Would the advantages outweigh disadvantages if we had a Dana White figure for boxing? (a president)

Now I'm not sure how much some of you follow other sports, but Dana White (President of UFC) for example (I may be quick to judge) but from clips I've seen from him he does come across quite unprofessional, pompous and a little too egotistical. Not someone I'd like to be the head of boxing, would you?.

Take also the fact that Dana White has been said to hold grudges against fighters, considering there's some power hungry freaks like Floyd, could a president worsen things?

Take football too... Blatter, Platini etc are VERY much disliked (in the U.K anyway) and damned if they do and damned if they don't (awarding world cups to countries like Qatar, Russia and South Africa was ok in my eyes and most around the world but not to a lot over here), also Blatter suggesting things should be dealt with a handshake (and receiving scrutiny), yet when Suarez (Liverpool player) doesn't shake hands with Evra (Manchester United) the media goes up in arms over this too

Anyways you see my point, in fact I can't think of a major sports President who has been praised by fans. Every decision is magnified. Let's say a new president decided to make huge ppv bouts more global and in different countries. Could Americans stop bothering and complain because it's not in Vegas? this could be detrimental. Then again huge fights have happened outside the U.S in the past so who knows? or has the American market got too influential on boxing these days?

However most boxing fans are on the same page on what should be improved and provided a head figure wasn't deluded and out of touch (which wouldn't be a surprise granted the leaders in this world today) there may not be anything to complain about.

In addition to this, wouldn't this be a backward step for boxers themselves? I doubt people like Klitchsko, Oscar and Floyd who have had their own successful promotional companies would like this.

p.s what would a possible president of this sweet science have to do to win you over and bring boxing back to its glory days and a major sport again? (besides the obvious: insuring the best fight each other, better and random testing, accurate scorecards + judges and refs being held accountable for shocking decisions).

What say you...

Pompous, egotistical and unprofessional. Boxing needs someone like that as opposed to smiling, professional sharks.

Firstly White is a fight fan firstly. He knows that to get bums on seats you have to deliver the fights the public wants. But MMA is fledgling and lets be frank here, the pay is ps poor. When he gets into the lanes where the Floyds and Paq are driving, it becomes a whole different game. One in which he cannot dictate terms. A cross between Dana and King would b eideal. Take their best attributes and merge them together would be a perfect combo.

trust you to like that.

Do you reckon those three qualities would help in other major sports?

Boxing is different, but if we were to be major again the media wouldn't help things with a leader like that.

P.s with the president being egotistical, how do you expect him to back off when he gets into "lanes where the Floyds and Paq are driving"?

White as president of boxing?
Well, he couldn't make things any worse!

Dana is a fight fan who is also a businessman. He knows that to make money the best have to not only fight the best but seek to fight the best and not just talk about it. Fans will pay then. The problem will be the undercard. UFC can get away with stacked undercards because the pay crap purses. I've seen a fighter on an undercard fiighting for $3k!!!!

With Floyd/Paq I reckon he'll make them an offer they cant refuse. SImilar to what King offered Foreman to get the Rumble on.

It may not help in other sports as boxing usually has larger than life characters throught its history.

However most boxing fans are on the same page on what should be improved and provided a head figure wasn't deluded and out of touch (which wouldn't be a surprise granted the leaders in this world today) there may not be anything to complain about.

Aside from Dana, one key difference between UFC and boxing, is that in the UFC the fights are more important than the fighter. They're geared up to giving the fans what they want, rather than protecting fighters, padding their records and ducking fights.

Take someone like Brock Lesnar as an example. He had 7 fights in the UFC, won 4 and lost 3 and is being touted as an all time great HW.

If that happened in boxing it would be laughed out of the room, but it doesn't devalue the UFC. He came in, had some massive fights, raised the profile of UFC massively, won and lost then moved on. The HW division continues without him.

Jon Jones has had 10 UFC fights, won 9 of them and destroyed some legends along the way. 10 fights and he's a legitimate superstar and an awesome fighter.

The whole UFC promotion is just infinitely better at setting up fights, keeping fans interested, creating superstars and making sure people are entertained.

I'm not really sure if its possible, I'm sure each governing body already has a president. The problem with comparing the way boxing is run & to how the UFC is run is that the UFC is an MMA promotional company not the whole sport. Everything is in house, the fighters sign up with them, fight for them & are paid by them. A fighter is not able to fight for another promotional company unless they are released by the UFC.

