The news that Phil Davis has agreed to a multiyear deal with Bellator should not come as a surprise to anyone. But it is a further indication that the landscape of mixed martial arts has changed since the 2014 ousting of Bjorn Rebney and his replacement by longtime promoter Scott Coker.
Bellator vs. the Ultimate Fighting Championship is not a true competition. Not yet. There are a good many miles between where Bellator currently sits and where they need to go in order to be taken seriously as a major threat. The UFC is still a brand name for mixed martial arts, and that is a hefty thing to overcome for any company looking to make some noise in the space.
And the departure of Davis does not even begin to signal a death knell. The UFC had the option (as they do with every single one of their contracts) to match any offer Davis received from Bellator, and they elected not to exercise the option.
That should tell you all you need to know about the UFC’s thoughts on Davis. If they considered him an important player, he’d be back in the UFC fold no matter what Bellator offered him. One look at the 2014 situation with Gilbert Melendez will tell you that the UFC doesn’t mind paying handsomely to match outside offers, if only they consider the fighter worth matching.
They clearly did not believe Davis was worth whatever Coker and Viacom offered him.
But what the Davis signing does signal is a vision of the future. He is not the last fighter who will test free agency after allowing their UFC contracts to expire. Others will follow sooner than you think, and not all of them will be veteran names like Stephan Bonnar, Tito Ortiz or Rampage Jackson.
Some will be younger, relevant names and title contenders. Davis leaving to join Bellator was not a surprise, but there will be surprises in the future.
Former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson, who scored arguably the biggest win of his career by beating giant welterweight Brandon Thatch on short notice in February, has one fight remaining on his contract. According to sources close to the situation, Henderson will test free agency after the conclusion of that bout.
As Bleacher Report’s Duane Finley first reported on Tuesday, Henderson is currently targeted to face Michael Johnson at the The Ultimate Fighter finale in July.
I have no doubts that Bellator will make him a large offer, regardless of whether or not he wins his final UFC bout. And the size of the offer will dictate whether the UFC exercises their right to match. And the outcome of that scenario is going to to tell us a lot about how the UFC intends to operate against a Viacom juggernaut with endless supplies of cash at their disposal.
Is the UFC willing to upset their pay structure in order to keep someone like Henderson around? Or will they let him go if the Viacom offer is too exorbitant?
Another interesting aspect of all this is the current class-action lawsuit filed against the UFC by Jon Fitch and other plaintiffs. Is the UFC willing to let a few big stars here and there depart for the competition in order to prove they aren’t the monopsony the lawsuit claims them to be?
Or put another way, is it better to lose stars if it helps you avoid paying out what could potentially be hundreds of millions of dollars in a future judgment? Even if losing those stars means that you’re essentially helping create stronger competition?
For the UFC, competition is a good thing. They’ve either buried or bought out most of their serious competition since Zuffa purchased the company. In those times when they have no serious threat, they tend to become listless.
Dana White, for all his bluster, is at his absolute best when he has someone to fight against. A strong competitor brings out the best in him, and the product gets better as a result. That’s a good thing for fans of the sport, and it’s why competition should be encouraged.
Still, Bellator has a long way to go. Signing Davis does not make them an instant threat. Even signing Henderson would not make them an instant threat. But it would send a signal to the seemingly 5,650 fighters on the UFC’s roster that: hey, there are options out there. The UFC isn’t the only game in town.
They might not be the NFL, but there is good money to be made by going to the competition, so long as you’re willing to not fight for the world’s biggest MMA promotion.
And if the signing of Davis opens up those floodgates, we could end up looking back on this day as a far more important one than we currently realize.
Jeremy Botter covers mixed martial arts for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.
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