What promotion will rise in the year of 2010?
by mountaineers101 on Feb 6, 2010 1:00 PM EST
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As we all know and have seen, MMA has exploded in the past two years. We see fighters in movies and on television quite normally now. Even somebody living under a rock has not heard of the UFC. With the sport on the rise, many promotions are becoming bigger and bigger. That being said, what promotions do you believe will make a rise this year?
-Bellator Fighting Championships have planted the seeds to sucess in the ground of MMA. Showing exciting highlights, ranging from spinning back fists and inverted triangles, on Youtube and seemingly signing bigger name fighters every week, this promotion has a chance to take a meteoric rise this year. The main reason for its lack of exposure to the casual MMA fan can be attributed to the channel it was shown on. For Season 2, they have signed a deal with FSN, a more widely distributed channel. This, however, does not equate to success. If you must, look up the history of the IFL. Bellator Fighting Championships is making a big splash, and it is poised to make a big leap into the consciousness of the mixed martial arts fan.
-Every die-hard fan has heard of the WEC. Stars such as Miguel Torres and Urijah Faber have brought some casual fans into hardcore fandom with their exciting fights and marketable personalities. Also, the idea of a WEC having a boring card seems to be as possible as Keanu Reeves winning an Oscar. One thing holding the promotion back is lack of advertising that can even be in the same ballpark as its sister promotion, UFC. Taking the Versus network off of Directv doesn't help too much, either. Going to Pay-per-view looks like a huge mistake, but it could work out if enough push is put behind the event. With these factors, there is a chance for the WEC to draw more casual fans into the sport.
-The most obvious candidate to become better known with the casual fan is Strikeforce. Although Dana White likes to dismiss the promotion as a bunch of no-name up and comers and UFC washups, the promotion has a good talent pool and rarely fails to put on a barn-burner of a card. Of course, Strikeforce has its flaws. The announcing team sounds like a lovechild between Cris Collinsworth and Dennis Miller. The time management is also awful, sometimes ending events 30 minutes early and filling the wasted time with banter between Mauro Ranallo and Gus Johnson/Pat Miletich/Frank Shamrock. I long for the days of Bill Goldberg to return. With a little work, Strikeforce could be a premium show that grabs the casual fan's attention.
Out of many promotions, those three seem to have the most potential to become better-known to a fan of the sport. Keep in mind, though, that promotions seem to drop out of sight quickly. Look at Affliction, the IFL, EliteXC, etc. Has anyone heard from the UWC lately? So, BE community, what say you on the promotions with the most potential?
The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.
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Shine Fights
Not to the level that UFC, Strikeforce, or WEC are on, but at the rate that they are signing legit fighters, if they are able to continue putting on cards, I see this promotion making their way up to the top
This
I was about to say the same thing. Shine Fights and Bellator stand to have huge growth this year.
Blackout612- "Wuts teh UFC?"
Ubernoober- "It like two guy who just stand and swing for fence and try to knock each other shit out it awesome"
I’m going with Bellator. They seem to have built fiscal responsibility into their tournament structure and don’t seem to be overpaying anyone.
I can’t get behind Strikeforce as making huge strides this year because their payroll appears to be growing faster than their revenue streams. While Strikeforce may not be losing money they can’t be raking it in and that leaves them on the ledge. I keep hearing people say the UFC lost 40 million dollars before turning it around. Well the UFC didn’t have someone like the UFC trying to crush them and solidify there place as the market leader for good. Strikeforce has to deal with the UFC driving up the price of almost every free agent that has any kind of drawing power.
Just BE.
I think the key with bellator will be if they are able to keep up their momentum.
Hardcore fans were excited last year, and some of their videos went viral, but it was hard to gain traction on espn deportes, and the long time off in between seasons hurt some of their momentum. But they do have a plan to at least keep hardcores interested with their timing of announcements and stuff. Plus, the new TV deal and having season 3 already planned have already fixed some of those problems, so if they can find something to do with the people after they lose in the tournaments (and their champions) this year, and keep moving, they might make some serious strides.
CBS doesnt even know what strikeforce is let alone the viewers…
Its called “CBS saturday night fights” and more than half the people think they’re watching the UFC and the other half is wondering why Joe Rogan isnt commentating.
That and the plethora of Zuffa content on Basic Cable… Strikeforce will never gain any meaningful traction.
Bellator is putting together a very nice front end operation, unfortunately they dont have a back end mechanism to make anything out of it and having a back end mechanism means going up against Zuffa which means that’s when you’re on your way out – Once Strikeforce fades away Bellator will be the new nuts the haters start riding.
