The UFC’s Ten Biggest Letdowns of 2007
Jake Rossen at Sherdog.com published an article chronicling Zuffa’s 10 best accomplishments of 2007 on Monday. While I agree with some of the points in the article, I believe Zuffa did a lot of things wrong this year. Fightlinker has a few points that I completely agree with, but there are a few others that we should mention. Let’s take a look at the list. 10. Promoting a TUF alumni main event
While the idea may have seemed like a good idea when you were sitting in your office mulling over all the injuries to the title pictures of each division, Rashad Evans and Michael Bisping was not a card that interested anyone. Although many fans accepted it in all of its mediocrity, nobody was buying it. We may not know that actual buy rate for that card, but I can almost assure the readership that it wasn’t anywhere close to what a non-title superfight may have garnered.
9. Rallying for Liddell? Rampage should have been given time.
I understand Rossen’s point that Liddell is one of its most popular stars and that he was the guy who propelled the UFC to where it is today along side other stars like Couture or Ortiz. Inevitably, one-dimensional fighting only gets you so far. When Liddell dropped and Rampage was crowned king, I thought to myself “The UFC is going to love Rampage’s personality and so will everyone else.”. Did the UFC take advantage? No, they sat him on the shelf for the rest of the year, and the only real piece of evidence on his whereabouts was on TMZ.com. Keeping Liddell in the picture is fine, he is, after all, a face of the sport, but Rampage should have been propelled immediately.
8. Marketing at the UFC is mediocre
While the Rampage/Griffin coaching situation is a genius way to market both Forrest Griffin and Rampage Jackson, their marketing and promotion of what many fans and Dana White himself have considered to be one of the greatest MMA matchups of all time in Wanderlei Silva vs. Chuck Liddell is stagnant. We get All Access with Wanderlei Silva on MTV Nobody Watches 2 and a UFC Countdown show. We also get horribly bland interviews from Chuck Liddell on Unscripted with Dennis Miller, and pokes at Chuck on Pardon the Interruption. Enough is enough. Chuck isn’t good at interviews, and nobody watches the shows. Note to the UFC: Watch 24/7 Mayweather-Hatton and take notes.
7. Tying up divisional title pictures with a reality show
Are you serious? That was the phrase was said more times than I could count when looking at the Welterweight title picture. Instead of getting a Matt Serra vs. Matt Hughes battle early, we have to wade through an entire season of the Ultimate Fighter to end up finding out Serra can’t fight due to an injury. Now, while St. Pierre vs. Matt Hughes is a great substitute, Serra’s recovery is still stopping the real belt from being claimed.
After locking up the Welterweight title picture for what seemed like an eternity, did the UFC learn? No… they ended up making another brilliant move. The UFC will now lock up their most prestigious division, the Light Heavyweight Division, for what is looking like at least half a year, maybe even longer. Although a good marketing strategy, it’d work better if the season was shorter or the production time was faster for the show.
6. Stifling fighter’s careers because they won’t accept a crappy contract
Sure, there are fighters out there that don’t prove enough in the cage for the amount of money that they request during contract negotiations. The letdown is that Zuffa actually stifles your career when you have one fight left on your contract until you get so antsy to fight, you accept the crappy contract. It’s either that or you have to sit out for an unbelievable amount of time until you get near your contract expiration. Suddenly, the UFC has a fight for you. I understand the argument that the fighter signed a contract, but that is rather unfair to keep a fighter in limbo for so long.
5. Broken Promises
You promised us Fedor, and it didn’t happen. It was a major letdown to the fans and Randy Couture. Everyone was convinced he was heading to the UFC while many of the us in the blogosphere remained neutral. In the end, it didn’t happen and people grew upset. Stop making promises. Cliche statements may be lame, but they work. “We are trying our hardest to make the matchup work.” Something along those lines will suffice.
4. Dana White shouldn’t speak in public
One of the biggest letdowns of the year was Dana White’s mouth. Instead of creating a professional look to his attitude during press conferences, conference calls, and interviews, White rants and raves by spitting profanity even when in context to significant developments in the UFC. The conference calls were always entertaining to hear White’s profanity on display. In the past, I have criticized this behavior to stopping some major networks from wheeling and dealing with the UFC. Fact is, other sports don’t have this demeanor, and his attitude seems to be synonymous with what many people feel MMA is, a street brawl.
