Beech Tree News Network

This week, I’ll conclude my two-part series on the UFC.  The following information comes from Vice Network’s Dark Side of the ‘90’s.  When I left you last week, the bloody sport had sparked political backlash, spearheaded by former war hero and Arizona senator, the late John McCain.  The company Semafore had purchased the UFC for 7 figures after just 5 events.  Bob Myrowitz hired a lobbyist, New York governor George Pataki, to sign a bill into law saying the UFC was legal.  Myrowitz agreed with politicians that he wouldn’t bring the UFC into the city of New York until they were comfortable with it.

Hearing that New York had legalized extreme fighting, a competing company called Extreme Fighting Battlecade booked an event in Niagara Falls.  This is exactly what Myrowitz had promised the governor would not happen.  The New York Times printed an editorial calling it the most barbaric show in the history of television.  Governor Pataki suddenly reverses his opinion on mixed martial arts.  The New York State Athletic Commission steps in with a new 114-page rulebook.  The show in Niagara Falls is cancelled.

Independent wrestler Dan “The Beast” Severn is turned onto UFC.  He learned of it from a friend.  What built awareness of UFC, not just to Severn but everyone, was the selling and sharing of VHS tapes.  300,000 VHS tapes of UFC were being made and sent all over the world.  UFC co-creator Art Davie is impressed by Severn’s wrestling experience.  In 1994, he puts the fighter on the card for UFC IV.  Severn would go onto win 3 UFC championships in his career. 

Needing a new venue for their next event, they chose the hotbed of Dothan, Alabama.  Yes, that was sarcasm.  To much surprise, the city came out in droves to watch the event.  The place was packed.  UFC was mainstream.  They were so mainstream that there were a few episodes of the tv show Friends where Monica’s boyfriend Pete tried his hand as a UFC fighter.  However, cable companies didn’t care about mainstream.  They were facing increased political pressure to drop the UFC.  Never mind that 1/3 of cable company’s revenue was coming from porn.  “We must get rid of UFC”.  The head of the senate committee that overseas the cable industry was the UFC’s archnemesis, late U.S. Senator John McCain.

This decision meant that UFC was now only on satellite, which at the time was only in about 10% of homes.  UFC also lost its biggest star, Ken Shamrock, to the WWE.  Ken’s adopted brother Frank steps in.  Frank Shamrock soon became UFC middleweight champion.  However, Bob Myrowitz’ UFC was teetering close to bankruptcy by decades end.  Seeing a major opportunity, businessman Dana White approaches Las Vegas casino owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta with the idea of buying the UFC.  In January 2016, Myrowitz sells his company to the Fertitta brother, who made White the president of UFC and gave him 10% of the company.  White sold for $2 million. 

The UFC returns to pay-per-view because the new owners were well-funded and knew how to play politics.  Lorenzo Fertitta is a former member of the Nevada State Athletic Commission and quickly secures the sanctioning Myrowitz desperately needed but never received.  Their return to pay-per-view cable soon follows.  In 2002, they even coax a retired Ken Shamrock back to the octagon (to lose to Tito Ortiz).  White and the Fertitta brothers were the real winners, though.  The event nearly doubled the number of recent tournaments.  Today, the UFC is huge.  The company employs thousands and entertains tens of millions.  (Vice’s Dark Side of the ‘90’s-UFC).  Below are the links to my column, Blendertainment.

https://open.spotify.com/show/61yTPt9wXdz37DZTbPUs16?si=lw4gR-7xQ22E-zhyGDyHyg

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blendertainment/id1541097172