Will WEC Fighters Ever Reach the Financial Success of Their UFC Counterparts?
by Leland Roling on Jun 5, 2009 10:03 AM EDT
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CagePotato.com has a captivating interview with the WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown regarding his upcoming title matchup with the "California Kid" Urijah Faber taking place this Sunday at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. The standard questions pertaining to the matchup were asked, but there were some issues that Mike Brown brought up that peaked my interest:
Are you content with being the WEC champion? Does it feel like a big enough stage, a big enough accomplishment for you?
I’m content because it’s the best show in the world for 145 pounds. Of course I wish the money was better. I know the heavier weights are getting a lot more money than I am and that makes me sad sometimes, especially when I think that I could be two losses or so away from making nothing again and then I could be someone who had reached the number one spot in my weight class but never achieved any kind of financial security. I’d still be broke, no matter if I’d been the top guy or not. That’s upsetting sometimes.
Do you get the sense that some people, other than real serious MMA fans, don’t appreciate what it means to be the WEC featherweight champ?
Oh, definitely. The average guy on the street just doesn’t understand it. I get asked all the time, ‘You’re the WEC champ now, so does this mean you get to go to the UFC?’ It’s frustrating sometimes. I’ve reached the number one spot for my weight but unless you’re a real hardcore MMA fan you don’t know what that means. To other people, it’s like I’m an amateur champ or something.
Brown goes on to talk about the idea that fighting Miguel Torres at featherweight would be probable because of the bigger payday. Brown's answers don't strike at any new idea within the landscape of the smaller weight classes. Fighters within the WEC make far less than UFC fighters for a number of reasons. The UFC makes a lot more money than the WEC. They're highly exposed to the general public while the WEC is fairly unknown. They have successful pay-per-view cards that make boatloads of money while the WEC is still stuck on a third-rate sports network that isn't within the main package of cable channels like SpikeTV is.
Some fans would say Brown's comments are motivated by avarice rather than financial security, but the truth of the issue is that paydays in the WEC are slim. The WEC 38 payouts are a good case in point. Faber earned the highest earnings during the event at $48,000 while Pulver earned $34,000. Jaime Varner earned $34,000 while Donald Cerrone only earned a measely $9,000. The WEC's bonus system normally tacks on an extra $10,000 for fight of the night, knockout of the night, or submission of the night bonuses. Even more surprising is the disparity between the top fighter in the division and a guy who is one fight away from breaking into title contention or an actual title contender. I'm sure Zuffa pushes some sort of "under the table" bonuses, but we have to remember that none of these guys earn PPV revenues and likely earn far less undisclosed bonuses than top UFC fighters.
Will these smaller weight class fighters ever enjoy the big paydays? It'll take some monumental moves by the WEC. The promotion would likely need to move from Versus to a bigger network in order to get the exposure they deserve. The lighter weight classes can be some of the most exciting MMA fights that casual fans have never seen, and those fights need to be shown to a wider audience on a more accessible network. With more fans come better ratings, and with better ratings come the potential for the WEC to actually unfold a PPV structure and attract new fighters with better payouts. Of course, many more things would need to happen, but the idea is there.
The WEC's weight classes deserve a bump in pay, and Mike Brown may be out of luck during his career as it'll take some time for Zuffa to promote the WEC to that sort of level that commands bigger paydays. I've always been an advocate of ridding the promotion of the Lightweight division and featuring only Featherweights and lower. This could potentially allow the UFC to connect themselves by name with the promotion publicly without any conversations as to why there are two Lightweight champs under the Zuffa banner. Maybe then, Mike Brown could walk down the street and be called the world champion rather than an amateur champion.
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Urijah just talked bonuses in that interview where he talked about a fighter’s union. He said that sometimes the bonuses were bigger than the contracted purse.
I figured that much. If that’s the case, it might be safe to say Urijah could have earned over $100,000 in some of his fights. That’s phenomenal considering the promotion isn’t close to what the UFC currently is, but we are talking about the stars of their division. They would be the equivalent to guys like Penn, GSP, Silva, Rampage, etc. if they had the right promoting and hype surrounding them.
Of course, that’ll all take a lot of time. I don’t know if they’ll ever reach that level, to be honest.
