Tom Atencio and Jared Shaw Walk Into a Bar

Tom Atencio and Jared Shaw walk into a bar, Dana White ducked.  While this joke is lame, in broad terms it explains where things are with MMA in a nutshell.  After our interview with Tom the other day, he made it clear that anyone thinking they were in financial trouble or that they wouldn’t be around was insane.  We have all read the information regarding Pro Elite and Elite XC’s debt that they’ve run into and the rumors circulating about the Showtime interest in purchasing.  Unfortunately for Elite XC, they don’t have the Trump factor on their side.

If you ask anyone who follows MMA, they would tell you that the UFC is by far the most financially stable.  While many don’t agree with Dana White’s practices, you can’t argue that he has done well with the UFC.  His antics and tactics may not be ones you personally agree with but the bottom line is what he has done has worked and looks to be continuing to work for him.

Let’s take a look at where each organizer is and where they will be…

UFC

The UFC is as strong as it’s ever been and looks to continue it’s increased PPV buys and viewers.  Let’s peak at the UFC 90 fight card for example.  The preliminary card for this event has some big names on it and won’t even be aired on TV.  This preliminary card is strong enough to be the main card for Elite XC.

UFC looks to continue to break records with upcoming fights like UFC 91: Lesnar vs Couture and the Super Bowl weekend fight with St. Pierre vs Penn II.  Both events looking to top each other and could very well be the two largest events in UFC history for PPV buys.

The UFC will continue to be the major player in MMA and set the bar for what you would like to achieve as a fight organizer.

Affliction

Everyone has criticized Affliction from the start.  Dana White being one of the major critics of the newly founded event organizer.  Tom Atencio has made it clear they are here and aren’t going anywhere.  Affliction recently moved the October event to the first quarter of 2009 (date still to be confirmed).  It was rumored that ticket sales weren’t very good.  Tom confirmed this in an interview with MMA Weekly.  This wasn’t the only reason for the rescheduling.  Recent partnership with Golden Boy Promotions and the availability of Fedor for the new fight card made it an easy business decision to reschedule.

Many folks say that Affliction didn’t exceed 50,000 PPV Buys with their first event.  Tom confirmed with MMA Chump that the PPV Buys were over 100,000.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get an exact number.

So where does this leave Affliction in the MMA world?  Don’t count Affliction out.  They have something that no other organizer has and that’s financial backing from people like Donald Trump that allows you to have deep pockets.  After all, a lot of their fighters have 2 more fights on their contract still.

Elite XC

If you had to pick one of the three organizers to be bought out or close shop, this would be where you place your money.  Their filings with the SEC made it clear that they were financially in trouble.  Rumors are filling the internet about a possible Showtime buy out but requests for comments from Pro Elite and Elite XC have not been returned yet.

Even if Showtime is set to buy out Elite XC, are they just spinning their wheels?  Does Showtime have the experience in this industry to get the organization to where it needs to be to continue as a major player?  They have a big role in boxing but is it similar enough to work the same way… the answer is no.  Boxing and MMA fans are two different sets.  There’s plenty of people who love Boxing but don’t watch MMA and vice versa.

Last 3 posts by Mat Houchens

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