MMA Analytics 02.11.07: UFC's Heavyweight Exodus?

Posted by Leland Roling on 02.11.2008

Sylvia's recent comments regarding his potential departure from the UFC have sparked the thoughts of many fans into believing that we may be seeing an exodus. Is the UFC's treatment of fighters to blame, or is their big paydays to the fighters who can draw buys hurting their chances at keeping the elite? We'll look at the situation and more in this edition of MMA Analytics.

The UFC is once again having problems in their Heavyweight division. After some potentially explosive matchups for the division at UFC 81, some news out of Tim Sylvia's camp hit the 'Net this week. According to Tim Sylvia's own forum posting, "The Maine-iac" is considering a move to another organization for a number of reasons. First and foremost on that list, the salary that the UFC offered Brock Lesnar has struck the wrong cord with Sylvia. He also states that he only has one fight left on his contract and, his manager, Monte Cox, has the footing to get him a deal with M-1 Global.

This brings up some very interesting questions regarding the UFC's Heavyweight division and the tactics that the UFC has been using to bring talent to the division. Questions regarding the UFC's salary structure in which fighters who have lesser experience, but big buyrate draw for Pay-per-views are on the minds of the elite upper echelon talent in that division. Brock Lesnar brought in a $250,000 purse on a short loss to Frank Mir. The potential is there, but other fighters see this as a slap in the face. Tim Sylvia certainly does.

Does Sylvia deserve that kind of money? Many fans would say he doesn't for the mere fact that his excitement level has dropped off the face of the Earth. He hasn't managed to finish an opponent in any of his recent fights, and lost to both Randy Couture and "Minotauro" Nogueira. His last defeat was still only his fourth loss in his entire career spanning 28 total fights. He's beaten some of the elite such as Andrei Arlovski, Jeff Monson, and Brandon Vera. Shouldn't he get a large payday?

If the UFC plans on keeping the Heavyweight division as one of the best in the world, it's definitely going to be tough for Dana White. He'll either have to explain Brock's PPV potential to other fighters who will likely not want to hear about him, or he needs to start paying them what they deserve. One thing is for certain, M-1 Global waits in the shadows.

UFC's loss could be M-1 Global's gain

These days in MMA, lower weight classes are reigning supreme in the excitement factor, but the heavyweights always hold dear to many fans. It pits huge men with great skills against one another with the potential for explosive knockouts. M-1 Global happens to have the all-time greatest Heavyweight as far as record is concerned. Many people would argue that other fighters have taken on a stronger schedule, but Nogueira is beginning to prove Fedor Emelianenko's greatness by knocking off the UFC's best. Fedor destroyed Nogueira in two meetings, and was on his way to another win when the fight was called a no-contest by accidental headbutt.

With arguably the best Heavyweight in the world in M-1 Global, it was likely that he would attract some competition. Unfortunately, the UFC's dollars spoke first. Many of the UFC's talent continued to fight in the Octagon, but the first of potentially many Heavyweights may have already sealed his fate with another organization. Andrei Arlovski has stated that he will fulfill his contract and take on Jake O'Brien on a "slap in the face" undercard matchup. It's obvious that he will be looking for more money in the free agent market even though the UFC continues to say that their relationship with his management is "excellent".

What's the potential gain for the other organizations out there? Assembling a big name Heavyweight lineup that could rival the UFC's division, and also could begin luring other names to the promotion. M-1 Global has the best prospects with both Emelianenko brothers. Randy Couture wants to fight Fedor, and it likely will only happen in M-1 Global. He won't stick around, and most likely will be done with fighting after the matchup, but it still has the biggest chance of happening there. Add in Andrei Arlovski, Tim Sylvia, Josh Barnett, and possibly Ben Rothwell, an older but tough Jeff Monson, and Mark Hunt, although doing the pro-wrestling bit in Japan, could see a contract offer. Many of the dream matchups that fans have wanted to see are there. Sylvia, Arlovski, and Barnett are all matchups that we've wanted to see, although Arlovski would have to gain the pounds.

EliteXC may be courting some of the talent as well, and the rumor is that ProElite may be bought out by IMG within the next couple of months, a huge backer for EliteXC. With that kind of influx of cash, there is a potential for higher profile fighters to move to their heavyweight division that features Kimbo Slice and Antonio Silva.

The Bigger Picture

So, what can we gain from Sylvia hinting toward moving away from the UFC? Randy Couture may very well have been right. It seems that the word on the street is that Zuffa hasn't been treating their fighters with the utmost respect they deserve in the place where it matters most, their pocketbook. Sylvia has stated in the past that the UFC hasn't treated him very well, especially in the marketing department. He claimed that White told him that there wasn't enough time to put up an extensive campaign to market the big man in the interim title bout, but it's obvious White wanted to gain more buys with Brock Lesnar.

Promoting a big fight takes a lot of time, but I believe that Zuffa's intention was not to promote Nogueira vs. Sylvia, but try to gain the WWE market with Lesnar's fight, which was the smart thing to do from a business perspective. Sylvia's main problem is his pocketbook and Lesnar's huge purse after a quick loss. He also has much more inexperience in the sport. Sylvia has been with the UFC for most of his career, and isn't reaping the benefits of staying loyal to the promotion. I see Sylvia leaving after his last fight, unless he is boosted in pay considerably. That may not be Zuffa's intention since Sylvia hasn't been exciting, and his drawing power is low.

The recent events are beginning to show character flaws in Zuffa's treatment of fighters. It's a business, but there are other things that the UFC could do in order to keep fighters happy. Obviously, the UFC isn't doing a very good job when Couture leaves the promotion and states that he was "disrespected", Tito Ortiz has basically said that he will be looking elsewhere, and now Sylvia may depart. Tito is one of the bigger stories because of his drawing power and exposure to the general public. It's going to be an interesting few months for the UFC. Will they become a lovable giant to some of these fighters, or will they allow another promotion to sneak in the backdoor and have a legitimate division to compete with the UFC's own?

Leland Roling is the editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com