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by Leland Roling on Jun 5, 2009 10:37 AM EDT up reply actions
It’s unfortunately a truth in every combat sport that the fighters in heavier weightclasses just get paid more. If you become one of the top few guys in the world, though, at featherweight or bantamweight, believe me that you’re compensated much better than is shown in the fight contract amount that is reported by the athletic comissions.
It’s unfortunately a truth in every combat sport that the fighters in heavier weightclasses just get paid more.
That’s just not true in boxing anymore.
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by Brent Brookhouse on Jun 5, 2009 11:34 AM EDT up reply actions
Exactly, and why would that be? Smaller fighters are more exciting in boxing?
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by Leland Roling on Jun 5, 2009 11:50 AM EDT up reply actions
Understandable, and that was what I thought was going on in the world of boxing. I actually can’t remember the last truly great HW boxing bout I watched. I’d have to go back some years in my mind.
My thought was that smaller guys are much more exciting in the world of boxing, and I would hope that would translate over to MMA, but it seems they are still on the side of the hill while the bigger guys reign the top.
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by Leland Roling on Jun 5, 2009 11:59 AM EDT up reply actions
ryanwk628 is correct. For decades, the biggest paydays came for the heavier boxers. noly when those weight classes lacked talent, did boxing need to turn to the little guys to keep the sport afloat, and that is when the bigger paydays came in.
by AlwaysRelaxing on Jun 5, 2009 11:59 AM EDT up reply actions
Or the NBA...
I’m sorry…but has anyone noticed what a GIANT Lebron would be in MMA? (size only…not saying he’d be a great fighter) The guy is 6’8" 250 lbs and a hyper athlete.
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by Brent Brookhouse on Jun 5, 2009 10:57 PM EDT up reply actions
Think about Michael Phelps:
6’4"
200 lbs.
Mega Athlete
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Jun 5, 2009 11:34 PM EDT up reply actions
In fact there is a basketball prospect who is about to be drafted, James Johnson who is a black belt and was interested in MMA.
Johnson is a 6-foot-8, 235-pound small forward/power forward type who averaged 15.0 points and 8.5 rebounds. He’s an athlete, considered a good perimeter defender. He can face up, has a post game. He comes with a list of negatives, too: He needs strength, bulk, a better foul shot, more focus and assertiveness.
But there is one real appeal: He may be the toughest prospect in the upcoming draft.
Johnson is the son of a mixed martial arts champ father and a karate black belt mother. He’s one of nine kids, all karate experts. He’s a black belt, a national and world titlist and an accomplished kickboxer.
A Worldwide Fighting Championships mixed-martial-arts competition had come to Cheyenne, Wyo., in the spring of Johnson’s junior year of high school, and on the morning of the event a promoter looking for last-minute fill-ins on the amateur card called James’s father, Willie, the patriarch of Wyoming’s unofficial first family of fighting. A sixth-degree black belt, Willie runs J&P’s Martial Arts school in Cheyenne and is married to Vi, also a black belt. They have eight children who are black belts (as well as a ninth who is a blue belt, but she’s only 10). James, the fifth child, was then 18 and had never fought in an MMA bout, but he had won seven world karate titles and nine national ones, and he was 20-0 as a kickboxer. He’d also been trained by his father to be fearless, so he volunteered to fight in the 205-pound weight class against Damond Clark, a 31-year-old from Casper who has since turned pro.
"Boxing is dirty," said Casamayor. " The day I’m not ready to be a dirty fighter is the day I don’t fight anymore because it will mean that I have no heart for it anymore."
Sorry meant to put all of that in quotes…
"Boxing is dirty," said Casamayor. " The day I’m not ready to be a dirty fighter is the day I don’t fight anymore because it will mean that I have no heart for it anymore."
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Yes. I have thought about this many times. Those special athletes aren’t raised on MMA yet. They will be soon.
This sport is going to be fucking insane when I’m 40.
by Derek Suboticki on Jun 6, 2009 4:51 PM EDT up reply actions
True about the biggest draws in boxing over the past few years, definitely. I guess I was thinking more about from a historical aspect. If a gold medal winning heavyweight and gold medal winning flyweight are about to make their pro debuts, more times than not the heavyweight will get paid more. Intrinsically there’s no reason it should be that way, I agree. I actually prefer watching the lower weightclass fighters and think they’re more exciting. Historically, it’s just a market driven truth in the U.S.
