has more merchandise doesn't represent the strength of the cards. UFC became the second biggest org in the world a long time ago, then Pride went under and it became the biggest. It's the biggest based mainly on longevity and the financial backing of the Fertittas, nothing to do with the current cards.


Real MMA fans, who watch and follow ALL MMA would not attest to the UFC putting on the best cards. Quite the opposite. Weakest and most boring cards. Don't confuse quantity and high profile with quality.

Is Strikeforce even shown live?





I have to say i dont agree that UFC put on bad cards. They put on fantastic cards, it just so happens the fights for one reason or another end up not as entertaining as expected. The cards they put on have the best fighting against the best and its not the UFC's fault that not all fans are entertained.

You call UFC 120 a fantastic card? How about 122?

Of course Strikeforce in show live. Showtime and CBS show it live.

Best fighting against the best??? You call Kongo vs Brown the best fighting the best??

119 was awful, 118 was pathetic, 117 was good but not great, 116 was poor.

UFC puts on cards with 1 or 2 big name fights and then a card full of filler. They sign other fighters purely to stop them working else where and then badly match them up and use them to pad cards.

I think card for card, the UFC is not better than Strikeforce or DREAM.

look at UFC 120, their last free card. not their worst lineup this autumn:

Bisping vs Akiyama
Hardy vs Condit
Hathaway vs Pyle
Kongo vs Browne
Wilkes vs Patrick

top 10 fighters: 1 (Hardy)
number of HOFers: 0

compare to strikeforce lineup:

Dan Henderson vs Babalu Sobral
Robbie Lawler vs Matt Lindland
Paul Daley vs Scott Smith
Antonio Silva vs Valentijn Overeem
Herschall Walker vs TBA
Jan Finney vs TBA

top 10 fighters: 5 ( Hendo, Lawler, Daley, Bigfoot, Finney...well thats just a guess but she fought for the belt so i reckson she is)
Hofers: 1 (Hendo)

compare to DREAM lineup:

Gegard Mousasi vs Tatsuya Mizuno
Shinya Aoki vs Marcus Aurelio
Kazushi Sakuraba vs Mayhem Miller
Minowaman vs Satoshi Ishii
Michi Omigawa vs Cole Escovedo
Hideo Tokoro vs Joachim Hansen
Hiroyuki Takaya vs Chase Beebe
Mitsuhiro Ishida vs Wicky Akio
Kazuyuki Miyata vs Lion Takeshi
Yusuke Kawaguchi vs James Thompson

ranked fighters anywhere between 3 and 8 depending on your opinion
hofers: 1


this is comparing their free to air cards and UFC is terrible in comparison to their competition.

i wrote all that but forgot why

Haha! Good post.

Like the new av.

I'll bite for you Anfield

Real MMA fans

I am a real MMA fan who watches all Orgs,I haven't missed and event from the UFC,Dream,Strikeforce,WEC,Bellator for years,aswell as watching loads of other little events,that I'm lucky enough to get on TV over here or I check out online,infact I watch more than you,unless,of coarse you were lying in the past when you claimed you only watch the UFC now and again,after i accused you of being one of those fans that bitches and moans about the UFC,but your the first one to tune in.
So being a real MMA fan,that watches and followsALLOrgs,all the time.
I still say that the UFC put on the best cards.

OK Strikeforce's Fedor v Rogers and Hendo v sheilds did big numbers on a local channel that goes to every home in America,(alot less than EliteXC though,when they were on the same channel),if the UFC put an event on a local channel,like CBS,they would double that number without even trying.
If you check the attendance for the CBS nashville card,to the UFC's Fight night 18,Condit vs Kampmann,both held in the same Bridgestone arena,Strikeforce with Hendo,sheilds,melendez,Aoki,mousasi and king Mo,sold 8,196 seats,while the UFC sold 10,267 seats.

Strikeforce's normal cards that are on Showtime can't even attract as many fans throwing a live event as the UFC gets for airing a counter show repeat on Spike,never mind that more people tune into watch an episode of TUF than what they get for their live events either,but to be fair,even though it's alot closer than comparing anything with CBS,there are still more people that get Spike,compared to Showtime,so it's fairer and even in Strikeforce's favour since more people get showtime than VS and guess what,I'm pretty sure the UFC on VS cards still attracted more viewers,than any Strikeforce Showtime events or any WEC event on the same channel either.

To even suggest that Strikeforce or Dream is even close to having the following of the UFC is just daft.

Hows comparing one of the UFC's weak free gift cards a good comparison,to one of strikeforce's and Dreams strongest cards of the year,to compare who put on the better cards?

The only way to compare,is to rank each ORGs events for the year from 1 down and then compare them in order.

Obviously dream and Strikeforce can put more of there stars into one card,(though Strikeforce usually only air 4 fights off a card,since they only have a 2 hour time slot,while the UFC show 5-6 plus 2-3 of the pre-lims on spike)because they put on far less events,(don't forget Anfield,one of your main problems with the merge,was getting less events,well no-one out of the big Orgs(before Chesty uses M-1),comes close to giving us fans as many events as the UFC,but now your trying to twist your position to use that against them )but the top UFC fighters are better and there rosta is a shit loads deeper,so there is always a worthy challenge for all the fighters and we get to see the fights we fans and the UFC want,not what fights the fighters want,thats why they can put on 24 cards a year,with big names and top fighters on every single one of them and now with the merge of the WEC,it's just become all the more easier to fill them.


We get more fights,more events with world class talent on every single one of them,a better standard of fighter overall and we get to see the fights we want because there's no bollox and renegotiating,that gets in the way,the UFC don't have to go looking at other Orgs to find there fighters a challenge either,because there is always a que of fighters ready for every fighter in the ORG.

It's impossible to have a card full of the best vs the best unless every title is on the line in one card,what the UFC are the best Org at doing is matching up there fighters with guys that are rankeds in similar positions,like kongo vs Browne,something that having a huge rosta allows you to do and helps avoid putting on these huge mismatches that some Orgs can't help but to put on,because they can't find an evenly ranked opponent.

Not even going to read that.

You're a UFC fanboy who thinks everything about the UFC is best. You've appointed yourself as the spokesman for MMA fans everywhere announcing that the UFC put on the best cards and that the "majority" of fans would agree with you.

The reality is the majority of fans don't think that at all, because it's not true AT ALL.