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By Cassandra Cousineau of LVSportsBiz.com
We may as well get this out of the way now: UFC is never going to operate like a traditional sports league.
UFC President Dana White claims the Las Vegas-based MMA promotion is worth in the neighborhood of $10 billion.
UFC did sell for north of $4 billion in 2016 and you don’t make that type of money as a niche sport by doing what everybody wants or expects you to do. Just a take a look around the festivities and events surrounding UFC 266 this week. During these tumultuous times, UFC is making strides that look, well, normal.
“We’re wide back open in certain states,” proclaimed White, the always brash-talking bossman during an official UFC press conference this week. “There’s other countries that we can’t go to, but at least now people can move around the United States. New York’s a big one. The fact that we’re getting into New York, and if we can get into there and pull this thing off without anything going wrong over there–we’re on our way.”
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With the exception of a few clusters of people wearing masks during indoor happenings, things look and feel like the king of all fighting leagues is getting things back on track.
UFC once again hosted International Fight Week in Las Vegas this week after postponing the event due to the 2020 COVID-19 shut down of sports. The virus has killed more than 680,000 Americans. Moved from its previous downtown home, the two-day interactive FanExperience was held at Park MGM and T-Mobile Arena’s plaza. Thousands of bloodthirsty MMA fanatics descended upon the Strip for meet and greets, autograph sessions, and selfies galore in the near 100-degree heat.
The UFC class of 2020 also got its due this week and was finally inducted Thursday night in Las Vegas. Highlighted by former longtime UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St Pierre, the ceremony at Park MGM allowed fighters interacting with media during the red carpet festivities. One of the honorees: former Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) Executive Director Marc Ratner, who handles UFC’s regulatory and government issues.
Ratner was recognized as part of the Hall’s contributor wing. When he was hired by UFC in 2006 after spending 14 years as the NSAC executive director, nearly half of the country’s states still had not legalized or even agreed to regulate mixed martial arts. Ratner led the effort to get the sport and UFC itself approved across the United States and in numerous international destinations.
Ratner told LVSportsBiz as the 76-year-old was wrapping up an exasperating trip down the red carpet, “I never expected this. All of it is still so surprising to me. Such an incredible honor.”
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Casting a familiar shadow over UFC, the Hall of Fame and International Fight Week was the arrest of one of the night’s inductees and former light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones.
Jones was arrested at 5:45 am on the Strip and charged with misdemeanor battery domestic violence and injuring or tampering with a vehicle, a felony. He was held at Clark County Detention Center, on $8,000 bail.
This wasn’t his first, second, or even third serious arrest. At 34 years old, Jones should be done with this.
“Is it really shocking any more?,” White asked in a matter-of-fact tome. “It’s really not. It’s becoming not shocking. It’s almost like ‘uh oh, he’s in Vegas again, what’s gonna happen today?’ You wanna hope. You wanna hope that the guy is better, and that that won’t be the case. He proves every time he comes to this town that he can’t handle the place ”
White and Jones have a long history of disappointing and enabling one another. In December 2018, Jones wasn’t granted a permit to fight in Nevada after a sample taken by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, which administers the UFC’s drug-testing program) was flagged as containing a metabolite of a steroid known as Turinabol. It was the second time in two years that happened.
Instead of moving on with the card without Jones, White decided to move the entire UFC 232 event from Las Vegas to Los Angeles on six days’ notice.
“Obviously we’ll see how this plays out legally for him and where this ends up going. It’s hard to bring this guy to Las Vegas for any reason. This city is not good for Jon Jones,” White said.
And here we are again. It’s like it’s not even shocking anymore. When we bring him here it’s almost expected. You can’t even get him to Las Vegas for less than 12 hours to induct him into The Hall of Fame; it’s rough. The guy’s got a lot of demons. A lot. — Dan White on Jon Jones
Las Vegas has benefited from full-capacity sports events and the fast start of the Raiders in recent weeks. UFC’s $69.99-$89.99 PPV event is expected to sell in the ballpark of 16,000 seats in T-Mobile Arena for UFC 266. Its two title fights will put a button on the week’s worth of press conferences and fan friendly events.
The most intriguing fight on the card is 17 years in the making.
Robbie Lawler and Nick Diaz aren’t headlining Saturday’s UFC 266. They aren’t even co-headlining. That designation belongs to Valentina Shevchenko, who looks to extend her flyweight dominance against challenger Lauren Murphy. But, bet your last Las Vegas tokens that everybody will be glued to everything associated with Diaz. The fan favorite is making his return to the octagon after nearly a seven-year absence from competition.
As for the featherweight main event, Brian Ortega is attempting to make good on his promise to become champion for the second time and unseat formidable belt holder Alexander Volkanovski.
Final Main Card Results:
Jessica Andrae Women’s Flyweight Bout Def Cynthia Calvillo
Curtis Blades Heavyweight Bout Def Jairzinho Rosenstruik
Robbie Lawler Middleweight Bout Def Nick Diaz
Valentina Shevchenko (C) Women’s Flyweight (Title) Bout Def Lauren Murphy
Alexander Volkanovski (C) Featherweight (Title) Bout Def Brian Ortega
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