It’s the larger than life affect, the bigger the guy is the more he stands out. Sports viewers like to see larger than life athletes, whether that is physical or personality. Still if you can have them larger than life in both senses that is a huge plus, like Ali.
There is also the perception (mis-perception?) that heavyweight is the pinnacle of fight sports, that the heavyweight champion is the best fighter in the world and can beat all the other champions. Would Fedor be near as popular if he was a lighweight? Would we even be discussing him? Fedor gets the most attention because he fights the biggest and most impressive looking heavyweight opponents even though a real arguement could be made that Miguel Torres’s record and skill is just as impressive. If you stood Torres and Brock Lesnar side by side the average person would say that Lesnar is the better fighter every time based solely on appearance and size. The average person just equates bigger with better.
It might also be the supply/demand. THere are so many fewer huge men than small men, in combat sports and in general. But that’s just speculation.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
by AJB on Jun 5, 2009 6:21 PM EDT up reply actions
The UFC should replace their 155 division with the WEC 145 division. The fights at 145 are consistently more entertaining in every organization.
I dislike Matt Hughes.
They shouldn’t get rid of 155 but they should adopt the 145 and 135 divisions from the WEC. I can’t think of a reason not to. Looking at the 12 UFC PPV’s that have either aired or been announced for 2009 (93-104) only 6 of them had/have title fights. With 2 more divisions that will mean more title fights on PPVs which presumably would mean more buys. The fighters will also benefit from increased pay. It seems like everyone wins.
That seems like a good idea. I think one of the ideas behind keeping seperate promotions is grabbing up more advertising and television deals that are seperate from the UFC. While moving 135 and 145 to the UFC would be great, they’d rid themselves of those sponsors that are in with the WEC at a lower cost. That could be the thinking behind it. I’m not entirely sure if that’s a valid reason or not.
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by Leland Roling on Jun 5, 2009 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions
Having the WEC is smart from a diversification standpoint. It gives Zuffa $$ from a different cable channel.
That was my thinking, but there are probably some other reasons we haven’t thought of.
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by Leland Roling on Jun 5, 2009 12:01 PM EDT up reply actions
Not that this is a huge issue, but I believe the WEC cage is smaller than the UFC cage (though I haven’t done the due diligence to ensure that Zuffa owned WEC uses the same cage size as was used previously, but it certainly “looks” smaller than the UFC cage to my eye).
The reasoning behind this is that the cage is proportionally similar for the smaller framed fighters. In practice, it tends to make for more action during fights. So there could be some worry that a larger cage may reduce the amount of action in the cage (this is probably unlikely, but may be a concern for people holding the money and power), or that there would be resistance from the bigger guys to switch to the smaller cage.
I don’t know what the best solution is, but it would be nice if more casual fans could see the stellar fights that permeate every single WEC event. The small guys tend to put on my exciting fights (on average), in my humble opinion and it would be nice if more casual fans were able to see and appreciate this. Though ultimately I’m just echoing the choir and not offering any further useful suggestions, so I’ll just shut up now.
3 round heavyweight fight, usually boring.
3 round featherweight fight, usually exciting.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
UFC needs to adopt the WEC
you can keep lightweights and lighter segregated from WW and over so they can each have their own cage size.
or make an average ring size as a compromise.
continue doing business with VS. i love the HD fights
why not do that
and put everything under the UFC brand? Then the UFC could put on shows in the WEC tv slot of up and coming guys, with those sponsors… give it additional creditability with the UFC brand name, and have two more titles to put on the PPV shows. Then you could have 2 belts on the line in one ppv which would only help the buy rate.
Having the up and coming fighters who normally dont make the main card on TV gives them exposure and people develop an attachment to the guys. Much the same way boxing fans watch fighters on MSG and Friday Night Fights, then they progress to normal HBO shows and once they have a following, big PPVs.
It depends how Zuffa wants to do it. With the UFC brand name on the show, they may command much more money from sponsors to feature their brands. That might scare off sponsors while the WEC probably charges a tremendous amount less due to their lower exposed brand name.
