ProphetFighting

UFC + PRIDE: 10 steps to doing it right

With the Zuffa/UFC purchase of PRIDE all but done the next challenge is to make it work well. Zuffa rightfully recognizes the potential that the union has for growing not only their business, but further legitimizing the entire sport of MMA. All of the early indications suggest that Zuffa is starting on the right foot by keeping the PRIDE brand and by running the company as a separate entity. Still, there’s any number of ways that they could undermine their investment or, for that matter, screw things up entirely. The Fertittas and Dana White are obviously smart guys who didn’t just fall off the turnip truck, but there’s a tendency in any business to have a degree of “institutional myopia” and not see the big picture. With UFC, PRIDE and the sport of MMA at a very important crossroads in their development there’s a lot at stake in making the union of the top US and Japanese organizations work.

As a MMA enthusiast, I want to see it work. I want Zuffa to make a ton of money and want the sport of mixed martial arts to grow and flourish. Unfortunately, neither Dana White nor the Fertittas have broke off a phone call to get my thoughts. As a result, I’ve compiled my 10 step plan to doing the UFC/PRIDE union correctly. Properly implemented, this framework will maximize the financial upside of Zuffa and further solidify MMA as a serious sport.

1) Maintain the PRIDE brand and its integrity - Serious MMA fans are well aware that PRIDE is the top organization in Japan, and most would suggest that on balance they have the top fighters in the world. In a situation like this, there is a tendency to take steps to elevate the “old” brand over the “new”. Not to compare MMA to pro wrestling, but there’s been numerous buyouts in wrestling that were completely bungled for the simple reason that the acquiring company was too shortsighted to give the acquired company the legitimacy it deserved (see Crockett, Jim and McMahon, Vince for examples of this). Keeping the PRIDE brand strong and separate will expedite success in the Japanese market and in the long run will be valuable in the domestic market. Everything I’ve heard suggests that the Zuffa braintrust realizes this, but they wouldn’t be the first to talk a good game at the outset and then take steps to run down the brand they’ve acquired intentionally or otherwise. A strong PRIDE brand is good for the sport and, obviously, makes their multi-million investment all the more valuable.

2) Maintain the cultural differences between the two organizations – I’m not worried about the UFC losing its uniquely “American” identity, of course, but I’m concerned that the UFC may try to “Americanize” PRIDE. If you’ve seen any PRIDE events you know full well that there are many uniquely Japanese qualities to the way the present the sport–from the guy in the sumo diaper banging the gong during fighter introductions, to the musical production numbers to the lovely PRIDE girls. The knee-jerk reaction by UFC would be to assume that they need to make PRIDE “more American” to facilitate its acceptance by the domestic audience. I’d suggest that its in Zuffa’s best interest to preserve the Japan-centric elements of PRIDE’s identity. And definitely keep Lenne Hardt–aka the “crazy female announcer” on PRIDE events. Clearly this will be effective in keeping the Japanese fanbase on board, but I’m of the opinion that much of PRIDE’s appeal to US fans is its culture uniqueness.

3) Maintain the rule differences between the UFC and PRIDE – At the most basic level, this means keeping the octagon in the UFC and the ring in PRIDE. While PRIDE has modified their rules in the past to conform with the Nevada Athletic Commission during their US live shows, Zuffa should resist any temptation to make the in-ring product of the two organizations strictly uniform. The rule differences add a level of interest to serious fans–for example, there was some question heading into Mirko “Cro Cop’s” UFC debut how he’d react to his first fight in the octagon. Doing what needs to be done to conform to the guidelines of state sanctioning bodies is one thing, but a rush to making the PRIDE and UFC rules and in-ring presentation uniform will be counterproductive.

4) Show the PPVs – even the Japanese shows–live in the USA – Serious MMA fans have never liked PRIDE’s habit of tape delaying the PPV broadcasts of their events originating in Japan. While I can understand their thinking behind this–the 13 hour time difference means that its hard to balance the needs of the live crowd in Japan with the PPV audience in the US–the serious MMA fans want to watch it live. With the UFC’s power in the broadcasting world they can actually do both by showing the event live and then showing the tape delayed broadcast later in the day. This will make the MMA hardcores very happy, will help maintain the unique cultural identity of PRIDE, and create something of an “exotic” air to the events.

5) No pro wrestling gimmickry – This isn’t much of a concern, as the UFC has done a good job legitimizing MMA and promoting it as a legitimate sporting event. Other organizations haven’t been so quick to learn that pro wrestling type promotion is counterproductive. I’ve got no reason to think that UFC/PRIDE will resort to these tactics, but its essential to do everything necessarily to avoid any similarities to pro wrestling. Another good thing for Zuffa to do is to make sure that Eric “Butterbean” Esch never disgraces a PRIDE ring or UFC octagon. He’s unfortunately scheduled on the 4/8 show from Saitama (fighting another sideshow attraction in “Zulu“) but hopefully Zuffa will put the kibosh on this and replace it with a real fight featuring real fighters.

