A PreView of Things to Come Installment # 2 - Weight Classes and Weight Cutting

A short while ago, I posted the inaugural article in my original series, “A PreView of Things to Come”. The first installment dealt with sponsorships, both on regional and national levels, and my thoughts on how that aspect of MMA will develop over the next few years.

With this second entry, I am going to examine two obviously related topics – weight classes and weight cutting. Since I have never had the (dis)pleasure of cutting weight, I decided to go to the experts for some comments on methods of cutting weight, short and long term effects on the body, and general thoughts on the makeup of the MMA weight class layout. To that end, you will hear from sports medicine professional and MMA enthusiast Dr. Johnny Benjamin, professional fighter Chad “H-Bomb” Hinton, and a friend of mine who was a high school state wrestling champion and national powerlifting champion who wishes to remain anonymous so I will call him “Power”.

The majority of the article will focus on the weight-cutting side of things as opposed to weight classes, but I feel at least a cursory look at the weight class structure of MMA is a good set up to the second half. Additionally, given that my experience in following and reporting on MMA is almost entirely based on promotions in the United States, it is weight classes in U.S.-based organizations that I will discuss.

The UFC, the sport’s premier promotion, offers fighters the choice of fighting in one or more of five weight classes:

Lightweight - over 145 lbs. to 155 lbs.
Welterweight - over 155 lbs. to 170 lbs.
Middleweight - over 170 lbs. to 185 lbs.
Light Heavyweight - over 185 lbs. to 205 lbs.
Heavyweight - over 205 lbs. to 265 lbs.

However, as many people who follow the sport beyond the UFC know, other promotions (including the WEC, owned by the same parent company as the UFC) utilize more weight classes, some on the lower and some on the higher end of the spectrum.

These classes include:

Flyweight – Upper limit of 125 lbs.
Bantamweight – over 125 lbs. to 135 lbs.
Featherweight – over 135 lbs. to 145 lbs.
Super Heavyweight – Anything over 265 lbs.

The weight classes are not generally determined by the promotion but instead by the Athletic Commission of the state in which the promotion is hosting the show. However, the UFC does not stray beyond its five-class set-up except in cases of a catch-weight, which is most often used when a fighter fails to weigh in at the appropriate weight. However, the UFC will host a catch-weight fight as the main event of UFC 99 on June 13th in Cologne, Germany when Rich Franklin and Wanderlei Silva meet at a catch-weight of 195 lbs.

Many pundits have argued for the inclusion of more weight classes, not just of the ones not commonly featured in the UFC, but for a new structure of weight classes altogether, most readily comparable to the scheme used in professional boxing. In fact, a proposed resolution from the Association of Boxing Commissioners would allow a total of fourteen weight classes in MMA starting as low as 105 lbs and rising in ten pound increments until it increased to twenty and then forty between the last three classes. You can find the proposed chart on the MMA Weight Class wikipedia page (linked above).

There are numerous arguments for or against the inclusion of additional classes or for overhauling the system altogether. Ultimately, I think all of these arguments should fail, an idea further evidenced by the fact that the UFC and a number of state athletic Commissions such as Ohio and New Jersey have rejected the 14-weight class scheme.

For one, more weight classes tend to water down the divisions. Now instead of having X number of fighters in an extremely stacked Lightweight division, you’re going to have X number of fighters spread across three or possibly four different divisions that are all around lightweight. Further, more weight classes would allow for fighters to try and jump around the different classes more so that they could gain the most advantage on their opponents. Fellow FightTicker.com blogger Mike Menninger and myself were recently discussing the idea of adding more weight classes and we both agreed that regardless of how many classes there are, the vast majority of the fighters are still going to try and get their weight down to the lowest they possibly can so that they can fight in a division where they might have more strength or weight than a given opponent once they put the weight back on after the cutting process. In fact, while one of the stated reasons for a larger number of weight classes is actually safety, the addition of more weight could put a larger number of fighters at risk for weight cutting related health issues.

Think about it. For a fighter who normally cuts to 170, under the 14-class system, there is no 170 lb class, it’s either 165 lbs or 175 lbs. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that a lot of guys would probably give 165 a try to see if their bodies could handle it. Just like Mike and I said, the majority of the fighters will do whatever they can to get to the lowest weight at which they could compete.

Consider a guy like Rich Franklin, who seems to have his weight cutting down to an exact science. Instead of stopping at 185 lbs he could just alter his diet a little bit more and make the drop down to 175 lbs. Then you have a guy in the 175 class who would enter the fight probably over 200 lbs. Facing a guy who may have dropped to 175 from 190, Franklin would already have a ten-pound advantage over the guy as well as likely having a generally larger frame than most guys who would fight in that class.