My thought was eliminating the LW division in the WEC, and then having the UFC tag their brand alongside with WEC. That way, fans would know that the WEC is basically the UFC of the lower weight classes. They could continue operating under the WEC banner, charge lower amounts for sponsorships, and then when fans begin to flock to see the “other UFC”, sponsorship costs rise and fighters get paid more.
Of course, the idea of having them just merge with the UFC could work, and you’re idea may have some validity.
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by Leland Roling on Jun 5, 2009 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions
Zuffa can’t put UFC programming on Versus network, their contract with SpikeTV is cable exclusive. For that matter their WEC contract with Versus is probably cable exclusive too. Two separate companies, two separate income streams, even if one is much bigger than the other two is still going to be better/more diverse than one. It’s a similar reasoning as to why the WWE runs three separate wrestling promotions when we all know it’s the same thing on a different channel.
So do the WWE Model.
or – evaluate would having live UFC fights on Spike and dropping WEC on vs outweigh the current situation? I think so just because WEC popularity seems to be dwindling as its no longer viewed as a competitor and UFC is perceived as the only game in town.
Plus, those contracts are bound to run out.
I think they just recently signed a new deal with Versus. Them putting more on Spike doesn’t neccessarily help them at all. Shows on multiple networks is good to have but Spike has the UFC exclusively(I think they also recently signed a new long term deal).
The WWE model in this is to have different brands under the WWE umbrella just as Zuffa has different brands underneath their umbrella. The UFC isn’t the parent company Zuffa is, the UFC is just one of their brands. They are doing the WWE model right now as far as that goes, different brands on different networks under one parent company. The difference is that for the WWE the parent company brand is the best known, the sub-brands are pretty much a joke, but the basic framework is the same.
why can't they just call it UFC Light, TUF Light etc.
and keep everything else the same? same exclusive contract deals with the cable companies and what no
Adding more weight classes to the UFC would mean thining out each existing weight class to make room for the new fighters. There are only so many slots on the cards.
A sep org allows the smaller fighters to be front and center. It will take time, but the WEC is slowly growing. They have been able to draw solid crowds and are showing growth.
There are a few items:
1. The UFC should NOT take on more weight classes. This would confuse the casual fan.
2. Because of #1, the lighter guys will never get the benefit of being promoted under the UFC Banner (which guarantees bigger paydays). This means they must use their own fighting skills and name values through the WEC to obtain more money. That is a very hard thing to do.
3. As much as Mike Brown is complaining, he doesn’t mention how much the UFC has benefited his career. The WEC fights automatically get more press because they are put on by the same parent company. And people on the UFC newsletters get emails to tell them about the WEC events. And the UFC website promotes it as well. Without that, he would be making even less.
4. It took Heavyweights to Lightweights over 10 years in the states to get get bigger paydays. The fact that the lighter guys, who have just really come on the scene two years ago, want eveything now is kind of comical.
5. So far, Faber & Brown do not warrent more money. It is doubtful that the WEC is making tons of money. They have no PPV revenues. So I don’t see how he expects to be making more when the WEC isn’t.
by AlwaysRelaxing on Jun 5, 2009 12:04 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
It took Heavyweights to Lightweights over 10 years in the states to get get bigger paydays. The fact that the lighter guys, who have just really come on the scene two years ago, want eveything now is kind of comical.
Very true, and this is something I was thinking about as well. The lower weight classes only recently came to be much bigger in terms of exposure. I think it’ll take some time, and the UFC marketing department is definitely helping that time shrink. It’ll still take a good 5 years or more in my mind.
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by Leland Roling on Jun 5, 2009 12:07 PM EDT up reply actions
I’m all for more pay, but it feels like Brown & Faber want mircles overnight.
I feel for them, I really do. They are getting low pay and they know the guys in their shoes 5 years from now will be making much more money. But there is almost nothing they can do.
by AlwaysRelaxing on Jun 5, 2009 12:10 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, I think the one thing that surprised me a bit was the fact that Brown isn’t even considered a world champ by people on the street, but that comes from the fact that I follow MMA everyday. I can definitely understand a casual fan saying he’s a minor league champ. I have friends who truly believe the WEC is the minor leagues.
