mma / Columns
The 411 MMA Year-End Awards: Part One – The Biggest Stories of 2016
Image Credit: UFC
Welcome back to the MMA Top 5, year-end awards edition! What we are going to is take a topic and all the writers here on 411 MMA will have the ability to give us their Top 5 on said topic, and the end, based on where all of these topics rank on people’s list, we will create an overall Top 5 list. It looks a little like this…
1st – 5
2nd – 4
3rd – 3
4th – 2
5th – 1
At the end we tally the scores and get our overall top 5! It’s highly non-official and final, like WAMMA. From best and worst fight to best fighter and KO of the year, the staff will come together to share out best. Thanks for joining us, and lets get down to work.
5. Ronda Rousey’s Absence/Conor McGregor’s Ascent
4. Jon Jones’ Anti-Doping Violation, Suspension
3. New Weigh-In Format (Morning vs. Evening)
2. Zuffa Sells UFC to WME-IMG for $4 BILLION
1. MMA is Legalized in New York, UFC Debuts at MSG – 2016 proved to be the year, after the incessant battle with the state legislature in Albany, that mixed martial arts was legalized in New York State. The UFC funneled millions of dollars over nearly ten years into the effort. In some type of black comedy, the most powerful force keeping the sport out of the state was State Assembly Speaker of the House Sheldon Silver. In 2015, he was arrested on corruption charges and his removal from office proved to remove the roadblock that allowed the Assembly to vote for legalization. Silver ended up being found guilty on seven felony counts and sentenced to 22 years in prison along with over $7 million in fines. UFC 205 brought the sport to Madison Square Garden for the first time and several records were set: 1-15,480 people attended the weigh-ins, $17.7 million live gate revenue and the 20,427 people set the record for a domestic live event. Conor McGregor ended that night by becoming the first UFC champion to hold two titles simultaneously, too! UFC held a Fight Night card in Albany last month, WSOF debuted in NYC on New Year’s Eve and Bellator is sure to follow suit in 2017. UFC is already set to return to the city in February for UFC 208 at Barclays Center and there is no sign they will slow.
5. Jon Jones’ suspension
4. Conor McGregor makes history and lots of money
3. Early morning weigh ins
2. MMA is legal in New York, finally
1. WME-IMG buys the UFC from Zuffa – One of my criteria for this award is what I believe will be the biggest story going forward. The early morning weigh ins will require an adjustment but most will make it, New York might have legalized MMA but running events in that state is borderline cost prohibitive as a promoter must provide a 1 million dollar insurance policy for each fighter on their card and while it might be an annual stop for the UFC it’s unlikely to get more than four events per year. On the other hand the new ownership is going to have a big impact going forward, mostly on the financial side. WME-IMG was warned on two separate occasions by federal regulators about the structure of the loan they took out to buy the UFC, I think it’s technical defined as sub-prime at the moment. The buyout was done based on continued projections from the last half of 2015 and into 2016, a definite boom period, that might not be the case for next year. Under the current set up the UFC must make $137 million just to pay off the interest on their loan, that’s after taxes, after all of their expenses, and that only covers the interest not the principle. That’s going to be a big deal going forward, and that makes it the biggest story of the year from where I sit.
5. Brock Lesnar’s Return
4. Jon Jones’ Failed Drug Test for UFC 200
3. MMA and UFC in New York
2. Conor McGregor Becomes First UFC Two Division Champion at Same Time
1. WME-IMG buys the UFC from Zuffa – I think this was definitely the biggest. For one, it’s the first time we had a real public valuation number put behind the UFC, to the tune of $4.2 billion. Some people said the boom period and growth for MMA was over, yet it still continues to happen. Now, maybe MMA is never going to be bigger than NFL or the World Cup, but the UFC was enjoying one of its biggest years ever. Also, now fighters are starting to become more vocal about their pay and benefits they don’t have or believe they should get. Well, now they actually have some idea of what the biggest organization in the sport is worth. No matter what, this is a major footnote in the history of the sport.
