Ask Ant: The $27.45 Million Question Edition

TheOneAboveAll3 asks: Why do almost all MMA promoters seem like bad guys, or why do we see them in such a negative light? Which promoter would you consider to most have their fighters' best interests in mind?

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that almost all MMA promoters seem like bad guys. I’d say that almost all fight promoters, period, seem like bad guys. And while there’s some truth in that, it would be unfair to lay down that blanket on top of all of them. Fight promotion is inherently a dirty business.

People are literally being hurt and lives permanently altered for the sake of dollars and entertainment. It’s not a job, nor a world, fit for the average person. Combining the politics and underhanded nature of business with the obvious brutality that comes with hand-to-hand combat makes a very ugly pie that not many could eat.

It would be extremely easy to point out the flaws and villainous maneuvers of any fight promoter. Bob Arum, Dana White, Oscar De La Hoya, Scott Coker, Chatri Sityodtong, etc. are all guilty of something. At the same time, almost every man that could be condemned for unethical deeds in the name of making money from fist fighting can be praised for charitable donations, community service, or favors done for members of the roster that went beyond the contract. Condemning White, for example, as simply a bad guy because of the treatment of some fighters wouldn’t do him proper justice. This is the same man who paid Dennis Hallman his full contracted show and win money after Hallman’s troubles at the scales scrapped his fight at UFC on FX 5 because he sympathized with the welterweight’s personal issues and wanted to help his family. It’s rare that a purely evil person like ACA head and Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov exists in this sport.

Any successful promoter doesn’t have the best interests of the athlete in mind. They have the best interests of their finances in mind. Sometimes those two goals can be reached at the same time. Either way, somebody has to lose and somebody has to get hurt. It’s very rarely the promoter.

DanAndroid asks: Would it be plausible for the UFC to attempt a buyout of One or Bellator? Is it more likely the UFC would try to acquire some of these smaller orgs or would they find more success in cross promoting?

In a world without a pending antitrust lawsuit against the Ultimate Fighting Championship, this seems pretty plausible. We’ve seen it happen time and time again. As Zuffa began righting the ship from the Semaphore Entertainment Group ownership days, they acquired quite a few other promotions along the way. Every potential close competitor from Pride Fighting Championships to Strikeforce to Affiction either got absorbed or shut their doors eventually.

Times are different now. With the UFC actually using the existence and proclamations of other promotions as evidence that the company is not in violation of any antitrust laws, it could be very damaging to acquire those other big names and negating that part of their case.

It is possible for at least some of the fighters under contracts now to find themselves in the UFC without their current homes joining the Zuffa umbrella. Considering some of the rumors surrounding the finances of other promotions, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that one or two of them close operations in the not too distant future and the UFC is among the landing spots for the new free agents on the market.

Cross promotion would be great. Rizin FF and Bellator MMA having such a cozy relationship has brought a new sense of excitement around matchmaking possibilities. The never-ending debates about champion vs. champion fights would heat to a fever pitch if the UFC opened itself up to cross-promotion. Just don’t hold your breath for that to happen.

The reason why Bellator is open to co-promotion is because it doesn’t have the No. 1 spot. The UFC has little to gain as it is firmly atop of the MMA throne. Co-promoting only boosts the names and rosters of those other brands and risks casting doubt on the traditional idea of the UFC having the best fighters in the world. The only time those three letters existed next to the name of another fight promoters’ brand was Mayweather Promotions and McGregor Sports & Entertainment. That venture was not only one of the most profitable events in the history of combat sports, it was also outside of MMA and had no effect on the perception of the UFC in relation to other entities in MMA. There is literally nothing that Bellator or One Championship could offer that would come remotely close to the cash leaved tree known as Mayweather vs. McGregor. Anything outside of the box with the UFC is highly unlikely at this point. I’d expect any another acquisitions to come in the form of the rumored WME purchase of the Al Haymon-led Premiere Boxing Championships.

KevinLee asks: Is Yoel Romero set for life with 27 million and what would be his motivation to fight?

I’d like to think Yoel Romero is set for life. However, just because he won a lawsuit against supplement manufacturer Gold Star Performance with damages totaling up $27.45 million doesn’t mean that he’s walking away with a check worthy of a 27.45 Professional Fighters League champions. Considering the glacial speed of judicial bureaucracy, which includes possible appeals and revisions, the “Soldier of God” could be far away from depositing a check from Gold Star and even further away from the original sum.

As Brian Mazique of Forbes pointed out recently, it is even possible that Romero may not walk away with a check at all. Bankruptcy filings from Gold Star, who didn’t even bother to have anyone show up to court as a representative, could simply not have that money laying around and therefore the $27.45 million could just end up being a nice big number on a worthless IOU.

The true victory here is another layer of vindication for Romero. Emerging as dangerous force in the middleweight division in his mid-to-late thirties with the physique of an Avenger, the notion that Romero was artificially enhanced seemed pretty commonplace. The failed test for ibutamoren confirmed all of those suspicions for the naysayers.

When USADA ruled that the test was the result of a tainted Gold Star Performance product, there was still a serious amount of skepticism. With a court backing up the claims of both Romero and USADA, perhaps public opinion will ease up and not lump the Cuban wrestler with other fighters who have damaged their legacies with PED scandals.

With this in mind, Romero’s motivation to fight should be the same. He’s unlikely to ever see that money in its entirety and seems to still have ambitions at earning UFC gold. Age, weight cuts, and mileage will stop him from fighting before any Gold Star sponsored stacks of cash.