Beyond the issues of fighter safety, the addition of so many new classes would be a logistical nightmare. As I stated before, guys could jump back and forth to classes more easily than under the current system. Additionally, can you imagine having fourteen different champions in the UFC? Granted, the UFC does not utilize all of the weight classes available, but still – thinking about both the UFC and WEC (both owned by Zuffa), between the two organizations, there could be thirteen champs. I say thirteen because I don’t think Dana would ever let in a Super Heavyweight class. The Heavyweight division is already the shallowest division in the organization and adding an additional division for even bigger guys would only make the talent that much harder to find.

The UFC should continue to utilize the five class structure. In addition to fighter safety and logistical concerns, weight cutting is a part of the sport a fighter can train for and prepare for, and the fighters who have cultivated this skill better than others should not be penalized for it.

At the close of a recent article, FightTicker.com blogger Mark Figula recently asked the question, “Does anyone see a reason same day weigh-ins shouldn’t happen?” Figula’s article spawned an interesting discussion between a number of different FightTicker readers. Figula raised some interesting points, but since I view effective and efficient weight cutting as a fighting tool all on its own, making a fighter do same day weigh-ins would be akin, in my mind, to telling a guy like Dustin Hazelett that he is only allowed to do flying armbars, none on the ground. It would not completely hamper Hazelett’s ability to use an armbar as an effective fighting tool, but it would seriously restrict when he could use it, just as same day weigh-ins would restrict how serious fighters could effectively use one of the tools in their arsenals. It wouldn’t completely take it away, but just lessen its effectiveness.

Another suggested change would be having fighters fight at a monitored walking around weight. In this scenario, fighters would be randomly weighed throughout the year and a mathematical formula would be utilized to determine their fighting weight, something like an average of their weights catalogued throughout the year. Again, I think this would unduly burden the commissions and also the athletes. Any state that adopted this method would be required to monitor all of the athletes on their rosters more than they already do. With some states having already initiated year-round drug-testing (a measure I think is much more important), these commissions would have to provide further employees to travel around to various camps and weigh these athletes. What if an athlete fights primarily in Las Vegas but lives elsewhere, as is often the case? If the athlete had to travel to Las Vegas to for one of these additional weigh-ins, who is going to pay for that expense? I’m guessing it’s not going to be the commission. Then the fighters have even more expenses.

The times would have to be random or guys could just cut weight before these off season weigh-ins. However, with out of state athletes, if they’re given time to travel, then hypothetically they could try to quickly cut weight before the weigh-in. This could put fighters at risk because many would likely try a quick cut to have their average weight be lower.

Also, new rules would have to be made to take into consideration athletes who might be injured and cannot train so they may have put on more weight than their normal walking weight. It’s also likely that rules would not be made for fighters who just tend to walk around at a heavier weight. Take a guy like Wanderlei Silva or even Joe Stevenson – both are rumored to walk around much heavier than their fighting weights. I don’t want to penalize a guy (or girl) for walking around at a higher weight during their “off season”. Mandating more regulations like this would only put a bigger burden on the fighters. In spite of the fact that MMA is, at its core, a sport where technique can be used to overpower a heavier opponent, weight can clearly make a difference in MMA.

Everyone who is reading this can probably think of a time when two fighters both made weight in the same class but then stepped in the cage and the two looked nothing alike in relation to size. Just think of Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar. Granted, the Heavyweight class has more leeway, but still – the site of the two of them facing off at the weigh in showed two fighters of drastically different sizes and when they stepped into the Octagon the difference was even more pronounced, as it was heavily rumored that Lesnar was cutting from somewhere in the area of 280-300 lbs to make weight at 265.

However, some states have other safeguards in place. Take Ohio, for example. When I arrived at the weigh-ins for the recent ICF: Breakout event, I was told that the pro fighters were going to have to weigh in again the next day prior to the event, and that they could not have gained more than thirteen pounds from the first weigh-in or they would be penalized. However, this is thirteen pounds from their actual first-day weigh-in number, not just thirteen above the class. Take Chad Hinton who won his fight that night with the FightTicker.com KO of the Night over former UFC fighter Jeff Cox – had Hinton weighed in at 154 lbs the first day, he would have been penalized if he had weighed in at more than 167 lbs the second day. (For the record, Hinton made weight both days without a problem.)

Totally unaware of this procedure until I arrived at the weigh-ins the night before the event, I spoke to the rep from the Ohio State Athletic Commission who was there the day of the event and he said that rule had been in place for a while, and that all pro MMA fighters were subject to it across all promotions – so yes, all of the fighters who have fought in the UFC events in Columbus and Cincinnati also had to deal with that rule and weigh in both the day before the fight and the day off.

The rep from Commission also showed me these Ohio Administrative Regulations:

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3773-7-03 Weigh In Procedures

(E) When a weigh-in is conducted the day prior to the event, with the exception of the super-heavyweight class, all other contestants must weigh-in at a second weigh-in the next day scheduled by the commission within eight hours of the starting time of the event. The contestant may not be more than thirteen pounds heavier than their recorded weight from the day prior.

