Doyle stated the following message via social media website Twitter:

Today is my last as MMA/boxing editor at Yahoo! Sports. It’s been an awesome ride working with great folks. Thanks for everything.

Sources tell MMAPayout.com that the cutting back on non-mainstream sports by Yahoo was due to their tumultuous 2011, which saw Yahoo’s stock dip under $17 and saw gross revenues decline by over 20%. Along with Doyle – who had been with Yahoo since 2007 – another key member of Yahoo’s MMA team is long-time MMA and Pro Wrestling reporter Dave Meltzer, who has also been a part of Yahoo since it ramped up it’s MMA coverage in 2007. His contract is also up this week.  At this time, it is unsure whether Meltzer will be able to continue his affiliation with Yahoo Sports, as the struggling company tries to workout it’s budget for the new fiscal year.  Longtime Boxing and MMA reporter Kevin Iole and Cagewrite Blog members Steve Cofield & Maggie Hendricks are reported to be staying with the team.

Yahoo will now shift their coverage to more mainstream sports ( NFL, NBA, and MLB) instead of those that are more niche such as combat sports (MMA/Boxing), Golf, and NASCAR.  Rumors of a possible shakeup within Yahoo! Sports first began around the Summer last year. The dismal fiscal results in 2011 made sure those early rumblings came to fruition.

As for Yahoo’s 2011 fiscal results, Forbes stated the following:

“Even with gross revenues declining by over 20% in 2011, Yahoo’s Q4 2011 results were hardly a surprise, as the company completed a tumultuous year filled with leadership and investor squabbles. For now, CEO Scott Thompson has acknowledged that the company has to deliver more monetization on digital content in 2012, which is a must for Yahoo to stop its shrinking presence in the online ad space.”

Yahoo will now try to focus on it’s core business, which will include selling off foreign assets and letting non-performing Yahoo! properties go, as Yahoo’s CEO Thompson has stressed “effective allocation of capital” is a priority moving forward.

This isn’t the only mainstream sports media shake-up that has impacted MMA recently.  In November of 2011, AOL’sMMAFigthing.com was sold to Vox Media – parent company to SB Nation- as AOL struggled to compete with media giants Google and Facebook in the last few years, a problem Yahoo has also been facing.  A few days later, USA TODAY Sports Media Group (Gannett) made the announcement that they had acquired MMAJunkie.com, one of the biggest MMA media sites in the industry.

Via USA Today press release:

With more than one million unique visitors per month, MMAjunkie.com is one of the leading online news destinations for the sport, as well as a content partner for several print, online and TV outlets. It also produces the daily podcast/radio show “MMAjunkie.com Radio,” with a TV simulcast syndicated through Fight Now TV.

MMAjunkie.com will retain its unique URL, and will also be rolled in to the USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s online coverage at MMA.USATODAY.com by mid-December 2011.

Payout Perspective:

Not only does USA Today acquire MMA Junkie, but Vox Media (parent to SB Nation) purchased MMA Fighting earlier in the week. The media consolidation can be a positive sign or negative depending on what your take is on MMA media. These acquisitions show that mainstream media groups see mixed martial arts as a growing industry as evidenced by the purchase of these sites.  The MMA Fighting acquisition is interesting considering SB Nation has 3 other quality web sites in its stable. With the UFC deal, Fox legitimized the sport and tacitly made it acceptable for other mainstream media to look into the value of MMA. It will be interesting to see how much the sites will change in terms of content and look. Will MMA be covered by more mainstream sports media types? Both groups state that the sites will be “business as usual” as far as content.

We will see how each progresses and evolves under its new ownership.

Payout Perspective:

The interview touched on some very key points, but points nonetheless that we have heard before and that the UFC believes are important to stress to the public and their fanbase.  Here are some of the highlights from the segment:

- In 2001, Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta along with their training parter Dana White bought the UFC for 2 million dollars, have since turned it to a billion dollar brand.

- Points out that 53,000 tickets were sold to their “129th” event in a matter of hours.

- Lorenzo is expecting UFC 129: GSP vs Shields to sell “lots of PPV’s”.

- Lorenza said they are starting to weave on to the mainstream but they have a long way to go and grow domestically and international.

- They claim Lorenzo and Frank own 45% of the UFC each, and White owns 10% …  but we know that isn’t the case after the Abu Dhabi based Flash Entertainment purchased a 10% stake of the company, dropping Lorenzo and Frank to 40.5% of the company each and Dana White to 9%.

- Estimated that the UFC sold around 9 million PPV’s in 2010.