If Bellator is smart it will continue with its margins and ride the Zuffa wave and when the time is right sell out for boku bucks and let some other idiot take a bath.
All bellator needs to do is keep chugging along and maybe upgrade its TV deal and money will show up thinking it can go up against the UFC and look at Bellator as a key acquisition for that venture.
Strikeforce unfortunately lost the needed attributes to be in this position once they started restructuring into a boxing promotion… their contracts, deals and brand aren’t worth shit.
by mmalogic on Feb 6, 2010 2:49 PM EST reply actions 6 recs
completely true
the zuffa method of having exclusive contracts has proven to be the one method that has worked in mma
strikeforce’s belts are worthless shown by overeem still being the champ after more than 2 years, same with dreams belts (quick name the dream mw, lhw, and hw champs)
Vacant, Vacant and Vacant!
HI YAH!
by Thats It For you! on Feb 10, 2010 4:03 PM EST up reply actions
To say that
Strikeforce won’t grow because “more than half the people think they’re watching the UFC” is absurd. The casual fans who will be watching the fights on CBS very well may think that the sport is called “Ultimate Fighting,” but it doesn’t really matter so long as asses are in seats, watching the fights, grabbing those ratings. The money a promotion like SF makes from being on national TV is quite sufficient for their needs, and eventually (just like the WEC) they might end up being able to put a few Mega- cards on PPV.
Strikeforce has always been relatively solid financially, and if they could consolidate the other elite fighters + the up & coming talent around the world, they would basically have a stranglehold on the position of an MMA promotion on network television. Sure, they lack depth in most divisions, but as MMASup commonly points out, there are a great deal of fighters that have decent working relationships w/ SF, and that just keeps growing.
So long as they keep putting quality cards on free TV & showtime, and giving excellent fighters like Fedor, Shields, Diaz, Lawler, Cyborg, Melendez, etc the exposure they deserve, then I have no prob at all with Strikeforce. I honestly don’t understand why you have such a problem with them; noone’s claiming they’re better than or even equal to the UFC.
Supporting all Las Vegas MMA. Xtreme Couture FTMFW.
'09 is the year of the FW's.
by ElliotMatheny on Feb 8, 2010 2:16 PM EST up reply actions 4 recs
10000000% agreed
" Tell me something Steve, How does a guy from Puerto Rico loose a ball in the Sun? "
i think you're taking his opinion on their business as him having a problem..
I think he usualy makes pretty meaningful and relevant points in regards to why other promotions have such a difficult time establishing themselves as a main-stay on the forefront of the industry…
I'm like PacMan fightin you silly kids... throw ya Hatton the ring, and get knocked outlike Ricky did.
lol.
It's impossible to rise above perfection.
So… you’re wrong.
How long do you think it will take Strikeforce to fade, though? I believe they’ll become more noticeable, but not enough to put a chink in the UFC’s armor.
End of 2011
The roster is lacking and the UFC is aggressively acquiring prospects. They’ll have to bring in new fighters every event. The Women’s 145lb division is in the most jeopardy. Cyborg is a juggernaut at that weight. If Erin Toughill can’t beat her, what woman can?
Walking the line between intelligence and ignorance since 1985
@deowade
I blog about stuff too.
The Women’s 145lb division is in the most jeopardy. Cyborg is a juggernaut at that weight
The same could be said of BJ Penn, GSP, and Anderson Silva in their respective weight classes.
Competition is great for business, but dominant champions sell tickets too.
There’s an Ocean of talent out there in mens MMA, while Womens MMA has a kiddie pool. You can keep feeding champions the latest contender in mens MMA, but you’ll run out of competitors pretty quickly in womens MMA, especially at 145.
Walking the line between intelligence and ignorance since 1985
@deowade
I blog about stuff too.
If Cyborg beats Erin in her next fight, she might as well just retire or leave for a little while to let the 145 division fix itself. After Erin, there are no challengers for Cyborg, unless Strikeforce wants to feed her cans the rest of her career.
That is just silly.
Should Anderson have retired when all the UFC had to offer him was Thales Leites and Pat Cote?
Should GSP retire now that he is stuck fighting guys like Dan Hardy?
Should BJ retire because the best fight the UFC can find for him is against Frankie Edgar?
If Cyborg beats Toughill, she’ll be walking down the same path as Anderson/GSP/BJ … beating up on over-matched competition while waiting for a new challenger to emerge.