(F) No contestant may lose more than three pounds in less than a two-hour period. This rule applies to a second-day weigh-in also. This does not apply to light heavyweight class and above.

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Whatever your thoughts on the addition of weight classes or same day weigh-ins, I encourage you to check out Figula’s brief article and the discussion it spawned – lot of great comments from FightTicker.com members.

Weight classes would not be discussed as much as they are were it not for all the news that pops up because of weight cutting. Most recently, Cris “Cyborg” Santos failed to make weight against Hitomi Akano – failed, and failed miserably. Claiming it was due to “female problems”, Santos forfeited part of her purse and the two met at a catchweight with Santos emerging the victor by TKO in the third round. Additionally, we have all seen the stories about fighters failing to make weight, some much more notorious than others – Thiago Alves, Nick Diaz, Paulo Filho, Gina Carano, and Joe Riggs to name a few. Additionally, some who do make weight are criticized after the fact when it is realized that they tested positive for a diuretic (banned substance that aids in water loss) – again, Thiago Alves, and Donald Cerrone, to name a couple. In Cerrone’s appearance on the popular TapouT reality show he claimed that he had used it to help deal with a staph infection, and both Cerrone and Alves have gone on to enjoy successful careers, but especially in the case of Alves, people question his ability to make weight. Missing weight before his fight with Matt Hughes didn’t help his cause in spite of the fact he claimed an ankle injury had seriously cut back on his ability to do cardio before the fight.

However, it was none of these things that really made me want to write this – it was the report that Rory Markham suffered a collapsed lung due to the weight cut before his fight with Dan Hardy at UFC 95. I had heard of a number of different ill effects from weight cutting but never anything that severe.

What does weight cutting involve? Different fighters swear by their methods – everything ranging from lots of cardio to the use of sauna suits to serious reduction in calories in the days leading up to a fight even to excessive spitting.

In doing some generic google searches on "weight cutting" and after trolling some various forums, I came across a number of articles. As a disclaimer, I do not endorse or recommend any of these methods - I am just putting these few out there for informational purposes. Check out the articles here, here, and here.

For some other commentary on the issue, you can find posts here, here, and here.

(Clearly there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other articles and posts out there on the subjects, but I thought these few were representative of the whole.)

Pro fighter Chad Hinton uses methods like specific diet adjustments to achieve his fighting weight of 155 lbs. Normally walking around between 180-185 lbs, Hinton does things like cut out all sodium and sugar, boosting his water intake and restructuring his protein to carb ratio. Hinton also ups his cardio training, in his words, “120% training until I can’t get off the floor.” He stated he’s generally already at his fighting weight on weigh-in day that he’ll just eat and drink very little until time to weigh in.

Hinton leads Team Xtreme, out of Cincy MMA and Fitness, and notes that the guys on his team who have wrestled before have a general idea on weight cutting, but even the guys with no experience are eager to follow the plans to drop weight. In speaking of ill effects suffered from a weight cut, Hinton lists minor problems like nose bleeds and getting a cold or the flu, but also mentioned that he usually boosts his Vitamin C intake in the last four weeks before the fight to avoid getting stick. Hinton also mentioned that it’s definitely possible that some of his in-fight injuries came from a result of the weight cutting as well.

Hinton further noted that most of the weigh-ins he has participated in are somewhere between 24-27 hours before the fight. However, Hinton has also participated in same-day weigh ins and mentioned that it is hard to cut weight and be at 100% by fight time. He specifically mentioned one fight where he weighed in at 11:00 am and fought at noon.

When I inquired about Hinton’s views on weight cutting in general and the idea of walking around weight, Hinton stated that he thought it should be at a fighter’s discretion. He further stated, “In the end they [the fighters] are ultimately responsible for their failure or success. Most of the fighters are adults. If they’re getting pummeled while walking around and competing at 170 lbs at 13% body fat, they should consider doing the work and dropping to 155 lbs at 8% body fat.”

Speaking of the weight classes offered in the various promotions, Hinton opined that he’d like to see the UFC add bantamweights, featherweights and super heavyweights, in spite of the fact the WEC already showcases bantamweights and featherweights. He was not in favor of the 14-weight class structure but also feels that the sport is still in its infancy so things should naturally evolve as opposed to being rushed.

Hinton’s comment about wrestlers on his team already being used to the weight cutting reminded me that one of my best friends – let’s call him Power (trust me, if you knew his powerlifting record, you would call him that, too) – was a high school wrestling champion and national powerlifting champion. I vaguely remembered a few stories he had told me about weight cuts, so I contacted him to get some more details.

Power cut weight for both wrestling and powerlifting. He wrestled at 152 lbs and cut from 172-174 lbs. For powerlifting, he cut to 148.75 lbs from 165-168 lbs.

