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The UFC vs. The Field: Who Can Challenge for the Throne After a Disastrous 2014?

The UFC will easily survive a testing and disappointing 2014, but did they leave the door open just enough for a competitor to kick it in?

2014 has been a miserable year for the UFC in almost every way imaginable. In fact, it has been worse than miserable; it has been borderline disastrous and very likely one of their worst years of the past decade. It just seemed as if anything the UFC attempted to achieve in the past 12 months was either a total failure or noticeably tainted in one fashion or another.

Injuries, of course, are always a critical concern for the UFC and their bottom line, but this year was notably brutal. especially with the absence of Anderson Silva and GSP, two of the UFC's all-time top draws. Several highly anticipated main events were forced onto the scrap heap due to injured champions, including, but not limited to, scheduled bouts between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier, Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum, and Jose Aldo vsChad Mendes. The latter actually forced the cancellation of the entire UFC 176 event, adding it to the list of "Ghost Events" joining 2013's UFC 151.

These injuries were especially damaging when also considering the fact that the UFC went all out with global expansion this past year. Due to their roster being stretched further than ever before in order to fill 50+ cards, a single cancelled fight could have a devastating effect on the success of an event. In other instances, regional events were simply failures financially. A failed event in Singapore, the UFC's very first event of 2014, actually led to the promotion announcing their intention to shutter their China headquarters this coming spring.

These watered down cards and failed regional events clearly took a toll on the UFC's bottom line in 2014. After estimating a 30% drop in revenue from 2013, Standards & Poor's actually downgraded the UFC's credit rating, forcing some serious questions to be asked and some public embarrassment to be endured. Unfortunately, it may not end there. A later estimate of losses placed the number at 40%, and could lead to ANOTHER credit downgrade in the near future.

The UFC's woes did not end with financial and injury issues, however. Suspensions also left a permanent mark on the promotion. Among those suspended was Chael Sonnen. After receiving a two year ban, Sonnen retired from MMA and admitted quite candidly that he had indeed been guilty of the accusation. Wanderlei Silva finally completed his unprecedented and legendary fall from grace in the eyes of MMA fans and also announced his retirement after being banned for life for attempting to elude a surprise test. Even a botched suspension left the UFC clamoring to find answers after Cung Le was popped by a bogus positive sample in China. The suspension was rescinded, but the damage was already done to Le's relationship with his employer.

Zuffa and the UFC took another body shot this month when a rumored class action suit was made official at its filing in California. Not surprisingly, the now disgruntled Cung Le was one of three men named as plaintiffs, joining former UFC fighters Jon Fitch and Nate Quarry in the complaint. The UFC now faces accusations of unethical business policies, attempts to manipulate free markets, and attempts to form a monopoly from former employees in federal court. While it is too early to tell, chances are extremely high that this dispute will turn into a years-long judicial dog fight.

Basically, while still profitable, the UFC took some major blows this year and is looking as vulnerable as they ever have in recent memory. It can certainly be argued that the combination of lagging PPV sales, mediocre results from global expansion, the loss of important drawing fighters, and various other financial and PR debacles has actually knocked the UFC down a rung or two. While still the clear global industry leader, 2014 has shown that not even the UFC is impervious to bad luck and unwise decision making. 2015 is expected, or at least hoped, to be a stronger year for the organization due to planned return of several important fighters, but there are obviously no guarantees that will indeed occur. If it doesn't, the industry could be looking at some changes in the coming months and years.

Even though the UFC still holds the top promotional spot in MMA over their rivals by a large margin, weaknesses are becoming visible and competitors are getting braver. If the UFC cannot reverse their current downslide, they may actually find themselves up against some serious threats over the next few years. They appear to have grown overly confident of their superiority, and that makes them a target. They may not be one that is easily confronted, but the bulls eye is remains and is more visible than it has been in several years. There are several potential contenders for the UFC's crown, but only a core group has the organizational foundation, financial backing, and roster credibility to have any measurable chances of usurping the throne.

#4-The Longest of the Long Shots

YEAR FOUNDED:

2006

KEY MANAGEMENT:

JEFF ARONSON, C.E.O / MAJORITY OWNER, JOE KELLY, PRESIDENT / MINORITY OWNER, & LEX McMAHON,  C.O.O.

