« Ditching GSP/Bisping and McGregor/Mayweather is about UFC trying to regain control | Home | The TV industry buzz phrase UFC is banking on in new negotiations: “time poverty” »
Dana White secures UFC’s power in the Conor McGregor/Floyd Mayweather negotiations
By Zach Arnold | May 14, 2017
The best negotiating systems are those with at least two different paths to success and no downside. New UFC ownership agreed with Conor McGregor’s desires to fight Floyd Mayweather. They wanted to hit a proverbial grand slam in order to make as much cash as quickly as possible given the amount of financial debt as a result of purchasing the company from the Fertitta family. UFC held contractual power over Conor McGregor. However, new UFC ownership let McGregor figure out, on his own, what he was worth and what Mayweather would want for a boxing match. After the fishing expedition, UFC figured they could step in and figure out what made sense for their bottom line and McGregor’s bottom line.
The mistake new UFC ownership made was letting the situation drag on for half a year. It took away valuable time and resources from what they needed to use for day-to-day matchmaking negotiations. It impacted UFC’s timetable. A big no-no.
Dana White reclaimed power this week by creating a deadline, artificial or real, on the McGregor/Mayweather negotiations. He had increased his leverage a week after Golden Boy & HBO announced the impending September mega-fight between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin. He executed on the deadline and McGregor’s side blinked. Dana says he’s ready to talk to Al Haymon.
What a perfect situation for UFC.
- If the McGregor/Mayweather fight happens, new UFC ownership is ecstatic and White can once again regain the mantle as the man in combat sports who is a closer in delivering the fights fans want to see. McGregor can now publicly claim that he made a deal with UFC and played ball. If the fight happens, he cashes in.
- If the fight doesn’t happen, McGregor can blame UFC or blame Mayweather’s camp while Dana White can put the heat on Al Haymon. There is no better public foil for Dana White than Al Haymon. Haymon handsomely cashed in on Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. losing to Canelo Alvarez. Floyd Mayweather credits Haymon in getting him multiple jets and sports cars. If Mayweather is truly about the money, how can he turn down a fight where he is at least a 95% favorite? If Mayweather says no, UFC and McGregor can proclaim victory.
Dana White has said the Conor McGregor/Floyd Mayweather fight must happen in 2017 or else it’s not going to happen at all. McGregor wants to fight twice in 2017. That would mean a fight in the Summer most likely and then a New Year’s Eve weekend fight.
The new UFC management went all-in on “hero booking.” The problem is they gave an inch to the fighters in negotiations and things became unwieldly. Dana White can now walk away from the situation, fight or no fight, as a winner in the eyes of the public and move onto boosting his day-to-day matchmaking affairs.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 4 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Zach,
You should probably remove Fightline from your side bar links. Their last post was more than 3 years ago.
Also, you should remove Fightlinker. It has had no real content since Ryan left many years ago.
Your page is a great go-to page to get the latest in MMS news but a bit of housekeeping now might be appropriate 🙂
Give me a few new sites and RSS links to do the embed on both the MMA and boxing pages…
On the boxing page, there is this:
Eastside Boxing
Is De La Hoya A Genius or Just Dumb?
Albert vs. Duran Title Fight Headlines KnockOut Poverty All-African Pro Boxing Show Sept. 23
Jones, Hopkins, De La Hoya: Boxing Needs New Stars
Dawson should stop ducking Diaconu and prove his shaky chin!
Odlanier Solis and Selcuk Aydin back in action on September 12th in Palma de Mallorca
[…] indicate WME would be open to outsourcing production and Fight Pass to the right media partner. This constant push-pull from Dana versus WME really surfaced from December 2016 to June 2017 when Conor McGregor forced his way into getting a […]