The UFC Owns Strikeforce- Literally
Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC, did the unthinkable- it trumped coverage of the much anticipated Shogun vs. Jones event by purchasing Strikeforce. The major announcement was reported by Ariel Helwani in an interview posted on www.mmafighting.com. How and why did Helwani get the exclusive? That is a question that has been asked throughout the MMA world for several months as Helwani has been granted access to White on several major announcements. The site is owned by AOL- as they say follow the cash - more on that at a later date.
Strikeforce certainly had its struggles but managed to secure contracts with some of the sport’s biggest and most recognizable names. In addition, their heavyweight tournament was making headlines on a global scale. Even recently Dana White was up to his usual tricks which included verbal jabs at Strikeforce and its CEO Scott Coker. The landscape appeared to be full of competition and frequent events which is the best scenario for fans and fighters alike. Then, out of nowhere the announcement came. In hindsight, could White’s verbal attacks be the clue to recognize and quantify the level of White’s concern?
What will happen to Strikeforce? White stated Strikeforce’s operations will continue with Coker at the helm and the television portion will also resume on Showtime until the contract expires- at the very least. For the time being lower level Strikeforce combatants and fans of the California based promotion will have no worries. The headline fighters will continue on their current career path with UFC avenues potentially being opened at a later date. The intriguing portion is the non-exclusivity of their contracts. They have the ability to fight for other promotions, primarily Dream in Japan, when Coker gave permission. Dana White will not allow those contingencies no matter the situation as he has often stated-there will be no co-promotions with the UFC. This could create some interesting dialogue in the near future.
Most understand that the UFC is to MMA as the Kleenex is to tissues- they are simply the biggest player without a close second. So why purchase Strikeforce? The first component of a company purchasing another is to get access into a demographic/market otherwise inaccessible. This strategy simply does not apply to the UFC as they had a higher market share anywhere in the US when compared to any MMA promotion and their marketing prowess is far greater. The second reasoning is to eliminate competition especially if market share is on the decline. The business operative in this case is probably overridden by the ego of White. Although Strikeforce was growing and certainly creating a buzz, it is highly unlikely any MMA fan was choosing them over the UFC. The likely scenario is White’s maniacal obsession in world domination of MMA.
Another scenario is even more diabolical. Is it possible Coker and White have been in cahoots for an extended period of time? MMA fans- while Coker was commenting on his desire to grow and do things the right way, while White was pounding on Strikeforce and Coker- they were negotiating a buy-out behind closed doors. Is it possible the Strikeforce Heavyweight Tournament was created and orchestrated by co-conspirators Coker and White? Given the purchasing process would have been lengthy- Dana White had a vested interest in the success of Strikeforce as a whole and their HW Tournament- this may explain White’s comments and remarks of late. Some will deny this using the reasoning- there is no way they could keep this secret. That is a ludicrous argument considering the whole process of Zuffa purchasing Strikeforce was kept under lid.
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Keep in mind, in any business sector, the process of purchasing a company is a lengthy and tedious ordeal. The legal language alone, which would include details of Coker’s new role, his staff, fight contracts etc, would require an extensive amount of time. Think about the negotiation process for the amount, the initial contact and offer, then the follow-up meetings to finalize the amount and operating agreements- all of this would be extensive and require a substantial investment in time and legal fees outside of the purchase price. In addition, the meetings had to be held in clandestine fashion to protect the integrity of the negotiations. In reality, this process would take at the very least a month with the more likely scenario being 2-4 months. Could that explain the delay in the SF Heavyweight Tournament?
Reasonable minds can certainly disagree on whether this is good for the sport of MMA or not. There is plenty of good that could result but anytime a monopoly could exist without collective bargaining-trouble is usually on the horizon.
In his work titled Four Kings, George Kimball described the United States Boxing Championships which were created by Boxing Promoter Don King. The event was to be aired in the late 1970’s on ABC and was creating quite a buzz in national boxing circles. During the process of recruiting fighters, according to Kimball, King committed such atrocities as attempting to steal boxers from their managers and created boxer’s records to name a few. It wasn’t long till ABC got wind of the shenanigans and shut the tournament off. When you think certain things are impossible or wouldn’t happen in MMA- study the past of boxing and the good old boy network- it certainly could happen.
Hopefully White will be the ambassador and caretaker of MMA as a whole, but that is a grand vision indeed. The more likely scenario is more of the same which could potentially take MMA down a dark road.
By Scott Dryden
ProFighting-fans.com Editor-in-Chief