Unlike the N.B.A., though, the UFC is run almost entirely from one office. It produces its own events, owns its own intellectual property, sets the amounts it will pay its fighters and all but dictates fight nights to its athletes, who are independent contractors. It is possibly the most vertically integrated of any sport.
.. The brothers grew up in gambling, a highly regulated industry, and they decided that the way to build the UFC was to get it regulated by state athletic commissions, making the sport palatable to a broader audience
.. The brothers lost $8 million to $10 million a year for the next few years, and briefly considered surrender. In 2005, they opted for a final win-or-walk-away push in the form a $10 million investment to produce a reality show, “The Ultimate Fighter,” which ran on the Spike television channel. Combatants lived and trained together in a house and fought one bout per episode.
.. “If these fighters were boxers, they’d make $30 million, not $3 million,” Mr. Maysey contends. “Boxing is competitive; promoters have to compete. They’ll pay out 85 percent of revenue to fighters and keep the rest. In mixed martial arts, those numbers are reversed.”
.. The two brothers have equal stakes in Zuffa. And while there is no hint of tension between them, a lawyer insisted that their contract needed a dispute-resolution mechanism in case they ever differed over corporate strategy. Lorenzo had an idea: They would fight.
“A sport jujitsu match, three five-minute rounds,” he said. “Dana would be the referee. Whoever won got to vote the other guy’s shares.”
President Obama Would Choose to Fight the Horse-Sized Duck
“Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck?”
.. Who would choose to fight a duck the size of a horse? The beak. The wingspan. The ability to defend and attack in the air, on land, and in the water.
.. If a shark and a tiger were to fight, how many inches of water would it take for the shark to win?
.. If you send animal researchers outlandish hypothetical questions that touch on their area of expertise, they’ll respond generously, especially if inter-species combat is involved*.
.. Waterfowl are among the oldest existing group of birds. And we know quite well, now, that birds are actually dinosaurs (I kid you not). Their ancestry — theropod (maniraptoran) dinosaurs. They are relatives, and most closely aligned, with the group that includes tyrannosaurs and velociraptors. They have serious attitude and it comes with the family history.
Knocked From a Pedestal, Fighter Rhonda Rousey Retreats, for Now
In the past, boxers like Holm have not fared well in mixed martial arts, compared with wrestlers and judokas, like Rousey. This had prompted numerous commentators, and Rousey herself, to suggest that she could beat even a top male boxer like Floyd Mayweather in the cage or a street fight. But it turned out a top boxer who fought intelligently, like Holm, was more than a match for her.