Back when the Ultimate Fighting Championship was banned from all TV except pay-per-view, Dana White made a strategic decision that has paid dividends for more than a decade.
The hard-charging UFC president created a reality show called "The Ultimate Fighter," which premiered in 2005 on Spike TV. White had built a Trojan horse to get mixed martial arts bouts on basic cable TV for the first time.
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In the process, White created something more important. "TUF," now on Fox Sports' FS1, built a farm system, a U.S. minor league for the UFC. It ensured White an assembly line of future champs such as Michael Bisping, Nate Diaz and Rashad Evans.
More than a decade later, he's using a similar strategy with "Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series." The new show on the UFC Fight Pass Over-the-Top (OTT) service is part of new corporate owner WME | IMG's ambitious OTT strategy.
The setup for the month-old program is straightforward: Each show offers five fights from Las Vegas. There are no fans, just friends and family. Contenders include up-and-coming prospects and older fighters hoping to kick-start their careers.
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So-called "shoulder" TV programs are key for UFC. Fans need to get to know the fighters' personalities before they're willing to pay big bucks to watch them on PPV.
White came up with a hip-hop twist to the "Contender Series." Viewers can click on an alternate commentary feed with rap icon Snoop Dogg and UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber calling the fights.
Not everybody is a fan of "Snoop-Cam." Lightweight Al Iaquinta doesn't like the way Snoop has mocked some fighters.
Really wish they'd replace @SnoopDogg on contender series. Guy has no respect or knowledge of the sport or fighters. Constant mockery https://t.co/ENJOtTqgie
— Al Iaquinta🗽 (@ALIAQUINTA) August 5, 2017
White, naturally, says Snoop has been "awesome."
Sporting News talked one-on-one with White about Snoop-Cam, as well as the Aug. 26 Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. boxing match and the UFC's TV deal with Fox. Excerpts:
SPORTING NEWS: With "Contender," are you trying to do for digital what you did on cable with "Ultimate Fighter," namely, bring the personalities of these fighters to the fore?
DANA WHITE: That’s the plan. There’s a lot of talent out there. You can’t sign everybody. . . . I was out on the road, looking at talent. I was thinking about starting another show that would help produce new talent. Bumped into Snoop at a party in LA. Snoop was telling me, "C'mon, man, I really want to commentate fights." So I said, "Yeah, I really want you, too, but commentating fights is tough." So I started to work on this concept. That’s pretty much how I came up with it.
SN: So how's Snoop's doing as the new Howard Cosell?
DW: It’s legitimately awesome. Look, people have been filming fights since the beginning of time. If you look at boxing, boxing production, the way they present fights, everything they do (is the same). If you watch a fight from 1975, an HBO fight, the only thing that’s changed is HD. It's exactly the same. They haven’t changed anything. They haven’t created anything new as far as production goes, or content for the sport of boxing. What I always wanted to do is create all these different ways to watch fights for fans, all these different type of fights to watch for fans. There’s only so many things you can do with fights, so I’m always trying to shake it up and find something different, new, exciting and fun.
SN: Is this a growing trend in sports TV, giving TV viewers a choice in announcers, camera angles, teams, etc.?
DW: Absolutely. You can opt in to watch Snoop-Cam. It’s almost like sitting on your couch with your buddies talking about the fights with Snoop. Then you have the traditional color/play-by-play guys.
SN: You had the best seat in the house for the Conor vs. Floyd press conferences. How crazy was that?
DW: It was incredible. To me, not only the turnout but the response it got from fans and media. To me, a guy who’s a hardcore, serious fight fan, you got to see two of the best ever in the mental warfare game go at it in four different cities and three different countries. It was packed with fans. It was a very unique opportunity for me. It was awesome because I wasn’t involved in any of the production so I didn't have to do anything. All I had to do was show up and listen.
SN: Did you worry about the two of them, and their entourages, throwing punches and chairs?
DW: From Day 1 when we walked into the place it was crazy. Obviously it heated up the worst — and was almost a massive brawl — in Brooklyn. Then we got to London and Conor touched Floyd's head. I wasn't thrilled about that.
SN: How is UFC doing with TV partners Fox Sports and FS1?
DW: I've had a great relationship with Fox since Day 1. Fox was the network that I wanted to be on. Yeah, I think they’ve done a great job.
SN: The UFC's seven-year TV deal with Fox expires in 2018, so do you want to stay with Fox, or will you shop around for multiple TV bidders?
DW: I don't know. We’ll see how this thing plays out. To be honest with you, who’s better at that than Ari (Emanuel, co-CEO of WME I IMG)? I'm leaving that to Ari. Even if Ari didn’t buy the UFC, Ari is the guy who would be doing this, anyway, for us. He was our agent for 12 years.
SN: Is there somebody coming up in the ranks who you think could be another Conor or Ronda Rousey?
DW: I don’t think there will ever be another Conor and Ronda. There will be other big stars, but not like these two were at the time, and the place, and the way they are. Four years ago, nobody knew them. You can say what you want about Floyd. When Floyd was four years into the game, he wasn’t anywhere near what Conor McGregor is, or making the type of money that Conor McGregor makes.
I call him the Unicorn. There will never be another one like him. But there will be other big stars. That’s what I do. If you look at my business, and what I've done over the last 16 years, people were always, 'What are you going to do when Chuck Liddell retires, you’re in big trouble. When Georges St-Pierre goes away, what's going to happen to the UFC? Uh-oh, when Anderson Silva is gone, what's going to happen?' The answer is: Yes, there are other stars.
SN: Is that where TV shows like "Contender" come into play? To find new talent who can succeed the McGregors and Rouseys?
DW: Absolutely. It's one of the things that I’ll continue to do as long as I'm here. I will continue to create and find new ways to deliver more fights, as differently and as cool as possible, and always find new pipelines to find new talent.
