Jump to
Hello, kids. Uncle Victor here. You may have noticed my incessant nagging for you all to submit questions for our Mailbag feature. Well, it’s finally here. Sort of. We’ve decided to kick things off on our maiden voyage by having the staff submit some questions they wanted to have me answer.
And if you want your questions answered, be sure to hit us up at Mailbag@BloodyElbow.com. Questions don’t have to be strictly about fighting, and they don’t have to be serious in any capacity. Come on, this is me we’re talking about. Just remember that Substack members get priority, just include your handle in the e-mail.
And to set the tone, here’s some recommended reading music. with that, let’s carve this turkey.
Conor McGregor vs UFC: Who needs who, exactly?
Does the UFC still need to be in the Conor McGregor business?
Do they need to? Short answer: No. Not in the slightest. Long answer: they don’t need McGregor like that anymore, and they’ve made it clear already. Essentially, they’ve maximized whatever value McGregor had. He’s not sniffing another title shot ever again, at least not the way he’s been fighting. Definitely not getting another title shot with the shape that lightweight has taken. McGregor won’t move to welterweight despite putting on a lot of muscle mass, because he’d still be undersized and I personally doubt his power translates that well against those guys.
It was good for McGregor at featherweight, and it continued at lightweight. The Khabib fight didn’t tell us too much, considering Khabib did that to virtually everyone he faced once he broke into the top 5. But the Dustin fights? Those showed us a lot. The biggest takeaway is what I say every time a longtime star suffers a decline: he got figured out.
I mean good god, imagine McGregor against Arman Tsarukyan. Imagine McGregor against Fiziev or Gaethje. At this point in his life? No. That’s just getting to Islam, who would sop McGregor up with a biscuit.
The UFC reached stratospheric levels with the rises of Brock Lesnar, Ronda Rousey, and then Conor McGregor. And that was transmuted into selling to WME|IMG, now known as Endeavor. And since then, Lesnar’s comfortably nestled in the WWE fold, Rousey is on to other ventures, and McGregor hasn’t fought since July of 2021. He’s been slated to fight Michael Chandler for who knows how long at this point, and the only guy that hasn’t gotten the memo that this fight probably isn’t happening seems to be Chandler.
And look, I’ll gladly admit to being wrong if McGregor does fight again. But my Level Change co-host Stephie Haynes talked me over to the other side. I personally don’t think McGregor ever fights again. And the UFC has been prepared for this for a long time. Remember that time McGregor retired? No, not that one. The other one. What was Dana White’s response? “I don’t chase guys that don’t wanna fight.” You know why? because he doesn’t have to. They’ve got great guarantees from ESPN and their broadcast partners internationally, and keep their pockets fat with sponsors. Plus, you’ve got the Emirati money… and good god, does that money go a long way, baby.
And that last point ties nicely to Islam Makhachev, mentioned above. The UFC hasn’t moved heaven and earth the way they have for fighters prioritized and loved by the UAE. They’ve never adjusted the PPV schedule for American viewers when they held events in Sweden or the UK. But they’ll do it for these guys, because these cats are doing the money dance with the two-step.
Then there’s the ticket fees, which climb higher and higher each year. The site fees, which have become practically prohibitive in some places. It’s why you’ll never see a UFC event in Hawaii at this point, because they’ve got a lot on their plate right now and could use that money for more pressing matters other than enriching TKO even further. And I guess we should toss in the poor saps that can’t help but throw even more disposable income at even more bush-league antics to aid Zuffa/TKO in the pursuit of more cash. You know, as if they really needed it to give it to the most deserving.
So no, they don’t need McGregor. But McGregor would be nice to have around as a promotional asset and de facto ambassador. If McGregor does fight, he contributes to their coffers in a more direct manner, but the sun is setting on his competitive days and his propensity to being a liability over and over again probably doesn’t help. They can cut bait with McGregor at any time, and have been more than ready to do so at a moment’s notice.
PFL vs Bellator: Big fish eating smaller fish
How much should PFL use the Bellator name/branding going forwards?
Man, look. We don’t really have too much of an idea of what this even looks like going forward. Chances are they’ll do they’re whole PFL vs Bellator thing and keep holding some Bellator events, which is great. They’ll burn out their contractual obligations with distributors, business partners, etc., while staging some fun events under their roster. But don’t expect them to do too much more past that.
By the way, shout out to my boy Alfredo for this:
Bellator’s essentially getting absorbed, and the dominant party is PFL. They’ll make sure to make that as clear as possible by deeds and not words. That means you’ll be seeing and hearing a lot less about Bellator as time goes on, which means they probably don’t really need to bank on the organization’s legacy in any form.
Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal: Chasing paper, baby
How successful will Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal be?
This is going to depend on a lot. For starters, how much promo will they do for this? What kind of distribution deal will be worked out? Diaz isn’t getting out of bed for any payday he doesn’t deem worthy, so this isn’t going to go up for free on YouTube like some of Jorge’s other ventures. This raises another question: what qualifies as a success, exactly?
We saw Chael Sonnen bemoaning the potentially lackluster PPV buyrate for Fury vs Ngannou. That was absurd on its face because it didn’t matter how well it sold. I mentioned this on last week’s Level Change, the money’s already there from the benefactors, meaning the sales become immaterial.
Now, why do I bring that up? Because some folks in the fight promotion business these days are savvy enough to not live and die by PPV numbers alone. This can do respectable business with ticket sales at the right venue with the right marketing and needs to be bolstered by a strong undercard. And that’s shaky, because March is not that far from now and I don’t even know if they’ve even secured a venue.
Knowing what we know about Nate and Jorge, I bet they’ve already hammered out some arrangement that gets them paid thick stacks ahead of time. That means securing strong sponsors and possibly a big enough rube or team of rubes to throw money at this venture. It’s not a terrible idea, but the short turnaround time between the announcement and the event don’t exactly make this look like it’ll do big numbers, but it doesn’t mean that they won’t make some decent-ish money.
Jake Paul: No true allies in the game
Jake Paul fighting in the co-main for Amanda Serrano, do you think it’s performative or genuine allyship?
We’re talking about Jake Paul. There ain’t nothing sincere about that man when it comes to his money other than getting his goddamned money. And from the looks of it, he can never have enough of it. And he’s not good at hiding it, either. So much of what he says comes off as insincere, it’s a major part of who he is.
Hey, remember all that talk about how fighters were underpaid and abused in the UFC? How he was badgering Dana White to make things right for the fighters and pay them more? Yeah, it’s not like he ever had any plan for that other than using his bullhorn. And it’s not a great look when his brother ends up signing a deal for Prime during the UFC broadcasts.
And fair enough, Jake isn’t his brother. Maybe he’s really not getting any money out of that deal. Fine. It’s just that this dude’s running outright scams in broad daylight and doing a lot of posturing. That’s a quick way to rack up a reputation for being dishonest, just in case you needed more evidence than what we currently have. You can’t trust a word he says.
I mention all of this because there’s always an ulterior motive with this guy. I’d wager there’s another calculation at play here, and it’s not a bad one. Serrano is making history, and demanding equity in boxing for women. She vacated the WBC title in one of the most amazing shows of bravado and sway I’ve seen in combat sports to demand equal footing for women. Her star keeps shining brighter and brighter, doing media rounds in Puerto Rico.
Her upcoming event could end up on track to selling very well. And why wouldn’t it? One of the best women to put on a pair of gloves fighting in Puerto Rico? From a business standpoint, it’s kind of a no-brainer. Ain’t nobody gonna hitch a ride from Mayagüez to Hato Rey to see bum-ass Jake Paul. The Boricuas don’t love him like that.
It’s convenient for him to put on the mantle of the honest broker and say it’s purely a matter of giving the women the center stage spot. Truth is, this was always going to be a business decision, even if the women really do deserve the top spot more than anyone on this card. It’s absolutely the right thing to do, but I personally doubt his stated reasoning for doing so.
Francis Ngannou: What else is there, anyway?
Is there a better fight out there than Anthony Joshua for Francis Ngannou right now?
Just one, and that’s the Fury rematch. It’s what Ngannou wants, and understandably can’t have right now as Usyk is the next contractually obligated bout. And that’s fine. But we just saw Deontay Wilder get trounced. That’s a big drop-off for him and his stock, which diminished any current interest for him vs Ngannou… at least in boxing.
Maybe they’ll fight in MMA later on, but that’s beside the point. Francis wants to keep boxing, and the Saudis want to pay him to keep boxing. You make do with what you’ve got, and Joshua is the optimal opponent. Famous, experienced, accomplished, repping a big boxing market. You don’t have to be a marketing expert to see how this is basically matchmaking on easy mode. TLDR: nope.
Join the new Bloody Elbow
Our Substack is where we feature the work of writers like Zach Arnold, John Nash and Karim Zidan. We’re fighting for the sport, the fighters and the fans. Please help us by subscribing today.
Mightiest Daddy 
Leave a comment