- UFC key sponsors listed on interview were: Anheuser-Busch, U.S. Armed Services & Burger King.

- Average ticket price for a UFC event is $276, tickets usually priced between $50-$1,000.

- Anheuser-Busch resigning with the UFC shows how valuable the 18-34 male demographic is to them, will make the UFC a significant part of their sponsorship efforts.

- When Lorenzo was asked about any plans to cash-out on the UFC, he stated that he and his partners feel there is a ton more to accomplish in the sport still.

- They highlight that the first UFC Gym opened in 2009, they have a total of 3 at the moment. They also sell branded gym equipment.

- For Ancillary Revenue, they list Gyms, DVD’s, Video Games, and Collectibles.

- The UFC is in 147 countries/territories, 500 million homes worldwide, not including current deals they are working on in China, India, and other big markets.

Jones fights crime, beats Rua

To top off being a favorite , fighting close to his hometown and having his own Spike TV special prior to challenging for the Light Heavyweight crown, Jon Jones helped stop a burglar just hours before the fight.  Although he looked nervous and Rua looked calm, Jones destroyed Rua  to win the belt. Rua looked slow and out of shape, but perhaps that was a testament to the speed and skill of Jones.

For Jones, a matchup with Rashad Evans is next although it may happen late 2011 as it is reported that Jones may have broken a bone in his hand. Thus, Evans will not have fought in the UFC since May 2010.

Faber kisses Rosie, survives to win in UFC debut

Urijah Faber defeated Eddie Wineland and will face Dominick Cruz next. Wineland did well for himself as he stuffed several takedown attempts at the outset, but Faber eventually solved Wineland. After the fight, Faber gave a rather mechanic call out to Cruz.  Perhaps the venom will step up if they become opposing TUF coaches. Whenever the fight happens, it should be a great fight.

I think that the UFC should have Faber-Cruz coach TUF as this can help gain more exposure to the lighter divisions. Plus, it should elevate Faber’s presence to the mainstream. I think Faber (and Jose Aldo) are the two fighters that can give the lighter weight divisions a boost in giving them respect and more visibility on UFC cards.

Not able boos for “The California Kid” coming out to 2Pac/Dre. I guess the East Coast-West Coast rap battle is still alive. And yes, that was Rosie O’Donnell that he kissed walking to the ring. I liked Rosie better when she was a VH1 DJ.

Bonuses

MMA Junkie reports the bonuses for 128.

Brendan Schaub and Erik Koch earned $75K apiece for their KOs and Edson Barboza and Anthony Njokuani earned $75K each for their Fight of the Night on Spike TV. There were no fights ending in submissions so that can explain the double KO bonus.

Attendance and Gate

MMA Junkie reports that 12,619 fans attended UFC 128 for a gate of $2.14 million. The numbers were not as good as GSP-Hardy and did not draw as many fans as Bisping-Evans. In fact, UFC 128 had a slightly better gate than UFC 78. It is likely that Jones will draw much better in the future.

Via MMA Junkie:

1. UFC 111 (St-Pierre vs. Hardy): $4,000,000 gate (17,000 attendance)*
2. UFC 128 (Jones vs. Rua): $2,140,000 (12,619)*
3. UFC 78 (Bisping vs. Evans): $2,100,000 (14,071)*
4. UFC 53 (Arlovski vs. Eilers): $1,100,000 (12,000)*

Ratings

UPDATED 3/22/11 – MMAPayout confirmed today with SpikeTV the ratings for the UFC Prelims. UFC 128 Prelims earned a .85 household rating, a .92 in Men 18-49, a 1.03 in Men 18-34, and an average audience of 1.3 million viewers. According to MMA Junkie, the ratings show a strong increase from the UFC 127 Prelims on ION.

The lead-up shows for UFC 128 included the usual Countdown show and a special for Jon Jones, “In the Moment.” The Jones pre-event show did better than the Countdown show. It did very well considering it went up against NCAA Tournament games. It will be interesting to see how he GSP-Shields Primetime series will do in comparison.

Sponsorship Watch

MMAPayout Emiritus Kelsey Philpott was on hand and tweeted about the scene outside the arena pre-UFC 128 where the UFC held a Tailgate Party. This was a great way for sponsors to get out in front of its audience. Tapout and Xyience were among the sponsors outside interacting with fans.  The newest product out there for the MMA fan:  Tapout energy bands.

Sponsors in the Octagon included Harley Davidson, BSN, BoostMobile, Xyience, Affliction, Tapout , Toyo Tires and Bud Light had the center of the Octagon.