6) Separate titles, but a unified champion – I still haven’t worked out the logistical specifics of this, but I think its essential for the longterm legitimacy of the sport. Obviously Zuffa will want to maintain separate championships in both PRIDE and UFC for promotional reasons, and this is definitely the right thing to do. At the same time, however, I’d like to see a “Undisputed World MMA Champion” in the respective weight classes. They could also get the other organizations in the world that promote MMA “right” involved in the mix. Again, I haven’t worked out the full details of how to best do this yet but in theory the presence of an “Undisputed World MMA Champion” is important for the sport. I’m going to do some more thinking on this and will outline what I come up with in a future post.

7) Build bridges with boxing – A frequently heard meme is that the growth of the UFC/MMA has come at the expense of boxing. This is usually the “take” of clueless journalists who understand neither boxing or MMA. It is worth noting that there is something of a schism in the boxing fan base–there are those who enjoy MMA in the same way they enjoy “the sweet science”, and there are more “old school” boxing fans who think that MMA is an affront to their sport. Obviously, I’m among the former as are most of my friends and acquaintances in the boxing fandom. I have the same respect for an MMA fighter who dedicates himself to training and fighting that I do for a boxer. As sports, they’re apples and oranges but do have the similar appeal in that both are legit combat sports. Zuffa has never actively promoted the talk that MMA is “replacing” boxing, but they need to go out of their way to build bridges to the “Sweet Science” and to the promoters, fighters and fans. This not only helps build the legitimacy of MMA as a sport, but the “unconverted” boxing fans could easily be won over with a little effort.

8 ) Work with other organizations that do MMA “right” – If you saw the debut of Elite XC on Showtime awhile back you’ll remember the introduction of Frank Shamrock in the main event. “Classy” Jimmy Lennon, Jr. introduced him as the “former King of Pancrase and former UFC champion”. This made the fight seem like a bigger deal, made Shamrock seem like a more impressive fighter and most importantly demonstrated a great deal of respect for the fans. Any serious MMA fan already knew who Frank Shamrock was, so acting like he’d never accomplished anything in the sport was pointless. Now I understand that as the industry leader the UFC/PRIDE doesn’t need to cultivate this sort of legitimacy, but they are in a position where they can bequeath legitimacy on other organizations. In the past, they’ve not always done well in this regard–even the recent debut of Mirko “Cro Cop” was handled poorly in that there was no mention of PRIDE (other than on fight night by Joe Rogan). On one hand, the UFC didn’t want to plug their rival who at the time was seeking a toehold in the US market. The result, however, made the UFC look amateurish and showed little respect for the MMA hardcore fans that support their promotion. It also prevented them from making Cro Cop’s arrival seem as important as it should have–for example, they could have promoted his winning the PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix along with the fact that he defeated Wanderlei Silva and Josh Barnett on the same night in the process. With the purchase of PRIDE, the UFC is in a safe position as the dominant MMA organization. They can afford to confer a little legitimacy on second tier organizations that do it right. As the sport grows, it’ll need more “feeder organizations” to develop fighters as they progress to the top level. Zuffa can do this very simply and without any financial outlay of their own simply by taking the opportunity to legitimize the smaller groups when appropriate.

9) Make the inter-promotional events meaningful – Simply stated, its in Zuffa’s best interest to develop the two brands in such a way that the appearance of a PRIDE fighter on a UFC event, or vice versa, is seen as something of a big deal. If this distinction isn’t maintained all it does is undermine the identity of both brands and undercuts the promotional upside of having two brands in the process. There’s enough quality MMA fighters in the world to go around, so Zuffa needs to avoid bringing in a PRIDE fighter just to fill roster space in the UFC and vice versa. When a PRIDE fighter appears on a UFC card only in rare circumstances–a unification bout, a “special attraction” PRIDE title match, or so forth–it enhances the profile of both brands and makes PPV events easier to sell.

10) Build bridges to the media and continue to work to grow the sport – Finally, Zuffa needs to continue reaching out to the more recalcitrant media outlets and other elements of the sports world in an effort to legitimize and grow the sport. Some media outlets like the Las Vegas Review Journal have begun to cover MMA like a “real” sport. Others–such as ESPN–have not (though ESPN is horrible about minimizing the importance of sports that they don’t have a financial interest in promoting).

So that’s my gameplan–simply stated, continue promoting MMA as a legitimate sport and maintain the unique identity of the two brands. If Zuffa does that they’ll have a license to print money and MMA will continue as the fastest growing spectator sport in the world.

4 Comments to UFC + PRIDE: 10 steps to doing it right

Leave a comment