NUMBER OF PAST EVENTS (SCHEDULED EVENTS):

32 (TITAN FC 33 1/23/2014)

CURRENT ROSTER NOTABLES:

VINNY MAGAHALES, MIKE RICCI, JASON BRILTZ, YOSHIYUKI YOSHIDA, MIGUEL TORRES, DESMOND GREEN, GEORGE SOTIROPOULOS, SHAHBUBLAT SHAMAHALAEV, ETC.

PROS / ADVANTAGES:

After spending years staging events out of Kansas City and airing them on HDNet, now AXS TV, TITAN FC was able to finally step out of its role as a top regional promotion confined to the states of Kansas and Missouri and became a participant on the national scene. Thanks to their deal with CBS Sports, one that promises to afford them more exposure than they have ever experienced, TITAN FC is now capable of successfully entering markets across the country by taking full advantage of both their improved reach on television and their new ability to take their live events outside of their traditional comfort zone.

Even though they have employed quality fighters for the majority of their existence, this new deal and expansion has assisted TITAN FC in attracting a more marketable group of former UFC fighters and solid prospects. This migration, in turn, has allowed the promotion to stage events with slightly more depth as of late and provided more intriguing main events than were possible for them in the past. Ratings have so far been solid considering the average viewership of CBS Sports, and with a reach of 30 million homes, there is significant potential for them to rise.

Top management is also a plus for TITAN FC due to the extensive experience in the MMA industry shared by its main corporate officers. Jeff Aronson and Lex McMahon have been business partners in the past while running Alchemist Management, while Joe Kelly is the founder of the organization and a former Director of Operations forBellator Fighting Championships, now known as Bellater MMA. So far, their strategy of slowly building the brand while signing quality, recognizable fighters and matching them in interesting contests has helped to elevate the status of TITAN FC among its peers and competition. They haven't made the mistake of expanding too quickly, however, which will serve them well in keeping expenditures to a minimum, a strategy many now defunct promotions once failed to embrace. As long as the company continues to be ran in a sensible manner, increased ratings and expansion should take care of themselves without the need for complicated tactics and strategies. Simple is the name of the game for them at this point in time.

CONS / DISADVANTAGES:

Oddly enough, some of TITAN FC's biggest pros could end up being their biggest cons if they don't continue to progress as time goes on. While the deal with CBS Sports allowed them to break onto the national scene and is still beneficial, its still extremely likely to be the weakest of the TV deals acquired by any of the major promotions and cannot be relied on to carry them indefinitely. Eventually, if competing with the UFC one day is indeed the goal, TITAN FC will need an upgraded deal, preferably one that provides dates on network CBS to go along with the events signed for CBS Sports. It is not a pressing concern at the moment, but improving on their TV deal is certainly something that needs to be addressed not long in the future.

The roster holds a similar concern. Like the TV deal, it is an upgrade when compared to TITAN FC's past situation, but still needs to be constantly improved. They are making quality signings right now, but they still lack a franchise player that could help push them to the next level. This is not a surprising issue considering the brief amount of time that has passed since their initial move onto the national scene, but they will obviously need to snatch some established, still competitive names, or better yet, develop a generation of their own stars if they want to move up from the tail end of the pack. Employing quality UFC castoffs will be fine for now and in the future, but these guys should be used to compliment the roster, not support it.

Complicating this matter even more, though, is the fact that any developed stars will need to be retained when rival promotions begin showing interest. This, however, will not be an easy task to achieve for a promotion that just recently moved up from the regional level and will require exceptionally disciplined and educated roster and contract management. Given their current status as the weakest of the major promotions and the likelihood that they are at a massive disadvantage when it comes to their financial situation, talent raids could very easily be the biggest threat to TITAN FC's chances of a consistently successful future.

PREDICTIONS / SUGGESTIONS:

While the company appears to be operating in a responsible manner from a promotional, financial, and competitive perspective and is growing at a respectable rate for their current role in the industry, its more than likely that TITAN FC tried to enter this level of competition too late and is too far behind the curve to ever be much more than a world class feeder league to their older, more established rivals and a landing spot for aging veterans who are still capable of competing at a respectable level, but are no longer needed or worthy of a spot in the more competitive leagues. Being the last to make it to the party on a national scope will probably severely limit TITAN FC's ability to gain the footing that will be necessary for them compete on the free agent market or to retain any stars that do pop up under their watch. TITAN FC should be able to exist as a profitable organization capable of greatly contributing to the careers of the fighters they employ, but progressing to anything more than that appears, at best, to be a long shot for them.

