Why does UFC still remain one of the most important world-fighting championships in 2022?
Despite the comeback of entertainment phenomena like WWE and other super-fight events like Boxing, K-1, or PRIDE, UFC remains one of the most important world-fighting championships in 2022, carrying a legacy that is now spanning over three decades. While other fighting championships have come and gone, UFC has survived as the premier league for mixed martial arts. Perhaps that’s because UFC’s business model is built on agility and innovation. Here are some reasons why UFC remains one of the most important world-fighting championships in 2022.
Unique business model
UFC’s owner, Endeavor (previously known as WME-IMG), is a diversified holding that also owns companies in the sports, media, entertainment, and fashion industries, acquired the UFC brand in 2016 by acquiring the majority stake in its parent company Zuffa for $4 billion. In 2021 it bought out all remaining Zuffa owners.
In other words, the UFC is a strong business venture, part of a global media giant that knows how to offer entertainment at the highest level. UFC’s business model generates billions of dollars a year from ticket sales, pay-per-view, and merchandise sales. UFC management has also created a profitable streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, which carries live and on-demand events and other UFC-related content.
The development of UFC into one of the global entertainment leaders has created an industry worth billions and has become a mainstay in other sectors across the sports vertical. This is proven by the abundance of fights on the list of MMA and UFC odds on Unibet Canada and the record-breaking interest that many UFC bouts have generated in viewership and betting action.
Successful global brand
Stemming from the point above, it makes sense that the UFC brand is one of the most recognizable sporting brands. UFC is broadcast in over 150 countries and has a social media reach that rivals most other major sports organizations.
UFC sponsors include major brands such as ESPN, Monster Energy, and as of last year, even TikTok, which has made huge waves in the social media sector.
The UFC has also worked hard on its social responsibility programs. To further its contributions, at the beginning of this year, UFC announced that they are launching the UFC Foundation—a non-profit that’ll help the organization in its charitable efforts.
Innovating in combat sports
One of the aspects that really makes UFC shine on the athlete stages is that the organization is seriously invested in research and development. The combat sports entity operates the UFC Performance Institute, which continuously studies and works on all performance-related aspects of mixed martial arts, including its long-term effects on athletes.
In 2018 the institute released an interesting study on pretty much everything related to competitive mixed martial arts. The research, which tracked, analyzed and drew conclusions on thousands of performance markers, served as a stepping stone for further research into world-class athlete performance.
In addition, the institute used data to speed up injury recovery for tens of fighters and has also created a unique study focused on comparing MMA fighters to top athletes from other sports.
