Issue 026

June 2007

Dana White and the UFC’s co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta made MMA history with a glitzy press conference at Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills Arena on 27^th March 2007. Finally ending months of rumour and speculation they triumphantly announced the formation of a new company called Pride Fighting Championships Worldwide. This outfit, headed up by Lorenzo, officially took over the running of the PRIDE Fighting Championships on May 1^st from previous owners Dream Stage Entertainment (DSE). In this article resident Fighters Only Japanophile and uber-geek Andrew Garvey takes a look at the story and speculates on what the future might bring. 

The Sale

Since being unceremoniously kicked off Fuji TV in June 2006 after a months-long campaign of articles and exposés from leading Japanese scandal-rag Shukan Gendai into DSE’s alleged close ties to the Yakuza (Japanese mafia), PRIDE lost a rumoured $40 million trying to carry on with business as usual. They also made a last-ditch effort to save the company by finally making their US debut in Las Vegas last October (returning for a second show in February). Ploughing on as if nothing had happened, they kept on booking big, expensive names and major buildings, despite a massive income shortfall. 

The only outward sign of decline were the plummeting production values as Fuji TV handled that side of things and had proved superb at it, but problems were piling up internally at a tremendous rate. Despite DSE’s protests to the contrary (and continual teases of new TV deals) they quickly realised they weren’t getting back in Fuji TV’s good books anytime soon, and with no other network willing to touch the tainted company, PRIDE simply wasn’t sustainable anymore.

With their only income coming from live gates, merchandise and pay-per-view sales (which are tiny PRIDE’s profile is so low) DSE were soon looking around for somebody to offload the promotion onto. Approaching UFC owners Zuffa last summer, initial talks apparently went nowhere. A short while later, DSE terrifyingly offered the promotion to Vince McMahon’s WWE, asking some $10 million. They thankfully rejected the offer of salvaging a sinking ship in a sport they have no understanding of. 

Considering how big PRIDE was at one time, the price tag was shockingly low. Obviously they were haemorrhaging money at a truly alarming rate. In January some very confident and specific Zuffa / PRIDE rumours surfaced on MMA analysis / discussion site kakutougi.info. Within days they were all over the internet, and resurfaced time and time again over the next few weeks. With the story gathering momentum, other names were publicly thrown around as possible buyers. PRIDE’s US promoter Ed Fishman was certainly interested but the Zuffa name refused to go away. 

Confirmation that something concrete had been agreed leaked out in late March. A few days later brave-faced DSE president Nobuyuki Sakakibara, Dana White (wearing what can only be described as the smuggest grin in the history of mankind) and his lifelong friend Lorenzo Fertitta held a press conference to officially announce a momentous change in the history of MMA. 

How Much??????

So, how much did Fertitta pay for PRIDE? Most rumours have pegged the figure at the $65million mark, but given the $10mill DSE wanted from WWE, that number seems illogical and vastly inflated. Though it could be accurate as a totalling of PRIDE’s assets (contracts, merchandising and sales etc.) rather than the actual purchase price. The Fertitta brothers, the other being Frank, own one of the world’s largest casino chains and have a history of sniffing out a bargain, bagging UFC for a paltry $2 million in the first place. They’re no mugs. All figures are speculative but $10 million seems like a fantastic bargain for a promotion like PRIDE. But is it really such a bargain in 2007? And what has Fertitta actually bought?

Positives

On the plus side, Fertitta now has the contracts for some of the sport’s very best fighters, a truly established brand name with a loyal following in Japan, a ready-made opening into the booming South Korean market where PRIDE is very popular and the potential for putting together some genuine UFC vs. PRIDE dream matches. PRIDE’s back catalogue of events and fight footage are also extremely valuable, and the promotion has some existing TV and videogame deals already in place. 

