Look for an interview / feature with him in FO Mag very soon.

For example, in boxing, both Showtime and HBO almost never co-promote an event. They did for a Tyson event here or there, but that is extremely out of the norm. Now, let’s say the UFC goes to HBO. Why would HBO want to publicize a Showtime fighter by letting him fight for a UFC belt? They never would. Neither would the UFC. Neither would SpikeTV want that either. You don’t promote a rival company. That is just smart business.

So the organizational system is on the right track… It just needs some fine tuning. I think the promoter/sanctioning body system allows for too much corruption, which is has in boxing.

I dunno about guys themselves promoting their own fights, but assuming you mean anti-organizational pro-promoter i.e. how boxing is, I think for every pro, you have the flipside con. For example, boxers don’t have the pressure of ‘making it to the UFC’. I think too many MMA fighters will start a promising career like 6-0, then they’re all too eager to jump into the Octagon. You end up with guys in the UFC who have incredible potential, but they just aren’t experienced enough to fight in the UFC against Top 20 opponents. Therefore, I think guys would be brought along better.

At the same time, and you already have some guys like this in MMA, if you don’t have a ‘big show’, it opens up avenues for dudes to be frauds, and just shamelessly promote themselves, fight mediocre opposition and act like superstars. Granted, the onus is on fans to know what’s shit and what’s sugar, but it’s still a downside.

Another downside is that if there was a boxing-esque system in MMA, there is still no sanctioning bodies. That may sound good, but the idea of mandatories and eliminators is important. If there were no organizations, just promoters with stables putting guys together, you’d have international talent locked out. Right now, if the UFC brings in a Japanese fighter, and Polish fighter, they’re floating in the same waters and that could create a great, or important fight between the two.

Without a mandatory system or something like that, you could have a lot of guys fighting in smaller nations without big bankrollin’ backers unable to secure meaningful fights, which sucks. That’s one advantage big organizations give MMA, is that if a fighter from Country X can get to the UFC, a whole world of opportunities for opened, and in a sense, he doesn’t need to fend for himself anymore.

It’s totally give and take with any system you put in place. With stick with organizations, we’ll miss shit like silva-Liddell at their peaks. With just promoters, international talent may get locked out in some cases. Add sanctioning bodies, you’re inviting corruption. I’m not sure there’s one solid answer.