"War" was declared by Dana White on EA recently. It's a modern day clash of Titans. EA Sports, the largest sports game publisher, owns the majority of sporting licenses. Dana White is the president of Zuffa Entertainment who owns the UFC as the fastest growing promotion of mixed martial arts. These companies make the perfect match to release a MMA game. But that's not happening; they are at "war" and Dana White claims EA fired the first shots.
I asked Jordan Breen from Sherdog.com, writer and radio personality of The Jordan Breen Show,
"I wanted to know your thoughts about Dana White blacklisting fighters that sign with the EA MMA game. Dana White claims that EA "started the war" by not treating the license seriously. The quote being, "EA Sports told us, 'You're not a real sport. We wouldn't touch this thing. We want nothing to do with this,'" White said." Do you know if this was true or Dana White doing his revisionist history all over again?"
His response,
"I know EA wasn't super interested from jump street, but I'm sure Dana's version is a little more bombastic."
Dana White says sensation things; it's his way of doing business. It creates hype and attracts attention to the UFC. But there might be a faction of truth to Dana White's statement. It's not crazy to think EA was waiting to see if THQ's UFC Undisputed would be a success and use that as a gauge to decide whether to make their game. I doubt they were "disgusted" by MMA, but it is a business practice of people without a passion for mixed martial arts. Dana White is familiar with these practices and won't hesitate to shut them down. He's made a successful business doing that. EA Sports must use a different approach in order to make their game successful.
Previous Wars: Pride vs. UFC, Elite XC vs. UFC
Several years ago Pride Fighting Championship was the UFC's rival promotion. One of their largest draws was light heavyweight Wanderlei Silva. He was giving fighters the worst beatings of their life. Meanwhile back at the UFC, Chuck Liddell was accomplishing the same goals by knocking out all his opponents. The Internet was screaming for Wanderlei Silva vs. Chuck Liddell. This atmosphere created a "war" between the two promotions. Should the fight be in Pride FC or UFC? Whoever hosted the fight would receive the most profit and claim victory. The compromise was Dana White entered Chuck Liddell to fight Wanderlei Silva in a Pride tournament where it was expected Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva meet in the Finals. However, Liddell was beaten by Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in the 2nd round. Pride won this battle. How did the war end? The UFC bought out Pride FC and tried to erase them from MMA history. And then, one of the most anticipated fights in MMA history -Wanderlei Silva vs. Chuck Liddell-- happened in the UFC.
Gary Shaw is the embodiment of what Dana White calls, "A guy who doesn't give a f*** about MMA". He was a boxing promoter and advocate against MMA until he became president of Pro Elite. Their fight promotion was Elite XC, a promotion that came close to UFC popularity by reaching a deal with CBS. Earning a spot on primetime televisions was the legitimacy MMA was looking for. In the end, the UFC won. Elite XC went bankrupt and their main attraction, Kevin Ferguson a.k.a Kimbo Slice, is a contestant for season 10 of Zuffa Entertainment's reality TV show, The Ultimate Fighter.
Power of the Brand
Evidence of the UFC brand being more powerful than single fighters appeared in 2007. WWE star, Brock Lesnar, announced his career transition into MMA. Hoping his huge fan base would give K-1 Dynamite a large amount of buys, Lesnar's debut fight underperformed. However, when the former WWE star signed a deal with the UFC, his debut with the UFC performed much better.
"As big as UFC is now, this makes me wonder if this puts a bullet in EA's game." - Brad Shoemaker, Giant Bombcast 07-14-2009
The situation I described earlier is the best way to respond to this statement. Lesnar has a huge fan base, yet his debut fight in K-1 Dynamite was a failure. Unlike his K-1 debut, Brock lost his first UFC fight, yet because of the power of the UFC Brock Lesnar was still promotable. The UFC brand is that powerful.
The UFC is more recognizable than MMA right now, and that's a major hurdle for EA Sports. The only UFC fighter in the EA Sports game is Randy Couture. He is a recognizable fighter but looking at history fighters aren't enough to sell MMA products. The UFC brand has to be there. EA hasn't dealt with anyone like Dana White before, but White has dealt with what he believes EA is. He uses dirty business tactics and has a vice grip in controlling the media covering the UFC. It's despicable but it has made the UFC successful. On the other hand, EA Sports is the most dominant sports game publisher in the gaming industry and can market their game better than THQ's UFC Undisputed. It's going to be interesting to see how this "war" plays out.