5. MMA Legalized in New York
4. USADA Ruins Jon Jones’ Special Night Before UFC 200
3. Fighter Organization Efforts Ramp Up
2. Conor McGregor’s Record Shattering Ascent
1. WME-IMG Buys UFC – WME-IMG acquiring the largest organization in the industry for what was briefly the largest sum ever paid for a sports franchise lead to some immediate changes and its impact will be felt for years. The transaction has already caused some unrest among the fighters, who see a glaring disparity between the sum paid for the promotion and the purses paid to fighters (of course, part of the reason the promotion sold for $4 billion is because fighters are paid a relatively small percentage of total revenue compared to other major sports). However, due to how heavily the sale was leveraged, UFC is more likely to tighten its belt than to loosen it. Going forward, it appears WME-IMG is slowing down the aggressive international expansion that Lorenzo Fertitta spearheaded, and there are indications in the next couple of years that there will be an increased focus on television as opposed to pay-per-view, and reports that UFC is open to giving up control of production on its televised shows with its next TV deal. It’s a whole new world.
5. Weigh-ins in the morning
4. Jon Jones fails pre-fight drug test
3. Conor McGregor falls then becomes a two-division champion
2. MMA legalized in New York, the UFC finally in the Garden
1. WME-IMG buys the UFC for $4.2 billion – By far, this is the biggest news of 2016. First off, we finally found out what the UFC is worth at a time when most figured the boom was over—$4.2 billion—and at a time when a fire has been lit under fighters to start asking for better pay and better benefits. Then, with new men and women at the helm, there are the questions about what this sale means for the future of the UFC and MMA itself. As an example, can the UFC bring in the revenue year after year to pay for this massive loan WME-IMG negotiated to make the purchase, and if not, then what? What will become of television deals? Will the new owners damage the legitimacy of if the UFC? This is obliviously a significant moment in MMA history and a transitional period to what is perhaps to be a new era.
5. Lesnar returns, wins fight, fails drug tests
4. Jon Jones’ Anti-Doping Violation, Suspension
3. It’s Conor McGregor’s World & We’re Just Living In It
2. MMA legalized in New York, UFC runs in MSG
1. WME-IMG buys the UFC for $4.2 billion – While MMA failing to be legalized was usually one of the biggest stories of the year, the actual legalization got bumped from the top spot for approximately 4 BILLION reasons. The legalization of MMA in New York is huge; it will cause a positive financial impact in the state and allowed for the UFC to run in the famed Madison Square garden, in what ended up being a huge event. It took the sale of the UFC for over $4 Billion dollars to find a bigger story with an industry wide impact. There have been massive staff changes, Mike Goldberg is gone, the Fertitta Brothers are cashed out, WME-IMG is into making as many big money fights as they can because of the loan payments, Dana is still around, largely being Dana but fighter loyalty feels as if it is at an all time low. Many fighters, who would have fought on short notice in the past or “done a solid for the company” with no fear and the hope of reward are hesitant to do so, because it’s not the same UFC. This has also led to more fighters considering unionizing, complaining about pay and benefits all while WME-IMG has to gameplan to make thier massive loan payments. The deal was huge, the changes were huge, but what happens in the fallout of the sale will be even bigger; can they keep PPV buys up? Can they find new draws? Can they make the payments? Can they get a TV rights deal equal to or greater than the one thy have now?
5. New Weigh-In Format (Morning vs. Evening) – 7 points
4. Jon Jones’ Anti-Doping Violation, Suspension – 11 points
3. Conor McGregor’s Ascent – 17 points
2. MMA is Legalized in New York, UFC Debuts at MSG – 21 points
1. Zuffa Sells UFC to WME-IMG for $4 BILLION – 29 points
THE 2015 411 MMA AWARDS:
* The Biggest Stories of 2016: Zuffa Sells UFC to WME-IMG for $4 BILLION – 29 points
* The Most Disappointing Fighters of 2016: TO BE DETERMINED (January 17th)
* The Breakout Fighters of 2016: TO BE DETERMINED (January 18th)
* The Worst Fights of 2016: TO BE DETERMINED (January 19th)
* The Best Submissions of 2016: TO BE DETERMINED (January 23rd)
* The Best Knockouts of 2016: TO BE DETERMINED (January 24th)
* The Best Fights of 2016: TO BE DETERMINED (January 25th)
* Fighter of the Year: TO BE DETERMINED (January 26th)