There are other promotional companies but the UFC are the biggest & most successful, all MMA fighters are hoping to fight for them. As has been mentioned before the UFC are like the premier division, with Strikeforce, Bellator & WEC coming behind roughly in that order, with the best fighters from those other organisations moving up & eventually into the UFC. The best in each organisation do fight the best, Bellator run a competion at each weight with the top 6 fighting to find the champion, I'm a little unsure of the complete format though, you can always try wiki.

With regards to Dana White, as Azainia has pointed out is a fight fan first but as you have said is very egotistical & at times unprofessional, with a lack of consistency. If a fighter is a big fan favorite he can still be in the UFC even if he's been on a losing streak, Tito Ortiz & Dan Hardy for example where others can be cut quite quickly. Even though the UFC has a 'zero tolerance' policy on ped's some fighters are chucked out where others get a ban. Paul Daley was thrown out after punching a fighter after the final bell, he never fought for them again. Also there seems to be no official ranking system, you get 2 or 3 good wins & you sell a lot of tickets then you get your shot at the title. So although there's a big card every month & the best seem to fight the best its not so cut & dry.

I dont really think boxing neccessarily needs a figurehead like Dana White but it definately does need a central governing body of control to regulate and administer the sport.

I'm not a lover of UFC, can't say I'm Dana Whites biggest fan (even he has his favourites in UFC and gives them big fights etc) BUT he doesn't beat around the bush and does listen to his fans.

You want to know why? Because he cares about his sport, his reputation and his company. I read something on Wikipedia a while back regarding Dana Whites thoughts on Bob Arum:

"In 2007, UFC president Dana White accused him of "sucking the life out of the sport (boxing) and not putting anything back in." Amongst White's criticisms were that Arum had created a weak undercard for the De La Hoya-Mayweather fight in 2007 saying Arum did not promote the show correctly. "He promoted that show completely the wrong way, because he worried about the money as opposed to trying to secure the future", White said. "He should have stacked that card. He should have had Shane Mosley and Bernard Hopkins and (Marco Antonio) Barrera and Winky Wright on there and used it to show that boxing is back". Arum responded by saying that MMA fighters need to examine the revenues being generated and ask why the UFC wasn't paying them more. White made these comments not realizing that Arum did not promote the De La Hoya-Mayweather bout, and was not involved in any way with the fight. His only connection was being he former promoter of both fighters"

It seems unrealistic in boxing to do a card like that. My question is "Why?" - Promoter greed? Watering the divisions down? Fighters asking for a bigger cut?

Remember how easily Khan made it to PPV on Warrens cards, despite having no belt, no notible wins... nothing! Yet the kid is walking out as the headline of a PPV card in his 17th or so fight? Crazy.

The thing with Dana White is that he is in a position to make cards and fights as he likes because he is the figurehead of an organisation that holds all the cards.

He wouldnt able to do what he does unless the structure was in place to acheive that. Boxing is far more fragmented with a much more diverse range of interests to satisy. If all fighters wre centrally contracted to one organisation as in UFC then I think you would see deeper undercards and bigger fights come off more easily.

I also think the UFC sport with its culture of losses being accepted makes it easier to sell fights that wouldnt be the case in boxing. Boxing fans always claim that losses should matter alot less but the reality is they buy into it as much as the promoters and when a fighter does lose his stock is usually damaged in the eyes of the fans, often quite significantly. If UFC its more more accepted because it happens much more often.

Something that always catches my eye on the UFC website is the "At A Bar Near You" button on each event. Basically it lists bars in the US that are showing the fights. I think that's brilliant. Back when the likes of Eubank and Hamed were at their peak I can remember every pub in my hometown showing their fights and we'd pile in on a Saturday night. Now if you went in to a pub here on a Saturday night and asked them to stick the boxing on they'd look at you blankly.

When i was on Holiday many moons ago they put it on for me in Linekers bar, no-one else would, was sitting there myself in front of this huge screen, brilliant. It was an early fight of Brian Magee so it wasn't actually that briiliant. Great idea by the UFC, it would be a good idea for certain big boxing events too, could have some in 3D also as they do that with the football.

azania wrote:Dana is a fight fan who is also a businessman.

