And that is part of the crux in this discussion (forgive me, what follows is going to get a bit lengthy and lecture-ish). On the contrary, MMA organizations big and small may even identify one another as competition and have antagonistic relationships.
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#POSITIVES OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS FIGHTING FREE#
In a developed society like the United States, that leans heavily towards capitalism and the free market, a highly successful private enterprise is obviously not responsible for ensuring that other, smaller companies are implementing any level of worker safety.Īs noted in the original essay, although the bigger MMA organizations rely on the smaller ones for worker development/recruitment, there is, to my knowledge, no formal relationship between them. Then the issue of cost comes up, and presumably, Zuffa shrunk the WEC at least in part because having so many weight classes was not fiscally profitable, leading me to my next point… If we can agree that Zuffa provides the best medical precautions, why not work to expand that infrastructure? This is a public health-type prevention response, arguing that those tragedies are important, and in the long-term, it would benefit the industry if wide-spread measures were taken to prevent/minimize future deaths and major injuries. This is not an alarmist response to two deaths in sanctioned MMA. One central focus (and the one with which I am obviously most concerned) is broad-based prevention. Mapping out and implementing such a plan would take years, but prominent, successful organizations have a vision and would make long-term organizational plans. Tensions could emerge between whatever parent MMA organization is running the show and the smaller feeder organizations over any number of issues.
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In return, hopefully the best fighters would gravitate towards those farm organizations and safely progress to the UFC. This would also mean enforcing the most thorough medical/safety precautions that may frequently exceed state regulations.
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If we are going to focus on Zuffa, this could mean the Fertitta brothers, Dana White, and company identifying smaller, regional MMA organizations with whom they would like to forge formal partnerships and investing in their organizational development (e.g., promotional strategies, fighter recruitment). Under the Zuffa umbrella, the WEC ostensibly served as a farm system for fighters in multiple weight classes (155lbs – LHW) who could matriculate into the UFC when their talents warranted promotion.Īnd with the WEC under the Zuffa banner, it was (and still is for the WEC fighters in lighter weight classes) understood that the strictest, most thorough safety precautions would be taken, in large part because the parent company (Zuffa) could afford them. Additionally, I was careful not to explicitly state that any MMA organization (UFC, Strikeforce, whichever) should be responsible for investing in a kind of minor league, MMA farm system.įrom the final paragraph in my original piece: “Perhaps this means larger MMA organizations like the UFC and Strikeforce need to consider investing their profits in smaller organizations to help improve an infrastructure that bolsters safety precautions…”Ĭonsidering broader investment in safety-based infrastrcutre across smaller organizations is not radical by any means.Ī good example of a model would be the WEC before the folks at Zuffa decided to cut the heavier weight classes.