Dear UFC, Here Are Some Things You Are Doing Really Wrong

There comes a time in every man’s life when he has to stand up to the bully. Right now, we are McFly and the UFC is Biff. Well, nobody calls us ‘chicken’…

It’s not often that media outlets are willing to stand up to the might of the UFC, and you can’t really blame them for that. Journalists are somewhat forced to ‘play nice’ when talking about the UFC, in fear of reprisal in the form of press pass applications being blocked, or getting an earful from the outspoken president Dana White during a press conference or media scrum.

Undoubtedly the most powerful force in the mixed martial arts world, the UFC has often been accused of monopolizing the game, underpaying fighters, and just general strong-arm, underhanded, lying BS tactics. In the hope of not turning this post in to a full on negative feed, let’s point out that the UFC has done more for MMA than any other promotion in the history of the sport. Without them, we would likely be remembering how mixed martial arts once was, and not how it’s still growing today.

But, and it’s a big one, the leader of all MMA promotions is also making some of the biggest mistakes, and they will soon start costing them dearly. Now, more than ever, the UFC needs to get their ducks in line, and save themselves from stumbling on the same pitfalls as boxing before them.

Without further ado, here are some things the UFC are doing very f*cking wrong:

Reebok

A good one to start with, as it’s quite possibly the most shambolic, ridiculous and restrictive sports partnership in the history of everything. Not only can the apparel giant fail at every possible turn in terms of spelling fighter’s names, naming fighters completely wrong, making spelling mistakes like ‘flexibilty’ during the big reveal and release highly offensive Irish tees which are missing Northern Ireland, but apparently they can also fine athletes like Donald Cerrone for having an ounce of personalized attire at UFC on FOX 17.

The UFC Reebok reveal looked something like Power Rangers-The High School Years (yes, I made that up)

Also the deal means that fighters who were once making a nice paycheck from fight week sponsorships, now can expect a measly $2.5-10K in total for their efforts, unless they have a boatload of fights for the UFC or are champion, but even then it’s capped at $40K. The longer the promotion refers to the deal as a home run, and essentially buries their heads in the sand, the longer it will continue to eat away at their legitimacy.

Only months in to the seven year deal, does anyone truly think the camel’s back will hold up with the already cumbersome bale of straw it’s lumbered with? Enough beating around the bush. This deal sucks, please go away Reebok.

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Harbouring douchebags

Here’s one that’s only really come to a head over he past year, but the UFC is guilty of at nearly every opportunity presented. Harbouring douchebags for the financial benefit of the UFC is not only immoral, but very dangerous too. Think back to UFC 152, when a clearly juiced Vitor Belfort very nearly broke Jon Jones‘ arm, how would you feel if the promotion had openly stated they were aware Belfort was on the down low before that fight with ‘Bones?”’

Probably would have been pretty annoyed, but not as much as if the news only emerged three years later through a leaked email in a deadspin article. Well, the latter happened, and it’s only the first in a string of examples we could use. Another involves the handling of UFC light-heavyweight Jon Jones and his infamous 2-hour stay in a rehab facility after he failed an out of competition drug test before UFC 182. Conveniently the pop for cocaine was only revealed after his January 2015 bout with Daniel Cormier. Instead of forcing Jones to get help then, real help, the UFC let matters get serious when Jon Jones went in to full meltdown.

Let’s keep the ball rolling.

Holding everything hostage

This subject is a deep one, but before we start, let’s get one thing clear; I’m more than aware the UFC is a limited and privately owned business, who are entitled to do whatever they please with their product and associated assets. BUT, this doesn’t mean they have to hold everything to a monetary ransom, including their fighters.

Wanderlei Silva for example, gets in to beef with the UFC, and they utilize their air tight contract to put him out of active combat, period. That’s an example of the UFC holding fighters too tight, but what about online content? The feature image of a copyright infringing Youtube video speaks for itself, but let’s take a close look at this subject for a moment.

What the UFC is essentially missing out on by clamping down on literally ANY fight footage or copyrighted video being used ANYWHERE online aside from their designated outlets is huge. When millions are willing to work as free advertisers for you, and some (as you’ll see later in the article) are willing to spend hours editing video footage, with some being better than your own production team, why would you try to shut them down?

