BlogKick: MMA Needs One Super League
Posted on January 15, 2011, 07:28 AM by overhand rightMMA is currently structured according to the media and entertainment aspect of it, and less so the sporting. There is no 'MMA League' like that of the NFL or Premiership, where all the top teams in that respective sport play each other at least once a year. The closest equivalent MMA has is the UFC. The UFC certainly boasts the most stacked and impressive roster out of any MMA promotion, but there are still so many great fighters out there that never get to fight each other.
Strikeforce and Dream have shown willingness to co-promote or let their fighters go to other organisations to fight the best there. Most recently, Shinya Aoki squared off against resident Strikeforce lightweight champ, Gilbert Melendez, in a fight that answered many questions about each fighter's skillsets. Efforts to make an Eddie Alvarez vs Gilbert Melendez fight happen as well, although Bjorn Rebney and Scott Coker look to be having communication difficulties.
However the UFC has adopted a strict policy of no co-promotion with other promotions. White even refused to let any of his fighters feature in the new 'EA MMA' video game. Whether this rule is in place for business interests or simply to protect the legacy and image of the UFC, is open to speculation. And this provides difficulties. Dana White claims that the UFC has all the best fighters in the world, but refuses to let them test themselves against ones from Strikeforce, Dream, Bellator etc. Currently, Strikeforce's heavyweight division hosts a few fighters that, in mine and a lot of people's opinions, could do some serious damage in the UFC given the chance. Alas, this chance is a slim one due to the stubbornness on the part of the UFC, which is understandable in some ways. Of course they don't want to give exposure to a competitor in the same business as them, but the fans all want to see it happen.
I would prefer to see MMA become more sporting orientated than just entertainment. Variety is the spice of life and i love watching the over the top firework display at a Dream event or the buzz surrounding a Mayem Miller techno-fuelled entrance in Strikeforce. However, there are currently so many arguments and questions presented by the existence of so many promotions, each with their own superstars and champions. Debates over who would beat who constantly arise, many of which will never come to fruition given the UFC's reluctance to work with their competitors.
It is for this reason that I believe MMA should be organised into one super league of sorts. It would not be a promotion, but instead a league comparable to the NFL or Premiership, which have the best teams in that sport playing each other two or three times a year. This MMA League would consist of the top 45 fighters in each division, which would be divided into 3 divisions of 15 fighters for each weight class, based on the quality of the fighters.
To give an example, Heavyweight Division 1 would contain fighters like Velasquez, Fedor, Dos Santos, Lesnar, Carwin and Overeem etc. Division 2 would have fighters that could currently be considered 'gatekeepers', veterans of the sport on a downward slope and young up and comers such as: Kongo, Cro Cop, Sylvia, Kharitonov, Schaub etc. Division 3 would be for rookies and guys who usually lose more fights than they win: Madsen, Yvel, Kyle, Struve, A. Emelianenko etc.
At the end of every year, the divisions would be reviewed and repopulated. Fighters who end the year in the top 3 of their division could be promoted up a division, where the pay and publicity would obviously be better. Fighters that finish the year in the bottom 3 of their division would be relegated and moved down a division.
This system would ensure that only the best in the world would fight in division 1 and the champion of that division would be recognised as the best in the world at that weight and the world MMA champ. There would be no feuds between promotions. Fighters would all be under one sanctioned banner, that would be governed by an International Mixed Martial Arts Board (IMMAB). There would also be a Fighters' Union that would protect the interests of fighters financially and professionally. Currently there is no such union and questions have been raised regarding the treatment given to UFC fighters and their contracts. While no system is perfect, I think that the way the sport is going, people are eventually going to demand to see co-promotion amongst organisations (that will only get bigger) and the UFC. If promotions go to war with each other it will only tear the sport apart and doom MMA to the same fate as has befallen boxing. It's time for MMA to become more professional and sport-orientated, and put aside the greediness of individual promoters to protect their image and profit.
This may not be a reality in the immediate future, in fact it may never happen and we might simply see the UFC envelop the world of MMA and achieve world domination, or see other promotions come in and take their business and fans through their willingness to co-promote. This is simply what would happen in a dream world for me, where all the best fighters in the world could fight each other, and we would be treated to fights of epic proportions which, as of right now, are being made unavailable by the agenda and business interests of other promotions and mainly the UFC. The fighters want to fight, so let them.
Comments
I think that ultimately what ruined boxing was boring fights.
