Fitch backed down, and Lorenzo being the voice of reason, gave Fitch the chance to save face because Dana came on too hard because things were said. Lorenzo could have very well not sign Fitch, and AKA would have still fell back in line.

Should we not credit Lorenzo for being the voice of reason or do we say he and White concocted this big PR scheme with with all the theatrics just to get Fitch to sign? The simpler explanation is always best.

GSP’s deal with CAA has nothing to do with MMA. They only work to secure him endorsement deals and do no work regarding his MMA contracts, his manager still does all of his contract work.

A question: Why does ATT’s statement mean they are kissing ass. Is it not pos they simply have no issues with this?

Whoops.

Fitch and his management played hardball and got slapped. Real dumb to play hardball when you have no leverage.

End result: Fitch signs away his rights, all other camps bow in fear, and no risk in the future of guys not signing.

The “pr nightmare” is limited to hardcore messageboards.

The problem here is that the MMA hand-wringers — thanks for the term, Total MMA — think that whenever Zuffa does something “bad” it is intentional because they already are disposed to thinking of Zuffa as the devil.

Any of you who have ever employed or managed people at their workplace (and it is obvious that this number is extremely small amongst MMA fans), then you’d know the position that Lorenzo is in.

The Fertittas provided the capital and the political connections, but Dana is the face of the UFC and is the primary driver of its success. Regardless of his faults, Dana made the UFC into what it is today and Lorenzo takes the good with the bad.

The Total-MMA column was completely, 100% right.”

Of course I know what Socialism, Communism, Marxism, etc. other wealth spreading -isms are. I was getting at more about workers rights and lack of benefits over type of government.

Could you even call China Socialist anymore? Because I don’t think making Barbie dolls and Sony products for less than an American dollar an hour for foreigners is very “Socialist”. Wouldn’t a more “Socialist” position be to make Chinese products FOR Chinese people, working under Chinese companies?

There is nothing out of the ordinary with Dana White to think that this is all acting. He is who he is. Besides, what did the UFC gain from this by going this route? They just created a public spat that diminished UFC management in the public’s eyes, and while they put the fighters’ management on notice, it’s not in a good way. Now more than ever, the fighters’ management are distrustful of UFC management. This has been a PR disaster. Good cop/bad cop scenario is so stupid that it does not compute. Lorenzo is a smarter man than that.

I disagree. Dana White can’t be a push-over. He just can’t. Not even a perception of being a pushover. With so many fighters and camps, they need a “hard a$$” doing the majority of the contract talks. This prevents these fight camps from trying to get exceptions (which over time is bad for the company). And when those straight arm tactics don’t work, Fertitta is there to make good on things.

I don’t disagree that Dana White is a douche bag in many cases. However, if he wasn’t doing his job as Lorenzo wanted him to, he would have lost his power a while ago and only been a talking head for the company (which typically he is still good at).

It disappoints me that Zuffa is willing to drop a fighter over not signing a n exclusive lifetime video game contract. Barry Bonds and many other athletes have opted out of just being put into a video game and they are still in their respective leagues. A premier sports organization shouldn’t be cutting athletes just because they won’t sign a video game contract. Tactics like this make Zuffa bush league and makes the UFC into more of a shoot version of WWE rather than a mainstream sports organization.