3. Putting down MMA websites
Along the lines of #4 on our list, Dana White seemed to turn on the very websites that helped produce a bigger audience for MMA, and also helped market and promote events for the UFC back in the days of the UFC DVD. Fact is, White claims that websites were a reason why Couture was obtaining incorrect figures. White stated that internet websites were printing inflated salary numbers when in fact the numbers were straight from the commission. Way to put your foot in your mouth, Dana, and insulting the websites that helped create the beginnings of the fanbase we see today.
2. Handling of the CSAC’s decision
As critical as I was of the CSAC’s procedures regarding the Sean Sherk case, Dana White was far worse. Instead of keeping his mouth stapled shut for the remainder of the case, he gave the MMA community plenty to talk about. He told us that Sherk wouldn’t be stripped regardless of the CSAC’s decision. When Sherk was finally set to have his final hearing, White stuck to his guns. As the CSAC announced a reduction in his sentence to 6 months, it was still the claim by the CSAC that Sherk did use steroids. White changed his mind and stripped Sherk of his title.
1. Promising PRIDE would live, then killing it!
At the press conference announcing the acquisition of PRIDE, Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White both stated that PRIDE would never die and they would continue to keep the promotion around. Say what you will about the strategy here, but it was one of the worst business decisions to date. Not only did the UFC not buyout all the contracts, but fighters are now apparently just waiting for the contracts to expire and then doing what they want. Specifically, the lower weight Japanese fighters are sticking to Japanese promotions to get the bigger money in Japanese sponsors. The PRIDE library rights almost seem worthless as we haven’t seen a creative use for it yet. It’s more likely that they don’t have the rights by some kind of mishap by the Zuffa lawyers when looking at how they can utilize the acquisition of PRIDE.
The biggest letdown was letting such a great part of MMA history die out after telling the PRIDE faithful, the fans of PRIDE, that it was going to stick around for years to come, only to bury it in the ground for good. Zuffa should have simply obtained the facts first. It probably would have led to some different circumstances.
Final Thoughts
Let’s hear some of the things you have to say. This isn’t an article to rebut Rossen’s stance on the accomplishments of Zuffa, but I do feel that some of the items he listed are triumphing events that really were less than impressive. Specifically, rallying behind Liddell is honorable for a corporation like the UFC to do, but it certainly wasn’t an excellent promotional tool for the simple fact that Liddell just isn’t that interesting and has a tendency to go monotone during interviews. That’s just one example.
Zuffa and the UFC didn’t have a bad year. There were some great fights, some great cards, and some unbelievable events over the course of the entire year. Like all organizations at the top of the food chain, the spotlight is always on them. The list above mentions a few of the things that I felt were letdowns from the UFC this year. Many of them easily repairable by keeping your mouth shut or hiring better staff. Business practices can account for some of them though, and you can’t really blame a company for keeping their money making interests in their own best interests.
Agree or disagree with my list? Want to shout out other suggestions? Comment the article and I’ll weigh in.
Loading ...
I really like your list. I see what you’re saying about all of it, but I have just one problem. Though I agree that White’s temper and “sailors mouth” might be slowing the expansion of the UFC in some circles, it still keeps the UFC genuine in his mind. Like it or not, White has built the UFC and he is in charge. It will take a lot more than his verbal mistakes tp hault the momentum that hit baby TUF created 5 years ago. I agree whole heartedly that he makes an ass out of himself on a regular basis, but I also think that his “brashness” and lack of any business schooling is one of the things that keeps him (and the UFC) in the spotlight, and everybody knows, any publisity is good publisity when you are trying to get noticed by the world.
I do agree that sometime soon, it will need to come to a hault, but right now, it makes people want to talk to him about the UFC (i.e. “60 Minutes”, CNBC, ESPN, SI, the list goes on)
Well, I can critique my own comments to an extent as well, and I’m open to hearing other thoughts. The main rebuttal I want to make before anyone wants to trash the list. This isn’t a list that begs to PUT DOWN the UFC. The UFC, after all, is the top dog. This is a list to outline some of the letdowns. Letdowns being things I thought were gonna be so much better, but ended up being horribly done by the UFC.