The UFCStore.com was actively involved in the PPV as it sponsored the tale of the tape and also ran an ad during the first round of the Jones/Rua fight which I thought was a little annoying.

Jon Jones had Iron Bridge Tools as a fight sponsor on the back of his shorts. According to my count, this is the second time that a challenger has won the UFC title with a tool sponsor on the back of his shorts as Cain Velasquez wore a Milwaukee Tools logo when he beat Brock Lesnar. I don’t think Gray Maynard or Vito Belfort had a tool sponsor on the back of their shorts. Are you listening Jake Shields?

Big night for sponsor Form Athletics as Jon Jones and Urijah Faber won their fights.

Public Relations for 128

The UFC was all over the NY/NJ area promoting UFC 128. Details on some of its appearances are here. Aside from promoting 128, the UFC made an effort to promote the legalization of the sport in New York. Notably, Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta appeared on a NY public affairs program to discuss the fight for legalization.

Aside from local media, notable print media stories included Jon Jones in WSJ which asked whether Jones would be the breakthrough star the UFC (and MMA) needs.

Jones appeared on a local morning show in NY where he was asked to display what he does in the Octagon.

UFC Fighter Jon ‘Bones’ Jones: MyFoxNY.com

I think Middle Easy explains my sentiments.

Via Middle Easy:

Hopefully in 2012, we can collectively agree that any form of media asking a fighter to place them in a rear-naked choke needs to come to an end. Actually, that’s not entirely fair. Let’s make a rule that if you ask a fighter to place you in a rear-naked choke, you can’t tap out. The blood running through your neck will have to come to a complete halt and your unconscious body will need to collapse to the floor in order to realize how much of an idiot you were for asking someone to choke you out.

Trending during 128

Twitter was abuzz Saturday night as #ufc128 #Crocop #Schaub #Miller and #Faber were all trending. I’m sure Jones was trending as well although I did not check after the fights.

Odds and Ends

• MMA is great because it’s the only sport where one of its champs seconds a fighter as Frankie Edgar did at the weigh-ins for Ricardo Almeida

• The Miller Brothers fought back to back and went 1 and 1.

• Jon Jones gave a shout out to his after-party during his post-fight interview, a taboo in the UFC. But, Jones quickly amended his announcement to say it was for charity. Perhaps the champ was taking liberties with his newfound position.

• While there are many MMA fans that loathe the comparisons to pro wrestling, “USA, USA” chants broke out during the main event. The last time I heard that I think The Iron Shiek was wrestling Sargent Slaughter.

• If Herb Dean did not stop the Jones-Rua fight, Rua was tapping.

• Faber received his Brown Belt in BJJ after the Wineland match. Not as dramatic as when Randy Couture received his Black Belt for choking out James Toney or when Frank Mir received his after breaking Tim Sylvia’s arm.

Political news web site POLITICO reported the enforcement actions but did not mention the UFC in the article. Instead, it focused on the fact that the seizure of websites was made prior to the Super Bowl as context for the actions. The sites themselves do not provide the content, but provide links to other websites where people can access the events illegally. The POLITICO article states that the sites not only act as a conduit to provide people to sites that illegally stream content, but dent revenues of sports leagues and broadcasters which ultimately will hurt viewers.

Via UFC press release:

In connection with the recent forfeiture raids initiated by the United States Department of Justice, the UFC^® wishes to individually thank Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and John T. Morton, the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) for aggressively confronting and pursuing these criminal enterprises.

Speaking on behalf of the UFC^®, Dana White, Zuffa’s President, issued the following statement: “The very forceful actions taken by Mr. Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and Mr. Morton, the Director of ICE, against these parasitic websites is very welcome news. The criminal theft of Pay-Per-View events has resulted in the loss of millions of dollars of revenue to not only the UFC^® and its fighters, but has also deprived federal, state and local government of their rightful entitlement to significant tax revenue.

“On behalf of the UFC^®and its fighters, I extend my sincerest thanks to Mr. Bharara, Mr. Morton, and the many Assistant United States Attorneys and Agents of Homeland Security Investigations who worked so tirelessly during the course of this intensive investigation.”

Despite the seizures, one of the websites that was shut down on Wednesday has already reappeared online.

Payout Perspective:

For the UFC, the press release reaffirms its aggressive stance on piracy.  The UFC release is part government relations as it complements, by name, the NY US Attorney and ICE Director for its work. Notwithstanding recent news about MMA in New York, thanking the US Attorney in New York doesn’t hurt.

