Partnerships with other Russian promotions

Despite the fact that the third UFC-sponsored tournament will be held in Russia in November, the promotion currently only connects the Moscow City office with the country, as well as a partnership with M-1 Global. In June 2018, the parties signed an agreement according to which the Russian organization officially became the preparatory platform for the Absolute Fighting Championship.

Of course, cooperation with the oldest Russian promotion is an important step in capturing the market, but clearly insufficient. With all due respect to the M-1 Global, he has long been no longer the unequivocal leader in the country, at least on equal terms fighting for the audience with Fight Nights and ACA. Therefore, a contract with the brainchild of Vadim Finkelshtein cannot guarantee that all talented domestic athletes will end up in the UFC.

In this regard, the UFC needs to continue to expand its influence in Russia and try to agree on cooperation with other domestic promotions. At the moment, both Fight Nights and ACA are going through hard times, which is clearly evidenced by the number of shows they host.

So, now in the Fight Nights asset there are only three tournaments in 2019, which is an extremely miserable figure for them. At the same time, two shows are planned for October at once, and before the end of the year, Kamil Gadzhiev will undoubtedly conduct several more, but the indicators are still far from those that were two years ago. For comparison, in 2017 the promotion organized 25 events.

Thus, a contract with the UFC could be a mutually beneficial cooperation for Fight Nights and ACA. Organizations would receive solid support from Dana White and the company, and their fighters would have a tangible chance of getting into the main league of the planet.

Dana White's Contender Series show analogue

The second stage of the UFC development in Russia may be the holding of an analogue of the Dana White's Contender Series show, in which the functionary personally attends regional promotion tournaments in search of talented athletes. Undoubtedly, for this, the Absolute Fighting Championship also needs to have an agreement with organizations, but it is not necessary to actually make them preparatory sites. This can simplify the task and make expansion less costly and difficult to accomplish.

In addition, White himself had already hinted that he would not mind visiting Russia on a visit. He stated this at a press conference after the UFC 242 tournament in Abu Dhabi. True, he did not name specific dates. The president referred to the fatigue caused by the flight from China to the UAE.

Holding such a show in Russia could solve several problems at once. Firstly, to organize an additional influx of promising athletes in the UFC, secondly, to help the fighters themselves avoid obstacles to the largest MMA promotion in the world, and thirdly, to provoke an increase in the popularity of mixed martial arts in the country. At the moment, fans have to confine themselves exclusively to watching tournaments and videos on YouTube channels, and additional media content would only fuel interest.

Analogue of the show The Ultimate Fighter

However, it should be borne in mind that the idea of ​​the Dana White's Contender Series may not be particularly suitable for Russia. The reason is that, according to the rules of the show, the UFC president personally attends events of regional organizations, but it will be extremely inconvenient for him to constantly fly to another continent. In this regard, the number of such trips can be reduced to a minimum, which practically eliminates the entire positive effect of this idea.

In this regard, the best option may be to conduct the Ultimate Fighter show in the country of its own season, in which the athletes divided into two teams compete for a contract with the UFC. It was first organized in 2005 and since then has given the world a huge number of illustrious fighters. Suffice it to recall the former champions Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans, Matt Serra, Michael Bisping and Kamaru Usman, as well as Tony Ferguson, Ryan Bader, Roy Nelson and others. It is possible that the story of the new Nurmagomedov will begin precisely with a victory in such a mini-tournament.

According to the rules of the show, each of the teams is led by one experienced mentor - from the current UFC fighters. By inviting Khabib or another illustrious Russian to this role, the promotion could immediately provide a huge interest in broadcasting it. In addition, White himself will be spared from constant flights to Russia. The show does not imply his mandatory participation, and his place could well have been taken by UFC Vice President for Russia and the CIS Andrei Gromkovsky.

Unified rating system

This aspect is also extremely important in terms of a possible communication between the Russian promotions and the UFC. At the moment, in M-1 Global, the only guarantee of advancement in an American organization is the conquest of the belt, but this system is imperfect. It is enough to pay attention to the heavy division, in which the champion did not appear after the departure of Alexander Volkov.

Nevertheless, in the case of cooperation exclusively between the UFC and M-1 Global, such a regulation has the right to exist. But in the case of contracts with other promotions, it should be reviewed. Organizations will need to develop a common rating system, as well as certain conditions under which an athlete has the right to go to conquer the United States.

Thus, the fighters will understand how far they are from concluding a contract with the UFC, and the promotion itself will be able to prepare in advance for their visit. This applies to both the selection of possible rivals, and the promotion of future fights.

Doping control

One of the most important problems of mixed martial arts in Russia is the lack of a doping control procedure among athletes. In the modern world, the fight against the use of prohibited substances is considered a prerequisite for ensuring fair competition, but in the domestic MMA the issue has not yet been resolved. Moreover, the head of Fight Nights Kamil Gadzhiev spoke about the desire to begin cooperation with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), but so far no concrete actions have been taken.

The lack of doping control immediately creates several problems that adversely affect both the fighters themselves and the promotions. Relying on the athletes ’honest word, the organization often gets a duel at the exit, in which a pure athlete is in a losing position. His opponent may not adhere to the same rules, as a result of which the result of the fight will be almost a foregone conclusion even before it begins. Even if the leadership manages to understand the situation and disqualifies the offender, it is unlikely to be able to compensate for his vis-a-vis both image losses and damage to health.

In this case, a situation may arise when a fighter will show good results in Russia, using doping consciously or accidentally, and then be removed when he tries to transfer to the UFC. More recently, Ivan Shtyrkov became the “victim” of USADA, who received the nickname “Uralsky Hulk” in his homeland for his perfect physique. He had already signed a contract with the promotion and was ready to make his debut at the tournament in St. Petersburg, but passed a positive test. The athlete himself admitted that he used the substances for medical purposes, but this did not help him much.