Sure, Evans vs. Bisping was bad, but what else could they have done? I get that, but I think there were other matchups that would have garnered more excitement. Things like that, I understand, comments like that, I definitely agree with at times, but I think to an extent, all of these letdowns that I listed could have been avoided with some aspect being improved whether it be money, or better personnel, or better business logic.
And to get to your point, Scotchy. I feel like White’s temper and mouth still projects a street brawler attitude to the sport. Mainstream will want to see professionalism, not dirty mouthed Dana White. My opinion, however, will be that it won’t necessarily stop the momentum of MMA to the mainstream… they just won’t give Dana White opportunities on LIVE television unless he is civil in front of the camera.
Note to the UFC: Watch 24/7 Mayweather-Hatton and take notes.
^^^ are u serious ???? I cant believe somebody would wright this… the ufc is doing fine,,, and Danas behavior is obviously on porpuse so people will criticize him. I do agree with the pride thing..
I agree with your list. Dana’s profanity is not a novelty or funny anymore. You don’t see other top president’s or CEO carrying on like he does? I think it slows down the acceptance of MMA into the mainstream sports arena. The Ultimate Fighter series is also getting boring when they film more of the pranks than training and fighting. They should focus more on the trainers explaining to the viewers an armbar, technique, etc, so that they can get more fans.
Am I serious about what? Creating more hype for an event to propel a fight into the regions of fans that swarmed to see Mayweather-Hatton? Yes.
Correction
“The UFC is going to love Rampage’s personality and so will everyone else.”. Did the UFC take advantage? No, they sat him on the shelf for the rest of the year”
He actually fought dan Hendo on Spike television for the championship which garnered more viewers than youporn.com a few months later..
10) Agreed – it was not a “main event” caliber match up, regardless of how good/bad the fight would be.
9) Dana still loves Chuck. I agree that Jackson has not been promoted to the extent he should. Being in the crowd at a PPV does not count.
7) I liked the reality show for the title idea. It took a lot longer than we would have liked but I liked their intent. I won’t hold this against them, it was a fluke accident and GSP/Hughes III is an acceptable replacement in my eyes.
6) This is the most frustrating thing for a fan, let alone a fighter. Bring back Arlovski!!!
5) I won’t make judgment on this one yet. I still think Dana could make this happen.
4) When Dana speaks, people listen. I do agree in that I find my head shaking at some of the things he says, but he is always damned entertaining. Professional? Okay, there’s room for improvement in his public speaking, but I’d rather hear a straight shooter than a BSer.
3) This is always a problem. I won’t mention sites, but there are plenty of credible, unbiased sites. It’s only human nature to want to control all information, but with the internet it is virtually impossible. Hopefully Dana recognizes this sooner than later.
2) I think Dana’s hands were tied in this one. He wants to change the MMA rules in North America (i.e. fights go 5 and 7 rounds instead of 3 and 5). Without the support of the state commissions the sport will become more restrictive. I think his heart was in the right place, but he did it more for the big picture. I’m sure he spoke with Sherk regarding his decision and Sherk’s 1st fight back will be a title shot. Plus, Stevenson vs Penn now becomes potentially 5 rounds instead of 3. I think it’s an all around win-win.
1) They kinda’ jumped the gun on this one. I believe they truly wanted to keep Pride alive, but with the financial situation it was in and no television deal in site I understand why they did it. Had they not bought Pride, it still would have suffered the same fate (IMO). Henderson vs Griffin and now A Silva was almost worth it to me.
Come on this whole article sounds horrible and like ur a hater of the UFC…Ok so they didnt reach an agreement with Fedor get over it they still have 95% of the top MMA talent out there…Ok so they dont market well but still better then all other organization…the one aspect I agree with is Handling of the CSAC’s decision ok but in UFC defense they want to go along withthe commissions of each state to look proper and not banned like in the beginning of the sport…everyone would do something different but they get there first idea from the UFC even YOU as a reporter…you wouldnt be reporting on the sport if it wasnt for UFC blowing up the sport mainstream…So be thankfull Mr. Critic
Marauder,
Good riddance.