The fact that the UFC is only willing for their content to be viewed by someone that’s paid a monthly fee for it is just absurd. One key to growth in any market involving the internet is exposure, and the UFC is limiting themselves of such air time, thinking that people are more likely to buy a pay-per-view card for the 13-second main event finish, than to wait for the GIF or video jack on Facebook.

In summary, Carlos Weiner of Reddit:

That’s what’s called “earned advertising/content” in marketing. It’s when you have a brand/product that resonates with people so much, they’re willing to get creative with it and basically advertise it for you

Skip to page 3 for the conclusion of the article…

Dana f*cking White

UFC president Dana White is undoubtedly a huge ambassador for the sport of MMA, but is becoming more and more unhinged as the years go by. His style of interview is no doubt entertaining, but he can often become so aggressive and irate when anyone questions the UFC that it’s a bit concerning. Add in the fact he spews lies like a fountain of bullsh*t, such as this classic: ‘The Reebok Deal Is A Home Run,’ and you can see why the UFC prez is getting a bit of an image bashing here.

Then there’s the whole Twitter thing. White openly admits he enjoys trolling fans on Twitter, often making fun of their physical appearances, telling them to f*ck off, calling them freaks and idiots, but that is a very thin and dangerous line to play on. All it takes is for someone with body dis-morphia or extreme depression to get abused by the UFC president, and then we could be looking at a very different kind of controversy.

And how about the way he talks about his fighters? Refusing to talk about Jose Aldo, the number one P4P fighter of the time, at the UFC 189 press conference. Is this guy for real?

Normally, I’d curb how much I’d reveal of my own opinion towards people online, but this is Dana White we’re talking about here.

Which leads us quite nicely on to the next subject…

Fighter treatment

We’ve all talked about how underpaid fighters are, but this isn’t the only issue. Frankie Edgar, the perfect example of the promotion screwing fighters over, is a key player in this subject. Undoubtedly in line for a title shot for the last two years at featherweight, ‘The Answer’ can only be described as the unluckiest UFC fighter on the roster right now. His treatment by the UFC is nothing short of disgusting.

To sum up how badly Frankie Edgar is getting screwed, here’s Frankie Edgar explaining:

“I thought they wanted me to go in the cage (After McGregor beat Aldo at UFC 194),” Edgar said during an appearance on The MMA Hour on Monday. “And then as I’m about to walk in Dana [White] was walking out, he said, ‘you’re not going in there, Conor’s going up, blah blah blah, we might give Aldo a rematch, we don’t know.’ I just kind of…I’ve never been, I mean granted Conor put himself in a position to be in charge, but I’ve never been there. Usually I do what they ask me.”

“”For sure, I’m pissed,” he told Ariel Helwani. “I’ve been at it for a while now, I’ve been knocking on the door for this title shot for a while. It started with Cub [Swanson]. If Cub beat me he was promised a title shot. I beat him, I finished him in pretty dominating fashion and no, I’m not even considered for that title shot. I take it in stride. I do everything in stride, I really do think I’m a company man, but it’s not really panning out for me being that way.”

“I’m there — I’m there already,” he said. “I’m not one to sit there and cry about it. People, my whole career say, ‘you’re too quiet, you need to say stuff,’ and the minute you say something it’s, ‘you’re f*cking crying.’ I mean come on, you just can’t win with these people. And you really can’t pay attention to them. The people I need to talk to are Dana and Lorenzo, and they seem like they’re not listening either.”

“What am I going to do, scream and shout?” he said. “What can I do? Dana and Lorenzo, they know what I want man. People are like, ‘you need to call them.’ They f*cking know what I want. What, am I going to bother them? For what? For them to say no? So they can promise me something one day and say no the next? Come on.”

“Realistically, I’m setting myself up for that already,” he said. “I’m setting myself up for hope for the best, expect the worst. I’m expecting the worst.”

This has to stop. Not only are fighters putting their lives on the line, losing family time and golden years due to injury and competitive obligations, they are not getting paid enough, and rarely having their just dues delivered. Over half a billion in revenue for the UFC in 2015, and still fighters are making £2K for getting their asses whooped.

On the plus side, this is why we love MMA. Thanks for reading!