#3-The Dark Horse

YEAR FOUNDED:

2012

KEY MANAGEMENT:

SIG ROGICH, C.E.O., RAY SEFO, PRESIDENT, & ALI ABDEL-AZIZA, EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT

NUMBER OF PAST EVENTS (SCHEDULED EVENTS):

18 (16 NUMBERED EVENTS & 2 WSOF: CANADA EVENTS)
(WSOF 17 1/17/2014)

CURRENT ROSTER NOTABLES:

MARLON MORAES, RICK GLENN, JUSTIN GAETHJE, NICK NEWELL, MELVIN GUILLARD, ROUSIMAR PALHARES, JON FITCH, JAKE SHIELDS, YUSHIN OKAMI, DAVID BRANCH, TYRONE SPONG, MIKE KYLE, SMEALINHO RAMA, ETC.

PROS / ADVANTAGES:

Even though they have only been in operation since 2012, the WSOF organization is an excellent example of what the next step in the progression of TITAN FC should be. They are currently in the midst of a TV deal with NBC SN, a network with a history of airing WEC and UFC that also reaches nearly 78 million households, and they have already put fights on network NBC, an achievement that they will almost certainly be looking to repeat in the near future. As successful ratings, at least for NBC SN, continue to come in, plans to enter the PPV market, along with a business model that involves profit sharing with fighters, have been announced. So far, it looks as if the current strategy is to begin airing PPV's by mid-2015. Success in this venture would be a major boon for WSOF and would elevate their status in the industry significantly.

Their roster management, ESPECIALLY at WW, provides another good template for TITAN FC to follow. Like TITAN FC, their roster is compiled of many former UFC fighters, but the quality of these fighters easily outreaches the quality of the ones signed by the Kansas City based promotion. While not wildly marketable, guys like Jake Shields, Jon Fitch, Yushin Okami, and Rousimar Palhares are all fighters with Top 10 pasts and they all possess the potential to find themselves on the list again someday. These men and others like them have helped provide a certain credibility to the organization that most promotions of the same age are still years away from obtaining. WSOF has also been successful at building a handful of homegrown stars. Marlon Moraes, their BW Champion,Justin Gaethje, their LW Champion, Nick Newell, Tyrone Spong, Rick Glenn, their former FW champion, and Lance Palmer, their new FW Champion, have each made their name in MMA while competing under the WSOF banner. The fact that 4 out of the 6 are already title holders or former champs goes to show how important they have been to the organization's efforts.

CONS / DISADVANTAGES:

While WSOF has done an exceptional job building their WW division, along with doing a respectable job with their LW and MW divisions, its time they start fleshing out the rest of their roster. HW is essentially empty, even though they just crowned their inaugural champion. LHW's depth isn't quite as bad as HW's, but is still thin and has yet to stage its first title contest. Both divisions have also seen, relatively recently, their most high profile names, Andrei Arlovski and Anthony Johnson, take their services to the UFC, which was a huge blow for them. FW actually has some decent looking prospects, but lost a quality former champion to Bellator in Karakhanyan. BW has a solid title holder in Moraes, but doesn't have much competition for him. And finally, even though there are FLW fighters signed to the promotion, the division is basically invisible.

It needs to be noted that WSOF has shown that they have the ability to both draw in quality names who are still in or close to their competitive primes and also groom homegrown prospects into champions with future drawing potential, but world class fighters in divisions like HW, LHW, and FLW are extremely difficult to find outside of the UFC. This could prove to be to much to overcome no matter how good the organization is at managing their roster. If the fighters aren't there, they just aren't there.

PREDICTIONS / SUGGESTIONS:

If they can find a way to expand the quality of their roster, in a few years time, WSOF could be seen as an organization that might possibly make a run at dominance someday. They still aren't at the level of the promotions above them on this list, but WSOF has made wonderful progress for the short amount of time they have been in operation. They are likely to suffer some high level departures in the coming months and years, but this should be less of a problem if they can continue to grow at their current rate. Its not going to happen overnight, but the future is potentially bright for them if they can avoid being stepped on by one of their larger neighbors for a little while longer.