I don’t ever remember Marauder posting here in the first place. His 12 year old intellect doesn’t realize that this site is a COMPILATION OF UFC (MMA) NEWS- JACKASS!
Honestly, the news is avalible all over the place. I like this site because it takes the most important (and normally accurate) UFC news out there on the wire, and puts it all in one place. With the recent addition of more writers, it also provides comentary on what you will see around the net. I would imagine “Marauder” has many names, and is a baby we have all seen here before-
I enjoy this site
The worst UFC mistake of the year is not hiring a spokesman
Dana should act like a comissioner and allow the PR person do their job.
This is the reason why HBO and mainstream media like ESPN rarely covers it
He may be responsible for the explosion of the sport
But hell also be the reason why its slowed in growth
After a good load of opinions from various people around the ‘Net regarding the article, I’ve come to the conclusion that some people really can’t analyze the article in the context that top organizations also have problems.
Just because the UFC is on top doesn’t mean that their are aspects to their marketing, promoting, public relations, and overall decisions in how they want to match fighters up and what fighters they want to put on hold for the reality show. These are all legitimate problems. With that said, the UFC is still the best organization for mixed martial arts.
Instead of feeling like the list is a complete shot at the UFC, read it as a list of things that could be improved and were letdowns over this year. Next year will provide the exposure for Rampage, but this year, I believe they let down the fans and the potential money making from him. There are other aspects that have the same future. I’m almost positive that the UFC is going to market and promote more events with more aggression. If the UFC Super Bowl weekend card isn’t amped, I’ll definitely be critiquing.
“…Note to the UFC: Watch 24/7 Mayweather-Hatton and take notes.
^^^ are u serious ???? I cant believe somebody would wright this…”
Po, are you serious???
Did you watch any of the 24/7 shows? The UFC fight build up is usually weak and as evidenced, I barely realize that Hughes/GSP III and Silva/Liddell and Sokodjou are fighting, none of this is even being discussed, and the fight is 10 days away.
The UFC does need to take notes from the 24/7 HBO prodcution.
Apparently, someone hasn’t been keeping up with the news when it came to the UFC buyout of PRIDE. The UFC DID buy the contracts of the PRIDE fighters (it was part of the deal), but some fighters outright refused to fight for the UFC. So those fighters had no choice but to wait out their contract.
Zuffa wanted to keep PRIDE alive, but they couldn’t get a TV deal. Call it the leftover reason as to why PRIDE lost their TV in the first place, or Ethnocentric Japan just refusing to deal with an American controlled entity, but to lump all of PRIDE’s problems on the UFC is just asnine.
I agree with alot of this article. I was at the event in Jersey and although I had an awesome time I agree Rashad vs Bisping was not a main event worthy bout maybe a co-main event.
Chuck was the poster boy for the ufc when they were just starting to get in the mainstream and I can respect that there looking after him since he was so loyal to the company and big in bringing it to the mainstream but Rampage isnt getting pushed as much as he should be the man is hilarious and i gotta go to youtube to see him sayin something funny… let him commentate!!!
Although I dont like boxing I cant help but get sucked in by 24/7 but to pull off a show like 24/7 you need a fighter like (and this kills me to say cuz I dont like this guy) Mayweather if the ufc is gonna try a show like that you need a fighter with some charisma to carry it and I dont know how many could pull it off
I like the idea of them hyping a title fight with the coaches granted Hughes vs Serra took forever and ended in a bad way but lets remember season 1 was to hype the rematch between Chuck and Randy so this tactic isnt new so I disagree on that point
This is a point I agree with completly stop dicking your fighters around when there contracts are almost up (Arlovski Marquardt etc) because pretty soon there going to get feed up and leave the ufc.
This was a year of broken promises with the Fedor one being the one that hurts the most you promised me Fedor and you give me Brock Lesner?!?!