Yeah co-promotion creates a lack of control over fighters and the promoter of one organization would want to protect their fighters from tough competetion, while getting them easy routes to a title, same thing with boxing.. everyones ducking sergio martinez these days, but no ones refusing to "co-promote" with lou debilla (martinez's manager)
people use to argue about the AFL NFL too. Then they created the Super bowl. Something like that might happen in the US. But MMA is global. You cant get all the best fighters in the world fighting in the US. WAMMA tried to do something like what your talking about but it didn't get too far becasue the UFC did not want to play. Zuffa acts like a kid that does want to share its toys. There only going to hurt themselves in the long run becasue they don;t let their fighters particpate in K1, Olympics,boxing, or ADCC competitions anymore so there depleting themselves off top level fighters.
I know some people may scoff at it but there is the CFL as well. And some of those games are a lot more exciting than the NFL. They are two distinct leagues with different rules. So I don't like the the writer thinking like the NFL represents the world of football. I also hope there are a few Canadians that back me up on this one. As far as the concept of a world league for MMA I would like to see that but as far as a biz idea goes it would not benefit the UFC at all. only good for the fans. It would be like those people on the Price is Right who always bid $1 above the last price. Why should some little organization get all the coverage that the UFC put all there money into and get the same benefits. And by the way I prefer the SF HW division more, So I am not some UFC super fan.
believe me, on a global, the nfl does represent the world of football
*global scale
But the NFL is an american sport. MMA is not, were a good century behind Japan and Brazil.
yea all the champs come from Japan....huh
and a couple of milleniums behind Ancient Greece's Pancase tournaments ;-)
Pancrase
First all I really like your idea. It's an actual fresh idea about having the super league. If you check out professional surfing, they just did a restructuring of the professional competitive format and seeding system. While there used to be a minor league(WQS) for all pro surfers and a major league consisting of only the top 44 pros(WCT). Now that the WQS is dissolved and there is a one world ranking system for all professional surfers,the top 44 have been reduced to 32. Twice a year though, the bottom 15 guys get reseeded. So there is room to move up/down during points in the year. Good system if you ask me and I think your idea is a good start in the right direction. It sounds like it'll be hard to accomplish with Dana White's attitude.
everybody loves tennis . . .
look at the championsleage in europe!!! every year you see the best teams play against eachother!! the best countrys gets the most points for ranking!!! more points = more teams from the country!!!
...and every fan is happy
but the big differnce ...in europe is no zuffa^^
no way,i dont want to see MMA go down the boxing route it can only end in disaster for the sport
t666 you really dont know what you are talking about here,
i don't see any co-promotion in with UFC happening soon.
however, why in the **** isn't MMA in the olympics? let these fighters represent their countries in a tournament in the olympics.
it's painfully obvious that this would only be good for MMA but i've never heard a single thing about it here or on any other site.
WHY??????????
It won't matter to the UFC cause they probably wont let their fighter fight in the olympics anyway.
Dana has discussed the issue in the past and was in favor of MMA in the Olympics...
Oh and take a chill pill bud and try to relax... What do websites have to do with getting MMA into the Olympics? WHAT??????????
My only problem with MMA in the Olympics is they would most likely water it down with a lot more rules and regulations, which would make it not really be MMA in the first place. I'm all for MMA in the Olympics, if it stays the same. I doubt that would happen, though.
they only care about making money and expanding their brand.
The problem is that Dana and the Fertittas knew to keep MMA going strong and bringing it main stream would require buttloads of money.
IF MMA was already a popular publically accepted sport, it would be 10 times easier to get backing from public TV and the population in general.
Unfortunately MMA is still only seen as a full contact sport with an underlying tone of violence. Zuffa knew it would cost a fortune and take a lot of time to make it widely accepted. In the future it will be possible but as of now its still basically in its infancy compared to pro sports such as football and baseball. Time will tell whether Zuffa decides to go this direction later and if product and TV stations jump on board. Pro football and baseball dont pay their team owners and players millions and millions from attendance fees, its all about corporate sponsors.
first off co promotion have ruined boxing, player unions have ruined almost every professional sport and probaly most important stephan struve i beleive is 5-2 in the ufc with a 21-4 overall and john madsen is 4-0 in the ufc and currently undefeated they are hardly fighters who lose more than they win
"Division 3 would be for ROOKIES and guys who usually lose more fights than they win"
and by rookies i mean in terms of the organisations they're in. y'know what i mean man. the point is that the lower divisions don't have as much talent and jon madsen wouldn't be a div 1 or 2 hw.