This is the key point here for me. The UFC (and MMA as a sport) have in Dana White someone who is a) capable of driving the sport to a bigger stage on the business side, b) a genuine fight fan that cares about seeing good battles

I'd take that any day, even with his unprofessional approach, over smooth talking money grabbing snakes like Arum and co. I've seen White publicly upset with fighters over poor showings. He says exactly what's on his mind after a fight. He even lambasted his organisations biggest star, Anderson Silva, after a poor showing. Boxing promoters would never do this. I'm constantly hearing guys like Arum telling half truths and spouting twisted logic in trying to explain their fighter's latest poor/referee or judge-assisted performance. The UFC is constantly churning out top fights, and matching developing fighters hard. Boxing can't even make the best guys in each division fight each other. I love boxing, but it's obvious to me which sport is heading in the right direction. And if I was offered a boxing 'dictatorship' in the hands of a true fight fan, who was passionate and direct, then I would take it.

Group Cpt Lionel Mandrake wrote:Something that always catches my eye on the UFC website is the "At A Bar Near You" button on each event. Basically it lists bars in the US that are showing the fights. I think that's brilliant. Back when the likes of Eubank and Hamed were at their peak I can remember every pub in my hometown showing their fights and we'd pile in on a Saturday night. Now if you went in to a pub here on a Saturday night and asked them to stick the boxing on they'd look at you blankly.

Yep, this is another huge problem. I think the fact that there are no fights on domestic tv has seriously damaged the population of casual fans - to the point now where no punters in the pub even know about any upcoming fights. Essentially boxing is not a particularly accessible sport. If you want to watch any fight of note you've got to arrange a ppv, etc. There's nothing to entice the casual fan.

Have said it before but it is an unfair comparison, at the minute in the grand scheme of things as a money making enterprise UFC or MMA is in its infancy, if it proves to be something other than a flash in the pan and the PPV figures remain steady or rise White is not going to have the market to himself as he has now, someone will form a rival organisation and soon enough it will be someone with serious money and the backing of a major player in the TV market, and at this point both organisations will have top fighters who will not fight, UFC fighters will start to have options which will mean eaiser fights for better money and so on and so on, these are things boxing promoters have to deal with on a day to day basis, it is at this point we can judge if White is the knight in shining armour he is often portrayed to be.

Yep Dana publicly humiliated Anderson and rightly so, he was also the first to praise him when he got his finger out, Warren sometimes does it with his fighters but is usually to busy slagging off fighters who have left him. Altough it is different because all the fighters are under one roof it may be the only way to start making boxing right. White has aready bought over all the competition, Pride was it's biggest competitor which was my favourite, the mans loaded.

I'm a huge MMA fan like with boxing but agree with Rowley that it's hard to fairly compare.

White isn't perfect but he what he does right for MMA and it's fans hugely outweighs his ego and some of his comments.

He'll always make the best fight the best, if he thinks the judge got it wrong (far far more seldom than boxing) he'll publicly blast them and award the robbed loser his winners bonus anyway.

Too many organisation stop this and for boxing to be like UFC it would mean for example their only being only Golden Boy and no Top Rank, Main Events, Don King, Warren, K1, and then maybe a few smaller groups such as Dubella and Main events who have a small number of stars but not enough to trouble the top dog and sooner or later money and the urge to fight the best will prevail and the stars would move over.

As regards to pay I would honestly say only the top 5 boxers at the VERY most earn more than the top UFC fighters who earn $4-5m and after that, it's pretty even. One thing is the fighters disclosed purse is only a portion of what they actually get and most make more in what they call 'backroom bonuses', which suits the fighters as don't want every tom, dick and harry to know what they earn which I understand.

How much do you think top 10 boxing contenders actually earn? Not as much as most think. Plus in the IFC, they allow 7 sponsors on their shorts which earn them normally more than they get in their 'disclosed' purse.

One thing i would say is I can't see another organisation rivalling UFC, they have literally bought every worthwhile organisation the few small one's they haven't (i.e. Bellator) they probably opted to because they want MMA to get exposure on more tv outlets so happy to let them do their thing as they don't have any clout to worry them.

rowley wrote:Have said it before but it is an unfair comparison, at the minute in the grand scheme of things as a money making enterprise UFC or MMA is in its infancy, if it proves to be something other than a flash in the pan and the PPV figures remain steady or rise White is not going to have the market to himself as he has now, someone will form a rival organisation and soon enough it will be someone with serious money and the backing of a major player in the TV market, and at this point both organisations will have top fighters who will not fight, UFC fighters will start to have options which will mean eaiser fights for better money and so on and so on, these are things boxing promoters have to deal with on a day to day basis, it is at this point we can judge if White is the knight in shining armour he is often portrayed to be.

