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What are Dana White's five best decisions?

Bored? Then I have a fun little game for you.

Sit down with a pen and paper and list of five accomplishments of Dana White's.

It's a lot harder and more fun than you would think. 

Jake Rossen of Sherdog lists his opinion on five key decisions made by Dana White. All of this is in continuation of ESPN's 'Dana White' Week, which features and E:60 piece and a Magazine profile. 

Jake's list is far more interesting than mine (I had the JAKKS toy deal, just kidding)

"TUF," Uncensored (2005)

At the time of its debut in 2005, "The Ultimate Fighter" was considered a lurid knockoff of NBC's glossy "Contender," which sported no less a personality than Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) himself and the promotional push of a major network.

As it turns out, it was White -- and producer Craig Piligian -- who had the combat/reality formula all figured out. "The Contender" pureed its boxing bouts with slick editing and absurd sound effects: in trying to manufacture drama, producers sucked it right out.

"TUF" went in the opposite direction. Realizing that fight fans want unfiltered action, White and company presented bouts in their entirety. "The Contender" was bounced from the network after one season; "Fighter" has become Spike's flagship series.     

My top-five and in order,

  1. The Ultimate Fighter - Yeah, they caught lighting in a bottle but sometimes just bringing the bottle is all takes to cause a phenomenon.
  2. Foreign Expansion - White has said this himself, the NFL didn't expand their sport and now they are losing hundreds of millions in an attempt to get foreigners interested. Hell they are even thinking of holding the Super Bowl in London. White and the UFC are smart customers when it comes to expanding the UFC in Anglo-markets something that could pay off big in the future.
  3. Lobbying - Once the UFC was bought by the Fertitta's they decided to follow the strategy of the previous ownership by seeking regulation under the 'Unified Rules' previously penned in New Jersey. Now it helped that two of the most influential Athletic Commission's approved the rules but the lobbying effort by the UFC was instrumental in the expansion especially when the boom occurred in 2004.
  4. Sponsorships- Harley Davidson and Bud Light, two big corporate sponsors an absolute necessity for a big time sport promotion. Thank god they replaced Mickey's and Xyience.
  5. Mergers - When the UFC found a product they liked they bought it. For instance WEC and Pride. While Pride turned out to be far more cloudy purchase than we all thought, the purchase of World Extreme Cagefighting has paid off.

Anything that you felt I missed?

 

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Maybe the TV deal they have with Spike – They can promote their PPVs and build the fan base by showing Unleashed, their specials, and the free Ultimate Fight Nights. They also use it as a big stick to beat down the competition by re-showing previous events on nights when other promotions have a PPV.

by scoozna on May 11, 2009 4:17 PM EDT reply actions  

good one

I think we could fold that into TUF. Really it is quite remarkable how much of the UFC/MMA landscape was shaped by the reality show

watchkalibrun.com

by Zak Woods on May 11, 2009 6:28 PM EDT up reply actions  

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