what would happen in this league should someone be sidelined for the year due to injury? lets say reem wins this sf hw tournament at the end of 2011 but has to go for surgery and sit out most of 2012, does he get demoted to div2 for his comeback in 2013 and only get to fight the best again in 2014?
also some people are just clearly outclassing their competition, they know it, we know it, their promotion knows it, but he's still gonna waste time having 5 or 6 unimportant fights to climb divisions when an average fighter gets maybe 30 or so fights in his career?
thats the main problem imo, the example brought up in tennis isn't a steady comparison, fighters don't get in the cage 50 times a year for 20 years, more like twice a year on average for 10-15 years.
if somebody was injured it would be much the same protocol as is currently in place. the next guy down from him would fight in his place.
yep agree with that. example: nick diaz.
i never drew a comparison between mma and tennis..
I've wanted to see what this article describes for awhile, but I don't see it happening while they're fighting to just get sanctioned so their sport can legally exist in a lot of places, even within the US. Cuss Dana and the UFC all you want, but the entire sport of MMA benefits by their efforts to legalize MMA worldwide, regardless of promotion.
Here's what I think would work best. Have a company merger between UFC, Strikeforce, and Dream. They've all got slightly different rule sets, so by changing rules depending on who is fighting and/or where the venue is, you can mix it up a bit for the fans. They could all sell tickets and promote fights, and they'd all make more money. How many times have you seen top level fighters sidelined for months at a time because they have no one to fight against? Wouldn't happen anymore. More fights, more often in more places = happier fans and promotions.
With the talent pools from each promotion merging, you wouldn't have UFC vs. Strikeforce vs. Dream, etc. so much as Team Jackson vs. Team BlackHouse vs. Team Penn. You'd still have teammates refusing to fight each other, but by expanding the talent pool of fighters available, this wouldn't be that much of an issue.
it's a great idea and one i'd wholeheartedly support. but the ufc would never really merge with dream and strikeforce. currently both of them mostly appeal to a small demographic of hardcore fans (or JMMA fans).
if Dream and/or Strikeforce ever grew enough for them to actually compete with the UFC, then there would be a possibility that the UFC would buy them like they did with Pride. But I don't believe they'd keep their brand, the fighters would simply be absorbed into th UFC and it would be as if the other promotions never existed.
In a sense, this would achieve what I've described in the article, as there'd only be one promotion with the best in the world. But this isn't what i want to see, as it is still a promotion and i feel that it would be power hungry and disregard the most important thing: the fighters. an official MMA league that has its own board and that is funded would be better imo.
The future of the sport will be co promotion, ufc will have no choice but to give in in a few years, that is all.
there should be something like a Champion`s tournament every year for every division, like in a k-1 format or the strikeforce HW tournament coming up, that would like... too much, lol, ill keep dreaming...
i don´t think it would happen simply because of the logostics of it,
you are not dealing with big teams that heve backups when players have injuries and a staff that handles everything for them but with single athletes who can have injuries, visa problems etc.
also it would go terribely slow for a breakout fighter in division 3 to move himself up quickly you know so i don´t see it happening
stupid idea about Divisions
why so?
I know I'm going to get a lot of "WEAK"s for this, but I honestly think you need to all put aside your bias and listen. The only way that a league would work is to have it based around teams. The IFL had the right idea, just the wrong structure and funding. To have a league that is based on a cycle of randomly ranked individual fighters is a terrible idea. Who would decide who was ranked in what position? Are there still going to be these entertainment promotions at the same time?
Teams make sense because they work in every other sport, that's called evolution, survival of the fittest: what works stays, what doesn't dies. With teams you can get cities rallied behind them. People are the most passionate when they can correspond something they are rooting for with the actual land they are living on. That's something that's innately human and makes team sports so successful. And there's no way you can say that teams would take away from the glory of some of the champions, the Georges St Pierres and Anderson Silvas of the game. Well that's garbage, look at people like A. Rod or Sidney Crosby and tell me they don't have hero status among their fans and compatriots. Each of the teams would then be individually owned, in the same way that professional sports teams in the big leagues are owned by various investment groups, billionaires, whoever else. The teams would be managed individually, and the owners and managers would be able to draw from a pool of individual fighter promotions and other minor leagues that would also have the team format.
To me, this is the only way that MMA will ever reach the proportions of the other big sports. If it stays its course, the UFC is going to be the next best thing and there will continue to be a terribly sad number of awesome fights that will never happen.
Aleks Emelianenko losing more than he wins or being a rookie? isnt he 17-4