When asked about his weight cutting methods, Power mentioned that he would run if he was still over near the weigh-ins but that he mostly used the dehydration method, stopping drinking water a day or so before the weigh-in, chew cinnamon gum and spit in a bottle. During wrestling season, he would also practice in multiple layers of clothing. He did acknowledge that his weight cutting methods were generally more extreme than his teammates. To that end, Power acknowledged that he had suffered ill effects due to his weight cutting methods, but not often during the meets themselves. He specifically stated that he would not recommend his methods and mentioned some long-term ill effects he has suffered, specifically that his circulation and digestion “aren’t what they could be”, and that people who weight cut this way are setting themselves up for future renal problems.

After the weigh-ins, Power would first re-hydrate, drinking large amounts of Pedialyte, Gatorade and/or Powerade. When discussing this he made sure to mention that “after a day or so without drinking, you’d be surprised how wonderful it feels”. After re-hydrating, he would generally indulge in junk food: Chex Mix, canned cheese spread, bologna sandwiches, Milk Duds, etc. About this odd mix, he stated, “People who had an ounce of common sense ate more healthily.”

With the wrestling and powerlifting meets he participated in, he noted that there was generally an hour between the weigh-ins and the start time. He also noted that if you didn’t make weight the first time your group was called, you would have to spend more time cutting and got sent to the back of the queue, so those competitors would then have less time to recover. Power estimated that 90-95% of his wrestling teammates cut weight – more than in powerlifting, and also that the wrestlers were generally cutting more weight.

When I asked Power about his general views on weightlifting he had this to say:

“I absolutely support weight cutting as an essential part of any sport that involves weight classes. It is simply another aspect of sacrifice/competition, and it really demonstrates how much you want to be successful; how much you are willing to sacrifice. In addition to this, I actually – believe it or not – miss cutting weight. I get downright nostalgic about it, and I feel that it is an essential part of any sport with a weight class. I absolutely oppose efforts to eliminate weight cutting as I feel they reward people who simply don’t want to put forth that extra bit of effort; they encourage laziness. At the same time, certain efforts to limit weight cutting may be beneficial – I definitely support more education about healthy weight cutting. I think that efforts to eliminate weight cutting are examples of the disintegration of our collective social respect for sacrifice and arête. Sometimes excellence involves redemptive suffering.”

I agree. While I may not encourage people to practice Power’s methods of weight cutting and re-hydration, I think he has a point about sacrifice. The majority of fighters, those who truly take the sport seriously, sacrifice a great deal to get where they are at and that sacrifice should not be lessened by a competitor who did not take things as seriously as they.

Due to that, while I am not in favor of same-day weigh-ins or the idea of fighters competing at their walking weight, I am absolutely in favor of higher penalties for fighters who miss weight. Awarding a larger percentage of their total purse to their opponents and perhaps even license suspension if they miss weight so many times within a specified time frame would both be acceptable penalties. As it stands, the forfeiting of a certain percentage of a fighter’s purse is a decent sanction, but I think it lacks the deterrent factor necessary to make fighters really not want to miss weight. A regulation that would prevent the fighter from fighting at all if they were a certain number of pounds over the allowed weight sounds nice in principle, as it would have a huge deterrent factor, but this would also penalize the fighter who did make weight as they would not have a chance to compete in the fight they had been training for and likely missed out on a chance to compete for more money in the form of a win bonus or even one of the famous “Of the Night” bonuses.

However, in spite of any deterrent factor, money issue, or various weight class structures, the paramount issue is clearly fighter safety and in addition to the fact I have never had to cut weight, I also do not have a medical degree or any medical training besides general first aid and CPR. Clearly not expert in the medical field, I sought one out. FightTicker.com contributor, medical expert and MMA enthusiast Dr. Johnny Benjamin readily agreed to answer a few questions I had.

FightTicker: First, what are your views on weight cutting? Do you view it as an acceptable (or necessary evil) part of sports like MMA, or do you think competitors should be monitored throughout the year so they must compete at something more like their walking-around weight?

Dr. Johnny Benjamin: Weight cutting continues to be a reality in MMA. For obvious reasons, if on fight night one is significantly larger than their opponent they have manipulated the rules to create an advantage.

FT: One of the most popular methods of weight-cutting involves massive dehydration, through excessive cardio workouts, the use of a sauna or sauna suit and various other means – what are some of the dangers associated with these processes?

Dr. Benjamin: Massive and rapid dehydration places a significant burden on the kidneys. There have been numerous cases of athletes going into kidney failure from this very practice.

FT: What are some potential problems that could arise from improper RE-hydration?

Dr. Benjamin: Rapidly dehydrating then rehydrating the body is a potential recipe for disaster, especially in kids. Serious kidney injury and electrolyte imbalances leading to cardiac arrythmias (serious abnormal heart beats) have lead to sudden deaths in otherwise fit young athletes.

