Calling out UFC is a losing fight, but it's time to step into the cage

UFC President Dana White is used to strong-arming his foes, but can he beat the feds? (Getty Images)

The UFC is under attack, but not from do-gooding pacifists or meddling
politicians. This time the UFC is under attack from something
much scarier: The Federal Trade Commission.

The FTC vs. the UFC? That's a heavyweight fight. That's Dana White's
worst nightmare. The FTC looks for antitrust violations, picking
apart monopolies as the unfair bullies they are -- and as far as
I'm concerned, the UFC is guilty as charged.

And I love the UFC. Understand that, and maybe you can understand how
uncomfortable this story is for me. Understand that, and you might
even forgive me -- not for taking on the UFC, but for waiting so
long to do it.
Because this has been a long time coming.
The UFC is brilliantly run, and has been since Dana White and the Fertitta brothers
bought it in 2001. At the time the UFC had one foot in the grave
-- unlicensed in most states, unknown in most households,
unpopular with politicians and unable to find footing in the
sports marketplace. Had the UFC gone under a decade ago, mixed martial
arts in this country probably would have died with it. There
wouldn't be hundreds of MMA gyms, or millions of MMA fans, or
thousands of jobs devoted to the fastest-growing sport in the
world. If it weren't for the UFC, most states in this country
wouldn't have opened its doors to MMA.
And I
wouldn't have a favorite pastime. Well, not this one. Watching it,
reading about it, competing in it. I've done it all -- I do it all, to
this day -- which is why this story is so uncomfortable for me.
And why I've waited so long to write it. Because MMA is my hobby,
my pastime, my passion. And because I'm a coward.

For years I've loved the UFC enough to leave it alone, let it do its
bullying thing, with the tradeoff being that the UFC would love
me back. And it has, up to a point. The UFC has given me
credentials to every fight card I've asked to cover, and the UFC
has put Dana White on the phone with me. Neither of those is as
simple as you might think, because the UFC doesn't treat the media
like the other major sports leagues in America treat the media.
It's not a collaboration -- it's an intimidation.