Although mainstream news outlets like POLITICO will focus on the affect the seizures have on professional leagues, it goes without saying that the work helps the UFC as well. This weekend’s UFC 126 should be one of the more compelling PPVs in a while with Silva-Belfort, Griffin-Franklin and Bader-Jones. The PPV buy rate should be good and with the assist from the feds, some users may need to buy the PPV rather than get it for free.

Of course, while some sites go down, others pop up: a game of whac-a-mole as the Fight Lawyer pointed out last year.

MMA Weekly has the details:

The interview was a formal process due to any potential threat made against the President, but it should be the close of the matter for Volkmann. The reason for the investigation wasn’t because of the original interview after his fight, but because someone alerted the authorities about a ‘threat’ that was made.

Here is the post-fight interview via MMA Fighting:

Payout Perspective:

If you are a prelim fighter in the UFC trying to make a name for yourself, how do you make yourself standout from the other hungry UFC fighters.  1. Get an innovative nickname.  Christmas.  Check. 2. Win a fight where you are an underdog. Check. 3. Give a great post-fight analysis of your fight in an interview.  Check. 4. Call out the President of the United States. On top of that, let the world know that “someone should knock some sense into that idiot”. 

As Ariel Helwani pointed out, Volkmann seemed most passionate about politics rather than his next opponent. Volkmann defended his statement as he is a chiropractor and the President’s new health care initiative has hurt his practice due to denied claims by insurance companies. So, perhaps his rant was personal to him since he appears to be affected by the new rules set in place by the administration.

Obviously, calling out the President and threatening physical violence is not a smart move. It was not surprising that Volkmann was visited by Secret Service agents although the visit was precipitated by a complaint about the interview.

This is a great example of why fighters need media training to avoid situations like this. The post-fight interview may not be the best place to tie-in a political message (unless you are paid to do so). Perhaps Volkmann can head an advocacy group for chiropractors. Volkmann should have stuck with the topic at hand…who he wanted to fight next.  Although colorful, off the cuff political rants in the sports arena should be left to the likes of Charles Barkley.

GSP dominates Koscheck, now looking at Shields

Georges St-Pierre used a stiff jab and a few nasty left hook combinations to fracture the orbital bone of Josh Koscheck on the way to a dominant unanimous decision victory on Saturday night at UFC 124. He put on a clinic, as they say, with his masterful use of the jab and superb head movement to avoid Koscheck’s overhand right. It was truly a performance in which St-Pierre cemented his legacy as one of the best fighters of this era and undoubtedly the best welterweight of all-time.

St-Pierre is likely to face Jake Shields next. Dana White seemed to be most in favor of this bout. However, if you look around at the list of contenders, it’s hard to justify any other bout. St-Pierre has defeated the who’s who of the 170lbs. division, including Koscheck (2), Fitch, Alves, Penn (2), Hughes (2), Hardy, and Serra. Here we see the business side of the sport coming into play. Jon Fitch is probably the most deserving of the next shot from a wins perspective, but he’s failed to impress in any of his latest victories. He’s not the UFC’s only option – and certainly not the most appealing – so why would they give him a shot? If he keeps good to his word and puts on a dominating performance against BJ Penn in February, he’ll likely be next up for the WW defense in Fall of 2011.

Naturally, there’s been some talk of GSP fighting Silva, but, it will have to wait at least until after Silva fights Belfort in February and GSP fights Shields (likely in April). A fight between St-Pierre and Silva would undoubtedly be the most important fight in UFC history, although there’s no guarantee  it would break 1.6 million PPV buys. I could see the UFC using a fight like this as a center piece to a brand new integrated marketing campaign; something to help push it further towards mainstream acceptance with the goal of leveraging the fight and the marketing campaign towards obtaining a solid network television deal. The timing is certainly right.

UFC 124 attendance and gate

The UFC pushed the media all week with the message that UFC 124 was going to have the biggest attendance and live gate in UFC history, but sadly only one of those came true. The official attendance set a new record with 23, 152 people cramming The Bell Centre in Montreal. However, the official gate slightly underperformed at $4. 586 million. It should be noted that $4.6 million is still an excellent gate (my how far this sport has come to look at things and say a gate like that actually underperformed!).

