Fighters Only

Issue 080

October 2011

Thanks to the pioneering TUF series, the UFC’s global boom is synonymous with mixed martial arts. Fighters Only scours the planet for evidence of MMA’s determination to be the biggest sport in the world

Ever since the term ‘Major League’ was annexed to professional American baseball in 1921, thereby creating ‘MLB,’ acronyms have become allied with some of the world’s most powerful and instantly recognizable sporting brands. The National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL) and National Basketball Association (NBA) are all examples of the ‘less is more’ philosophy. And now, 90 years on, it is fair to say there is a new player in town – the ‘UFC.’

Almost 17 years since UFC 1 (later poignantly suffixed with, The Beginning) played out to just shy of 3,000 spectators at the McNicholas Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has become not just the biggest mixed martial arts promotion on the planet, but a brand as synonymous with its adoptive sport as any of it’s three-lettered peers. That it almost wasn’t is well-documented, yet fast approaching it’s 200th live show the world’s fastest growing athletic phenomenon has now touched down in five continents and nine countries as UFC president Dana White looks to make good on his promise of making MMA “the biggest sport in the world by 2020.”

As the flagship for the organization, The Ultimate Fighter series has been at the very forefront of the UFC’s expansion into new territories ever since it first aired on Spike TV in January 2005. The landmark season one finale saw Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar not only capture the hearts and minds of a new generation of fan, but validated the format’s potential for success. And now, 12 seasons in the can since, and with Michael Bisping and Jason Miller donning the coaches’ jerseys for TUF 14 this Fall, the show has no signs of abating. And for good reason.

In the last three years the UFC has staged inaugural live events in Ireland, Australia, Abu Dhabi and Canada – the latter the promotion’s number-one pay-per-view market per-capita. On each occasion The Ultimate Fighter preceded the arrival of live shows. It is a marketing strategy as simple as it is effective: always leave them wanting more. With plans to syndicate the show globally – “We’re gonna start doing ‘The Ultimate Fighter UK’, ‘The Ultimate Fighter Canada’, ‘The Ultimate Fighter Philippines’. We’re doing it everywhere,” White confirmed recently – ‘more’ is most definitely on the agenda.

As the UFC’s global footprint extends further afield year-on-year – UFC programming is now shown in 130 countries worldwide – by default so too does the sport of MMA itself. The two are so intrinsically intertwined that to the growing population of new fans the UFC is MMA. Whilst the mere thought may prompt die-hard devotees to spontaneously combust, the reality is that whilst the distinction between the UFC and MMA is invisible to some, the biggest winner is perhaps the sport itself. New fans bring with them new revenues, and as demand for more national and local shows increases, so too does the demand for gyms that are the backbone of the industry.

In 2001, the American Top Team – co-founded by former Brazilian Top Team members Conan Silveira, Marcelo Silveira and Ricardo Liborio – began life in a small, cramped 900-square-foot store-front academy in Boca Raton, Florida. Today ’ATT’ it is one of the sport’s most recognizable brands with 36 US-based academies. Brazilian Top Team also now has 26 gyms worldwide, including Canada and Australia, whilst European teams such as Wolfslair Academy and Team Kaobon have flourished in the UK over the last decade.

But it’s not just elite-level MMA camps that are reaping the rewards afforded by the UFC‘s global expansion. In Pakistan, despite MMA being very much a niche sport, the last six months alone have seen PAKMMA commence construction of its first official cage; hold a free, two-part, referring and judging course and, perhaps most significantly, introduce Pakistan’s newest promotion – Pak Fight Club. “I have a feeling that this promotion is gonna send MMA to a whole other level over the next year,” PAKMMA president Bashir Ahmad told Fighters Only. “We (PAKMMA) are MMA in the country and people have seen the impact we are having at rallying the educated and aware martial arts community. Now every martial artist with any sense is adding MMA to their agenda and training.”

Despite access to the UFC and TUF being limited in a country with a distinct social and economic divide, its impact is nonetheless significant. “The UFC is so big that it has had a huge role in getting people into MMA. They have a video game [the UFC Undisputed series has sold over five million units worldwide], if that doesn’t scream cool and mainstream then what does? But these are for the upper class, for the guys who probably show themselves to be top talent. To the masses the UFC plays a lesser role as these people don’t have access to new trends as readily as the more rich and educated do. However, it does trickle down and when it does trickle down to one martial arts fan he goes out of his way to tell 10 other people what he saw and so on… I do believe that this country has all the prerequisites to make this sport possibly even rival cricket.”

In Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates that saw Abu Dhabi play host to the regions first UFC event in 2010, the Contender MMA Centre became the area’s first full-time MMA gym with an opening ceremony that included Wanderlei Silva. Australia also, a fellow 2010 UFC debutant, is enjoying a boom at present. “Things are looking up for MMA in Australia” Nico Georgaki, one of the founders of australianmma.com.au, told Fighters Only. “It is being taken more seriously now thanks to the efforts of devoted trainers and the dedication of fighters such as George Sotiropoulos, Kyle Noke, Brian Ebersole, Hector Lombard and Anthony Perosh. Not to mention the efforts of all the promoters nationally.” Promotions such as Impact FC and Australia Fighting Championships have attracted reputable names from the past, present and future in the shape of Ken Shamrock, Pedro Rizzo, Carlos Newton, Karo Parisyan, Josh Barnett, Jesse Taylor and 29-2-1-1 current Bellator middleweight champion Lombard.

Yet whilst MMA as a collaboration of disciplines continues to thrive, so to do the individual components that make up the greater whole. The Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academies, a name enshrined in the evolutionary tale of both MMA and jiu-jitsu, has 19 officially certified training centers located in the US alone. A further three are located in England, Singapore and South Africa; a country which now boasts 46 dojos devoted entirely to one of the ‘famous five’ – wrestling, BJJ, kickboxing, Muay Thai and judo. And that’s without counting the further 24 clubs categorized as ‘pure’ MMA.

MMA is big business; a global business. One that has stepped out of the shadows of yesteryear and into the bright lights of the mainstream psyche. It’s a concept that would have been almost unimaginable six years ago when The Ultimate Fighter made its sheepish debut, and for that the UFC must take much of the plaudits. However, the real stars are the fighters themselves. No longer erroneously typecast as mindless and ill-educated thugs, the likes of Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Gina Carano, Cain Velasquez, Wanderlei Silva, Jon ’Bones’ Jones, Brian Stann, Antonio Nogueira, Rashad Evans, Georges St Pierre – and a dozen more thereafter – have been instrumental in bringing MMA to the masses. Each as physically and athletically gifted as an Olympian, yet with an intelligence and charisma that serves not only as a credit to their discipline, but as an inspiration to aspiring fighters and those men, women and children who now see MMA as means to a better and healthier lifestyle. There’s a long way to go, but who’s to say MMA won’t one day be the world’s biggest sport? It’s certainly not for lack of trying.

MAINSTREAM APPEAL

BUD LIGHT

JON JONES, DANA WHITE AND ARIANNY CELESTE

As “proud sponsors of the UFC” since 2008, Budweiser and the UFC celebrated a three-year contract extension this April with a primetime Bud Light commercial featuring none other than light heavyweight champ, Jon Jones, and the big boss man himself, Dana White. However, having seen Arianny Celeste’s half-naked ‘Ultimate Fantasy’ endorsement of Bud Light Lime, we know what we’ll be drinking at the office party.

MISSION SKINCARE

GEORGES ST PIERRE

Widely regarded as one of MMA’s pound-for-pound greats, St Pierre is perhaps the sport’s most marketable star. With endorsements deals that include Gatorade and Under Armour, the 30 year old added Mission Skincare to his résumé in 2010, “the first and only line of Athlete-Engineered® Skincare products.”

MICROSOFT

RASHAD EVANS

As blue-chip a company as they come, Rashad Evans set a new benchmark for MMA’s inroads into the mainstream marketing psyche, appearing in Microsoft’s 2008 ‘I’m a PC’ advertising campaign. And no, we still don’t know what that means either.

LUGZ FOOTWEAR

CAIN VELASQUEZ

Following in the footsteps of some of hip-hop’s finest, Houston Alexander, ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Lyoto Machida have all endorsed the famous shoe and boot manufacturer in recent years. More recently UFC heavyweight champion, Cain Velasquez, put his acting skills to the test with a summer 2010 TV commercial.

SHICK SHAVING PRODUCTS

MARK COLEMAN AND WANDERLIEI SILVA

‘The Hammer’ and ‘The Axe Murderer’ may never have simultaneously shared a ring or cage, but as two of Pride’s biggest stars in their pomp they did once share a TV commercial. Suspect to say the least, it involved lathering each other in shaving foam and administering a quick ‘shave and splash’ under the watchful eye of a levitating martial arts ‘master.’

TUF BY THE NUMBERS

With Bisping vs Miller set to air on TV screens this fall, there have been 14 seasons in total

164

Including live finales there have been 164 episodes to date

fighters have been crowned ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ Combined, they have a professional record of

278-93-3

fighters have gone from TUF housemate to UFC champion – Matt Serra, Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans

6.1

million viewers tuned in to watch Internet sensation Kimbo Slice fight Roy Nelson in Season 10

BY THE NUMBERS

Canadian UFC events have taken a total gate of $36.9m

UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi in 2010 opened a path for local promotions