The thing is its not a flash in the pan, MMA is now a global sport that is rising in popularity. If you watch Inside MMA each week you get to see highlights from cards all over the world, this week they reported on one in Jordan, as well as a round up of the little shows throughout America. The UFC itself is a global company that is doing big cards in other countries, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Australia & Sweden have all featured in the last six months, they're even working on one in China!

I think the ppv figure will remain steady, you're always going to get slightly bigger & slightly smaller but all in I think its fairly safe. Dana White has said it may not be necessary to have ppv in the future.

With regards to somebody starting a rival organisation & getting serious player in the tv market I don't see it. UFC have Showtime behind them & like has already been said have bought out most of the competion, they or rather Zuffa own Strikeforce & WEC as well as buying out pride years ago, only leaves Bellator. As for easier fights for money I don't see that either, they have & are learning from the mistakes boxing have made & are continuing to make, the fans wont stand for it. They are good business people who have their finger on the pulse & are in touch with their audience through the website, magazines & expo's, they will always find ways to change or reinvent if need be. The Ultimate Fighter series is on its 15th & has just done one in Brazil the worlds biggest MMA market, The Contender managed just 4.

The UFC are not perfect & nobody considers Dana White a knight in shining armour but they are doing a much better job than their rivals in Boxing. As I said in my first post you can't really compare Dana White & the UFC to boxing as its only one organisation but one that seems to be doing it right.

Believe we have had this conversation before soho and I genuinely don't follow MMA enough to know if it is here to stay or if the PPV revenues are holding firm, however if MMA or UFC is going to a billion dollar a year industry for the next 50 years or whatever someone of money is going to try and get a piece of it for themselves and rival organisations are an inevitability, for it to be otherwise would make the UFC unique in the history of business or capitalism which lets face it seems unlikely.

Whether they will succeed is potentially a different matter but the idea other promoters and TV companies such as HBO will sit back and say to White and Showtime "you have free run at MMA, we're not interested in getting a piece of those millions" seems fanciful at best, particularly if boxing keeps up its remarkable record when it comes to shooting itself in the foot.

Ted Turner tried it with Affliction Fighting. They failed as the UFC juggernaught continued. They paid their fighters better than the UFC, they had a prime Fedor also. Affliction were seen as a viable competitor to UFC and seeing as they failed, it makes me wonder if the market for MMA is as big as some seem.

Yes we did debate this one before under a slightly different thread & a decently debated debate it was. I know what you mean about the business & capitalism point but I feel sport is a bit different. Why is there nobody to rival FIFA, Formula 1, the NFL or US Basketball organization? Yes another promoter with the backing of HBO could try but UFC is like Mcdonalds of the burger world, or Starbucks of the Coffee world in the UK what Tesco are to supermarkets, you have rivals in all of these but none are anywhere near as big or successful. I think boxing is great example for them to look at & try to avoid those mistakes & not lead it to where boxing is today. But back to the question of the original post I don't actually believe its possible to have a Dana White figurehead for the whole of boxing let alone whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages but I do respect the guy for saying what he believes in or saying it was a bad decision or robbery.

azania wrote:Ted Turner tried it with Affliction Fighting. They failed as the UFC juggernaught continued. They paid their fighters better than the UFC, they had a prime Fedor also. Affliction were seen as a viable competitor to UFC and seeing as they failed, it makes me wonder if the market for MMA is as big as some seem.

I didn't realise they paid more but as most of us who follow MMA know what the UFC pay a fighter & what a fighter actually get are two different amounts. The amount of sponsorships that the UFC have secured are incredible & this certainly helps the fighter get more than his fight purse. The adverts on their shorts, they t- shirt & baseball cap worn for in ring after fight interview, the sports drink they're holding it all adds up.

The MMA market is bigger now than when Affliction Fighting were around & getting bigger. The fact that UFC are going global shows that. There is also the possibility of to much to soon with the rival organizations popping up all over & going bust as well as the fly by nights take the money & run. I know going back almost 10 years ago in the UK loads were popping up but the fighters were being paid by the tickets they sold (after buying them first) & the organizors were keeping the cash & not reinvesting.

I know going back almost 10 years ago in the UK loads were popping up but the fighters were being paid by the tickets they sold (after buying them first) & the organizors were keeping the cash & not reinvesting..

