Monte Cox as President and CEO of M-1 Global

**dwak** · Posted On: 10/23/2007 11:56am

M-1 isn't just starting though, they've been a small show for a long time, also pride and the early UFC went to other countries pretty often, I think the UFC lost more money buying pride than they thought they would and it probably hasn't been as profitable either. I can't see how it would be much more expensive to stage a show in another country, certain countries maybe but Japan and the US are fairly common sites for MMA and I can't imagine their that expensive, and M-1 has been putting on fights for years in russia, so im sure they know how to work that.

**Shawarma** · Posted On: 10/23/2007 12:46pm

Does anyone have any opinions on whether people in Brazil would pay to watch the UFC if it went to Rio or Sao Paulo for a show?

**Ke?poFist** · Posted On: 10/23/2007 12:49pm

Holy **** Monte Cox? Does he still have any fighters under him to bring into M-1?

**dwak** · Posted On: 10/23/2007 2:11pm

the ufc has been to brazil, albeit a long time ago, the had Ultimate Brazil(of course) in Sao Paulo, not sure how it went as far as sales are concerned.

In regard to Cox yes he still manages fighters (and some big ones to like sherk and sylvia) he says his fighters will need to get a new manager if they come to M-1 and that he never uses contracts with them, so basically while he may guide the fighters to M-1 its up to them whether they go or not

**UpaLumpa** · Posted On: 10/23/2007 2:40pm

Originally Posted by dwak

M-1 isn't just starting though, they've been a small show for a long time,

Throwing on some regional eastern european shows is not at all comparable to running large stadium events in Japan.

Originally Posted by dwak

also pride and the early UFC went to other countries pretty often,

If I recall correctly, the UFC that did that hasn't existed since before zuffa. Also, Pride had a handful of shows in the US (which failed miserably by the way, despite being great cards), what other events did they have outside of Japan?

Originally Posted by dwak

I think the UFC lost more money buying pride than they thought they would and it probably hasn't been as profitable either.

I doubt they ever intended to make money on Pride.

Originally Posted by dwak

I can't see how it would be much more expensive to stage a show in another country, certain countries maybe but Japan and the US are fairly common sites for MMA and I can't imagine their that expensive, and M-1 has been putting on fights for years in russia, so im sure they know how to work that.

The england and ireland shows were massive costs on the UFC, particularly considering that the US ppv buys from them probably suck.

The original article was on sherdog:
http://www.mmapayout.com/2007/10/loo...-finances.html

**Feryk** · Posted On: 10/23/2007 2:55pm

Great article. One of the challenges either of these promotions is going to face is that marketing your PPV event outside of your target markets timezone is going to be a challenge. Delay doesn't make sense (the fights are on the net within minutes - usually for free), so if you hold an event in Japan, but are expecting the PPV market in the US to be up at 3am to watch it, you are screwed.

A truly Global promotion will probably end up with different divisons: UFC Europe, Asia, and America - for example. That way, they can build up local events, sell local PPV, and make money in each market. A couple of times/year, you can have the 'Champions' from each area beat the hell out of each other in a huge fight card, and that WILL sell all over the world. Just a thought.

Sounds like Cox and co. have a business development model for this in place. It'll be fun to see what they do with it.