Point blank, the UFC bullies the media, holds a grudge, uses access
to its events as the carrot to keep us media folk in line. Write
the wrong thing about the UFC or its leadership, and the UFC makes
you pay -- rips you in public comments,
denies your access as a journalist to events, encourages other
folks inside the business to keep you there on the outside.
That's a fact, and the UFC knows which MMA writers I'm talking
about. The hardest-core MMA fans know their names as well. Some of
them work for established mainstream media outlets. Others work
for niche MMA sites like Sherdog.com. This stuff isn't a secret.
Neither is the UFC's use of strong-arm tactics. A secret? No, not
at all. One of the UFC's best fighters -- best in every way, from
his fight record to his image to the way he represents the sport
at fan-friendly events -- was fired from the organization a few
years ago because, basically, he stood up for himself.
Welterweight contender Jon Fitch was allowed back, but only after
he caved and gave the UFC what it wanted.
See, the
UFC had agreed to terms with the video-game company THQ in 2008,
but for the UFC to reap those rewards it needed its fighters to
sign away the lifetime video-game rights to their likeness. Jon Fitch,
along with several teammates from American Kickboxing Academy in
northern California, didn't like the sound of that. Why should he
receive a one-time check but relinquish his lifetime rights,
allowing the UFC to profit off his fighting ability even more than
it already had? Fitch refused, so the UFC fired him.
That's how Zuffa, the UFC's parent company, operates. An FTC
antitrust investigation can be misleading, because Zuffa is not a
monopoly in the most basic sense of the term. It's not the only
MMA promotion in the world, or even in the United States --
Bellator Fighting Championships is a legitimate promotion, and it
was recently purchased by CBSSports.com's parent company, Viacom
-- but the UFC is the most stable, the most coveted, the most
popular. Zuffa has made a habit of buying out the UFC's biggest
competition: the WEC in 2006, Pride in '07 and Strikeforce last
year.
The UFC leverages that power to get whatever
it wants from fighters. That includes their signature on a
contract relinquishing their lifetime rights to their video-game
likeness, as well as forcing businesses that sponsor UFC fighters
to pay the UFC a surcharge to be allowed into the Octagon. It also
includes fighter contracts, which are as one-sided now as
baseball contracts were before the advent of MLB free agency in 1975.
Fighters typically sign a three-fight contract, terms imposed by the
UFC, and often are left dangling before their final fight, when
they are given another contract offer -- terms imposed by the UFC
-- and told to (A) sign it or (B) never fight in the UFC again.
Fighters that choose (B) are banished for their final fight to the
untelevised undercard, as happened in 2008 to popular former UFC
heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski.
The
purses can be insulting for UFC fighters, especially its newest
fighters. A fighter who competes three times in a year, and wins two of
them, could earn between $40,000 and $50,000 for the year. That's a
respectable wage in many lines of work, but not for a
professional athlete on multiple fight cards that generate
millions in PPV and ticket sales for a promotion said to be worth
more close to $2 billion.
That's a rip-off.
What would constitute a fair wage for UFC fighters, even its least
experienced ones? Nobody knows, because Zuffa hides its financial
information. Fighters can't identify a fair percentage of the
profits because they have no idea what those profits are. Boxers
avoid this sort of blind negotiation thanks to the 2000 Muhammad
Ali Boxing Reform Act, which forces promoters to share such
financial information with its fighters. MMA has no such
disclosure law, so UFC fighters have to deal in the dark.
But the UFC is so influential, so enormous, that new fighters are
willing to fight for $6,000 in the hopes of winning -- and
doubling their purse thanks to a "win bonus" -- and getting more
fights, more wins, more bonuses. On a card with roughly 10 fights,
fighters get five-figure bonuses for the top knockout, top
submission and top overall fight. Win a few fights a year and
pocket a bonus or two along the way, and a young UFC fighter can
avoid working a second job. Do that three or four years in a row,
and he can become the next Georges St. Pierre or Jon Jones,
fighters with headliner status and six-figure guarantees.
Or a young UFC fighter could do like so many young UFC fighters
do. He can fail this survival of the fittest and find himself cut
by the promotion, fighting in the minor leagues, sacrificing his
body and brain while chasing another shot at the UFC dream.
A professional fighter is an adult, and the choice to pursue such a
violent career is his. But the UFC should play fair in all
things, from its purses to its treatment of negotiations like the
one that saw Jon Fitch briefly lose his job even as he was in the
middle of a 16-fight winning streak.
Now then,
let's get back to me for a moment. I have dreams of my own. I
dream of covering more Zuffa cards -- my first one was UFC 68 in
Columbus, Ohio, which I attended in March 2007 with plans of ripping MMA
but instead wrote this love poem
-- and in fact I've been approved by Zuffa to cover its
Strikeforce card March 3 in Columbus. I've also dreamed about
writing Dana White's biography. I told him as much during a phone
interview last year, and while White laughed, I wasn't joking. The
profanely fascinating UFC president is that charismatic, that
interesting, that I'd like to write his book.
But
White and his sport are so charismatic -- to me, anyway -- that I've
hated the idea of writing this story, the one you're reading now. So
for years I refused. I watched the Jon Fitch thing unfold, and
looked the other way. I've seen media members get frozen out by
the UFC, and looked the other way. I've followed the unseemly wage
scale for fighters, especially the most vulnerable fighters, and
looked the other way.
But last week, ESPN's Outside the Lines aired a report on the UFC that delved into the FTC's antitrust investigation of Zuffa,
which Zuffa co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta acknowledged by saying, "My
understanding is that yes [the FTC has] opened a non-public
investigation based on the acquisition we made of Strikeforce."

So I can't look the other way anymore, because this is
really happening. The UFC's stranglehold on MMA is being
investigated by the federal government. Its days as a
competition-gobbling, fighter-intimidating bully could be coming
to an end. So here I come out from under my rock, finally bold
enough to acknowledge what has been going on for years.
No one takes on Zuffa and the UFC and lives to tell about it. Not professionally, anyway. But here I am, writing a story I never wanted to write, wondering what the consequences will be for me.
I'm still planning to cover the Zuffa-owned Strikeforce event on
March 3, by the way. I have the confirmation email from a UFC
publicist and everything. But if you don't see my byline from that
event in Columbus, well, you'll know why.

The UFC's stranglehold on MMA is being
investigated by the federal government. Its days as a
competition-gobbling, fighter-intimidating bully could be coming
to an end. So here I come out from under my rock, finally bold
enough to acknowledge what has been going on for years.
No one takes on Zuffa and the UFC and lives to tell about it. Not professionally, anyway. But here I am, writing a story I never wanted to write, wondering what the consequences will be for me.

