I don’t agree with your statement about not seeing certain fighters ever fight again. If this happens it could give Affliction a boost and would make them a competitor against the UFC and would give them some cost saving fighters to level out their payscale. They wouldn’t need Fedor, Barnett, etc.. every show. And if it’s not Affliction, somebody will step up with some knowledge to give the UFC some competition.

These guys are like fox news spinning everything…

They predicted by end of 08 the mma world would have evolved into such a state where Zuffa would have no choice but to start co-promoting.

I don’t believe people understand what zuffa is so let me explain:

In boxing you have:

1. the “producers”: HBO, Showtime, ESPN.
2. promoters: arum, golden boy, king, etc…
3. sanctioning bodies: wba, wbc, etc…

Now imagine if there were an entity in boxing that was the “producer”, the promoter and the sanctioning body…

Well In MMA there is one entity that is just that… their name is Zuffa.

The more people understand this the more intelligent analysis we will see and the more intelligent business plans will be deployed.

From my estimation if were to compete in this arena i would set up regional farm systems with a combination of manager/promoter agenda finding propsects building them up and the back end being getting them in the UFC.

Second area is the WNBA to Zuffa’s NBA… a female league.

Beyond this there is no prayer. Zuffa created the F-1 version of their Nascar with the WEC.

Everybody said afflictions paying fighters this is great for the sport… Not really because when they go out of business there will be pain.

What would have been good for the sport is if affliction set up a good business plan where they can stay in business.

from the sec filing that is most telling:

“Even if the Company successfully closes on such financing, it expects to report in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q that its capital resources are sufficient only until the end of the year, and only if the Company makes significant reductions in operations and expenditures. The Company is also actively seeking additional financing beyond the $3.0 million to enable the Company to execute its operating plans without significant reductions in operations, but there is no assurance as to whether any such financing will be available on reasonable terms or at all.”

Looks like the downsizing is ramping up:

http://www.mmahawaii.com/content/view/719/30/

a contenders 11 event which is part of cage rage in the UK was canceled today.

cage rage is down to 3 full time employees.

Im hearing a buy out may be on it’s way…

Im also hearing they are having crazy cash flow issues… to the point where emergency measures are taking place to hopefully put on the cbs show.

Not fair to say UFC is the only company with its shit together. Strikeforce has done a hell of a job getting to the level it has by working with what it has, playing to its strengths, and not trying to be something bigger than it actually is.

I see the UFC being, far and away, the most dominant MMA organization in the world, but I just can’t see a monopoly as long as MMA is popular. The fact is that MMA is a tough business to make profitable. Zuffa’s been working at it for years. ProElite’s strategy is somewhat reminiscent of what technology companies were doing late in the 90’s. They were spending like mad, trying to ride the potential for large profits in the future. That largely didn’t work out. It’s just a strategy that arises when a business is viewed as new and hot. In some situations, the small businesses swallowed up by the high-flying tech firms of the 90’s were sold (back to the original owners in some cases) and resumed life as they were before they were purchased. I could see ProElite divesting these regional promotions. They may be regional entities once again.

Putting on an MMA event is relatively inexpensive relative to the cash outlays required for many other (mainly team) sports. In that regard, I think there will always be investors willing to step up and try to make a profit promoting MMA as long as there are a significant number of fans wanting MMA. If you’re talking about a real threat to unseat the UFC, or whoever the dominant organization happens to be, I don’t know if that scenario is in the cards. I’m not sure I would trust anybody who acts as if they do know what the landscape will be in the years to come. I’m wouldn’t pretend to. It’s all speculation at this point.

Robert Joyner has some follow up on the earlier story from MMA Payout. He explains the jump in Pro Elite’s stock price yesterday and the financing they are seeking.

I think Strikeforce has done well up until now, but they are way too dependent on Frank Shamrock and Cung Le. Le is looking to a future with the UFC or in movies, and SHamrock won’t be around much longer. The last show did really badly live without them.

If Elite XC goes down, then all fighters will be transferred to DREAM since they have a partnership. Elite XC hates the UFC, they will never be bought by them.