There is no longer an “if” as far as the Fertittas being major financiers of Xyience. Do they own Xyience? No, not yet. If you go to my Web-site about the case I’m facing, you will find this link: http://www.unlimitedfightnews.com/exhibit23.htm

It’s an internal email detailing how this deal came to pass. The shareholders were held over a barrell and forced to accept things they probably should have scrutinized a bit more. I’ve received information that the $12 million in investment funds seems to be misrepresented by the company brass as capital to extend the brand. But, if you look at the exhibit link you’ll see that the money was necessary to prevent bankruptcy and pay off voluminous debt. The UFC reportedly was owed $5 million in previous sponsorship payments that came out of the new deal, and then the new deal was signed. How much money is really left over for expansion, let alone worldwide expansion? The official press release announced (that’s also linked to exhibit 23) the new funding would be devoted to expanding the brand.

The idea that this is not a huge story seems like a very ignorant assessment. What you have here is a tidal wave of bad press for the UFC, and this all comes at a time where they are facing the most competition ever. This story was heavily researched from day one, and the case against me will end with my reporting coming out spotless. I never had a vendetta or an agenda. The fact that it’s not glamorous and not many other outlets have picked it up is due to several factors. For one, there have been intimidation tactics employed against insiders, which is why I’ve had to report on some things coming from anonymous sources. For another, the UFC and Xyience are engaged in something much more than a sponsorship deal. This goes back to high school, as one astute poster pointed out. This is not some wild conspiracy. It is an orchestrated, tactical, devious plan designed to make everybody rich off other people’s backs.

They have kept it out of the public eye for so long because of their conjoined power and influence. Even my stories were initially labeled as far fetched, gossip, and other derogatory names. Yet, it all makes sense when you look at it. Why would they stick together through thick and thin unless each side had something with which to incriminate the other? It’s a big chess game where the partners are trying to use each other, and they can’t ever go to extremes and cut ties because of what’s been done to facilitate that. There are no sacrificial lambs to slaughter. The strategy of incriminating those who insulate you has worked so far until very recently. Because of my lawsuit and the work I’ve done to make sure everything is corroborated without a doubt, the press is putting the pieces together while also still pussyfooting around the major story here of fraud and corruption. They are taking baby steps because of the threat of being locked out of covering the UFC.

So, fear of being ostracized by the biggest player in the MMA industry plays a major role in my the mainstream press isn’t picking it up. That’s why it’s only coming out now that the UFC is experiencing some heavy hits in the news. It’s a bandwagon attack that’s in many ways justified. The UFC brass has had a chip on their shoulders for far too long, and now the media is trying to humble them a bit while the competition is making serious gains.

As far as the story not being glamorous enough, having a unique, full understanding of what’s been going on here gives me the impression that this whole saga is blockbuster movie fodder. There is sex, scandal, power, money, and evil intentions wrapped up in all of this drama that is far stranger and more intriguing than any fiction writer could even imagine. What I’ve reported hasn’t always been written in such a way as to entertain people, but my intention was never to dress it up with all kinds of bells and whistles. I had to present the facts and present only the information I could corroborate from more than one source or from documented evidence. What I didn’t report is some intense, amazing stuff that would raise lots of eyebrows and make for a great soap opera or mini series.

At any rate, I am never one to toot my own horn unless it’s justified, but I am honestly happy that my stories are finally starting to gain some much due respect. I worked extremely hard to put this series together amidst all kinds of critics and detractors (many from within Xyience) who tried to shoot it all down. I only wish I could get these kind of comments on my own site. Fight Opinion seems to have lots of educated readers who care about what goes on in the industry. I would be working harder to attract this kind of audience and get the same insight if I weren’t so embroiled in litigation and having to serve as my own attorney. Thanks for the props and don’t stop discussing this. It is public perception and education that will shape the future of Xyience and the UFC, and if the public doesn’t know and talk about the facts, then the mirage will continue to be believed as the real thing.

Thanks,

Rich Bergeron
Unlimitedfightnews.com
Editor/Writer/Webmaster
rich.bergeron@gmail.com
617-209-4325

It was never going to have them to begin with. Nor does it necessarily need them to succeed in any way.

Fact of the matter is that as of late, UFC has been the recipient of some pretty crappy luck with fighters and on the business/business development side of things. Maybe Dana White needs to reconsider his business tactics especially in light of the PRIDE fiasco, HBO deal falling thru, horrible attitude to attracting corporate sponsors, Fedor and Randy? Maybe not…let me know what your crystal ball tells you

Your crystal ball must be slightly damaged if you believe that Couture/anyone or Rampage/anyone was ever lined up for December 29th. What will Dana do? I don’t know what he’ll do because he hasn’t done it yet. He may very well end up with a ESPN deal and have Burger King as a full time sponsor in 3 months.

I never said it was a disastrous year, but again assume that in order to further your own argument. I assume you have a crystal ball that gives you the numbers on UFC 76, 77, 78 which are awful looking in terms of drawing the buying public and of course the UFC December PPV that is now lacking Randy, likely won’t have Rampage, etc. etc.??

Fact of the matter is that as of late, UFC has been the recipient of some pretty crappy luck with fighters and on the business/business development side of things. Maybe Dana White needs to reconsider his business tactics especially in light of the PRIDE fiasco, HBO deal falling thru, horrible attitude to attracting corporate sponsors, Fedor and Randy? Maybe not…let me know what your crystal ball tells you

No, silly. We support Dana White dropping his arrogant attitude and courting legitimate sponsors instead of making stupid statements that turn sponsors away.

Listen, however the Xyience deal goes, no matter what happens to the company, it is not going to affect Zuffa unless they are unable to replace Xyience as a sponsor, which I would be shocked if they were incapable of doing so. There is no “negative heat” that will come of it from anyone except fanboys and their MMA blogs. As far as everyone knows, the Fertittas don’t own Xyience, nor is there a claim that they do. There is no clear cut indication that Xyience has or will be unable to pay for advertising space.

The rest of your post is an excuse so that you can talk about the ills of the UFC, as if 2007 has been a disasterous year for the company following two gangbuster PPVs, a probably third in December, solid numbers for free TV events, etc. This is hardly to say that its been a perfect year for them, but god knows it hasn’t been hell either.

I never once said that the Xyience “scandal” would since their ship. I said it was bad press that they wouldn’t want or need (since some interest groups will attach onto any negative press to villify them) and that it wasn’t great news that a 2nd major sponsor appeared to be in financial (as well as legal) troubles. Last I checked I don’t see too many major sponsors lining up for them – not that this is a big deal if you read Adam Swift’s analysis of their financial situation (they don’t appear to be in need of outside funds at the moment).

But its just the hair on the turd sandwich that has been ‘07 when it comes to the bad news side of things. They’re losing boatloads of cash on their overseas PPVs, they bought a $40M albatross that they ended up winding up and in doing so severely crippling their ability to do business in a lucrative (though not as big as it once was) Japanese marketplace, a great deal of upsets have damaged their ability to have marketable ppv’s and possibly damaged the drawing power of some of their biggest names (it will be interesting to see how their later half of ‘07 PPVs have sold), the HBO deal died on the table after White called it a done deal on numerous occassions and they couldn’t pen Fedor (likely not that big of a negative since he was going to get ~$1M/fight guaranteed and is not a bankable guy as of yet) which in turn led to them losing their only surefire PPV draw for the short term, in light of all the injuries and upsets (a far bigger deal).

The Xyience thing will far from kill them but it’s not a good thing when all your major sponsors are companies that won’t or might not be around in a year and you’ve got no one to replace them.