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by Leland Roling on Jun 5, 2009 12:13 PM EDT up reply actions
Always, why would this confuse the casual fan? It’s not hard to grasp.
It’s got to be very frustrating to know that you are as good as, and work as hard as some other guys, but because their frame is 10 or 20 pounds heavier they get paid millions of dollars to fight while you are making nowhere near enough money to take care of yourself when you retire at 40.
The UFC took a sport that was regarded as human cockfighting and made it halfway mainstream. Adding a couple of weight classes that are chock full of great fights to the UFC to pad out cards that are not always barn burners would be relatively easy. Might take a while to take off while people adjust, but not really. A good fight is a good fight.
Interestingly enough, I think if you put Torres-Mizugaki on a UFC card a couple of months ago, more casual fans would be talking.
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by Leland Roling on Jun 5, 2009 12:14 PM EDT up reply actions
It’s comical that the guy who’s considered the #1 fighter in the world in his weight class won’t quit his part-time job as an AT&T receptionist, because being #1 in the world still doesn’t give him enough financially security that he can’t quit his back-up job? He’s making good money now, but MMA is a much shorter career than a non-athletic vocation, and there’s no assurance he’ll still be making as much money even two years from now if he starts losing. Compare what he and Faber are making to what the top guy just one weight class above him makes, and the disparity is pretty jarring. BJ Penn earns $125K to show plus $125k to win. Faber earns $24k + $24k and Mike Brown even less than that.
This is not because Zuffa is necessarily underpaying them, at least not by a whole lot, since the WEC doesn’t bring in that much money. At the same time, if they merged with the UFC, both the fighters and the UFC would probably benefit financially from it.
BJ Penn makes his money because of who he is and who he has beat in the past, including winning the Welterweight title, that’s very different from the situation in the WEC or with any of the other guys in the lightweight division in the UFC for that matter. Putting those guys on UFC shows doesn’t guarantee that their payouts would go up to those “superstar levels”.
Oh and I think you are confusing AT&T with American Top Team. Lots of fighters work at the gym where they train at, even guys who make a lot of money fighting.
Okay, my bad on confusing ATT and AT&T. I don’t know how the fuck I did that.
Still, as far as BJ Penn goes, I wouldn’t expect Mike Brown to go up to $125k + $125k a match on a single contract, but the #1 guy at 155 making more than seven times as much per match as the #1 guy at 145 would not happen if both divisions were in the UFC. I don’t think UFC fans would have a problem with lighter weights considering the quality of the fights these guys bring. Yes, more fighters might mean they might remember fewer at other weight classes, but Miguel Torres and Urijah Faber would still be big fucking stars to casual fans, like they deserve to be.
tv
I could see the WEC getting a network TV deal well the UFC does. The exposure and advertising dollars would make up for the disparity in pay, get more eyballs on the sport, help drive the UFC ppv, and create an inroads for the UFC to be on a major network.
"athletes are overpaid" myth translates here as well
You probably hear it in casual conversation all the time: athletes are overpaid. Nonsense. Pro athletes, namely NFL, MLB, NBA are typically paid a fixed portion of the overall revenue, which the players unions negotiate this in their CBA’s. For NFL I believe the player payroll is 60% of the total revenues. Therefore, the athletes are paid in direct correlation with demand for their product. They make boatloads of dough because we shell out boatloads of dough through TV deals, cable deals, apparel and marketable items, etc. If demand shrinks, as is the case with MLB, payrolls shrink. Its that simple. If there was a larger demand for WEC they would be paid more. Ultimate Fighter started out on a fledgeling network with zero promise of success but demand is there for it and it thrives. WEC is the same situation but the ratings aren’t blowing the doors off just yet. Hopefully in time, just like the UFC, it will rise up and have it’s day as well.
Versus just doesn’t get the exposure for them at this point. Versus is growing but it’s still a niche channel that most people don’t even know exist. That has advantages and disadvantages for Zuffa, they have a lot more contract leverage with Versus because Versus needs them so badly. The disadvantage is that Versus just doesn’t draw enough eyeballs for the WEC guys to get the coverage they deserve, you won’t even see explosive growth as long as they are on Versus.