Fight Week

Most casual fans make their purchase decision the week of the fight and these are the types of consumers that can make the difference between a fight selling 600,000 buys or 1.6 million buys. Therefore, as I’ve said many times before, fight week is the most critical time for any PPV in terms of promotion. There’s nothing in this sport that adds to the short-term bottom line like a good fight week campaign. Therefore, let’s take a look at some of what we saw this past week:

• ESPN has shown an increasing commitment to the UFC and this was definitely on display this week. The fight week SportsCenter interviews and MMA Live coverage that have become commonplace over the last six months were accompanied by the first MMA-related SportsCenter commercial featuring Georges St-Pierre. Additionally, ESPN also released a viral video on Youtube that showed GSP teaching two college mascots how to fight.
• SpikeTV debuted its Countdown to UFC 124 program on Monday, December 6th at 7pm EST/PST and garnered 470,000 average viewers. It’s a solid but unspectacular number. However, Spike has switched up its strategy in recent months and this Countdown show now plays so often that it’s the aggregate number of views across the entire week that truly counts.
• In Canada, Rogers Sportsnet led the way with its usual stalwart programming featuring Showdown Joe Ferraro and his MMA Connected series. Sometimes I believe that American fans don’t realize how significant Sportsnet’s coverage of MMA really is. They were the first major sports network in the world to give MMA primetime love and they back this up with a host of online and behind the scenes content that isn’t matched anywhere else.
• TSN also jumped on the bandwagon with considerably more coverage on its SportsCentre (notice the spelling) and almost three full days worth of Off The Record coverage of UFC 124, including a special preview show on Saturday night. The preview show was solid as it featured interviews with both fighters and a good 5 minute clip with Cain Velasquez that took viewers through a typical fight day routine for the average fighter.

UFC 124 fight trailer featuring music by Jay-Z and Rhianna

The UFC has experimented with the use of mainstream music in its promo trailers over the last few years, but UFC 124 is the first time I can remember the company ever using music for a publicly released trailer that didn’t also contain some sort of co-promotion. The UFC did the video with 50 Cent for UFC 91 but that was just spliced fight video into 50′s regular music video. UFC 124′s trailer did not include anything from Jay-Z or Rhianna except the music.

I’ve said for a while now that one of the keys to the UFC’s impending mainstream acceptance will be smart and proper integration with popular culture. Music definitely helps them do that. Don’t get me wrong, I love the UFC’s Stemm intro, but that music only appeals to a very small subset of people. I can remember seeing Craig Borsari mixing up a “Welcome to Atlanta” version of the intro for UFC 88 on Dana’s Vlog a few years ago, but we never saw that on the PPV. Hopefully this latest Rhianna mix is a sign that the UFC is willing to pay the royalties necessary to use these songs in its promotional content.

UFCVote.com

The UFC unveiled UFCVote.com at UFC 124 in which fans were allowed to pick the winners of fight of the night and the $100,000 bonus checks. In what was clearly a pilot thrown together to test the idea, the UFC learned that it’s probably not the best idea to put hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonus money into the hands of biased fans. That’s because the fans chose the main event as the FON by an overwhelming margin despite Riddle vs. Pierson probably being the more spirited and entertaining bout.

UFCVote.com is a great idea, because it allows the brand to further engage the fans and give them a say over part of the product. This is especially relevant in a climate where many fans have criticized the UFC for its pay of the fighters (though I find it odd that, in light of this fact, the majority still elected to give more money to the fighters that were already set to make the most on the card).

I don’t believe the UFC ought to get rid of the idea altogether. Instead the UFC should modify the award by separating it from the FON and creating a distinct fans fight of the night honor worth $5,000-$10,000 per fighter. The UFC could further develop the existing website to allow fans to rate each fight on a scale of 10; the highest rated fight wins (perhaps you exclude from eligibility the main event guys). The additional upside to this idea is that the UFC could further sell a ton of inventory to what is likely going to be a highly trafficked website. Then, if it wanted to go one further, it could even take the winning fight from each PPV event on the year and compile them for an end of the year Spike special. The special could be used to review the year that was and determine the fans’ ultimate fight of the year (of course, you’d sell this to sponsors, too).

Sponsorship Watch

I criticized Boost Mobile for its involvement at 123, but I thought it did a better job at 124 of integrating its brand into the broadcast. They brought us the Judge’s Call, were a part of the UFCVote.com, and were generally visible throughout the fight card.

There’s been much ado this week regarding the UFC’s fighter sponsorship policies and how they influence fighters financially. If you haven’t jumped in on the debate yet, I suggest you take a look.

