Josh Barnett Offers Advice to Would-Be MMA Promoters

No, they shouldn't. They can't operate within a vacuum, because what every promotion does, even to a small extent, is going to affect them, but they can't worry about competing with UFC.

They have to try and make sure that:

a) They can put together a great product, in a fashion that is going to draw people to watch it and is available for people to watch it.

b) All their i's are dotted and all their t's are crossed, and everything is laid out and set up, so that someone like UFC couldn't come along and try and find some way to throw a wrench into it, hijack it, challenge it by running programming against it or just simply going behind the scenes to whoever and making a few handshakes, and (say), "Hey, make sure this thing doesn't go off."

You've worked with many promoters in your career. Why is it so hard for new organizations to get traction?

They don't secure the viewership first and basically they just spend way too much right off the bat.

Of course, you're going to lose money when you start, but some of these guys, I think they come in not with the understanding of how long it's going to take them to recoup that investment, and they don't have a nest egg that's large enough to hang in there, especially at the level they're trying to do it at.