There are a lot of really good promotions up here in Scotland at the moment. On Top held a brilliant event a few weeks ago. 2,500 capacity crowd and a really top notch event. One of our team is fighting next weekend for the SFC promotion and again it'll be a great event with a capacity crowd. These guys reinvest the money back into more events and the whole thing is really well done.

sohotnot wrote:

azania wrote:Ted Turner tried it with Affliction Fighting. They failed as the UFC juggernaught continued. They paid their fighters better than the UFC, they had a prime Fedor also. Affliction were seen as a viable competitor to UFC and seeing as they failed, it makes me wonder if the market for MMA is as big as some seem.

I didn't realise they paid more but as most of us who follow MMA know what the UFC pay a fighter & what a fighter actually get are two different amounts. The amount of sponsorships that the UFC have secured are incredible & this certainly helps the fighter get more than his fight purse. The adverts on their shorts, they t- shirt & baseball cap worn for in ring after fight interview, the sports drink they're holding it all adds up.

The MMA market is bigger now than when Affliction Fighting were around & getting bigger. The fact that UFC are going global shows that. There is also the possibility of to much to soon with the rival organizations popping up all over & going bust as well as the fly by nights take the money & run. I know going back almost 10 years ago in the UK loads were popping up but the fighters were being paid by the tickets they sold (after buying them first) & the organizors were keeping the cash & not reinvesting.

Yep. They paid much more. Fedor was on $1m basic. Vitor belfort was on $500k basic. Same as Tim Silver and a host of others. They all got the promo rights adverts etc in the same manner as UFC. Problem came when UFC decided to go head to head and put on a show on free to air whilst Affliction were on PPV Showtime. They got less than 100k buys and Turner cancelled their next show. Hence Vitor etc went back to UFC. Fedor went his own was and well....the emperor lost his clothes.

Boxing is too global to have one guy as a president,

Though UFC is a great product, it has also killed off the competition so fans are stuck with the two extremes of the best fighters in the world (UFC) and poor fighters (BAMMA etc.)

The only way I see it working is only having a president at world title level as the sport is simply too deep and broad - and even then with all the titles these days its just not practical to have one person making and setting up all these fights ALL OVER THE WORLD - which UFC does not do

sohotnot wrote:

rowley wrote:Have said it before but it is an unfair comparison, at the minute in the grand scheme of things as a money making enterprise UFC or MMA is in its infancy, if it proves to be something other than a flash in the pan and the PPV figures remain steady or rise White is not going to have the market to himself as he has now, someone will form a rival organisation and soon enough it will be someone with serious money and the backing of a major player in the TV market, and at this point both organisations will have top fighters who will not fight, UFC fighters will start to have options which will mean eaiser fights for better money and so on and so on, these are things boxing promoters have to deal with on a day to day basis, it is at this point we can judge if White is the knight in shining armour he is often portrayed to be.

The thing is its not a flash in the pan, MMA is now a global sport that is rising in popularity. If you watch Inside MMA each week you get to see highlights from cards all over the world, this week they reported on one in Jordan, as well as a round up of the little shows throughout America. The UFC itself is a global company that is doing big cards in other countries, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Australia & Sweden have all featured in the last six months, they're even working on one in China!

I think the ppv figure will remain steady, you're always going to get slightly bigger & slightly smaller but all in I think its fairly safe. Dana White has said it may not be necessary to have ppv in the future.

With regards to somebody starting a rival organisation & getting serious player in the tv market I don't see it. UFC have Showtime behind them & like has already been said have bought out most of the competion, they or rather Zuffa own Strikeforce & WEC as well as buying out pride years ago, only leaves Bellator. As for easier fights for money I don't see that either, they have & are learning from the mistakes boxing have made & are continuing to make, the fans wont stand for it. They are good business people who have their finger on the pulse & are in touch with their audience through the website, magazines & expo's, they will always find ways to change or reinvent if need be. The Ultimate Fighter series is on its 15th & has just done one in Brazil the worlds biggest MMA market, The Contender managed just 4.

The UFC are not perfect & nobody considers Dana White a knight in shining armour but they are doing a much better job than their rivals in Boxing. As I said in my first post you can't really compare Dana White & the UFC to boxing as its only one organisation but one that seems to be doing it right.

I see where you're coming from but I really don't see things remaining that way for UFC.... Boxing too at one point didn't have the problems it has now.

For UFC to reach new heights there WILL be monopolising and huge investments from companies (it's happened to every sport). People will get involved who only have one thing on their mind ($$$$$$$$) and the fans will be less catered for.