What I would like to see (but will probably never happen) would be for the WEC to get a much better tv deal and for the UFC to ditch their lightweight division to the WEC giving the WEC instant credibility and stars that can draw. The UFC doesn’t have to have a title fight every PPV, heck it would give them more room to build up fighters on main cards and the WEC would have fighters with instant PPV credibility on their cards. For that to happen the WEC would have to have a huge jump in exposure though, I can’t see guys like Penn and Sherk and Florian being happy about moving unless it’s a completly lateral move into a PPV ready company.
It would still allow Zuffa to have two separate income streams but it would put them on a more equal footing (the UFC would still be way above because the bigger guys naturally get more attention). It doesn’t work unless they get the WEC off Versus and find them a home with maximum eyeballs though.
BJ Penn and other would move straight to WW if that ever happened.
UFC is a victim of it’s own curse, and that is that the name UFC sells, not the fighters.
If by victim you mean beneficiary, and curse you mean intelligent growth plan.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
by iiowyn on Jun 5, 2009 3:08 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
…and by curse you mean intelligent growth plan?
by Derek Suboticki on Jun 6, 2009 4:53 PM EDT up reply actions
Subo is right, the UFC name sells more than any individual fighter, which it should, because being dependant on one or even three key fighters is a recipe for failure if you can’t quickly replace them should their star fall or should they jump ship. Dana White does a great job of developing enough talent at all levels, and getting people to care even about the midcarders, that if a Chuck Liddell isn’t a world beater anymore, Andrei Arlovski jumps ship, and even a champion like Randy Couture sits out for over a year, they have plenty of other people to rely on to draw for them.
Which is why I specifically said it would have to be a lateral move, obviously they wouldn’t do it if it was a huge step down. The advantage for a guy like Penn is that he could be the kingpin of a entire organization instead of just one of many stars, he could actually ask for more money in that kind of situation. It would bring legitimacy to the WEC too, the problem with people thinking they are some kind of feeder organization is a very real issue. If they want the WEC to be a sister organization instead of a step sister tag along then they are going to need to start increasing the brand recognition of the WEC brand name and part of that would be the halo effect of having known MMA stars. Obviously none of this ever happens with them stuck on Versus but lets say they were on ESPN or even someplace like USA network then it becomes a lot more viable.
It’s also really tough to sell to brands as equals when they are direct competitors. I know the WEC and UFC have different weight classes and thats what makes them “different”, but it’s not like having Pepsi and Sprite, casual fans will always think of anything non-UFC as a feeder league or sub-par.
Well the fact is that they aren’t a feeder league, they are different. They will never be seen on the same level, the bigger guys will always get more attention, but they can be seen as complimentary brands offering a different take on the same product(such as Coke and Sprite which are both made by the same company but Coke is more popular). Adding women to the WEC would also help differentiate as does the WEC’s focus on the latino demographic. They can aim at different niche’s and sub demographics and have different focuses without being direct competitiors. There is room for them both to exist at and get enough attention to prosper, particulaly since they aren’t actually direct competitiors in a sport sense.
Yes, but I believe the casual perception is not knowledgeable enough yet to see the differences and understanding them at this point of mainstream MMA.
Oh, and I meant Sierra Mist and Pepsi.
=)
so they should make it knowlege
goldie could talk about it
dana should talk about it
their commercials can talk about it
their gear can be side by side
etc etc etc
it’s not hard unless their contract with the networks forbids them from doing it. then i’d a bad contract.
If the WEC must stay separate...
Then I think that adding female fighters would be excellent. They can’t realistically have Gina or Cyborg though, because neither one is going to sign with the WEC over Strikeforce without a gigantic increase in pay, because their sponsors are going to pay them a hell of a lot more for being in Strikeforce where they get more exposure. They could get almost anyone else though.
What the WEC should do is just start divisions at 135 and lower, whee the talent pools are deeper anyway, and wait for stars to come along. Miguel Torres wasn’t the WEC BW champion at its inception. He had to beat Chase Beebe first. Just sign 10-12 women each at 135 and 125, and maybe 8-10 at 115, start holding exhibition matches, and see who rises to the top. Then start having title matches.
Also, if the WEC had a 115 Women’s division, there’s already a star there waiting to be made in Mega Megu.
