The “Baddest Mother F*cker” Belt Signals A Shift In The UFC’s Marketing Strategy
On November 3rd 2019, UFC 244 took place — Jorge Masvidal vs Nate Diaz for the dubious title of the “Baddest Motherf*cker” in the UFC.
Marketing strategy-wise, it was a historic event — but not many people understood it’s significance.
Here’s why it was such a big deal.
A New Title Belt (With No Real Meaning)
To put things in perspective, that’s like if the Olympics suddenly decide to introduce a new medal for the “most badass athlete.”
Look at the picture above.
It’s Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson holding up a belt. Common enough sight, right? If you’re a 90s kid like me, chances are you’ve seen The Rock hoist up a gamut of shiny pro-wrestling belts. The coveted WWF Championship title, Intercontinental Titles, Tag Team Championships. You name it, he’s got it.
Well… this one’s a little different.
If you take a closer look, you can see the letters “BMF” etched onto the face of the belt. It stands for — you guessed it, “Baddest Motherf*cker”. It’s a title belt created by the UFC for this match. It is special in the sense that it is a title that will never be defended or replicated.
All gimmicks aside, the UFC has never created an actual title for a one-off fight. You see, title belts are what the UFC’s entire business model is based on. To put things in perspective, that’s like if the Olympics suddenly decided to introduce a new medal for the “most badass athlete.”
It’s a title that is completely unquantifiable and frankly speaking, made-up.
The creation of the BMF belt is a huge deal. It signals a pivot in the UFC’s business model. From belts to hype. From sport to entertainment.
And nobody has picked up on it.
Recovering 4.2 Billion Dollars
In 2016, Forbes reported that the UFC was acquired by the entertainment giant WME-IMG for a whopping 4.2 billion dollars.
Back in the Fertitta era, the UFC was never averse to using hype to promote fights. However, they were always leery when it came to using too much spectacle. They wanted to establish MMA as a legitimate sport and distinguish themselves from it’s early “bloodsport” roots. Titles, time limits and weight classes were introduced to legitimize the sport and fluff like pyrotechnics and fancy walkouts went the way of the Neanderthals.
After the acquisition, however, it seems like the new owners are literally flooring the hype pedal, actively seeking to bring back the near-forgotten art of spectacle to the UFC.
The proof is in the pudding. The new owners weren’t shy about using Conor’s dolly-through-a-window footage over and over to promote the Khabib megafight — a tactic borrowed from the cutting room floors of professional wrestling. They also let fighters like Conor, Cejudo and GSP challenge for belts outside their respective weight divisions — something that the original owners of the UFC opposed to vehemently.
However, there is a good reason why the UFC’s new owners are doing this, and that’s to recoup their investment as quickly as possible. 4.2 billion dollars is not a small sum, and should you be WME-IMG you would want to repay your debtors as quickly as you can, lest the interest snowball.
The fact of the matter is hype sells fights like hotcakes. Let’s face it, WME-IMG is an entertainment giant. More than anything, they understand the power of spectacle.
So moving forward, what are the changes that are going to be implemented by the new UFC business model?
I expect we’ll see more of 3 things.
#1 Post-Fight Callouts
“I know my man’s a gangster but he ain’t no West Coast gangster!” — Nate Diaz challenging Jorge Masvidal
Post-fight callouts are powerful.
There are numerous examples of successful callouts in MMA. For the purpose of our article, we need to look no further than the Diaz brothers. They are a veritable treasure trove of post-victory rants, equal parts eloquent and offensive. In fact, the reason I got into the fight game was because of the hotly anticipated and highly acrimonious UFC 158 (Nick Diaz vs GSP).
That was the first fight I followed closely, and the fight took place because Nick had the audacity to call out the reigning champion in the middle of the Octagon.
“Where you at, Georges? I don’t think George is hurt, I think he’s scared.”
— Nick Diaz
Another similar post-fight callout transformed Nick’s younger brother, Nate Diaz into one of the UFC’s premier needle movers. Diaz leapfrogged an entire division to challenge MMA superstar Conor McGregor — and make millions in the process.