You heard it here first

I don't think pretty much every MMA find doesn't mind UFC dominating as they make the fights happen and anyone good good not in the UFC is pressured over there to fight the best so everything seems to fall into place.

The only fighter who didn't come to the UFC was Fedor as his management secured lucrative deals outside and his management team are notoriously difficult to deal with but is really the only exception.

Many, may fighters have fallen out with the UFC, but they always come back.

People who want a piece of the action will probably buy a % of the UFC rather than start a new organisation or if they did they'll be seen as a feeder org by the UFC.

Soho does raise a good point about FIFA, F1 and certain organisations in the major sports that simply have no competition.

It's unfortunate that the chances of this happening in boxing are less than slim.

Sugar Floyd Louis wrote:Soho does raise a good point about FIFA, F1 and certain organisations in the major sports that simply have no competition.

It's unfortunate that the chances of this happening in boxing are less than slim.

Problem with other sports such as F1/NFL/FIFA is that infrastructure and capital to set those up is huge. For the likes of UFC all you really need is a hall big enough to accommodate a ring and 2 blokes willing to punch each other in the face over and over.

Unbeatable Georgey Groves wrote:Boxing is too global to have one guy as a president,

Though UFC is a great product, it has also killed off the competition so fans are stuck with the two extremes of the best fighters in the world (UFC) and poor fighters (BAMMA etc.)

The only way I see it working is only having a president at world title level as the sport is simply too deep and broad - and even then with all the titles these days its just not practical to have one person making and setting up all these fights ALL OVER THE WORLD - which UFC does not do

Boxing being global isn't the problem here it's the amount of governing bodies. Cricket, Football, Rugby, Formula 1, Tennis are all global & have governing bodies, no problems there.

No the UFC hasn't killed off all the competitions & we are not left with two extremes. They have bought out Strikeforce & its still going. They have taken a lot of the top names but there are still decent fighters & fights & like Valero has mentioned along with WEC they have created feeder leagues to an extent. You win titles in the aforementioned organizations, defend it a few times chances are you get a contract with the UFC, Jose Aldo, Urijah Faber & Nick Diaz are three who spring to mind & the fans dont seem to mind. In a way they have created a system a bit like the Football league in England, as you improve you get the wins you move up, seems logical to me.

The UFC are expanding outside of the USA, Canada, UK, Japan, Brazil & Australia have all held events recently & they are lining up China. I'm pretty sure they have close involvement with other very small organizations around the world, there are MMA cards in almost every country now, even India are having one, Jordan & I think ABU Dhabi have recently.

I agree as it stands boxing can't have one president worldwide, but the UFC may well end up with one.

trottb wrote:

Sugar Floyd Louis wrote:Soho does raise a good point about FIFA, F1 and certain organisations in the major sports that simply have no competition.

It's unfortunate that the chances of this happening in boxing are less than slim.

Problem with other sports such as F1/NFL/FIFA is that infrastructure and capital to set those up is huge. For the likes of UFC all you really need is a hall big enough to accommodate a ring and 2 blokes willing to punch each other in the face over and over.

Bit like boxing then, eh?

sohotnot wrote:

trottb wrote:

Sugar Floyd Louis wrote:Soho does raise a good point about FIFA, F1 and certain organisations in the major sports that simply have no competition.

It's unfortunate that the chances of this happening in boxing are less than slim.

Problem with other sports such as F1/NFL/FIFA is that infrastructure and capital to set those up is huge. For the likes of UFC all you really need is a hall big enough to accommodate a ring and 2 blokes willing to punch each other in the face over and over.

Bit like boxing then, eh?

Exactly which is why so many jumped on the band wagon and set up themselves, it is easy to do.

So easy to do that many failed trying. I think it would be fair to say most sports set up without governing bodies, then we had many small bodies before they joined forces or took out a couple of rivals, did some deal with a back, an advertiser & finally a broadcastor to get to the level & situation we have today. One of my points with the UFC is that they have blueprints to learn from & other peoples/organisations mistakes & failiures to avoid. I can't see them going down the route of the WBA with regards to titles. They have done very well in the short time they've been around & I only see them going from strength to strength.

sohotnot wrote:

Unbeatable Georgey Groves wrote:Boxing is too global to have one guy as a president,

Though UFC is a great product, it has also killed off the competition so fans are stuck with the two extremes of the best fighters in the world (UFC) and poor fighters (BAMMA etc.)

