Ch. 4 - The Marketing Environment

Conor McGregor is the UFC's biggest star today due to a large following from his country of Ireland.

The UFC throughout its history has tried to create a star fighter that American fans can get behind.  The most well-known fighter to come out of America in the UFC's history so far is Chuck Liddell.  Liddell became so famous that he was able to star in commercials by big companies such as Bud Light and Duralast.

Chuck Liddell in a Dura Last commercial

However as the UFC became a global brand in mixed-martial arts, new markets began to open up for them; A prime example of this is the fighter named Connor McGreggor.  Connor McGreggor is a fighter of Irish decent, and before his entry into the UFC has created a large buzz throughout the European circuit.  The UFC saw McGreggor as an opportunity to create a market in Ireland, and on February 2013 the company signed the Irish fighter into their roster.  Fast forward 3 years, and UFC's bet paid off, as he is now the most sought-after fighter to watch not only in his hometown of Ireland but all over the world.  The UFC was able to forecast a young MMA market in Ireland and used their resources to advertise Connor McGreggor as much as they can.  Had McGreggor been a boring fighter the UFC's investment in him would not have paid off, but luckily he is a very exciting fighter, in and out of the cage he fights in.

Ch. 18- Social Media and Marketing

Social media monitoring plays a vital part in the sales of UFC pay per view.  By using social media websites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter the promotion is able to create buzz for upcoming fights. By utilizing the video feature of these social media sites, the UFC can upload highlight videos of fighters that will be fighting soon. Not only that, but countdown shows are uploaded on websites such as YouTube in order to expose the fights to an even larger audience.  Discussions between fans are then started, and the viewers now have an avenue to express their opinions on whether the fight will be good or bad.

Social Media monitoring has also allowed for fans to directly change certain decisions the promoter has made. For example, a fighter by the name of Mikey Gall was stated to walk into the fight to the song "Hey Mickey"  by Toni Basil. The promoter Dana White decided to change the song, saying that it was distasteful.   However when fans found out about the change a social media campaign started to reinstate the previous song, as they felt it would be perfect for the fighter to come out with this song. Due to pressure from the fans online, Dana White allowed for Gall to use the entrance music he chose and in turn created even more buzz for his fight.

Ch. 2 - Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage

The strategic planning of the UFC when it comes to distributing and promoting fights has changed vastly throughout the years.  In its early days the only way to watch UFC fights was to order it through your cable provider as it was a "pay-per-view" show.  However as smart phones and media streaming start to become the norm, the UFC has decided to change certain aspects of its business model to cater a broader audience.  The UFC has definitely conducted a SWOT analysis throughout its life, and an an example of how it would look like is as follows:

Strength:  The UFC has a variety of strengths compared to its competition, one of which is their widely-known brand.  Whenever people talk about mixed-martial arts event, it is most likely a UFC event.  The UFC brand is such a widely known term that casual fan refer to mixed-martial arts in general as UFC, much in the way that people refer to permanent markers as a "Sharpie".

The Infamous UFC Logo

Weakness:  Although the UFC is by far the best and most well-known mixed-martial arts promotion on earth, it still has weaknesses.  One of these weaknesses would be the over-saturation of events.  As the UFC promotion grew, demand for more events followed.  In turn, the UFC signed more fighters into their promotions in order to build more events more frequently.  However, the quality of fights dwindled, as they are signing fighters that did not have time to develop.  The UFC is supposed to be the "NBA" or "NFL" of mixed-martial arts, and when fighters that are not world-class athletes are competing, the quality of the fight cards are diminished.

external Opportunities:  As smart phones and internet streaming became more accessible, the UFC saw an opportunity to sell their product in a different way than just providing fights through pay-per-view.  The UFC introduced a streaming service named "The UFC Fight Pass", which contains a library of past fights as well as live event offerings for $10 a month.  

UFC Fight Pass

Threats:  One hurdle the UFC might face in the future are fight promotions owned by large media organizations.  An example would be a fight promotion named Bellator FC, who is owned by the media organization Viacom.  Such promotions would be a threat to the UFC since they would have a wider audience through channels they own (SPIKE TV, MTV, Nickelodeon).  

Ch. 1 - Overview of Marketing: UFC Mission Statement

According to the UFC's Website:

The mission statement of the UFC is to stay as the the fore-most leader in mixed martial arts promoting.  The UFC hosts over 40 live events annually throughout the world.  The UFC strives to provide their media content to as many households possible, obtaining broadcast agreements with media groups such as FOX.  The UFC also licenses videogames, apparell, and UFC Gym locations.

Ch. 1 - Overview of Marketing: Brief History of The UFC

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest and most profitable mixed-martial arts (MMA) promotion in the world today.  The promotion is home to the world's top fighters such as Connor McGreggor, Jon Jones, and Ronda Rousey.  Since the company's inception in 1993, the UFC has hosted over 300 events all over the world.

Jon Jones

Ronda Rousey

In the early 1990s, an American entrepreneur by the name of Art Davie spoke to John Milius, a film director, and Rorion Gracie, a prominent Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner who is widely recognized for introducing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the United States, about creating a fight promotion that would showcase various martial arts from all over the world.  Davie wanted to named the promotion "War of the Worlds", but once they received the backing of pay-per view company Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG) they changed the name to Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).  At the time, mixed-martial arts was known as "no-holds barred" fighting as it was unregulated with no universal rules set.  As a result various states outlawed the sport since they did not want to involve themselves with a sport where groin shots and headbutts were allowed.  However as the sport grew regulations were passed and athletic commissions laid out the foundation to the Unified Rules of MMA.

UFC 1 Poster

The Ultimate Fighting Championship changed ownership in the year 2001 when brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta along with business partner Dana White bought the company for two million dollars and created Zuffa, LLC as the parent entity.  The company under Zuffa would struggle for profits and legitimacy in the early 2000s, but found success after launching the reality television show The Ultimate Fighter.  The show allowed for fighters from all over the country to compete for a six-figure contract with the company while living in the same household for a couple of weeks.  The show was well-received, and it paved the way fighters to become household names.  Fast forward 15 years, and Zuffa was able to sell the UFC to talent agency company WME-IMG  for $3.5-$4 billion, making it the largest ever acquisition of a sports company.

Face the Pain!

My name is Joe, and this blog will be about the mixed martial arts organization called the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC).  I will be discussing the UFC as a company and relating it to different aspects of marketing, the inception of the group and how it went from a "no holds barred" cage fighting organization to a well-known sports entity in the world.