FT: Based on your extensive medical knowledge, is there one method of weight-cutting that you feel is safer than others?

Dr. Benjamin: Every fighter says “I done this millions of times” and “I know my body” just before they pass out praying that someone finds them and calls 911. Rapid weight cutting is dangerous period…just because you’ve done it before and gotten away with it does not guarantee that you will be so luck next time.

FT: A number of MMA critics have opined that there should be more weight classes in MMA, lessening the divide between the different classes (like in boxing). First, what are your thoughts on this in general? Second, what kind of difference (if any) do you think this will make?

Dr. Benjamin: MMA doesn’t need more weight classes. It just needs to adequately monitor the ones that exist. If fighters were required to step on an official scale 30 and 15 days prior to fight date and be no more than 5% and 2% respectively overweight, then you would have adequate enforcement that protected the safety of the athletes and integrity of the system.

FT: After his loss to Dan Hardy at UFC 95 in London, Rory Markham claimed that he had suffered a collapsed lung prior to the fight – a condition his camp blamed, at least in part, to a very hard weight cut. Is suffering a collapsed lung from cutting weight possible? Is it probable?

Dr. Benjamin: Without proper hydration the body loses tissue pressure called turgor and extreme potentially life-threatening organ system failures can occur.

Weight cutting is similar to riding a motorcycle. Ask anyone who’s been riding for years and they can give you a story about a crash or a near miss that they will never forget. Ask any elite level wrestler and if they are honest they have had a similar experience with weight cutting.

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So there you have it – Installment 2 in the books. Since we have a number of fighters and active competitors on the site, I would love to hear from you guys on your thoughts - what methods do you use to cut weight? Have you ever suffered any ill effects?

Until then - Thanks for coming along for the ride – again.

-PreView

(Originally posted on FightTicker.com)


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FightTicker: A PreView of Things to Come Installment # 1: Sponsorships

For a while, I have been meaning to start a recurring series on FightTicker, mainly to up the amount of original content I have on there. Well, I finally got off my butt and published the first entry in my new series, "A PreView of Things to Come." Thanks to Puddin' for designing the logo for the series.

Check after the jump for the full article, or you can find the original post on FightTicker here.


For some time now, I have wanted to start a recurring series focusing on current events in MMA. Various things have gotten in the way of that – mostly my own laziness and penchant for procrastination. However, I found a post yesterday that got me looking for other posts on the same subject, those led to more, and so on and so on.

However, don’t let the title fool you – this series will not be only about looking forward to the future of certain developments in MMA, but will focus on looking toward the future given the current state of things (I know, an entirely original concept :) )

As you noticed from the title, the first post in this recurring series will focus on sponsorships in MMA. Fair warning, there are a large number of links in the article.

The sponsorship aspect of MMA has intrigued me for a while. To that end, I have interviewed some people in the MMA clothing industry, to get their thoughts on sponsorships, among other things. These people include Luke Burrett of Silver Star, Tony Palazzo of ToeZup and Rick Brewer from House of Pain. All three had some great things to say about sponsoring MMA fighters; you should check out the interviews if you haven't already.

I am also intrigued by the number of articles that come out about the topic - admittedly, the number of these articles has risen as MMA gains more mainstream acceptance. Even here on FightTicker.com I have posted a few articles about the topic, particularly in instances where brands like Cage Fighter are banned from the Octagon. Cage Fighter has since made a return, as of UFC 92/

Full Tilt Poker

The UFC (mainly Dana White) is famous for its "our way or no way" style of dealing with fighters when it comes to issues like sponsors. Besides the UFC prohibiting its fighters from wearing Affliction apparel, one of the most famous examples of this was when the UFC banned Matt Lindland for wearing an unapproved shirt to the weigh-ins. The shirt that Lindland wore was for an online gambling company, and as the UFC's Sponsor Agreement states,

ABSOLUTELY NO pornography, tobacco, profanity, gambling/gaming, hard liquor, or other MMA orgs allowed as sponsors. Affliction and Extreme Couture products will not be permitted either.

Given this statement, and Lindland's obvious ban, how is it that Full Tilt poker - a gambling/gaming site - has become so prevalent in the Octagon?

The answer lies in the small print, and MMAPayout.com provides this excellent explanation:

Full Tilt Poker has been able to skirt a federal ban on online gaming by the duality of their usage of the .net/.com brands. The .net brand is used for educational/entertainment purposes and is the brand that is advertised through all of the company’s media. The .com is the money site that would raise the ire of regulators, with the .com accessible through using the software from the .net.