UFC 131 announced for April 30th at the Rogers Centre

Earlier in the week, the UFC announced it will host its very first show in Ontario on April 30th when it plans to visit Toronto’s Rogers Centre and absolutely smash the North American attendance and gate record. The Rogers Centre is the enclosed baseball stadium where the MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays play (formerly known as the Skydome), and it actually sat upwards of 70,000 for a Wrestlemania show a few years ago. It’s likely the UFC is going to opt for a smaller seating configuration (40,000), not because it couldn’t fill 68,000 but more because it wants to make sure every fan can see the action. The nature of the UFC’s cage has always detracted from the live experience; this would really come into play for fans sitting in the very upper deck, a mile away from the action inside of a black cage.

‘Rampage’ ready to ‘put on a great show’ at UFC 123

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Metro Detroit Saturday for the first time since 1996 and intends to put on a show for fans hungry for professional mixed martial arts bouts.

Organizers and fighters claimed Wednesday that Saturday’s “UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida,” will be an event fans won’t want to miss…

“I love bringing fights back to old fight towns,” UFC president Dana White said in a press conference at Detroit’s MGM Grand Casino. (The Detroit News)

Dana White eager to bring UFC back to metro Detroit

“To all the fans who have lived in Detroit or watched on TV or pay-per-view, watching it live is nothing like watching TV; it’ll be the most exciting event you’ll ever see live,” White said at a news conference this afternoon alongside six main-card fighters at Detroit’s MGM Grand casino.

“Detroit is one these cities I love going to, it’s a big fight city, and I love bringing big fights back to fight towns who haven’t had them in awhile.” (Detroit Free Press)

Mixed martial arts draws crowd to Detroit Athletic Club

Penn, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Joe Lauzon, George Sotiropoulous, and several others sparred with trainers for about 10 minutes on the squash court turned makeshift combat zone.

The practice attracted more than 50 spectators, including media members from as far away as Australia.

“Before a guy had a ball in his hand, or a bat, he was fighting, and people were watching,” said Adam Thompson, a 27-year-old TV reporter from Australia. “The growth of UFC is amazing, it’s exploding, the sport is bigger than boxing.” (The Detroit News)

Large crowd at Palace sees ‘Rampage’ win UFC match by decision

Based on the reaction from a sold-out crowd of over 16,000 at The Palace, professional mixed martial arts throwdowns inside an octagon-shape cage appear to fit perfectly in Michigan’s broad sports landscape.

“It was a good night,” UFC president Dana White said of the atmosphere. “We put on a lot of good fights with a lot of good guys. And you get some great moments when you have a stacked card.

“The Detroit crowd was awesome, this place was rockin’ like we knew it would.” (The Detroit News)

EVENT NOTES:

- UFC 123 draws 16,404 attendance and $2.1 million live gate. (MMAJunkie)

- Dana White: Scored the fight 2 rounds to 1 for Rampage, no immediate rematch between Rampage and Machida. (Press Conference)

- Dana White: George Sotiropoulos vs Dennis Siver, BJ Penn vs John Fitch will take place in Sydney for UFC 127. (Press Conference)

- “Rampage” Jackson: Disappointed in performance, almost had to pull out of fight due to illness and a fever. (Press Conference)

- Josh Gross: Lyoto Machida vs. Rampage Jackson was Jeremy Lappen’s dream fight. When he ran WFA, these were the two guys he aimed to build into a bout. (Josh Gross)

- Dana White: The UFC will do around 30-31 fights in 2011, working on 2 deals right now that will put them in over a billion homes (Press Conference)…

Payout Perspective: We previously discussed how the WEC merger impacts the UFC, mentioning that it would need to compensate for losing 8 WEC shows in 2011.  In 2010, the UFC ran 24 events along with 8 events from the WEC, which gave Zuffa a total of 32 events to work with last year.  White announced they will try to match the same event output next year, targeting about 30-31 events.  He also mentioned that he is finalizing a TV deal which would put the UFC in over a billion homes, which one would think deals with landing a TV deal in China since they claim they are in 500 million homes right now.

- UFC 123 was the main story on ESPN, even on ESPN Mobile. Lyoto Machida, Rampage, and UFC 123 were trends on Twitter throughout the day.

- Karo Parisyan was released from the UFC after his loss and bad showing at UFC 123. On the other hand, Tyson Griffin will not be released, despite losing 3 fights in a row, since Dana White did not agree with the judges decision which awarded Nick Lentz as the winner. (MMAWeekly)

- UFC 123 Bonuses: KO of the Night: BJ Penn, Submission of the Night: Phil Davis, Fight of the Night: George Sotiropoulos vs Joe Lauzon $80,000 each (Press Conference).