The only way I see it working is only having a president at world title level as the sport is simply too deep and broad - and even then with all the titles these days its just not practical to have one person making and setting up all these fights ALL OVER THE WORLD - which UFC does not do

Boxing being global isn't the problem here it's the amount of governing bodies. Cricket, Football, Rugby, Formula 1, Tennis are all global & have governing bodies, no problems there.

No the UFC hasn't killed off all the competitions & we are not left with two extremes. They have bought out Strikeforce & its still going. They have taken a lot of the top names but there are still decent fighters & fights & like Valero has mentioned along with WEC they have created feeder leagues to an extent. You win titles in the aforementioned organizations, defend it a few times chances are you get a contract with the UFC, Jose Aldo, Urijah Faber & Nick Diaz are three who spring to mind & the fans dont seem to mind. In a way they have created a system a bit like the Football league in England, as you improve you get the wins you move up, seems logical to me.

The UFC are expanding outside of the USA, Canada, UK, Japan, Brazil & Australia have all held events recently & they are lining up China. I'm pretty sure they have close involvement with other very small organizations around the world, there are MMA cards in almost every country now, even India are having one, Jordan & I think ABU Dhabi have recently.

I agree as it stands boxing can't have one president worldwide, but the UFC may well end up with one.

Well yes football does have one overall governing body with FIFA but it has othr sub organisation UEFA - FA for example and i don't see quite how it would work because again the problem of conflicting interests will still exist

And yes it hasn't killed off all of the competition yet but with big companies like PRIDE going under i think in perhaps 5-10 years there will be very few left

MMA is spreading worldwide but its not global to the extent every country will have a show atleast every month or so (as is the case with boxing) so the jurisdiction of a MMA governing body would not be as wide nor the workload be as extensive as it would be with boxing

Was supposed to add in theory.

I see what you're saying and whlist not a fan of MMA I hope that it does avoid the same mistakes. Just think that as it grows it is inevitable.

We are already seeing the first roider to dominate UFC

Unbeatable Georgey Groves wrote:We are already seeing the first roider to dominate UFC

The first? I think there's been a long line of them or at least competing at a high level. I take it you are referring to 'Overoid'? I will be disgusted if his case is upheld by the NSAC & he is granted a licence to fight. From what I am hearing its the old chestnut of low testosterone so he is on TRT which he didn't declare. But the only reason it seems many of these guys are given it is because they have a low count due to them using artificial testosterone in the first place! Another thing I'm hearing is that a lot of sportmen/women are using various steroids to get over injuries quicker which in itself can open the door misuse/abuse & get away with it.

Yes Overoid, the man is a disgrace as is the whole drug testing policy of the UFC

Unbeatable Georgey Groves wrote:Yes Overoid, the man is a disgrace as is the whole drug testing policy of the UFC

Now I disagree with you over this. The testing is very good, it is in line with the State Athletic Commissions across America, which in turn is in line with WADA, & they have or are bringing some of their own measures to tighten up, they test before & after the fight (on fight day). The NSAC however allow a slightly higher ratio testosterone/epitestosterone than WADA 6/1 as opposed to 4/1. My problem with them is their lack of concistency regarding their zero tolerance, some fighters get a year ban where others are kicked out altogether. For example Nate Marquradt tested positive for a banned substance & was kicked out, Chael Sonnen tested positive wasgiven a 12 month ban which was reduced to 6 months because he was prescribed TRT by his DR but apparently hadn't disclosed this. For me this is just the tip of the iceberg & I think its the same across most sports now especially those where making/cutting weight is part & parcel whether its combat sports or horse racing or cycling. Apparently in the States Baseball is the biggest offender.

Soho I'm yet to give UFC a try and I feel to now, any upcoming battles on U.K tv?

Sugar Floyd Louis wrote:Soho I'm yet to give UFC a try and I feel to now, any upcoming battles on U.K tv?

one this weekend if you got espn, be on 2.00am. light heavyweight title fight between jones and evans bit of niggle between the two should be good. jones is abit special for such a young talent.