As MMAPayout.com states, there is a federal ban on online gambling, and the law surrounding their manipulation of .com versus .net has caused some entities to be skeptical of advertising for them, in spite of the money. Most recently, Spike TV has indicated they will not be allowing Full Tilt Poker as a sponsor on their broadcasts. The word actually came down on Friday, with speculation that Full Tilt might not even be seen on Saturday night's UFC 95 broadcast. However, I saw, as many of you did, that Full Tilt clothing placements were in full effect. Whether this is indicative of Spike's bowing down to a bigger paycheck or a last-minute decision that wasn't enacted, I don't know, but MMAPayout.com had this to say about the situation.

This gray area may [the .com versus .net] be a bit too murky for Spike to sign off on. The Fight Night and Euro Cards on Spike represent a more direct connection from Spike to Full Tilt (as opposed to PPV cards), making them unwilling to sign off on the UFC’s deal.

The same sources did indicate, however that Spike would not black out Full Tilt advertisements when they replayed UFC PPV events, since the events were not originally broadcast on Spike.

The UFC allowing Full Tilt is clearly indicative of its efforts to attract more people to the sport. The UFC, of course, has its own corporate sponsorship deals, with Bud Light, Harley Davidson, and now supplement company, BSN. Curious about how much money the UFC is going to make off that last one? A reported 10 million dollars over three years.

Advertising Banner Restrictions

Most fans are aware of the fact that the UFC is notoriously tight-lipped when it comes to how much money it, as an organization, is making. Pay-Per-View revenue numbers combined with the fighters' reported salaries suggest the UFC is grossly underpaying its fighters. However, that is an issue for another installment. Why that fact is pertinent to this article is that the UFC's closed-door policy combined with their obsessive need for control shows why the UFC has done such things as standardizing advertising banners.

From MMAPayout.com:

By standardizing the format and size of the banners, our goal is to create a more professional appearance and improve their overall effectiveness on behalf of your sponsors. It will simply look better and that’s good for everyone involved in the event.

As has been the practice in the past, however, you may only display one (1) banner during the introductions only. After the introductions have concluded, the banner may not be displayed inside or outside of the Octagon® at any time.

- Total size of banner is 6' (6 feet) wide by 4' (4 feet) tall.

- All artwork (including venue logos) must be placed 6" below the top of the banner, center aligned.

- The venue logo shall be at least 44" wide by 4.5" tall. The font used is Arial Black. The background for the venue logo shall be black and the letters in white.

- UFC logos are to be placed 3" from the left and right edges of the banner, aligned with the bottom of the venue logo. The UFC logos should be separated by 2" gap on each side of the venue logo. The UFC logos shall be at least 5” by 1.5” and also be in white.

- Camps have a 66"x32" workspace located 2.5" below the venue and UFC logos, 3" from the left and right sides, and 3? from the bottom of the banner to display their approved sponsors in.

I have noticed, as I am sure many of you have, the recent prevalence of the venue name and the UFC logo on all of the fighters' banners. Even though it only takes up a small row at the top, many fighters would likely say that such space could be used to throw in an extra sponsor and make some additional money. With the UFC taking control of part of the ad banners, what's next? 360 deals.

360 Deals

Also from MMAPayout.com:

The 360 concept would encompass the UFC getting a portion of all monies received by the fighter in his out of Octagon income in exchange for the UFC putting their promotional muscle behind the fighter. The UFC would play a large role in cultivating sponsor opportunities for fighters, etc. and would receive a large portion of said dollars under the scenario.

The mechanics of this are already being put in place it seems. Sources indicate to MMAPayout.com that Zuffa are directing their sponsors to specific fighters, though they have not asked for a cut yet. At the same time, sponsors are being okayed for some but denied to others, including recent sponsors like Cage Fighter and Full Tilt Poker (which you can read more about here.) Full Tilt was getting approved for fighters on the UFC 91 and Fight for the Troops card while similar deals with comparable sites were submitted and rejected for others, (though this policy was opened up for UFC 92.) One of the regular arguments for the UFC’s lower than boxing payscale is the ability to attract significant sponsor dollars, but these items are all at the UFC’s discretion and aren’t always adjudicated on an equitable basis, accepted for some but rejected for others.

Industry sources also indicate that the UFC has received stakes in both Tapout and MMA Authentics in exchange for sponsorships deals/ access to advertising in the Octagon. Such a strategy of having major holdings in primary sponsors of the UFC isn’t a new strategy. Zuffa has held/does hold significant stakes in UFC sponsor Xyience through the Zyen and Bevanda Magica subsidiaries. The UFC is quietly assembling a backlog of Zuffa-backed product to fill the pipeline to any possible fighters they sign to 360 deals. Such a scenario would be a vertical integration of the sponsorship field by the UFC, with the fight company being the conduit through which any flow of dollars would go.

If fighters start to accept these 360 deals, not only will the fighter/agent relationship suffer, but the fighters will continue to lose more and more autonomy and the UFC will get even more control over their fighters. Many of you remember the recent fight that broke out between the UFC and Jon Fitch and other members of the American Kickboxing Academy over refusals to sign over lifetime likeness rights for the upcoming UFC video game. Both sides did make some concessions, but again, the UFC wanted full control.

