I want to see some promotion vs. promotion events, like Strike Force guys taking on UFC guys. So if there's a top dog in Strike Force, he doesn't have to leave that company to face the top dog in UFC.
As soon as the UFC do that then they recognise an orgs legitimacy as a top org. As soon as that is done, their NFL, we are the best status is washed down the drain! Buying WEC, Pride, stealing Shields, putting other orgs out of business, 'minor league' disses etc would be a waste of time.
K1 and Dream have no problem with co-promotions. I'm not sure but i think strikeforce could potentially co-promote too. The UFC will never do it though..NEVER
K-1 and Dream are owned by the same company. Dream does co-promote with Strikeforce all the time. The UFC co-promoted when there was somebody of the same status as them (Pride) but the experience showed why co-promotion is a bad idea. Ideally a promoter wants a win-win fight and if he puts his guy against another promoter's guy then he's gambling on getting the right result. When everybody outside the UFC has such a lesser profile than the UFC fighters there's nothing to gain and everything to lose from such a deal. A similar thing is true of Strikeforce and Bellator.
did they ?....I remember dana and Liddell in a pride gp but can you call "that" a co-promoted event ? or just dana betting on chuck to grab pride's lhw grand prix belt ?
Boom. Thats because it was NOT a co promotion. That was ran entirely by DSE PRIDE. Dana put Chuck in the PRIDE GP because he was sure he was going to win it and placed a huge bet on Chuck. As we all know Chuck got blasted by Rampage in a round. I dont remember him stitting ringside when Monson beat Fujita at PRIDE 34....:nono Dana does not co-promote because he simply doesn't have to and just doesn't want to. He is unwavering in his loyalty to his own brand. Like i said he doesnt give a **** about MMA or what the fans want. He does what is best for the UFC and its business.
maybe that's why co-promotion is bad idea for them ? He wanted to test the waters (so to speak) with Liddell... and still failed..
Chuck was the face of the brand back then. If he had won the GP it would have been excellent PR for the UFC and may have enticed some of their stable to come to the UFC which is what Dana was banking on. It never happened. Either way the UFC have never co-promoted. And Dana has made it VERY clear he's not interested in this. So to me its not even up for discussion. That said the chances of Dana sending his fighters to other promotions is zilch. He got burnt with Chuck and wont do that ever again.
This is what i heard too. Although i cant confirm any of the particulars of the deals. Anyway Dana often used to send his fighters over in PR stunts although they never fought. I recall seeing a young Tito handing flowers to Igor and Tra Telligman at one of the earlier PRIDE events around 2001 or so. He also sent Couture who was part of the commentry team with Bas and Quadros.
I think the bet was for Chuck to win the tournament, but Dana tried to back down saying the bet was for Chuck beating Wandy in the final. All second hand internet speculation, but I would doubt that it's got some truth to it
It probably depends on how popular the fighters become as individuals. If a fighter becomes famous enough to become the entire reason for a card, like in boxing; you'll probably see multiple promoters, like you do in boxing. MMA is still a young sport, it's hard to predict in what direction it will head. It is an individual sport, so it could follow a path similar to professional boxing. It may also follow a path similar to American Football or basketball. The UFC is a promotional company, but it is trying to operate like a league. The NFL is the elite organization for American Football. The NFL has faced organizational competition, such as the AFL. There was later a merger, and the NFL grew larger. You have a similar history in Basketball with the NBA and the ABA. You don't have to look back very far to see a similar incident in MMA. The WEC was an independent organization until being purchased by Zuffa around 2006.
No. Its is not. So tired of this really poor analogy. If the UFC was trying to operate like a league why did they purchase and then get rid of the WEC, WFA, and PRIDE? Why did Dana rejoice at the demise of EliteXC and Affliction? The UFC is nothing remotely close to a league. They're an independent business franchise. And the only reason why they allowed the WEC to still operate was because they got rid of their divisions below lightweight. It posed absolutely no threat to the UFC. Now that the UFC is running out of stars they've absorbed the WEC in the hope of capitalising on its success. Where are these independent franchise's operating under the UFC/Zuffa? O thats right there are none.