THIS ENTIRE POST IS JUST MY TAKE ON THIS TOPIC, JUST MY OPINION. IMO, IN ORDER FOR MMA TO REACH ITS HIGHEST LEVEL, MMA ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THE UFC OR ELITE XC AND SO ON SHOULD CO PROMOTE THEIR FIGHTS. AND ALL MMA ORGANIZATIONS SHOULD WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE UNDISPUTED POUND FOR POUND TITLES FOR EACH WEIGHT CLASS. THIS IS THE ONLY TRUE WAY OF KNOWING WHO THE BEST FIGHTERS ARE. MMA FIGHTERS SHOULD BE FREE AGENTS. THEY SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIGHT ANY OPPONENT THAT THEY WANT WITHOUT ANY MONOPOLY TELLING THEM OTHERWISE. DANA WHITE WANTS NONE OF THIS. NOW, I DON’T KNOW WHAT HIS EXACT VIEWS ARE, BUT I’M GUESSING THAT IT’S SOMETHING LIKE THIS. DANA IS WORKING VERY HARD TO MAKE THE AVERAGE GUY EDUCATED ABOUT MMA. DANA BELIEVES THAT HIS ORGANIZATION, THE UFC, IS THE MOST STRUCTURED OUTLET FOR THIS. HE IS WORRIED THAT IF HE DECIDES TO MAKE CO PROMOTION FIGHTS WITH NEWER AND SOMEWHAT LESS EXPERIENCED ORGANIZATIONS AS WELL AS NOT HAVING EVERY ONE OF HIS FIGHTERS LOCKED TO A CONTRACT, THAT THE UNEDUCATED VIEWERS THAT HE’S TRYING TO GET WILL SHOW LESS INTEREST TO THE SPORT BECAUSE IT COULD CAUSE CONFUSION, AND WITH THEIR BEING CO PROMOTION FIGHTS WITH FREE MANAGEMENT FIGHTERS, THERE COULD BE ARGUMENTS ABOUT MONEY, AND THEN EVERYTHING WILL CRUMBLE AFTER THAT. THIS IDEA IS AS SELFISH AS IT IS UNDERSTANDABLE. DANA DOESN’T TRUST ANY OTHER ORGANIZATION. HE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT THEIR BEST INTERESTS ARE, SO HE’S NOT GOING TO JUMP AT THE IDEA OF CO PROMOTING ANYTHING. MAYBE WHEN HE FEELS THAT THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS MORE AWARE OF MMA THROUGH THE UFC, AND IT GETS MORE MAINSTREEM, THEN MAYBE HE WILL CONSIDER TO MAKE CO PROMOTION FIGHTS WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS. WHO KNOWS HOW LONG THIS WILL TAKE. DANA HAS EXPRESSED HIS INTEREST TO MAKE CO PROMOTED FIGHTS BEFORE, DURING THE WHOLE CHUCK & WANDERLEI STAGE WITH PRIDE, AND I KNOW HE WOULD LOVE TO SEE CHUCK SMASH KIMBO. IT JUST ALL COMES DOWN TO TRUST. HE JUST DOESN’T TRUST THESE ORGANIZATIONS. REGARDLESS, CO PROMOTIONS WILL STILL OCCUR, EVEN WITHOUT THE UFC, BUT IT WOULD BE NICE TO SEE THIS CHANGE, BECAUSE THE WORLDS BEST FIGHTERS SHOULD GET TO FIGHT EACH OTHER. MATT LINDLAND SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIGHT ANDERSON SILVA. RANDY COUTURE SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIGHT FEDOR. ANYWAY, IS THIS MAKING SENSE? WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK? WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON THIS?

I just want to say that this topic is a HUGE can of worms.

The camp/org business model speaks for itself. It has grown more fighters, and has grown the sport more in this country than anything else. The “UFC” model also puts more resources in place to push the sport forward (it is VERY expensive to deal with gov’t regulatory agencies and gaming commissions). The sport needs to grow and gain more acceptance, and this model is the way to do it.

Co-promotion seems like a good thing up front. It is also a good thing in small doses. As you said above, Dana White has tried to co-promote in small amounts in the past. What we have to remember is, that in a co-promotion, ANYONE can pull out at ANY time before the contracts are signed for ANY reason. People blame Dana for not making Fedor v Randy happen. The truth is, if you want to blame anyone, blame Fedor’s management team. Just because Dana and Fedor Inc. couldn’t come to an agreement, doesn’t mean we should throw the baby out with the bathwater. I want to see Randy v. Fedor as much as anyone, but I don’t want to see MMA destroyed for it. Co-promotion is always an option. It just doesn’t work for MMA yet. There isn’t some “law” out there that says “you CANNOT Co-Promote!”. It just isn’t prudent unless both sides can gain something from it. Frnakly, the UFC has nothing to gain from co-promoting with these fledgling promotions. Pride and UFC co-promoting was promising, but a deal could never be struck for many reasons, namely the fact that Pride wasn’t keeping good books, contracts, and couldn’t account for many practices (cough Yakuza cough). Not to mention the fact that they didn’t have their fighters tested for foreign substances.

If Dana was truly out there for JUST the money, he would co-promote, make a few billion dollars on 25 big fights, and skip town. But he is trying to build a sport. So he doesn’t. Co-promotion only plays to the greed of a fighters agent and management team. Look at what it has done to boxing (which is trying to re-emerge from the mess that was the 90’s). The model CAN create some big fights, but it also has NO obligation to deliver. If the fighters can’t agree, then there is NO SHOW. The camp/org model will always produce a product, even if it doesn’t always have the absolute best matches at any given time.

I would give up Fedor v. Randy to see good, full, complete, and entertaining fight cards. I will take 200 good fights in a year, instead of 5 overly hyped ones. That is just my opinion. The UFC model is more forward thinking, the co-promotion model is always strictly in the short term.

I could go on forever on this…But I think I have said enough. Just remember, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.