The question inevitably arises - so what? Supporters of a 360 deal might say that fighters would get more exposure that way and perhaps make more money. That sounds good in theory, but what about in practice? Left to their own devices, fighters and agents could work out some particularly lucrative deals for fighters that might help a guy like this weekend's KO of the night winner, Paulo Thiago, a relative unknown, make some good sponsorship money going into the event. However, with 360 deals, the feasible plan that the UFC would use would undoubtedly include various tiers, with fighters on the higher tiers making more money and getting more exposure.

In that situation, a guy like Paulo Thiago might not make too much money coming into his first fight in the UFC because he would be getting paid a flat rate under the 360 deal. However, because he was able to negotiate on his own with the help of an agent/manager, it's very likely that Paulo's KO of Josh Koscheck got him some extra money from his sponsors because of the extra post-win TV time he received.

Fighters as Brands

To make good money, it is important for a fighter to "brand" him or herself as an effective tool by which he can sell a company's product. Many of you could no doubt name certain fighters that always wear certain brands -- Rich Franklin and American Fighter, Anderson Silva and Sinister, Joe Stevenson and Warrior, Tito and Punishment Athletics. In some cases, fans can remember this because the fighter owns part of or the whole brand -- in other cases, fans are just so used to seeing fighters in that brand, it is something they automatically associate with the fighter.

Alternatively, fans can associate general brands with the UFC because of the prevalence and/or repetition of logo placement on the fighters' clothing. Condom Depot anyone? However, what drives these companies' bottom line is not recognition but sales. Many of you have seen Condom Depot but how many of you can say you have visited the website? I never did until just a few minutes ago, before I wrote this article. Take a wild guess at what they sell. They do have an interesting tagline, though: "Undisputed World Champions of Safe Sex", and they have apparently been in business since 1996. More importantly, for those of you who actually visited the website, how many of you actually bought something from them? I cannot say I have ever heard of someone ordering condoms online.

But again, so what? If someone gets paid for putting the logo on their clothing, who cares how many Logo Condoms that Condom Depot sells? (Yes, they have Logo Condoms.) Sales become important to the fighters because of some of the newer deals that MMA fighters are making. A typical sponsorship deal often involves the fighter making a set amount of money for wearing the clothing at an event, getting the logo on TV, giving the company a mention during a post-fight interview, things of that nature.

However, a new trend is emerging: royalties. When I spoke with Burrett, one of the things he stressed was giving his fighters royalties. He repeatedly stated that the fighters would make money off of every signature shirt the company sold. At that point, the company's bottom line becomes more important to the fighters. Maybe some sponsors do not want to do this because it would put more pressure on the fighters to make sure they rep the company. On the other hand, sponsors like Silver Star feel this business model will cause the fighter to become more active in the business because the more money the business makes, the more money the fighter makes.

Clothing companies are not the only ones making such a move. Today's press release from Round 5 stated the following:

As in the earlier Series, Carano will maintain creative control of her likeness, including the pose, facial design and shorts. She will have a major hand in creating the final design and will benefit from a royalty agreement that gives her a considerable portion of the proceeds from the sale of her unit.

Carano's deal with Round 5 is not a sponsorship, per se, but it helps her brand herself as a fighter, opening more doors to potential sponsors for her.

How Many is Too Many?

Carano's deal with Round 5 may open new doors for her, but as a fighter's popularity rises, so does the number of opportunities for sponsorship. Clearly, with the banner restrictions mentioned above, and the amount of space available on clothing, there is a limit as to how much space a fighter can utilize to make money. If you have the space, why not use it?

In an interview with XFC trainer and BJJ great Mike Yanez (who at the time of the interview was running Highlander MMA in Louisville), I asked Mike what he thought about the rise of sponsors in MMA. Here is what he had to say:

[It] helps - we need to get paid, so I hope it grows! Ill be a logo whore!

I had to laugh when I initially read that, but even then I was thinking that Yanez had the right idea. If the money is out there, why not get as much of it as you can? Perhaps the best recent example of a "logo whore" would be Dan Henderson in his most recent appearance against Rich Franklin at UFC 93. MMAPayout.com has a picture of the front and back of Dan's shirt that displays all ten of his sponsors. Ten. Think about that -- he has ten separate logos, in addition to his name and nickname, on the shirt.

On the flip side, you have guys like some mentioned above and Mark Coleman, who are paid to exclusively promote one company. In Coleman's case, his shirt showcased only the MMA Authentics brands (i.e. Cage Fighter). But even in Coleman's case, I'm sure the deal he structured was not to pay loyalty to a single brand, but to maximize his earnings. Some companies pay for these exclusive rights while others simply put stipulations on the other logos that can be worn with theirs.