Although when Dana White talks it may not sound the most professional but hes talking like most 18-25 year old guys I know. And isnt that the demographic hes trying to reach?? Dana White filthy sailor or suave genius you can decide
The website thing I dont know much about with the buy out of PRIDE I only use this site the ufc offical site and a few others to get my ufc news
That whole CSAC was handled horribly by all parties involved the CSAC bumbled and stumbled there way to a decision and Dana White shouldve kept quiet on the matter till the ruling was passed
And finally I dont have a problem with them killing off Pride because of the financial situation plus there tv contract with FSN is up very shortly if its not already i do however have a problem with the ufc not buying out the fighters contracts dont get me wrong they brought over some great guys but people like Fedor and Gomi slip away to other organizations
All in all good article with alot of good points and if nothing else this article gives ufc and mma fans something to debate til next year
24/7 did a ton to sell a fight in a sport that has been struggling lately. Imagine if you took a sport that already has momentum (a.k.a. MMA) and do something like this (granted, TUF is intended to be the substitute, love it, but it’s not) and it would take the sport to unheard of levels….
The HBO deal wasn’t squashed by HBO, it was squashed by the UFC. They didn’t want to hand over production rights (and I agree with that move) The UFC’s product is much better than the competitors (production wise) and they don’t want to loose that one clear advantage,but…. HBO would’ve produced a 24/7 for Chuck/Wandy for sure.
As far as needing a personality to match Mayweather???? Are you kidding me, Forrest/Rampage has more personality and charisma than Mayweather has fought outclassed fighters.
Actually, all of the fighter contracts were NOT transferable. Some were, but it was a case sensitive deal. Like Fedor, he was allowed to sign elswhere because of his open ended contract.
Leland,
Great op piece. I agree wholeheartedly. It’s unfortunate that so many “Zuffa Heads” can’t see what’s going on. They blindly follow whatever Dana feeds them and eat it up. These are the same people who will buy a Brock Lesnar Vs Frank Mir PPV main event for $100 and say “if you can’t afford it then maybe you should ghet another job you homo!”
These fans were not around when we were upset at them raising the price after UFC 58 because we knew eventually the price would keep going up.
UFC is NOT a sport. It’s a sports entertainment empire. A sport has the best compete against the best, not putting whole divisions on hold to film a television show for a popularity contest.
Luckily, UFC’s stranglehold will come to an end when these Zuffa Heads move onto the next fad. The fighters like Randy are already abandoning ship, and some fighters were smart enough to not even board in the first place (Fedor) We just need to sit and wait for Dana to fall flat on his face when the fad ends.
Great article. By the way, Jake Rossen has always been a world class retard.
OK Rampage and Forrest aside how many other fighters could deliver an interesting show to watch when theres no bad blood? Tito because he would create bad blood but who else if you can come up with more tell me who I am overlooking I am sure theres a few but as right now I cant think of anyone Id watch.
I love the guys who just love to b**** and then have nothing to back it up. No one is ever told they have to agree with anyone’s comments, but to cry about this or that without offering a counter argument is funnier to read than listening to Liddell in an interview.
Leland,
I would assume somebody with an educated view of the MMA world in general would have written a less biased, one-sided piece.
You present some of the facts, but not all. Granted I will concede that there are things that could be better with the UFC, there are also a number of things that could be worse.
People complain about not enough MMA, but then complain that the number of shows cuts down on the marketing. Of course boxing/HBO can put a tonne of money into their 24/7 series…they only had two big shows this year. De la Hoya/Mayweather and Hatton/Mayweather. If the UFC went back to doing three or four shows a year, they could address most of your points. More marketing, more marquee names on each card, less tie-up of title holders.
The point is that everybody loves to complain…apparently you are part of that group. As a reader, I am getting tired of reading all the pissy rants of mma websites regarding the UFC. I enjoyed Jake Rossen’s piece because it looked at the good aspects of the UFC and what it has done for MMA.
If you’re going to write a piece like this, in the future, please present all the facts so that people can consider both sides:
Rampage did fight Henderson.
Fedor’s management was just as much to blame for him not coming the UFC.
Holding up the LHW title in order to market two of the premiere fighters.
The state of Pride when it was acquired by Zuffa.