When are we going to start getting some more opinion pieces, articles, op-eds etc. from you and your contributers here?

That’s what initially drew myself and I’m sure many others to this site in the first place – “Fight Opinion”. Don’t get me wrong – this is still a valuable site for links, articles and info BUT I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that the best part of this site has always been the exclusives you guys contribute (and the radio show of course!) not a list of links to other writers’ material and up-coming fight cards.

Alternately, will there ever come a time when fighters don’t want more than they are getting paid?

Of course not. The fighters should try to get as much as they can. That’s the nature of the market. But as soon as one organization like the UFC sees runaway success, other orgs with deep pockets will follow. The barrier to entry in MMA is not very high; it just takes deep pockets.

Spreading out the heavyweights has never proven to be a winning philosophy. Ask boxing how having numerous champions works out.

I’m certainly not saying that spreading out the HWs is best for the fans or even necessarily optimal for business. But realistically, the HWs will never be consolidated as long as there is money to be made by organizers. It’s similar to a real-life version of the prisoner’s dilemma in game theory.

I wasn’t specifically thinking UFC in terms of being a good destination for all these heavyweights to go to though. They have several strong divisions at the moment, and there’s an unwillingness on their part to put more than one title fight on a card these days.

If you can fight four times in the year at 200k versus twice at 300k, you still come out ahead. You kind of need a promotion that is really dedicated to playing the heavyweights up that has staying power.

Dream doesn’t seem to be interested in heavyweights right now, Pancrase and Shooto aren’t particularly interested, and the other US promotion that is really in that market that I consider stable is EliteXC, but they don’t host a lot of PPV shows either (and IMHO you need PPV shows to be able to pay out those big purses), maybe there just isn’t a single good destination available, and that’s the real source of the problem.

Fighters don’t know how many fights they’re going to get during the year, so they just run out and grab whatever they can for one fight or a multi-fight deal, even if they suspect that that promotion might not be able to host a second show.

I understand wanting to make money, but this stuff is killing the heavyweights right now. You’ve got just a few name fighters, none of them are particularly active, and there’s not any promotion that’s considered to have a solid heavyweight division. They may run themselves out of careers in the major promotions if everyone decides it’s just too expensive to keep heavyweights around, particularly if they lose all their drawing power.

I think Eddie Goldman is a loon, but he had some interesting comments about Affliction recently where he was pointing out that these guys don’t have a history drawing in the US. Couture is your one guy, and that could be more because of his history at LHW than his career at heavyweight. He was involved in that huge headline period of UFC’s development, where you had the whole rivalry, the chaos in the LHW, the three fights against Liddell, the Liddell vs Ortiz and Shamrock vs Ortiz thing going on all at once, and he was in the thick of it.

There isn’t ANYTHING like that happening in the heavyweights now, and maybe it was a perfect storm that won’t happen in MMA again for a long time.

Alternately, will there ever come a time when fighters don’t want more than they are getting paid? I don’t see any real end to the existence of Bodog like organizations. They existed before the boom, after all. We all remember the first incarnation of the WFA and the WEF.

Not a good thing for the fans, but I think long-term the sport will reach an equilibrium where there will be the UFC and one or two other larger minor leagues, and they’ll share the top HWs more equitably. I can’t see any realistic scenario where the UFC ever has all the top HWs under contract without them crushing their competition.

Spreading out the heavyweights has never proven to be a winning philosophy. Ask boxing how having numerous champions works out.

They then turn around and share that wealth with the headline fighters.

I wonder if the heavyweights would do better if they all went to one promotion rather than flying to the four corners of the earth.

Seems like a good thought, but if the UFC sees this strategy to a success, the market forces will work against their favor. Upstarts like Affliction and M-1 will pop up out of nowhere of enough capital to pay more money to sign the guys you made into stars. We’re seeing it right now.

D.Cap said:

In any case, the UFC has very few of the top 20 heavyweights in the world under contract, and that’s not necessarily a good thing.

Not a good thing for the fans, but I think long-term the sport will reach an equilibrium where there will be the UFC and one or two other larger minor leagues, and they’ll share the top HWs more equitably. I can’t see any realistic scenario where the UFC ever has all the top HWs under contract without them crushing their competition.

But it’s a catch-22 because if they crush their competition, the HWs won’t have as much earning potential.

The problem is that these promotions like Bodog, Affliction, and others are paying the Heavyweights beyond what the market is allowing.

The market is clearly allowing it at the moment because that is what they are paying. If they fail, then yes, the market can’t handle an independent giving guys a boost in that sense. If they succeed (whether its because people want to see heavyweight MMA or because they sign away a major draw like Tito and gain notoriety), then the market changes. In any case, the UFC has very few of the top 20 heavyweights in the world under contract, and that’s not necessarily a good thing.

The HW division actually will be looking good by NYE. Cain and Carwin will establish themselves as rising stars, and there is a chance for one or two of the current fighters to get a few impressive wins. And who knows what organization will fold up next and spill a bunch of talent onto the market.

Well, if the IFL collapses, they might be able to pick up Roy Nelson. Everyone else seems to have quite a bit of money to play with and time to go right now. For it to go the UFC’s way, everyone else has to fail, and Carwin and Velazquez will have to succeed (they’re basically untested right now).

Interesting to note that E:60 on ESPN has done two MMA stories, and they’re both about athletes on the EXC card coming up in two weeks, and that ESPN is refusing to let their new MMA news program be UFC only. Of course, nothing is said about this.

http://www.dreamofficial.com/special/vote

Name translations if anyone needs it:

DREAM.4

Kin Tai Ei
Gerard Mousasi
Kazushi Sakuraba
Jason “Mayhem” Miller
Zelg “Benkei Glasic
Kiyoshi Tamura
Ronaldo Jacare
Yoon Dong Sik

DREAM.5

Caol Uno
Eddie Alvarez
Tatsuya Kawajiri
Winner of Shinya Aoki/Katsuhiko Nagata

What I don’t understand about a company like Affliction is that Heavyweights have never been headliners. As Jeremy says, it has been Light Heavyweights. And the second best selling division has been Welterweight. Heavyweights have always played second fiddle in the UFC, and I think rightfully so… because the other divisions pack more excitment into a fight.

The big earners to date in the US have primarily been guys who compete at light heavyweight. This has long been a competitive weight class, and one that the UFC has a lot of good results with in terms of commanding a lot of PPV buys.

They then turn around and share that wealth with the headline fighters.

I wonder if the heavyweights would do better if they all went to one promotion rather than flying to the four corners of the earth.

Nog’s lack of fights since coming to the UFC had more to do with Couture than it does with the next TUF. Couture is bad for the sport.