From my novice MMA eyes, it seems that Dana has a penchant for placing his ego before his product, lacks tact in dealing with sensitive business situations, and has taken to the belief that the rise of UFC makes it an invincable product. I dont really need to list occasions where his temper and ego have gotton the best of him, you all know them. From a distance, I have watched Randy walk this week, and Dana make a remark about not wanting Fedor in the UFC... :huh How many times will those above him make a complete ass out of their product before buying him a PR man or getting rid of him? He is supposedly a great mind in the MMA business, but for example Bobby Knight was a great mind in basketball and Indiana finaly decided that his tendancy to be an ******* overshadowed this.
I think you're hit it right on the head on all points. He is an oustanding marketer. He did in fact take UFC from 0-60 in 3 seconds. But he seems to be under the impression that he's the commodity. That we as fans actually want to see and hear him. He also doesn't have an aire of professionalism. When you hear commissioners (which he is and then some) of other sports its not ripe with profanity. I think there is a VERY real chance that under Dana the UFC can indeed reach critical mass way to soon. That being said he has done an outstanding job in many respects. He has actually put MMA in the majority of homes wired for cable. That was one hell of an accomplishment. Lets just hope he sits down and shuts up shortly.
he obviously has done very well, but sometimes his hard bargaining might not help him any. Arlovski doesn't seem to be a concern for him anymore and Dan Henderson might be in the same boat. Randy was also unhappy with his contract. He'd rather let a good fighter go then pay him his demands it seems which in some ways is a good thing because he has to try to keep the payroll under controll.
When you are making the money ufc is making nowand you can fund the whole card for under a million dollars something is badly wrong.
Payroll? The UFC makes millions! They MUST share that wealth with the fighters as it is THEY that make the UFC. All the other big orgs like Hero`s K1 PRIDE and Bodog have been able to come up with the cash neccesary to keep there big players.The UFC doesnt seem to be interested in this. The heavy division is now a mess. They havent been able to aquire Fedor.Randy has gone.Cro Cop turned out to be a bust.Nog got a rude awakening.And the only guy standing tall again is now Tim Sylvia!?!?! That smacks of massive inconsistency. Dana`s got to understand the be all and end all is NOT the UFC. The UFC is NOT the face of MMA.
It simply means Dana is no better than Don King.Even King has his fighters/heavies on million dollar sums.Admittedly MMA isnt as big as boxing yet in terms of payroll but to have a card under a mill is a farce.
Dana was the right man to get MMA this far this fast. But i think he is not the right man to make it an actual mainstream SPORT that will be recognized as a sport. The TUF is NOT helping it. Even though he "pretends" that he doesn't want drama and testosterone flowing in the show, he really does. It gives him the ratings and thats what he cares about.
Dana isnt a marketting genius.If he was he wouldnt say the things he does.I dont think the popularity of MMA can be attibuted to him.It already has a bigger following in the east and a 18-30 year old demographic in the west.Thats not anything to be really proud about.
The TUf is certainly helping and of course he wants drama in the show, it has to be interesting and entertaining which for the most part it is.
atsch I don't think he can do anything right in your books, As big as a ***** he can be he has done wonders for the sport in the west. Being bias doesn't mean you have to be in denial.
He's certainly on a cold streak right now, but the fact that the UFC is the biggest org in the world and so many other orgs have tried and failed is a testament to his ability.
