To summarize: Dana White has put out the word, which was confirmed in a forum post by MMA agent Ken Pavia, that any fighter who signs on to have their likeness featured in Electronic Arts' upcoming MMA video game (a future competitor to developer THQ' s UFC video game) will be placed on the UFC's blacklist. Appear in the video game, and you will literally never fight in the UFC.
It's hard to speak in any definitive or constructive way on the ethical content of such a mandate. One could argue for days about whether or not this is fair; whether or not fairness (as most people understand it) has any place in this business; to what extent the fighters themselves, in responding to such tactics, would themselves be culpable in their own misery. And of course, the absolute, unconditional nature of White's threat is a little hard to swallow. Should we really believe that if Fedor Emelianenko rang the UFC's doorbell, a signed contract in hand, the day following his debut appearance in EA's video game, that he wouldn't be brought on board? It's doubtful.
What is clear, however, is Dana White's immediate sincerity on the matter. Exceptions aside, the UFC president meant what he said, and it fits with the UFC's emergent modus operandi (formed around such a strong arm as only a boxercise instructor could have). Given this, we have to both admit the threat's significance and examine its potency.
Does Japan want the UFC?
Takanori Gomi is a star. Norifumi Yamamoto is a star. So are Kazushi Sakuraba, Ikuhisa Minowa, and American Jason Miller. None of them needed the UFC to reach the height of popularity, if not rankings, among Japanese MMA fans. Indeed, dating back to the UFC's Ultimate Japan 1 in 1997, it seems that the Ultimate Fighting Championship has always needed Japanese fighters as a means of success overseas more than any fighter from Takada Dojo ever needed the UFC. And while PRIDE is dead and gone, the rise of both DREAM and Sengoku provide for a persistent status quo. It’s hard to imagine that any popular fighter in Japan is particularly shaken at the thought of being banned from fighting in front of a booing American crowd.
Yet, for the best of fighters, being a star won't always be enough. Being the best is the only thing that will do, and in a country like Japan where matchmakers from hell are busy cooking up a fight between a kickboxing champion suffering from gigantism and a retired baseball player, truly testing oneself becomes a dubious proposition. This is where the UFC has an advantage.
Some will always view The Ultimate Fighter as a shameful spectacle, but this pales in comparison to a fight between a pro-wrestler dressed as a comic book character fighting a 320-pound spokesman for Panasonic televisions. Brock Lesnar aside, contenders in the UFC almost always follow a coherent rise to title contention, and the UFC has never in this modern era put a fight together based solely on the idea of a mismatch. The same cannot be said for the much-missed PRIDE FC, or K-1 Hero's or DREAM. A spot in the open-weight DREAM "Superhulk" tournament (where little guys fight big guys!) or a run at Anderson Silva's middleweight title? For the legacy-minded fighter this is not a hard choice. Yoshihiro Akiyama made this choice when he signed with the UFC. Olympic judoka turned sought-after MMA prospect Satoshi Ishii almost did the same before opting to gain experience in Japan before a stateside jump. Might this be indicative of a larger shift in opinion among the Japanese mixed martial arts community? While one can establish super-stardom in a Japanese promotion like DREAM, has the UFC, due to more consistent and productive matchmaking, become the place to test one's mettle at its peak? Dana White, in making such an unqualified threat, seems to be betting yes, but perhaps too soon.
Consider first that with the buyout and dissolution of PRIDE FC, a line was drawn in the sand. On the one end fell those who chose to migrate to the UFC, either for an extended stay (like Shogun Rua) or an abbreviated sort of investigation (like Akihiro Gono). On the other side were those who decided to stick it out in Japan, either in DREAM or in the fledgling Sengoku. If this latter group, comprised of fighters like Takanori Gomi, Josh Barnett, and Tatsuya Kawajiri, weren't too concerned with signing on with the UFC at the height of their overseas mystique, it's unlikely that they would be particularly concerned about it now. And with fighters like the aforementioned Gono moving back into more familiar territory, it's likely that most of the Japanese mainstays will remain just that.
What's more, it seems like there just might be a place for competition-minded fighters like Akiyama as well. Sengoku representative Takahiro Kokuho, in a May 2009 interview, acknowledged the problematic relationship that Japanese MMA culture has had with spectacle-driven events. "For us, Sengoku is a competition. We want it to be a real sport. We want to find out who really is the strongest...." Kokuho went on to say, "We won't be doing things like Bob Sapp-Kinniku Mantaro." If Sengoku's surprisingly sober, competitive tournaments are any indication, then fighters like Akiyama might not have to look to the UFC for more consistent matchmaking.
In the end, Dana White's harsh words may be landing on deaf ears across the Pacific.
Do North American fighters need the UFC?
Basically no. Or at least not for long. While it's true that the UFC currently has a stranglehold on mainstream popularity, key events in the past nine months point toward a change in the MMA landscape. Most significantly, the growth of Strikeforce.
Under staid management Strikeforce has seen steady growth to the point of landing a deal with television network CBS. It's home to MMA stars Gina Carano and Cung Le, and highly esteemed fighters like Jake Shields and Renato Sobral. A healthy collaboration with the money-burning promotion Affliction has managed to keep Strikeforce's growing roster in competitive fights, and its less-stringent contractual policies have seen international stars like Kazuo Misaki pop in to lend some gravitas to their fight cards.
Bearing all this in mind, one might envision a time when an eminent talent might opt out of playing hardball with Dana White in favor of a deal with EA Games and a spot on a CBS-broadcast Strikeforce event. And while Strikeforce could go belly-up before any of this comes to pass, the promotion's sensible rate of expansion and spending definitely separates it from burnouts like the WFA in 2006, the IFL in 2008, and perhaps Affliction in the coming year.
If Strikeforce's momentum continues, it could be little more than a year or two before fighter's can tune-out Dana White's unconditional demands.
Is Dana White pissing in the wind?
The efficacy of Dana White's threats to all UFC hopefuls, now and forever, depends largely on the fighters and their managers. Certainly the near future will see upcoming fighters for whom the UFC still holds a special aura, yet the MMA world seems to be changing—for every TUF hopeful there is a Robbie Lawler making it work outside of the trademarked Octagon.
If fighters recognize Strikeforce or Sengoku’s increasing significance they might, provided the fighter is able and willing to put time into a still-developing promotion, forego dignifying Dana White's strong-arm tactics. Only a couple years ago this would have been unthinkable, but with the growth of Strikeforce, Sengoku, and DREAM, combined with the increasingly vocal dissatisfaction of fighters and managers alike, Dana White may finally be overestimating his hold on the world of MMA.
This article was originally published by Nokaut.com on July 6, 2009
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