The UFC Has A Marketing Problem

The UFC has a marketing problem. As the leader in the MMA community, the UFC should employ all of the top fighters in the world. For Ben Askren and others not to be in the UFC is a joke. It may be contract negotiations holding certain fighters from competing in the UFC, but this article is about marketing.

Some fans say Ben Askren and others are “boring” fighters. Guess what? People say that about Floyd Mayweather Jr. too and he’s the most profitable fighter in the world. He’s largely a defensive fighter with amazing footwork, reactions, and timing. It comes down to marketing. There are “boring” football and basketball teams too and those sports are thriving. Again, it all comes down to marketing. I wrote another article detailing how to fix the UFC (http://dspeaker.blogspot.com/2014/11/how-to-fix-ufc.html). Let me borrow some lines from that:

Every event poster is the same. Every television special is the same. Every weigh-in is the same. Every fighter’s walkout is the same. Every commercial is the same. Every season of The Ultimate Fighter is the same. Isn’t the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result? Spice things up. Take some chances. Do something different. The biggest companies in the world invest millions into new and creative marketing. That’s because marketing creates profit.

It appears as if the UFC has lost a lot of the momentum it had a few years ago. It was on the verge of being a mainstream sport. That is no longer the case. Perhaps they can rebound, but I think it will take a new marketing push to do so. “Mega fights” won’t do it. New champions won’t do it. New marketing strategies will. It’s time for change UFC. If you want to increase your profits, it is time to try something new.