2 years later, using the exact same tactic, Nate once again leapfrogged over the entire Welterweight division, all badasses in their own right, to challenge for the BMF belt.
In the WME-IMG era, expect more and more fighters to harness the power of the post-fight call out to get the fights they want — and the fat purses they deserve.
#2 More WWE Style Promos
“Listen Wanderlei, I will do a home invasion on you. I will cut the power to your house and the next thing you’ll hear is me climbing up your stairs in a pair of night vision goggles I bought in the back of Soldier of Fortune magazine. I’ll pick the lock to the master room door, take a picture of you in bed with the Nogueira brothers working on your ‘jiu-jitsu’. I’ll take said quote unquote photograph, post it at dorksfrombrazil.com, password — not required, username — not required. That, Wanderlei, is how you threaten someone. Dummy.”
— Chael Sonnen
“The American Gangster” made fight promotion an art form. Perhaps taking a page out of masterful boxer and shameless self-promoter Floyd Mayweather’s playbook, he was the first fighter in the UFC to play a “heel” (a bad guy).
Fans didn’t know what to make of it at first. They were used to pugilists treating each other with respect: great champions like Anderson Silva and Georges St Pierre would repeatedly bow and compliment their opponents. It was a fight, purely business — nothing personal.
Chael was the complete antithesis of that. He could cut a promo like no other, saying completely over-the-top things like he was a gangster from the mean streets of West Linn, Oregon (West Linn is a relatively affluent area) and tell ridiculous stories about his opponents (Nogueira tried to feed the bus a carrot, it’s true!), all the while keeping a straight face.
He was so successful playing a heel that he riled up the entire nation of Brazil against him, using his newfound notoriety to challenge for the belt 3 separate times. Even though he was ultimately unsuccessful, Chael’s bravado kicked open the door for brash self-promoters such as Conor McGregor.
The results speak for themselves. Even though he never won the title, Chael was perenially a top 5 biggest draw in the UFC. Even more tellingly, he was the only one who wasn’t a champion.
Expect more fighters to create and play up a character for the audience. Colby Covington is a great example: the MAGA hat, cheap suits and always being surrounded by scantily-clad women are great finishing touches for a heel.
If you’d like to find out more about how much of the current UFC’s marketing strategy is ‘borrowed’ from WWE, I wrote a curated article on the topic.
#3 More Made-Up Titles
I’ll admit, this one is complete conjecture on my part, but I have good reason to believe that made-up titles will become a big part of the UFC’s business strategy. They’ve tested it out in the form of the BMF belt, and it was an incredible success. Fans loved it, money poured in, and the fighters are foaming at the mouth to get a piece of the action. What’s stopping them from replicating their success?
I think the UFC will come up with a “Greatest of All Time” (GOAT) title to settle the eternal debate. Henry Cejudo’s claim of being the greatest combat sports athlete of all time is hard to argue against. The man not only won an Olympic gold medal in wrestling, but he also went on to win two UFC titles.
I would love to see Triple C complete a trilogy match against Mighty Mouse — not for the UFC title, but for the title of the best flyweight the world has ever seen.
Heck, the UFC might even be keen to cross-promote with the biggest MMA promoter in Asia, ONE Championship. Since all that’s on the line is a “made-up” title, the UFC’s brand will not be diluted should Cejudo lose. If that sounds too far-stretched, keep in mind the last time the UFC co-promoted with another promotion, it was Conor McGregor vs Floyd Mayweather. And that fight was topped off by a brand new, made-up belt too!
“The Money Fight” lived up to its moniker and was one of the most profitable bouts in the history of combat sports. The power of titles, made up or not, cannot be denied.
In Summary
If you’re a fan of the old school UFC, I have bad news for you: the old days are gone. The UFC’s business model has come full circle — from spectacle to sport and back to spectacle again.
However, if you’re a closet pro-wrestling or Pride fan like me, and you love old-school MMA for its pomp and pageantry, then these new changes should get you very, very excited.
The new era of fight promotion has arrived, and spectacle is back on the menu, boys!
Thanks for reading my story :)