#2-The Potential Foreign Super Power

YEAR FOUNDED:

2011

KEY MANAGEMENT:

VICTOR CUI, C.E.O., RICH FRANKLIN, VICE-PRESIDENT 

NUMBER OF PAST EVENTS (SCHEDULED EVENTS):

24 (ONE FC 25 2/6/2015 & ONE FC 26 2/14/2015)

CURRENT ROSTER NOTABLES:

BEN ASKREN, BIBIANO FERNANDES, SHINYA AOKI, ADRIANO MORAES, EDUARD FOLAYANG, JADAMBAA NARANTUNGALAG, ROGER GRACIE, MASAKATSU UEDA, ETC.

PROS / ADVANTAGES:

Even though DREAM and Sengoku both made valiant efforts before disbanding, One FC has clearly become the most successful Asian promotion to arrive on the international scene since the demise of Pride FC . Upon emerging under the guidance of Victor Cui in late 2011, the promotion promptly began to position itself as the premiere Eastern organization by almost immediately forging partnerships with some of the leading gyms, promotions, and media outlets in all of Asia, a strategy that can now be seen as imperative to One FC's early good fortune.

In fact, the rise of the Singapore based company has been so meteoric that even after only being in operation for slightly longer than 3 years, the promotion's management claims they enjoy control of roughly 90% of the Asian MMA market. Due to their long term partnerships with the continent's leading sports channels, exposure in scores of countries around the globe, and a current lack of another major Asian promotion, these claims could very well be valid and legit.

This widespread appeal in the region is further illustrated by the amount of markets One FC has been able to successfully penetrate in such a short amount of time. While their home base remains to be Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia have all hosted successful events for the company early in its existence, and continue to do so. One FC set their sights on an even loftier plane this past summer by running events in China and the United Arab Emirates, two markets with the potential to be profoundly lucrative for the organization. A lack of imminent competition and the luxury of top notch distribution, however, cannot be solely credited for the initial success of One FC.

One FC's immediate international expansion has been assisted handsomely by a clever management of their roster of fighters. While the company is constantly seeking out elite, internationally known competitors, as was demonstrated by the signing of men like Ben Askren, Shinya Aoki, and Bibiano Fernandes, concentrating on regionally popular, yet sufficiently skilled fighters appears to be the foundation the promotion relies upon at this point in its operations.

While many of these men seem unlikely of possessing the amount of pedigree and talent boasted by the top UFC fighters, most are legitimate regional champions with some displaying borderline or obvious world class abilities that have attracted the admiration of their countrymen and other Asian MMA fans. They may not be the elite-of-the-elite on a global stage and are largely unknown in places like North America, the UFC's main stomping grounds, but that is largely irrelevant. As long as they can draw from their core fan base, the strategy will be a success.

By leveraging this abundance of popular regional champions and stars under contract to the promotion by booking them to compete in or near their home regions while also mixing in internationally known and respected stars and promotional champions, One FC has acquired the invaluable ability to fully exploit their previously mentioned methods of highly effective international distribution, all while employing a locally preferred rule set that is similar to Pride FC's old regulations, which are vastly more familiar to Asian fans than the Unified Rules practiced in North America and other parts of the globe.

These strategies and achievements have resulted in One FC solidifying their position as the #1 MMA promotion in Asia by a large margin. Even thought Zuffa, Dana White, and the UFC have been pining over China, Japan, and other Asian destinations for years, if not over a decade, One FC appears to have essentially won the war for the Asian market before the UFC could ever truly compete for it by taking advantage of Victor Cui's knowledge of the Asian regional, competitive, and promotional cultures.

CONS / DISADVANTAGES:

As well known and popular as One FC has become in Asia, the company remains to be almost equally unknown and neglected by any and all but the hardest of hardcore fans in North America. If the promotion's long term goal is to simply dominate Asia, then this really isn't an issue and the urgency to deal with it is minimal. One FC could very likely continue on their current path of mixing in a handful of international stars while attempting to hide the deficiencies of their less talented regional fighters and be a wildly successful Asian promotion almost indefinitely. The UFC still suffers from a lack of recognition in Asia, just like One FC struggles in North America, so it is unlikely that many of One FC's fans have noticed that there is, indeed, a talent gap between the two rival promotions that is actually quite substantial.

So far, Cui and One FC have been able to largely avoid too much unfavorable comparision to the UFC, but that will change if the company ever concludes that it cannot be satisfied with simply being Asia's #1 promotion. Eventually, if One FC does desire to truly compete with the UFC for world domination at some point in the future, the regional fighters will have to be forced out in large numbers in favor of competitors that non-Asian fans can easily accept as being on par with the men and women employed by Zuffa and the UFC. Fighters like Askren and Fernandes are worthy of their elite status and their championship runs have certainly benefited the credibility of One FC, but great champions need worthy challengers made regularly available to them and that is the one area where One FC is lacking the most.

