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Lesson #4: A Solid Reputation is Worth Its Weight in Gold
Lesson #4: A Solid Reputation is Worth Its Weight in Gold
When White inherited the UFC, he says the stigma that came along with it was almost unbearable. People would hear the words ‘ultimate fighting’ and immediately have a negative image in their minds. It was not until at least two or three years later, after a serious repositioning of the entire company and a change of brand strategy, that the UFC was able to make some headway.
What White knew he had to do was rebuild the sport’s image as a legitimate one in the eyes of both its fans and its critics. Even U.S. Senator John McCain had launched a campaign against White’s form of mixed martial arts. With such large powers that be on his case, White began to reorient his vision. He realized that he needed to portray UFC events as safe ones, ones that were more about the sport than the spectacle.
During one heavyweight boxing match between Lennox Lewis and Vitali Klitchko, the fighting proved so brutal that Klitchko’s face was cut wide open on its entire left side. But, what made the attack all the more brutal was that the fight was allowed to carry on for several more rounds before it was stopped.
White compares that boxing match to a UFC fight between Vitor Belfort and Marvin Eastman. When the latter received a large gash to his forehead, UFC officials stopped the fight immediately. The injury was not nearly as severe as Klitchko’s, but White had begun to impose far stricter rules with regards to injuries and ensuring the safety of his fighters. He had also become sanctioned by state athletic commissions.
“UFC is also safer than boxing because of the tap-out rule,” says White. “In UFC, a fighter can tap out if he’s in a dangerous position or believes he’s going to be seriously injured.” It was all part of White’s plan to boost the positive image of the sport as a whole in order to attract more attention and bring it some legitimacy.
Despite being what White calls “the most hard-core, full-contact event in the world,” UFC has never claimed a death, nor imposed any life-threatening injuries. He has instead spoken out about the violent nature of other such sports as the NFL, one which is readily accepted as a part of American culture. “What’s more violent than the NFL?” he asks. “Guys who are 265 pounds and run like track stars running directly into each other.” So, too, does White point to horseback riding as a contact sport where “anything could happen.”
White recognized that unless he was able to take away the stigma surround his product, it would never be accepted in mainstream America. By realigning his company and repositioning his brand image, White was able to turn what was once an underground sport into a mainstream phenomenon.
“Obviously, that was the platform that got us where we are in the United States,” he says. “Basically what we were able to do is get this show that wasn't even allowed on pay-per-view a couple of years before on free TV. And, you know, it showed the sport wasn't the evil [human] cockfighting that everybody thought it was.”
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