Retire? No
That’s going a bit far. Just saying that the Division is in Jeopardy right now. In a few years Womens MMA could be huge. If Strikeforce runs out of fights for her here, they’ll probably loan her to a Japanese Org.
Walking the line between intelligence and ignorance since 1985
@deowade
Strikeforce obviously.
There isn’t even a tiny shred of evidence to imply they wont continue to grow and grow.
Bellator might rise too, but I can’t believe all the love they get for a format where they have events every other day for a couple months, then wait another 12 months to have any fights again while their prospects fight in the club circut.
by Wolfgangsta on Feb 6, 2010 11:36 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
MFC is looking to expand
And taking on plenty of UFC castoffs.
Their handicap? Personality.
Their secret weapon? Personality.
http://www.vancouversun.com/mma
MFC puts on some decent shows. I think HDnet is the second best channel for the sport, behind Spike, of course.
vs is gonna be making a good run for 2nd best this year
but with japanese promotions and all the what the fuckery that comes along with them being on hdnet i cant imagine vs surpasing it
The VS/DTV situation needs to be cleared up
" Tell me something Steve, How does a guy from Puerto Rico loose a ball in the Sun? "
negative
HD net kills spike TV. I will take DREAM, Sengoku and K-1 any day over the odd fight night and prelims. (not that I don’t enjoy/ appreciate them!)
HI YAH!
by Thats It For you! on Feb 10, 2010 4:08 PM EST up reply actions
MFC is rising but
Not sure if they’re making any money.
Why is the UFC not an option?
They have been the breakthrough MMA promotion of the year for every year since 2005, whose to say they won’t continue the streak in 2010?
A network deal will never happen
as long as the UFC is fine with the status quo. That would lead to the demise of the ppv model which has served them just fine.
I don't think we know enough
about the business side of what Zuffa is trying to do to make definitive statements such as “a network deal will never happen”.
I'm like PacMan fightin you silly kids... throw ya Hatton the ring, and get knocked outlike Ricky did.
lol.
I didn't say it would never happen.
I said it would never happen as long as they are fine with the status quo. There are a lot of concessions no respectable network would ever make that the UFC demands. Besides, it is a big risk offering something free to fans who are used to paying 50 bucks for it. Free shows could definitely hurt their PPV business, which is a very fragile and hard to sustain market. Ask boxing and wrestling.
This is kind of like how Subway got locked into five-dollar-footlongs forever.
Wasn’t it that the UFC wanted to bring in their own commentary, opposed to using the networks sports casters which is sort of holding the network deal off?
HI YAH!
by Thats It For you! on Feb 10, 2010 4:11 PM EST up reply actions
Ya, commentary, producers and production team.
I also believe it has to do with who owns the images and footage. CBS sports owns any highlights and footage of any games they broadcast, in addition to the NFL. In MMA terms, that could eventually mean UFC footage and highlights on other show’s broadcasts that the UFC doesn’t have full control over. Stuff like that.
It’s complicated.
And there’s also the money factor.
Why should they take less money and then pay someone else to do a worse job than they can do on their own?
"do a worse job"
being objective isn’t a “worse job”. CBS sports has done a pretty damn good job with Strikeforce so far.
I know the blind UFC homer faction likes to nitpick some small elements of the production but a show or two working with the UFC would fix all of those minor problems. The only real one is camera direction.
It would also fix the one-sided nature of the broadcasting and get rid of Mike Goldberg polluting every event.
I don’t understand how people can whine about Gus Johnson who does a great job all things considered when Goldy screws up every event and is literally giddy when Shogun is losing to Forrest “YOU PRIDE GUYS DONT JUST WALK INTO OUR HOUSE”
Ya whatever Mike.
I’m not whining, but that production being worse than what the UFC can do on tehir own is a significant factor.
Gus johnson is a good pbp announcer, but his MMA knowledge is not up to par right now. And you really shouldn’t complain about what goldberg says, because none of that is as bad as “the greatest upset in the history of mixed martial arts”
Gus's job is to hype fights and fighters, that is all he was doing
Mike said Travis Lutter is the Michael Jordan of BJJ.
by Wolfgangsta on Feb 10, 2010 10:16 PM EST up reply actions
and the money factor was already covered in what I said.
Only once PPV isn’t really profitable anymore will the UFC be forced to move to free TV.
Agreed
No network is going to take on UFC without some type of shared control. Also the monthly ppv would have to come to an end. A major network would like at least some of the big cards.
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