"Calling out UFC is a losing fight, but it's time to step into the cage" Jan. 25/12
- Gregg Doyel | CBSSports.com wrote:
"But White and his sport are so charismatic -- to me, anyway -- that I've hated the idea of writing this story, the one you're reading now. So for years I refused. I watched the Jon Fitch thing unfold, and looked the other way. I've seen media members get frozen out by the UFC, and looked the other way. I've followed the unseemly wage scale for fighters, especially the most vulnerable fighters, and looked the other way.

But last week, ESPN's Outside the Lines aired a report on the UFC that delved into the FTC's antitrust investigation of Zuffa, which Zuffa co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta acknowledged by saying, "My understanding is that yes [the FTC has] opened a non-public investigation based on the acquisition we made of Strikeforce."

So I can't look the other way anymore, because this is really happening. The UFC's stranglehold on MMA is being investigated by the federal government. Its days as a competition-gobbling, fighter-intimidating bully could be coming to an end. So here I come out from under my rock, finally bold enough to acknowledge what has been going on for years.

No one takes on Zuffa and the UFC and lives to tell about it. Not professionally, anyway. But here I am, writing a story I never wanted to write, wondering what the consequences will be for me.

I'm still planning to cover the Zuffa-owned Strikeforce event on March 3, by the way. I have the confirmation email from a UFC publicist and everything. But if you don't see my byline from that event in Columbus, well, you'll know why. - By Gregg Doyel | CBSSports.com National Columnist"


http://www.cbssports.com/columns/story/16996188/calling-out-ufc-is-a-losing-fight-but-its-time-to-step-into-the-ring

rezin wrote:The writer works for cbs sports and covers a bunch of sports including mma.

I wouldn't hold my breath for people from mma only publications to contribute.

Aborted Baby wrote:This is some serious shit. The fall of UFC is near. I've said for years that they will fall: once MMA becomes more popular, more money is involved, therefore more promotions and outlets for fighters, and therefore more investors.

The UFC's stranglehold cannot last forever. While the Dana's antics may entice meathead fans who barely have a high school education, the influencial, respected, intellectual part of the media will stand up against Zuffa's crimes. No longer will Helwanis of the world, who have sold their soul to the devil, determine how MMA is perceived in the mainstream. Dana fears writers like Josh Gross and Loretta Hunt, and is forced to personally slander them instead of trying to repudiate their views.

The end of Zuffa is teleological. I've said it for many years. However, the uprising needs a spark to awaken the consciousness of the zombies and drones which saturate this market and buy the product. This mainstream network deal is the spark which will light the funeral pyre of MMA's most nefarious organization.

Aborted Baby wrote:This is some serious shit. The fall of UFC is near. I've said for years that they will fall: once MMA becomes more popular, more money is involved, therefore more promotions and outlets for fighters, and therefore more investors.

The UFC's stranglehold cannot last forever. While the Dana's antics may entice meathead fans who barely have a high school education, the influencial, respected, intellectual part of the media will stand up against Zuffa's crimes. No longer will Helwanis of the world, who have sold their soul to the devil, determine how MMA is perceived in the mainstream. Dana fears writers like Josh Gross and Loretta Hunt, and is forced to personally slander them instead of trying to repudiate their views.

The end of Zuffa is teleological. I've said it for many years. However, the uprising needs a spark to awaken the consciousness of the zombies and drones which saturate this market and buy the product. This mainstream network deal is the spark which will light the funeral pyre of MMA's most nefarious organization.

Dagwood wrote:

Aborted Baby wrote:This is some serious shit. The fall of UFC is near. I've said for years that they will fall: once MMA becomes more popular, more money is involved, therefore more promotions and outlets for fighters, and therefore more investors.

The UFC's stranglehold cannot last forever. While the Dana's antics may entice meathead fans who barely have a high school education, the influencial, respected, intellectual part of the media will stand up against Zuffa's crimes. No longer will Helwanis of the world, who have sold their soul to the devil, determine how MMA is perceived in the mainstream. Dana fears writers like Josh Gross and Loretta Hunt, and is forced to personally slander them instead of trying to repudiate their views.

The end of Zuffa is teleological. I've said it for many years. However, the uprising needs a spark to awaken the consciousness of the zombies and drones which saturate this market and buy the product. This mainstream network deal is the spark which will light the funeral pyre of MMA's most nefarious organization.

I think I love you. Have we crossed our tortured paths anywhere before you were aborted???