Today, there were a number of reports concerning a Digital Millennium Copyright notification that Zuffa sent to Google back in September.  The text of the takedown notice was provided courtesy of Google at a website, www.chillingeffects.org.  The takedown notice provided in relevant part as follows:

On behalf of Zuffa, LLC and/or its subsidiaries and affiliated companies, I am writing to notify you of the infringement of Zuffa, LLC’s intellectual property rights in the titles identified in this email in Google search results.  Demand is hereby made that Google take immediate action to stop such infringements.  The search results and links identified in this email are specific examples of Google search results linking to images, artwork, video files, video streams and websites that infringe upon Zuffa, LLC’s intellectual property rights.  Zuffa, LLC hereby demands that Google promptly remove and disable the links to all unauthorized copies of works whose copyrights are owned by Zuffa, LLC of which it is aware, including the infringing files identified in this email.

Payout Perspective:

The e-mail takedown notice concludes with a list of specific URLs that Zuffa alleges lead to works that infringe on its intellectual property.  Notably, the infringing URLs appear to be specific to the events, i.e. the links are not to the homepage of the allegedly infringing websites.

As S.C. Michaelson correctly notes in an article, “The UFC Wants You to Know Where to Find Illegal Streams,” the obvious downside of such a takedown notice setting forth the specific websites where alleged infringement is occurring is that a list like that could become public providing a roadmap to those seeking illegal streams. That is precisely what occurred today at the MMA specific websites that posted the e-mail.

If you check some of these links, admittedly I only checked a few, it appears, at first blush at least, that Zuffa was successful.  For example, I plugged one allegedly infringing site into Google and here was what came up:

In response to a complaint we received under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we have removed 1 result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read the DMCA complaint that caused the removal(s) at ChillingEffects.org.

However, it appears, at least for some of the links I tried, that the website search results still come up in Google albeit for different URLs, i.e. events.  Thus, Google did not shut down the website where the alleged piracy is occurring, but instead simply disabled the specific link referenced in the takedown notice.

Given that the websites are still active in some instances and the fact that the e-mail has now been made public with an apparent roadmap to allegedly infringing sites, you may be wondering if Zuffa made the right move here.

In making that determination, it is worth checking out the Google DMCA instructions.  Google requires very specific information, including “FOR WEB SEARCH, YOU MUST IDENTIFY EACH SEARCH RESULT THAT DIRECTLY LINKS TO A WEB PAGE THAT ALLEGEDLY CONTAINS INFRINGING MATERIAL. This requires you to provide (a) the search query that you used, and (b) the URL for each allegedly infringing search result.”  Accordingly, Zuffa had no choice but to provide the specific URLs at issue.

Moreover, and importantly, Google’s DMCA instructions provide as follows:

Please note that in addition to being forwarded to the person who provided the allegedly infringing content, a copy of this legal notice will be sent to a third-party which may publish and/or annotate it.  As such, your letter (with your personal information removed) will be forwarded to Chilling Effects (http://www.chillingeffects.org).  You can see an example of such a publication at http://www.chillingeffects.org/dmca512/notice.cgi?NoticeID=861.  A link to your published letter will be displayed in Google’s search results in place of the removed content.

Given this language, Zuffa knew, or should have known, that the list provided in its email to removals@google.com would end up on the Internet.

Whether Zuffa could have predicted that the list would end up on the radar of the MMA media websites is another question.

I will let you be the judge.

Fight Lawyer

Justin Klein is an attorney at Satterlee Stephens Burke & Burke LLP in New York City where he concentrates his practice in commercial litigation and represents clients in the fight industry.  He regularly addresses current legal issues that pertain to combat sports, including efforts to legalize MMA in New York, at his Fight Lawyer website.  He is a licensed boxing manager with the New York State Athletic Commission as well as the founder and Chairman of the Board of the New York Mixed Martial Arts Initiative, a non-profit organization that gives inner city youth the opportunity to experience the emotional and physical benefits of martial arts training.  Justin lives in New York City where he trains in jiu jitsu and boxing.

DISCLAIMER

The information in this post and on my site consists of my opinion only, i.e., it is not the opinion of my employer or anybody else. In addition, and because this is my opinion, it is not intended to be (and is not) legal advice or an advertisement for legal services. This post provides general information only. Although I encourage interested parties to contact me on the subjects discussed in the articles, the reader should not consider information on this site to be an invitation for an attorney-client relationship.  I disclaim all liability in respect to actions taken or not taken based on any contents of this post. Any e-mail sent to me will not create an attorney-client relationship, and you should not use this site or my site to send me e-mail containing confidential or sensitive information.