I live in Holland so I don't the tv schedule in the UK but I do know there's a big UFC card this weekend in the States, rising star & current LHW (205 lb) champ John Jones defends against former champ & training partner Rashad Evans, a real grudge match, Evans lost his title through injury & Jones replaced him & won it & has since switched gyms so you can imagine some needle their. Not sure who else is on the card but it should be a good one. That is Saturday night. Friday night its the next episode of The Ultimate Fighter series 15. A contender style series where 16 young fighters live in a house for 3 months, split into 2 teams to win a UFC contract. The two coaches will then fight each other at the end of the series in what is a rubber match between 145 or 135 champ Cruz & Faber, this goes out on ESPN live. You can catch up with both the day after on MMA-Core (google it) without knowing the result. Worth checking out UFC Sweden from last weekend Gustafson vs Silva good stand up fight.

sohotnot wrote:

Unbeatable Georgey Groves wrote:Yes Overoid, the man is a disgrace as is the whole drug testing policy of the UFC

Now I disagree with you over this. The testing is very good, it is in line with the State Athletic Commissions across America, which in turn is in line with WADA, & they have or are bringing some of their own measures to tighten up, they test before & after the fight (on fight day). The NSAC however allow a slightly higher ratio testosterone/epitestosterone than WADA 6/1 as opposed to 4/1. My problem with them is their lack of concistency regarding their zero tolerance, some fighters get a year ban where others are kicked out altogether. For example Nate Marquradt tested positive for a banned substance & was kicked out, Chael Sonnen tested positive wasgiven a 12 month ban which was reduced to 6 months because he was prescribed TRT by his DR but apparently hadn't disclosed this. For me this is just the tip of the iceberg & I think its the same across most sports now especially those where making/cutting weight is part & parcel whether its combat sports or horse racing or cycling. Apparently in the States Baseball is the biggest offender.

I was refering to a recent Dana White interview where he basically said how amazzing the testing was in UFC....before saying doing random ones is too difficult....and that fighter should be responsible themselves

Saying its up to the fighters give them free reign and i think the fact everyone has been aware Overeem was roiding for years, shows how incompetent the current system is across MMA. Urine samples are not effective enough

to the main question, yes i feel the advantages would out weight the disadvantages if boxing were to have a super board which control all fighters. the main reason being is they would be tied in to the company and there wouldnt be any need for promoters. the fighters fight who they are told to fight. thats what the ufc is.

think some people are overplaying danas part, he is not soley the ufc. people like joe silva and many behind the scenes have play a major part in running the ufc, dana is more a figure head who does everything for the media. but even still he's miles better for his sport than the bob arum's of the world. the few negative points are when dana has had personal issues with fighters and they have struggled with getting back into the ufc, tito ortiz being one of the biggest examples, but even these are few and far between. eventually if your good enough you can force your way back in as its what the fans want to see. other examples are like paul daley who deserved to be banned, but was perhaps slighty harsh sentance because his attitude towards dana.

i cant really see a competition coming for ufc either, there are many who have tried but the ufc owns the monopoly and if your a threat they either buy you, like they did with the WEC, or they just nick all your best fighters. fighters want to fight where the best fighters are thats the ufc. there are many domestic mma companys like bamma etc but any fighter wanting to prove them selves top level know they need to move onto the ufc at some point. its not much different than moving from a british title to a world title.

Interestingly Overeem was caught out on a random test done on all the heavyweights who are fighting on that card & it was a urine test almost 2 months before the fight. Others have been caught on urine test a day or two before the fight or on the post fight test again a urine test. I've also heard very recently when testing for elevated testosterone levels urine tests are better than blood as it stays in the urine or bladder or whatever longer. I've also heard that some 'athletes', I use the term in a broad sense, are now using testosterone as it much quicker to leave the system than many ped's & there isn't the need for another substance to speed it up or hide it. The current system for drug testing in all sports is incompetant, its why so few are caught. For me with regards to testing in combat sports be it boxing or MMA I'd be testing the moment the fight has been made & the fighters go into training camp, a mandatory every week plus a random every 7 - 10 days right up to fight night & a post fight one. Probably cost a lot but maybe the only way. Its often out of season or fight camp that people are using. In the old Pride days they were literally shooting up in the changing rooms, check out 'The Smashing Machine' on youtube about former fighter Mark Kerr, they were all on it.

not too sure how a boxing fan can have a go at ufc for there drug testing when boxing standards are pretty p!ss poor. many many sports could do with improving there standards not just mma. but in a short time ufc in particular has improved a hell of alot, considering as sohotnot says about where they have come from in the pride days.

compelling and rich wrote:not too sure how a boxing fan can have a go at ufc for there drug testing when boxing standards are pretty p!ss poor. many many sports could do with improving there standards not just mma. but in a short time ufc in particular has improved a hell of alot, considering as sohotnot says about where they have come from in the pride days.

I am a fan of both, and did not say boxing was better, they are as bad as eachother