In the same post comparing Henderson's and Coleman's shirt, MMAPayout.com offers an example of such stipulations, which can be found, for example, in a Tapout contract:

Except as set forth above, Fighter shall have the right to add up to four logos of the other companies to the clothing bearing the logo of Company, so long as the other company is not another clothing/gear manufacturer and so long as the other logos are not larger then the Tapout logo.

Companies such as Tapout can easily demand such stipulations because, as the preeminent brand in MMA, they can likely offer fighters better deals than they would find elsewhere.

What the Future Holds

I cannot predict the future. In spite of the fact that I am currently tied for first in the FightTicker.com Prediction Grand Prix, my ability to accurately predict things does not go beyond an occasional lucky guess in the main card fight results (although for UFC 95, I clearly screwed the pooch). If I could accurately predict things, I would definitely spend all my time playing the lottery and the stock market.

However, based on everything I have read in all the articles linked to in this piece, based on the few interviews I have done with industry insiders, and seeing that this past weekend's UFC 95 replay delivered more male viewers (18-34 and 18-49) than any other program in its time slot, I don't need a crystal ball to tell you that sponsor interest in MMA is going to continue to rise.

Now you're probably thinking, "Great, I just read all of that to hear this guy tell me something I already knew? Thanks, idiot."

But the statement is true (the rise part, not the idiot part) -- even on a regional level, more businesses are becoming interested in the impact that MMA is having on their customers. I was speaking with a fight team manager today who told me that he is working on a deal with a local chain of restaurants to pay for fight gear and sponsorship deals for some of his individual fighters. I will not mention the manager or the restaurant chain now since the deal is still being finalized.

But my speculation goes beyond the obvious. The UFC will continue to work towards 360 deals, but not many of them will come to fruition (if any) because such deals are bad for the sport and would ultimately lessen the credibility of the UFC. MMA agents like Ken Pavia would likely not encourage their fighters to sign such deals because of the control the agents and fighters would lose. The UFC would then have to find agents that would let their fighters sign such deals and then, given the UFC's history in other business matters, they would try to block out everyone who would not sign these deals. That would leave the UFC pulling fighters from only a few camps and the level of competition in the UFC would decrease.

Sure, there are probably many fighters out there now who would sign a 360 deal as quickly as they could grab the pen out of Dana's hand, but many of those fighters do not have adequate representation, and this scenario would only lead to more fighters getting taken advantage of by promotions that structured deals like this. There are always complaints about promotions floating around, and that is under the current promotional arrangements where fighters have more control. Would anyone care to bet that a 360 deal would ever leave a promotion in a bad spot? I doubt it. If a promotion has that much control over a fighter and it ever gets dissatisfied with the fighter, who is going to lose out, the promotion or the fighter? The fighter. Probably every time. Sure, a fighter could leave or sue, but look what happened to Randy Couture when he left the UFC -- the promotion froze him out until he came back. Randy only lasted as long as he did outside the organization because he had the money to fight the UFC. There are not very many other fighters who could put up a fight that long.

The UFC will ultimately abandon the concept of a true 360 deal. Even if it did get a few fighters to sign the deals, those who did not would eventually leave the organization and if there is one thing that Dana White does not like, it is helping his competitors thrive, and that is exactly what he would be doing by releasing a large number of fighters into the market.

Some of the regional or smaller promotions could implement something similar to a 360 deal with some success, mainly because the fighters would likely not have many sponsors, and an offer to get sponsors and promotion would appeal to a number of pro fighters. But this goes back to the importance of fighters establishing themselves as a brand. Doing this early in a career could also benefit a fighter in that it would allow a fighter to pick up sponsors and be promoted on a level they have not been exposed to at that point. They could then use that to form a relationship with those sponsors and when their deal expires take their sponsors with them to the next level.

Sponsorship is important to most fighters, but especially those on a regional level. Chad Hinton told me that what he made in his first sponsorship deal was more than in his first few pro fights put together. As MMA continues to grow on the regional and national levels, so will the sponsorships. Not every fighter will be able to quit their full time jobs and train full time, but many of them will likely be able to devote more time to their training, resulting in more fighters being ready to fight and more fighters will mean more events. More events means more MMA for fans to watch and more fans watching means more fans seeing the sponsors' logos and buying the sponsors' product, and then we cycle through all that again.

The true effectiveness of MMA sponsorships on commercialism as a whole will likely not be known for a while. Sure, Affliction sold enough shirts to nearly every Tom, Douche, and Harry out there to make them think they could run a promotion, but where will Affliction be one year from now? Five years? Ten?

If you are interested on the effect, and measuring the effect, of sponsorship dollars in sports in general, make sure to check out this article from SportsBusinessJournal.com.

Thanks for coming along for my inaugural post in the series. I'll try to make the next one shorter :)

-PreView

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