Objectives

The UFC needs to determine what it wants to accomplish with this expansion into China – both in the short-term and long-term – before it actually lays out a road map and sets down the path. Therefore, the following is a list of brief objectives the UFC is likely striving to achieve in the market:

1.) Generate awareness and educate the Chinese about MMA/UFC
2.) Cultivate interest in the UFC brand
3.) Accelerate the growth of grassroots Chinese MMA
4.) Establish a viable business model for UFC Asia

I’m sure there are others that the UFC has identified and its are likely more detailed, but this is the gist of what needs to happen.

The Short-Term Roadmap

1.) Television Exposure

The UFC is a controversial product entering a conservative marketplace. Its needs to generate awareness and educate the base Chinese population before it can truly begin cultivating a market in the country. The best way to accomplish this is through television.

Television in China gives the UFC a window into the mainstream with exposure that extends beyond the 18-34 demographic that the Sohu.com platform currently affords the company. Depending on the type of television deal(s) the UFC signs, it could have access to as many as 1.2 billion consumers. This access is crucial because it gives the population an opportunity to see what MMA really is and allow them sufficient time to grow comfortable with its existence. This television deal shouldn’t be a blitz, nor should it go unsupported. Exposure is something you build to a crescendo and complement with other content/information through PR, advertising, and social media – although the latter is difficult in China.

CCTV is the dominant television network in China and owned by the state. CCTV 5 is the defacto national sports channel and potentially a very powerful ally or obstacle to the UFC’s exposure ambitions in the country. If this were ten, or even five, years ago I’d say the UFC should be looking to do whatever it takes to do a TV deal with CCTV – even if it meant submitting to poor terms that might amount to zero rights fees coming back in the “exchange”. However, there are now those that believe CCTV’s monopoly on the Chinese television market is coming to an end with the emergence of bona fide regional networks that are supported by a strong demand for localized news. Thus, a potential alternative to a deal with CCTV might be to sign a string of regional networks in China (e.g., Mongolian TV) or at least those that concentrate around the major Tier 1 cities like Shanghai, Beijing, Guanzhou, and Shenzhen.

2.) Selling the Lifestyle

There are two main ways the UFC can sell the sport in China. The most obvious strategy comes via the natural appeal of the product; everyone “gets” fighting and some even like it. If given the proper exposure, many of those that like it will become UFC fans. The other strategy is to promote not just the product, but also heavily emphasize the MMA/UFC lifestyle. The emerging Gen Y’s in China – think 18-24 or even 18-34 – are heavily influenced by American and Japanese popular culture. If the UFC can manage to convince the Chinese consumer that the UFC is the next big thing in the US, it will instantly increase its credibility within the market.

There are case studies that support enhancing awareness and interest through lifestyle promotion. The NBA was the first (in many regards) to do this in the market, and the results have been fantastic. In addition to promoting the sports at the grassroots level and NBA games through television exposure, the league has also pushed very hard to integrate the basketball lifestyle into Chinese culture. There are a ton of factors that figure into the NBA’s success and it really stands as a compliment to their integrated strategy, but you wouldn’t believe the number of kids wearing basketball shoes, jerseys, and long shorts in Beijing or Shanghai. It’s consumer behavior perpetuated in large part by lifestyle promotion.

3.) Merchandising

It goes without saying that clothing, equipment and other related merchandise are necessary for the adoption of the UFC lifestyle. Just the same as Chinese NBA fans can buy a pair of Nike Zoom Kobe V’s, the Chinese UFC fan will need to be able to purchase UFC or Tapout clothing and different types of training equipment to fully embrace the UFC lifestyle.

However, the Chinese retail situation is comprised of a rather convoluted distribution system and greatly troubled by the black market counterfeit industry that exists nearly everywhere in the country. It would certainly behoove the UFC to move on establishing these connections now – which I’m sure will be one of Mark Fischer’s preliminary actions – because it may take a while to sort out.

Yet, establishing merchandise in the market will prove vital to the UFC’s agenda. Not only is merchandise necessary from a lifestyle perspective, but also from a promotion perspective. Merchandise acts as a non-funded form of promotion that helps to reinforce and perpetuate a brand message through a sort of third-party endorsement. The Chinese may be influenced by American or Japanese culture, but nothing influences more than a Chinese individual sporting the latest perceived trend.

Furthermore, the sale of merchandise also adds a much needed financial component to the UFC’s operations in the market.

Check back next Monday for the final article regarding the UFC in China. We’ll be taking a look at the UFC’s long-term roadmap in the country.