It looks like PFL CEO Donn Davis may have felt a little more stung by Kayla Harrison’s recent departure than we initially realized. Speaking to the ‘Weighing In’ podcast this week, Davis put the former champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist’s defection to the UFC in the context of an NBA analogy that raised a few eyebrows.
“Some people at the top of their careers are LeBron James and some people at the top are Kevin Durant,” Davis told John McCarthy and Josh Thomson. “They are both alien basketball players, but who they are is very different as people. You want to lead and change their sport and be the best in the world wherever they are. The other is a follower who needs confirmation, and there was nothing we could do about that.”
Did you catch that? According to Davis, after nearly six years in the PFL, Harrison didn’t go to the UFC for more money or career opportunities. She went for validation. Because she is a follower. And no matter how hard the PFL tries, it can’t define who she is as a person.
That’s an incurable reading of Harrison’s move, to say the least. It also gives off a strong rejected lover vibe, which may not be the best way to court public opinion in the MMA world, especially in the same week we heard a whole new round of complaints from Gegard Mousasi about the alleged problems in getting the PFL to honor his Bellator contract.
But for the sake of argument, say that this analysis is at least somewhat accurate. Suppose part of Harrison’s motivation for signing with the UFC was the sheer leverage of it all. Would that make her wrong?
I found myself thinking about this more after some recent comments from Conor McGregor about why he chose to become co-owner of Bare Knuckle FC recently. He told The Mac Life that the rise of BKFC had “burst the UFC competition like a balloon,” while McGregor explained why he thought the bare-knuckle boxing promotion presented a more attractive combat sports alternative to the UFC than any other real MMA organization then.
“We have the UFC as the premier mixed martial arts organization and the rest of it doesn’t really mean anything, right?” McGregor said. “Let’s be real. The rest of them, their best events, are former fighters from the UFC who might be fighting each other or maybe fighting someone at the mid-level. It doesn’t really generate a huge buzz for me, or for the fans, when I look at the numbers. Let’s take Justin Gaethje, a UFC veteran, former BMF holder… interim belt (holder). Take him with you, let’s put him in the knuckle. That is exciting. That’s really exciting. Now let’s put him in another MMA organization. Not so much.”
McGregor isn’t exactly wrong about this. While it may be a niche within a niche, not to mention a niche that is too extreme or intense even for avid MMA fans, it does provide an alternative to the UFC that asks and answers several questions about the fighters we already know. How excited would we get to see someone like Gaethje go to the PFL, an organization he was essentially already fighting for, albeit in a slightly different form? Gaethje vs. BKFC, on the other hand, feels like it carries such a potential for blood and violence that it should be illegal.
Still, competition within the MMA space is a good thing. It increases pay for fighters and gives promoters more incentive to offer fans a better product. The issue many MMA promoters struggle with is how to offer something that feels like it fills a need that the UFC doesn’t.
That’s why we’ve seen so many attempts over the years to change everything from the format (teams, tournaments) to the fighting surface (don’t tell me I’m the only one who remembers the YAMMA pit). The UFC has so thoroughly cornered the market with mainstream MMA content, which is rolled out on a visually consistent conveyor belt almost every weekend of the year, that you really have to get creative to get fans’ attention elsewhere.
For fighters, contract decisions should only come down to two things. The first and most important consideration is money. Who is going to pay you the most for your next fight(s)? And don’t make the mistake of thinking too far ahead on this question, as longevity in this sport is never guaranteed. The second consideration concerns career development opportunities. Who can give you a valuable but perhaps also intangible career boost that you don’t have yet?
Harrison went as far as she could with the PFL. She won titles. She has decimated the competition. There she was the face of the organization for a number of years. What good is more of the same to her? And who can blame her for wanting to add UFC champion to her resume before it’s too late, knowing how MMA fans think when the conversation about legacy comes up?
That’s not desperate, confirmation-seeking behavior – that’s sound reasoning. When we make sports analogies, we play it like it lies. Davis doesn’t necessarily like the end result, but he might want to think twice about how he tries to frame it. It may make headlines, but it also comes with a degree of scrutiny. Moreover, this sport already has one bombastic promoter who is prone to verbal jabs. Again, you may want to find a way to offer an alternative instead of a copycat.
