SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
March - 2015
11
pact on UFC’s credit rating. In
November of 2014 Standard
and Poors (S&P) released a re-
vised profit outlook for Zuffa,
LLC, the parent company of
the UFC. The projection was
showing that Zuffa, LLC could
be facing as much as a forty
percent profit loss for the year.
That kind of drop in profits
could certainly cause a credit
downgrade which would im-
pact the UFC’s global expan-
sion and even their domestic
business.
S & P released a statement stat-
ing, “A negative rating action
could occur if we are not confi-
dent that Zuffa’s operations are
recovering meaningfully by the
first quarter of 2015.”
It’s now the end of February,
and it has been a rough few
months since the initial profit
loss projection issued by S&P.
Toward the end of December
it was announced that the UFC
was be faced with a class ac-
tion lawsuit. Former and then
current UFC fighters were
members of the class action
case, siting anti-competitive
business practices as the basis
of the case.
Once the press died down a
bit on the class action case, yet
another story broke that would
bring a negative light to the
UFC and the sport as a whole.
Jon Jones, the UFC lightweight
champion and one of there
biggest stars had tested posi-
tive for cocaine in a pre-fight
drug test.
With Jon Jones out of rehab
and his brother winning the
super bowl things once again
seemed to be returning to nor-
mal in the world of mixed mar-
tial arts. Not for long though as
more controversy broke around
welterweight contender Hec-
tor Lombard testing positive
for a designer steroid following
his fight at UFC 182 against
Josh Burkman.
Just when you thought it
couldn’t get much worse, the
news broke that Anderson Sil-
va had tested positive for two
different steroids in a pre-fight
drug test. Nick Diaz, his op-
ponent also tested with levels
of marijuana metabolites that
grossly exceeded the allowable
limits. Weeks later we would
also find out that Anderson Sil-
va failed his post fight test with
two more banned substances
in the cocktail, Oxazepam and
Temazepan.
While the shows still went on
and undoubtedly generated
high profits and great num-
bers. How will S&P view the
UFC and their abilty to gener-
ate long term profits with all of
this fall out?
Aside from keeping the shows
in place the UFC has done some
great things this year too. Per-
haps in response to the threat
of a credit downgrade and
massive financial losses, but
great things none the less. Just
this week the UFC announced
their plan to combat p.e.d. and
banned substance use by their
athletes. Implementing and
lobbying for longer suspen-
sions and more frequent ran-
dom tests.
Toward the end of last year the
UFC also announced their land-
mark deal with Reebok. The
deal is an exclusive apparel deal
which has ruffled the feathers
of many managers and fighters
stating concerns around los-
ing sponsorship income. The
deal goes into affect in July of
2015 and the proof will be in
the results, but it looks to be
a step in the right direction for
the sport.
So many promotions have
failed or been acquired by the
UFC over the past two de-
cades. There are many reasons
for it, but one factor is certainly
the cost of doing business. Zuf-
fa, LLC has provided financial
backing to the UFC that has
kept them afloat through some
much trying times. The events
of the past year have shined a
light on the cost of doing busi-
ness and the trials that these
organizations face.
The UFC has been the most
pro-active , resilient, and well
funded of all of these organiza-
tions allowing them to flourish
to what they are today. They
are one again reacting to the
issues that face them and only
time will tell how they fair, and
how the sport as a whole fairs.