Any serious incursion into UFC occupied territory will require One FC to implement an arms race that they will be at a huge disadvantage in from the start unless they begin loading up with legit, world beater talent immediately and at a break neck pace so that their current fans and any prospective North American fans aren't made too aware of the competitive discrepancy that exists between the two leagues.

One FC's management has displayed superb business acumen, can boast of distribution networks that reach BILLIONS, and may have pulled off one of the biggest coups in the history of combat sports promotion by rapidly overrunning the Asian market so effectively and efficiently that little to no room was left for competition in the region, even from a international promotional juggernaut like the UFC. At this point in time, however, their supply lines are spread thin when it comes to annexing better talent and they have gone almost as far as they can go when it comes to engaging fans in North America. If One FC wants to compete with the UFC, they are going to need the soldiers to do it with, and right now there just aren't enough soldiers to be had to give the UFC a run for their money on their home turf. One FC may have aspirations of going on the offensive against the UFC, but the only substantial offense they can muster in today's reality is defending what they have already claimed, and keeping the UFC exactly where they are in most of Asia right now: on the outside looking in.

PREDICTIONS / SUGGESTIONS:

For now, One FC will likely concentrate on becoming the "UFC of Asia." With ultra experienced promoter Victor Cui at the helm and former UFC MW Champion Rich Franklin serving as their second in command, a man who knows full well what the UFC is capable of and likely learned invaluable lessons from his former employer, it should be clear to One FC's top management that they are in a more than desirable and manageable situation that they can milk profits from for years before they are forced into head on conflict with the UFC.

They are already dominating their market, and they are doing so with a mere handful of fighters that would be widely considered capable of surviving in the current environment of today's UFC. There is no need to speed up the process or alter the course now when it is clear that patience with the current route is the method that achieved this much this fast for One FC. They may not be winning, but they aren't losing either.

Slow expansion in areas that they already hold an advantage in and fortifying the gains they have made over the last three years would more than likely be the prudent decision. The gains made have not been enough to allow them to go head-to-head with Dana and his group of ruffians, but conversely, they are the same gains that have prevented the UFC from expanding even further around the globe for the time being, so they were well worth the effort.

One FC needs to continue what they are doing when it comes to the UFC and remain a sleeping dragon for now while building strength. If they can accumulate enough, there is certainly the potential for them to rain fire and brimstone down from the skies above the MMA industry in the not-to-distant-future which could possibly force the UFC into retreat around the globe. Everything seems to be falling into place financially and promotionally. Now all that is needed is patience and the addition of the right soldiers, and the sky is the limit for One FC and Asian MMA in the years to come.


#1 Contender To The Crown

YEAR FOUNDED:

2009

KEY MANAGEMENT:

SCOTT COKER, C.E.O.  OWNED BY VIACOM 

NUMBER OF PAST EVENTS (SCHEDULED EVENTS):

131 (BELLATOR 132 IS SCHEDULED FOR 1/16/2015, BELLATOR 133 2/12/2015, BELLATOR 134 2/27/2015, & BELLATOR 135 3/27/15)

CURRENT ROSTER NOTABLES:

TITO ORTIZ, RAMPAGE JACKSON, WILL BROOKS, PAT CURRAN, MICHAEL CHANDLER, JOE WARREN, ALEXANDER SCHLEMENKO, VITALY MINAKOV, DOUGLAS LIMA, EMMANUEL NEWTON, LIAM MCGREARY, KING MO, THE PITBULL BROTHERS, ETC.

PROS / ADVANTAGES:

Nearing its sixth year of existence, Bellator MMA is beginning to show true heavyweight potential in the world of major league MMA promotion. After beginning its life on ESPN Deportes in 2009 and enjoying stints on both Fox Sports Net and MTV2, Bellator was purchased by Viacom in 2011 and finally landed on Spike TV in January of 2013. Being purchased by Viacom, a company reportedly worth well over $20 Billion, and being featured on a channel known for airing top quality MMA that also reaches roughly 100 million households (10 million more than what is reached by FS1, the UFC's main distributor of free Fight Night events) is inarguably the most important business achievement of the promotion's still young life.

Even though ratings have not consistently lived up to expectations on Spike TV, recent changes to the format and management of Bellator MMA seem to be moving the UFC's closest domestic competitor in the proper direction. Former Strikeforce frontman Scott Coker took the reigns of the company from its founder, Bjorn Rebeny, in the second half of 2014 and the changes were instantly noticeable. Almost immediately, the promotion took on the feel of its deceased predecessor, Strikeforce, and promised to move away from the tournament structure that had been its foundation since its inception in favor of a more showman-like, casual fan friendly approach preferred by Coker.

Their most recent event, Bellator 131, was widely described as the first true Bellator card molded by Scott Coker'sstrategies and methods. The show was wildly successful and set a ratings record for the company on Spike TV after peaking at 2 million viewers and averaging 1.2 million. Despite going head-to-head with UFC 181, a card featuring fan favorite Mark Hunt's futile attempt at capturing Heavyweight gold, Bellator's main event between Tito Ortiz andStephan Bonnar managed to become the most watched fight on cable so far in 2014, an honor unlikely to be bested at this point in the year.

After finishing 2014 with its most successful event in its history, Bellator MMA and Scott Coker will look to build on this latest momentum with new strategies for choosing title contenders and scheduling events. With the elimination of their tourney format, or at least its drastic reduction, the need for weekly events has dissipated. The original format will be replaced by monthly shows and quarterly "circus tent" specials that will surely benefit from Bellator's new ability to produce deeper, more intriguing cards. Production and promotion time will also increase due to this new policy, which should assist in raising Bellator MMA's profile on Spike TV, which in turn should help spur an increase in ratings and profits.

CONS / DISADVANTAGES:

The most pressing concern facing Bellator MMA at this time isn't the need to prepare for their future confrontations with Zuffa and the UFC, but rather the need to repair after enduring an extended time of self inflicted wounds and damages, starting with an overreliance on a failing format.

While earning title shots by winning tournaments was Bellator's original and entire identity as well as their most active selling point under the Rebney regime, the company began to be bogged down in recent years by the sheer number of tournaments being run simultaneously. To make matters more difficult, the tourney fields were beginning to become populated with often unknown, regional fighters who had been plucked from obscurity by Bellator's management for seemingly no other reason than a warm body was required to fill a slot.

At first the tourney format actually was unique, made good sporting sense, and helped develop stars like Pat Curran, The Pitbull Brothers, and Michael Chandler, but as the seasons piled up, each with multiple tournaments, the format began to implode. Injuries to champions forced lines of tournament victors who were put on hold why they waited their turn to compete again. Other times, tournament finals were delayed due to injuries suffered during the grueling 3 month affairs. These unfortunate incidents would sometimes lead to multiple tournaments in the same weight class to occur simultaneously. Some, like Season 7 LW tournament winner Dave Jenson and Season 8 FW winner Frodo Khasbulaev, never even received their promised opportunities while others, like Season 10 LHW winner Rampage Jackson simply refused to accept his shot at the belt, casting even more doubt on the necessity and fairness of the process.

The worst part from a promotional standpoint, though, is that the fans became burnt out on the constant and numerous tourneys and their oftentimes weak or uninspiring fields. Eventually, the overwhelming amount of tournament contests became so crippling that they began occurring on the preliminary portions of Bellator cards, making it highly difficult for even the most loyal fans to keep track of who was even participating. Bellator's tournaments had gone from being a unique idea to govern an organization to being an overexposed process with underexposed combatants. As fan interest in Bellator's main product inevitably began to wane, so did Spike TV's ratings. Bjorn Rebney, however, refused to concede to the threat of dwindling business and continued to implement his personal vision of how contenders should be decided.

Even though he would survive as the man in charge long enough to oversee the promotions first PPV attempt become moderately successful, his failure to reignite interest in his brand, compromise over his chosen format, build ratings for Spike, and and an inability to avoid disastrously harmful PR moments led to Rebney's dismissal from the company he founded in June of 2014.

Rebney's defiance and refusal to alter the format in any significant way while alienating associates, fighters, fans, and the media needlessly plagued the organization far longer than it should have and did substantial harm to the promotions credibility in the industry, causing the majority of fans to begin to regard Bellator MMA as a minor league operation simply being used to fill the hole left in Spike's schedule after their split with the UFC. Had Rebney been more willing to adapt and compromise, Bellator MMA may have been able to avoid their disappointing performances on Spike and retain the respect of the fighters and fans. HIs sudden dismissal and the near instantaneous addition of Scott Coker, however, is indicative of the harm he caused to the promotion and the hole he left it in after his termination. Now Coker is left to clean up a mess that is as unnecessary as it was foreseeable.

PREDICTIONS / SUGGESTIONS:

Six months ago, Viacom was the owner of a company that was likely to have been at least mildly profitable, but sinfully mismanaged. Today, that very same company is exploding with potential and on the verge of lightning quick expansion and profitability. All of the required pieces had already been put in place years ago, but the wrong man with wrong plan was behind the wheel calling the shots. Now the ship has a captain who is fully capable of pulling the absolute maximum output from his vessel while he guides it to exactly where it needs to be, and should have been long before he came aboard.

Even though Scott Coker was handed the unenviable task of inheriting the problems of his predecessor and temporarily operating in a fashion he knew was unsustainable and impractical, it appears he has managed to overcome many of the issues he initially faced as the new CEO of Bellator MMA mere months after accepting the position. Thanks to his business savvy, promotional experience, and the popularity he enjoys from nearly everyone involved or interested in the industry, Coker has taken a woefully under performing organization and broke company records after just his first real opportunity to implement his vision.

If the outcome of these new policies continue to be positive, expect Viacom to throw even more of their substantial financial weight behind the promotion. Armed with a nearly bottomless bankroll, it is completely feasible that Viacom will permit Scott Coker to begin pursuing not only fan friendly fighters like Dutchman Melvin Manhoef, but also big name, high dollar, crowd drawing fighters should any become available as free agents. Even though Bellator MMA is fortunate enough to have home grown talents like Will Brooks, Pat Curran, Patricio Pitbull, Michal Chandler, etc. and former UFC champions like Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson as part of their roster, they have yet to lay claim to a truly business driving, ratings grabbing name that is still in or close to their competitive prime.

Even while armed with arguably the second best roster in the sport, due to this lack of a legitimate franchise player, Viacom may just be willing to climb into the ring with Zuffa in the coming months and make a play for one of the most profitable draws in the history of the business. Brock Lesnar's contract with World Wrestling Entertainment is due to expire after WrestleMania 31 in the spring of next year and it is being heavily rumored that the Beast wishes to return to MMA. Should this prove to be true, Viacom is undoubtedly financially capable of battling the UFC for the former champ's services and might very well be able to secure Lesnar for the benefit of Bellator and Spike TV. In other words, the entire game could change before next summer, folks.

While it is far from a sure thing that the ultra competitive Lesnar will settle for facing a weak Bellator HW division instead of attempting to reclaim his former UFC title, simply competing for the man's signature on the dotted line will elevate Bellator's visibility and promotional credibility far above what it currently enjoys and could legitimize the promotion in the eyes of the fans as a truly dangerous antagonist to the UFC. Whether they are successful or not, just entering the fray for Lesnar in a meaningful way could be a rousing PR victory for Coker and his new ward.

Even though it is clear that there is far more work to be done, Coker has been armed with the blessing, support, and backing of a multi-billion dollar enterprise, a television deal that reaches 100 million domestic homes, international distribution that covers over 140 countries on four different continents, and a world class roster of athletes to mix and match amongst one and other. Couple these new tools with his ability to produce captivating events with far less resources, and it is hard to imagine a scenario in which Coker fails to at lest compete with the UFC in the near future.

While Coker and others have emerged as legitimate long term threats to Zuffa's MMA empire, they won't be able to get where they want to go overnight, regardless of all of their new found advantages. The UFC has had too many years alone at the top and has put more than just a little distance between themselves and everyone else in that amount of time for any one man or company to just appear in their rear view mirror. The UFC is, however, beginning to show signs of decline just as others are beginning their ascent. The chase is going to be a long one and no one knows for sure where everyone will end up when it is all said and done or who will come out on top once everything has been decided. Its entirely possible that by this time next year, the UFC may be in an even more demanding position than they already are. Only time will tell. Thankfully, though, the one thing we do know now, at least, is that after years of sitting still in calm, seemingly complete safety, the UFC finally has someone to stand up and run away from again. Many of us may have forgotten what that looks like, but if 2015 begins to resemble the previous 12 months, there is a true chance that we will all be reminded of how the MMA world existed and operated before its current ruler fought to the top and captured its throne.

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