PRIDE may have flopped on pay-per-view in the US (both Las Vegas shows pulled a paltry 50,000 buys while every single UFC these days passes the 350,000 mark) but with Zuffa’s promotional muscle and US expertise behind them a newly invigorated Pride (note the new lowercase version) has a real chance of making a genuine impact beyond the hardcore fanbase. This is particularly true if, as Dana White recently promised “a huge TV deal in America” comes about. The potential for an inter-promotional ‘Superbowl of MMA’ that White has talked about on a number of occasions is unlimited if the casual American fan can be convinced that Pride and its fighters are of equal stature to the almighty UFC.

Negatives

There are plenty of negatives too. While MMA is booming in the US and UK, the business is pretty sickly in Japan. The real glory years were in 2002 and 2003 and it’s becoming more and more difficult to promote successfully and profitably over there. PRIDE has lost a LOT of money in the last year, and the brand has lost much of its lustre. Less than 20,000 showed up for PRIDE 34 in a building where they used to routinely pull 30,000. In the short term, Fertitta may actually have bought a licence to burn money. All the biggest Japanese stars are too old or broken down to really compete in anything other than freakshow matches or very carefully selected ‘special attractions’, both of which are so alien to UFC. And quite simply, Japanese fans may not want to support a promotion run by outsiders, particularly after the last PRIDE show was so clearly presented as a farewell party and the end of an era, a goodbye to ‘the real PRIDE’ run by DSE. 

They may see the ‘new’ Pride, with new rules and promotional values, as an imposter organisation run by Gaijin (the Japanese word for foreigner, which can be literally translated as ‘barbarian’). Speaking of those new rules, initial reaction from Japan’s hardcore fanbase doesn’t look good. The new Pride will adopt the ‘unified rules’ of North America’s athletic commissions, eliminating the unique round structure, soccer kicks, stomps, open-weight matches and most likely tournaments decided by a semi-final and final in the same night. White is adamant that Pride will essentially remain the same for the fan, but much of what actually made the promotion unique will undoubtedly be eliminated.

Who Really Runs the Show?

Lorenzo Fertitta is in charge of Pride now, but will undoubtedly have plenty of help from workaholic friend and business partner Dana White. In fact, no matter what is said publicly, it is hard to imagine a man so involved with the minutiae of running the UFC that he chooses entrance music for fighters will be able to stay away from his friend’s new toy. Even if White were to keep his distance, who would Fertitta turn to for promotional advice when he needs it? Perhaps his trusted friend and the most successful MMA promoter on the planet? 

Like No Other Country

Whatever White’s specific involvement American executives will be overseeing a Japanese office that is essentially the same as that under DSE. Day to day operations will be run from Japan but the overall direction may be decided by Americans with little feel for the Japanese market. That could be an insurmountable problem. Quite simply, Japan is like no other country. Promoting there is difficult enough, even for experienced Japanese operations. The culture is a baffling one to outsiders and the reality is that the biggest fights in Japanese history have rarely involved the best fighters. 

‘Freakshow fights’ involving actors, pro wrestlers, giants, comedians, retired Sumo legends and washed-up, half-crippled Japanese fighters have always drawn the biggest TV ratings, even while cards have been stacked with top quality real fighters. Japanese TV companies clearly want big ratings and they are the kind of fights that deliver the casual Japanese audience by the million. Their wishes will almost certainly conflict with those of the promotion’s new owners, men with a more ‘legitimate’ sporting background and frame of reference. 

Zuffa have often trumpeted their success in turning ‘spectacle into sport’, and they have every right to. They took a dead-in-the-water ‘bloodsport’ and put it on national and international TV, but in Japan they will desperately need to retain the ‘spectacle’ aspect, albeit a more ‘showbiz’ version. Josh Barnett may have said it best when he pointed out the average Japanese fan “wants to see superheroes fight”. Mere mortals are not enough in Japan, no matter how good a fighter they are. 

Pride under DSE was an incredible mix of serious fighting talent and gimmicky attractions. It’s what the Japanese audience wants and expects. If the shinsei (newborn) Pride can’t deliver this, they will struggle in Japan, even if the chances of success in the US are greatly improved. Whatever happens, for good or bad, the next few months may be as fascinating outside the ropes as inside them.