Even though UFC prez Dana White tries sayin he aint threatened by EliteXC on SHO, his actions say different.
The UFC and HBO view EliteXC and Showtime as legitimate threats. UFC president Dana White has said that EliteXC is being run by people who don't know MMA and that he doesn't consider the company to be competition. He may or may not be proven right but Zuffa was concerned enough about EliteXC that they went out and purchased select assets from the WFA in early December.
According to Showtime's Senior Vice President and General Manager for Sports Programming Ken Hershman, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson was on the verge of signing with EliteXC. In an e-mail from company president Gary Shaw, he told me that the Zuffa's decision to buy select assets from the WFA was made solely to block them from signing "Rampage." All is far in love, war, and big business so Elite and Showtime aren't complaining about the UFC's move to snatch fighter contracts from the WFA. However, White's claim that he doesn't consider EliteXC to be competition doesn't carry much credibility since Zuffa's decision to spend millions on the WFA dictates otherwise. Zuffa isn't alone in their concern about EliteXC, as HBO is standing right alongside them. HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg is no fan of MMA but HBO is about to jump on the MMA bandwagon to directly counter Showtime's move. They don't want Showtime to get too much of a head start in televising MMA out of fear of losing some of their market share.
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BDK :beard:
The UFC and HBO view EliteXC and Showtime as legitimate threats. UFC president Dana White has said that EliteXC is being run by people who don't know MMA and that he doesn't consider the company to be competition. He may or may not be proven right but Zuffa was concerned enough about EliteXC that they went out and purchased select assets from the WFA in early December.
According to Showtime's Senior Vice President and General Manager for Sports Programming Ken Hershman, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson was on the verge of signing with EliteXC. In an e-mail from company president Gary Shaw, he told me that the Zuffa's decision to buy select assets from the WFA was made solely to block them from signing "Rampage." All is far in love, war, and big business so Elite and Showtime aren't complaining about the UFC's move to snatch fighter contracts from the WFA. However, White's claim that he doesn't consider EliteXC to be competition doesn't carry much credibility since Zuffa's decision to spend millions on the WFA dictates otherwise. Zuffa isn't alone in their concern about EliteXC, as HBO is standing right alongside them. HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg is no fan of MMA but HBO is about to jump on the MMA bandwagon to directly counter Showtime's move. They don't want Showtime to get too much of a head start in televising MMA out of fear of losing some of their market share.
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BDK :beard:
