First it was Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones. Now it's GSP vs. Silva. Why is UFC head Dana White continuing to promote fights that are not yet signed? And how can this strategy hurt the UFC and Dana?
Stop me if you've heard this one before. Here's UFC boss Dana White talking about a big upcoming fight in the works:
I'm going to make the fight... I'll make this fight... They will fight, and yes, it will probably be in May or around May.
The fight in question? Georges St. Pierre vs. Anderson Silva of course. But you would be forgiven for thinking this talk sounds awfully familiar. Here's Dana from one month ago:
I guarantee you [this fight] will absolutely happen... It's happening. It will happen.
GSP vs. Silva again? Not this time. Here' it's Jon Jones vs. Anderson Silva that Dana is hyping up. For two straight PPVs, Dana has spent much of the show's aftermath talking up a huge superfight and how it will undoubtedly happen. First it was UFC 153 and Jones vs. Silva, then UFC 154 and GSP vs. Silva. And yet neither fight seems even remotely close to happening. Jones is tied up with The Ultimate Fighter and Chael Sonnen, and GSP has made it clear that he's not fighting Silva anytime soon.
So I am left asking pretty much the exact same question I asked a month ago - why is the UFC hyping fights they are not yet prepared to deliver?
From a promoter standpoint, this is simply bad business. Dana is spending valuable PR time telling fans that they should be most excited about these two fights. And building fan expectation is a good thing - if you know you can deliver the fights. But if you don't turn around and deliver on those expectations, you have problems on your hands. For one, your fans are now let down, because the fight they were excited for (the fight YOU made them excited for) isn't being delivered on. Second, you're not building up the potential challengers out there - men like Johny Hendricks or Chris Weidman. Those are both men who have earned their shots and could very well be the next opponents for GSP and Silva, yet both are going to feel like shoddy replacements to the superfight at this point.
Finally, you're simply breaking down the good will of your fans. And for Dana White, that's maybe the most important factor in this equation. White has always presented himself as a man of the people - a no-nonsense boss who is just one of the guys here to shoot straight with you and cut the promoter BS. But until he delivers on these "guaranteed" fights, then all he's delivering to his fans are empty promises: promoter BS in other words.
Maybe I'm just some media guy who doesn't understand the business like Dana does. But the reality of the situation speaks for itself. And that reality is that Dana can make all the guarantees he wants, but he is yet to deliver either Jones vs. Silva, or GSP vs. Silva, and frankly, I don't think he ever will.
As a fan, I would like nothing more than to be wrong here and for Dana to deliver on these guarantees. Prove me wrong Dana - I truly hope you can.
Source -> http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/11/28/3 ... -st-pierre