You're right
Casual fans will always think that.
by Derek Suboticki on Jun 6, 2009 4:53 PM EDT up reply actions
i agree that versus has to go…thats the reason most ppl dont know about the WEC..most guys i know dont even know that they have this channel..unless your a hockey fan then u have no clue what this channel is, its channel 309 on my cable stuck between a couple outdoor channels. i think the only way the champs in the WEC will get paid more is if they go to PPV.
i think if they add the the flyweights(125) and if they would sign gina carrano and make a womens div. then they could definately start doing ppv’s..i would pay 25.99 if they put on a ppv. i wouldnt pay 45 but i would pay 25 and have some ppl over that maybe never saw the wec before
Just turned on Versus and they are showing a freaken foosball tournament. Why are they even a network?
Because ever since ESPN started showing poker and spelling bees, it’s become clear that some idiots will watch just about anything.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
by AJB on Jun 5, 2009 6:24 PM EDT up reply actions
Brown needs to realise that if it wasn’t for Zuffa no one would care about him either way, the lighter weight fighters have come along long way in just a few years since Zuffa bought the WEC.
The idea that anyone should feel sorry for him when 5 years ago if he was in the same position he’s be making even less money and have less fame is ridiculous. Sure I want the WEC guys to make the equal to the UFC guys but Rome wasn’t built in a day it takes time to make a profitable and succefull business.
The UFC can’t add 2 more weight classes, it already has way too many fighters and adding 2 more divisions worth of them would be insane and hurt their current structure which has been very successful. Brown should be very thankfull for the spot that he is in because of Zuffa and the WEC sometimes you shouldn’t wish about what you don’t have but what you have when not to long ago it was nothing.
my thoughts...
-WEC fighters should make as much money, when they generate as much revenue. Is everyone willing to pay to see WEC events, just as we do the UFC?
-I would be ok with changing the name to UFC Light or something along the lines of K1 Max, for branding purposes. i think this would help the fighters recognition, media coverage and ultimately their pay.
-UFC should absolutely NOT bring the 135 and 145 divisions from the WEC. Damn, let’s see the UFC fighters fight. They would really have to thin things out to make room for this.
-The UFC should absolutely put WEC title fights on their ppv cards as a special attraction, 2 or 3 times per year. Get the fighters exposure, cross promote the org and pay the fighters more for being a co-main or something on a ppv card. This would be even better if tehy changed the WEC name.
If you're not submitting, you're just rolling around with another guy.
They wouldn't have to "thin things out..."
They could just put on more Ultimate Fight Nights. And maybe or maybe not two more PPVs a year. They could still have the same number of people under contract, and have them all under the same banner. I don’t think seven weight classes is too many for the UFC when just about every other major organization is doing fights in Heavyweights through Featherweights now. And no one is going to forget who Miguel Torres is after they see him fight.
Re-branding the WEC into something with UFC in the name doesn’t sound like a bad idea, but “UFC Light” is a horrible name. It gives off the wrong impression.
Who says SpikeTV wants to put on more UFC events a year? When you attach the UFC name they are limiting their TV options because Spike’s deal is exclusive to UFC. Having their own brand and just getting off Versus for a better network would do as much if not more for these guys as being shoved into the UFC mish-mash and diluting the UFC product with even more weight classes.
Spike would want more UFC events a year because they bring in (relatively) great ratings, particularly in their target ad demographic (advertisers pay premium money for young men since they tend to spend more money and yet watch less television than people over 50), and Spike TV likes making more money. Furthermore I they’d bend over backwards for the UFC at this point, considering how much the UFC has done for their network.
The other argument I initially agreed with you on, as most Americans don’t even know that Versus is a channel, but after doing some research I might have to completely change my position on Versus being a bad network for the WEC in an upcoming fanpost.
The impression I get...
…is that Dana White might actually be interested in doing a merger down the road. When Zuffa first took over WEC and they started doing shows under the Zuffa banner, White said the idea was for the WEC “to be a competitor to the UFC.” Maybe this didn’t quite pan out the way he wanted, but I think they still want to grow the WEC to the point where the casual fan isn’t oblivious to it. If they can be the dominant promotion at Flyweight, Bantamweight, and Featherweight, and get some recognition from casual fans, then a merger would be much more meaningful.
That seems an awfully long way off though.
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