Because of the UFC’s position over the last decade as the dominant market leader in mixed martial arts, few elite fighters under UFC contract in that time have reached the point of true free agency.
During most of that stretch, there was no real rival organization that could flash a compelling offer, and so it was not worth the gamble. Indeed, it was safer and wiser to negotiate for a raise with the UFC and call it a day without interruption to your career.
But the times are changing.
With its signing of former UFC champion Benson Henderson earlier this month, Bellator proved it is a player for top talent. And with other big UFC names and blue-chip prospects fighting out their deals to hit free agency, there was the potential for a real momentum shift if Bellator could land some additional star power.
For now, it will go no further. Over the last few days, the UFC has flexed its market muscles, reaching deals that will return longtime heavyweight standout Alistair Overeem and rising star bantamweight Aljamain Sterling into the fold.
When the chips were down, the empire struck back.
That alone is good news for the UFC. Similarly great news for the organization? It’s name alone still carries weight with athletes that goes beyond simple dollars.
“You can’t really put a value on the UFC name,” Sterling said while announcing his decision on MMA Fighting’s The MMA Hour. “That alone has value in itself. You go out there and say, ‘I fight for the UFC,’ and people know exactly what that is. Ultimately, I think I made the right decision. I got some extra incentives in there. I’m happy with the decision I made.”
“The UFC is the prime fight promotion in the world,” Overeem added during his own interview on The MMA Hour. “I didn’t talk to anybody else, but I can tell you this: UFC is where the best fighters are at. I consider myself one of the best fighters. I belong in the UFC. That’s how simple it is.”
He may be understating the straightforwardness of the decision by a little. After all, if the move was so obvious, why go the free-agency route in the first place? The fact of the matter is that mixed martial artists now have options, and that is impacting the entire process of free agency, from deciding whether to try the open market to salary negotiations to incentive structure and beyond. Options should serve to increase salaries and marketability as well.
As fans and media track these stories, profiles will rise. For the athletes that have seen bits and pieces of their leverage stripped away, it is an almost completely positive development.
Look, for instance, at Sterling, who took control of his own career narrative with a series of interviews regarding free agency that thrust his name into the headlines and undoubtedly elevated his profile. In a sport where popularity affects paydays as much as success, such attention is invaluable.
In that way, the UFC wins, too. The winning bidder gets the residuals of the increased interest as much as the athletes do. Which means Bellator will have to regroup for the next free-agent front, possibly Matt Mitrione.
From the outside looking in, it would have been easy to spin the signings differently if Bellator had managed to make them. After all, Overeem is nearing 36 years old and is logically past his athletic prime. He also has a failed PED test in his past and had mixed results in his UFC run, at one point losing three of four bouts before rallying to win three in a row. And Sterling, while young (26) and undefeated (12-0), is part of a division that has never seen a transcendent market talent. All of those facts mean different things to people with different viewpoints.
There are fans and even media that are so influenced by the UFC machine that, had the fighters gone to Bellator, they would have made the argument that neither was worth the effort. But taken as a whole, adding Henderson, Sterling and Overeem would have amounted to a tidal wave of momentum for a promotion that often struggles to break out of its niche.
Particularly with an event—Bellator 149, starring Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie—that is expected to do a strong rating, imagine the impact it would have made if Bellator marched the trio up on stage as a symbol of a shifting power dynamic. That would be a message easily received by most.
Instead, the UFC co-opted the situation to remind us that it is still the vanguard and the place where nearly all of the best want to go (or stay) as a proving ground.
Don’t let the facts twist the subtext; Overeem may not have spoken to anyone else, but he was certainly wanted elsewhere. And while there were rumors Sterling drew limited interest, he confirmed to Bleacher Report on Monday that he received multiple offers, including from Bellator.
In every free-agency front, there is a winner and a loser. In this round, the UFC reminded us what we already knew: Bellator may be a real player, but the empire still reigns.
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