Opinion: The UFC Should Invest in a Farm System

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I must admit, I’ve been a bit of a punk in terms of some assessments about younger fighters of late. Not that my general idea of younger fighters taking as many fights as possible in as short of time possible is something on which I’m reneging. I still maintain that belief wholeheartedly. The success of Joshua Van is a fantastic example of why that’s a proper course of action. However, where my issue comes into play is that it isn’t as easy as it used to be to pick up those fights. The regional scene is shrinking in mixed martial arts.

I can’t say exactly why it appears to be disappearing. I could speculate, but that’s not the topic I’m broaching. Rather than go deep into the roots of why the regional circuit in mixed martial arts seems to be in trouble, I’d rather point out how it could be fixed. If it could be fixed, it would be beneficial to the entire sport and to the upper echelons of the sport most of all.

The regionals have long served as a farm system of sorts for larger promotions. While some fighters have made their debuts in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the Professional Fighters League or Bellator MMA, they are exceptionally rare exceptions to the rule. Even when it happens, there’s often a celebrity factor involved. Think Phil “CM Punk” Brooks debuting in the UFC, for instance. As the sport grows in popularity and more money flows into it, bidding wars between promotions begin to erupt on promising talent. Those fighters tend to get scooped up by one of the larger promotions before they’re ready. The UFC suffers the most from this. The UFC is a brand as recognizable as the NFL, NBA, NHL or MLB. It signifies the cream of the crop, the idea that “all the best fighters in the world” reside in the organization. There’s no room for prospects needing more seasoning. They need the best fighters in the world to be ready for the big show.

I’m not going to fault fighters for doing what’s best for them financially. It’s obvious that they’re going to make more money signing with a large organization as soon as possible, which is why the bidding wars begin. Fighters are people, too, and they have bills to pay like anyone else. They’re going to do what’s best for themselves. Unfortunately, what’s best for them and what’s best for the sport doesn’t always match up. As a result, the product is getting watered down. Part of that is due to the massive television deals the UFC signs, as the organization has a commitment to so many events being aired, so the roster ends up littered with fighters who clearly aren’t top-shelf quality. In some cases, it’s clear they never will be; in other cases, they just need more time. The problem? The UFC can’t water its product down so much that it becomes unrecognizable. What’s worse, the fighters who would benefit the most from stepping into the cage as much as possible are the ones who are going to be watering it down, provided they are young prospects.

I’ve long been an advocate for a farm system of sorts. Some say the current iteration of the regional scene serves that purpose, but it does not do so as well as it should. Bo Nickal entered the UFC with just three professional fights. His next several fights felt like he was being spoon-fed opponents. While I understand why, it isn’t something I want out of the UFC. If we’re going to spoon feed him, can we spoon feed him on the regional scene?

That’s where the UFC could come in. Rather than having handshake agreements with organizations like the Legacy Fighting Alliance or CES MMA, the UFC could either buy them up and turn them into its very own development system or create its own anew. Rather than telling fighters to go out and get another fight, the UFC could set up a fight of its choosing to see the prospect deal with whatever it is the company wants him to work on. Want to see how he does against a wrestler? If the UFC owns its own feeder system, it can set it up itself rather than hope the right matchup happens. The UFC could then have a name like Nickal under contract and take a steadier approach with him. It could probably make a nice little chunk of change by having someone like Nickal headlining regional shows. Imagine if Nickal had been atop the bill on a regional show in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania, and the ticket sales that would have resulted. It wouldn’t technically be a UFC show, but having the backing of the UFC behind it would be enough to provide a boost, too.

There are other benefits even beyond what it does for prospects. It would provide a life for the Shannon Ritch types. Ritch wasn’t ever an elite fighter, but he fought so often and fought so many notable names that he became a well-known fixture on the regional scene. In his younger years, Ritch was a good way to separate the wheat from the chaff. Those types of fighters are largely nonexistent nowadays. The UFC could employ those types of fighters in its own regional promotions to provide those types of tests. Not good enough to fight in the UFC but savvy enough to upend an overconfident youngster, such fighters tend to provide prospects valuable lessons—the type of lessons you’d rather see them learn before they get to the UFC.

If something like this were to happen, it wouldn’t be overnight, and if I’m being fair, the UFC has something to build on with Dana White’s Contender Series. Of course, that isn’t necessarily a promotion, but it could be. It could even be a tiered promotion. The UFC could have what could be a superior version—not unlike Triple-A baseball clubs—where the winners potentially go to the UFC and a lower version—not unlike A level baseball club—where participants fight for developmental contracts. After the fighters win the developmental contracts, they could work their way up to fighting in the superior version.

For the UFC to provide the best level of entertainment at the top, it needs to begin investing in the ground floor of the sport. UFC fighters often complain that they don’t fight as often as they would like. Having a development league under the UFC’s control would help alleviate that. It’s not like I’m proposing something out of left field. After all, baseball players sign contracts with major league teams after they’re drafted. Very few begin they’re journey at the top.