Grim Reaper Watch 7/31/2009

The first of a planned recurring review from yours truly.

In Dana White's pre-UFC 91 Vlog, he shared with us that he is "the Grim Reaper, mother****ers" - the undertaker that brings a swift and certain end to all competitors.

This mindset can be more broadly expanded to Zuffa's growing dominance in many areas of MMA - stable of fighter talent, PPV buys, international presence, mainstream media, you name it.  The UFC (/Zuffa) is making rapid inroads toward establishing themselves as the unassailable #1 player in the MMA market.  This feature is a weekly roundup of news item relevant to that crusade.

This first installment of the Grim Reaper Watch is chock full of tidbits.

You would have to have spent the week in outer space to not know that Affliction entertainment has folded.  Affliction was, despite its infancy, one of the few stateside national-scale competitors to the UFC.  Their demise means three things for the UFC: another competitor has closed up shop, much of their talent will fall to the UFC, and Affliction clothing will return to the Octagon - the absence of which (with corresponding sponsorship dollars) has been a bone of contention among UFC fighters.

Following the Affliction meltdown, the UFC (or Zuffa) has picked up much of their talent and is nearing deals with others.  During a media presser today, Dana White shared some details:

(Former Affliction fighters) that we do have locked up right now, for sure, Vitor Belfort, Paul Daley, Ben Rothwell, Chase Gormley, Dan Lauzon, (Rafaelllo) Oliveira; and then guys going to the WEC, Javier Vazquez, LC Davis, Mark Hominick; and we’re in talks with all the other guys right now...There are eight or nine (other) guys that we’re in talks with right now. I don’t like to talk about anything until deals are done.

Vitor Belfort and Ben Rothwell are top-10 and top-20 ranked fighters, respectively, in the middleweight and heavyweight class; Oliveira and Lauzon are exciting young prospects at lightweight; and Davis another exciting WEC pickup at featherweight.  As with the re-acquisition of Tito Ortiz (below), this carries two advantages for Zuffa - the pickup of the talent itself, and the denial of that talent to competing organizations.

The UFC scored another major coup with the repatriation of prodigal son Tito Ortiz, whom White now says will "retire with the UFC" just as his former nemesis Chuck Liddell will do/has done.  As I broke down in this entry, this carries 3 chief advantages for the UFC: another exciting player in the 205 title picture, a fantastic and proven PPV commodity, and depriving their competitors of these advantages.

WEC is moving to expand its global exposure by streaming WEC 42 (and presumably future events) live outside North America on both the WEC and UFC official websites for $9.99.  This can only be good for Zuffa as it extends their reach into other markets, opens another revenue stream, and recognizes some viewer revenue for the WEC organization which airs free on basic cable channel Versus in the United States.

The UFC will air on ESPN in the UK and Ireland starting on August 3rd.  This follows the loss of the Setanta Sports agreement.  UFC 101 on August 8th will be the first event to air live on the station, which will also carry UFC Unleashed.  This is an important move for the UFC, as the UK market is proving to be a lucrative one both for UFC revenue and for incubating UFC talent.

Dana White announced at the same presser today that Zuffa is "very close" to finalizing a deal that will "change the UFC forever" - making it clear that he wasn't referring to acquisition of Fedor Emelianenko.  Speculation about the nature of this landscape-changer is well underway, and includes everything from major sponsors, to conquering Asia, to huge fighter acquisitions, to a major merger, to UFC in New York, to the teased Aloha Stadium outdoor show, and everything in between.  For now, we must wait to learn what Zuffa is cooking up.