At first blush, the UFC’s signing of Yoshihiro Akiyama doesn’t seem like a headline-grabbing news story. Middleweight rivals Denis Kang and Kazuo Misaki signed American deals to limited fanfare. However, the signing is a very significant move both in terms of what it symbolizes and what it could mean for the future. Akiyama, 12-1 with […]
Featured
Art Davie on the Origins of XARM
Ask the average MMA fan who invented the Ultimate Fighting Championship and they’ll probably say, “Dana White.” Hard core fans might say, “Rorion Gracie.” Wrong on both counts. The man who invented the sport, wrote the business plan and coined the phrase “Ultimate Fighting Championship” back in 1992 was a Brooklyn-born ad man named Art […]
UFC Needs to Adapt Management Philosophy
Dana White has almost single-handedly navigated a tarnished brand and a banished sport from the brink of death to the brink of mainstream acceptance and international popularity. Along the way, he has used an unparalleled level of cunning skill and unrelenting passion to micro-manage every detail of the UFC in order to carve it a […]
Promoter’s Spotlight: Maximum Fighting Championship
I have talked a lot on this website about mismanagement in MMA and have been somewhat vindicated by recent events within the industry. However, while I remain convinced that there is no need to panic, some are still sitting on the fence. As a result, I have set out to demonstrate that there is a […]
EliteXC: A Lesson in Expectations Management
There are many golden rules within the business world, but in regards to selling yourself, your company, or your product, none are more important than this: never over-sell, never over-hype, never over-promise. It’s basic expectations theory. When an organization makes a promise, they set an invisible bar of expectations within the minds of their customers. […]