By Rich Davie@RichDavieJune 10, 2014Invicta FC and the UFC have agreed to a multi-year deal to broadcast
Invicta FC events and previous
Invicta events on the Fight Pass subscription service, meaning that all prior
Invicta FC content and upcoming
Invicta FC events will now be available on Fight Pass only.
Having a solidified and concrete place to call home for
Invicta FC broadcasting is great for the
Invicta FC organization, but it's a move that's a bit odd for the way that the Zuffa / UFC organization has done business in the past.
Co-branding was never a strategy that was deemed a mutually beneficial arrangement for the UFC, especially since the UFC is the premier MMA organization in the world... and obviously, any organization teaming-up with the UFC in a co-branding situation is getting the better end of the deal.
With so many niceties going on between
Invicta FC and the UFC, you can't help but think there's more going on here than meets the eye... and a simple co-branding broadcast arrangement is not what is happening here in my opinion.
Shannon Knapp was a former executive with Strikeforce and has worked for the UFC / Zuffa organization in the past, so there's some history there between Knapp and the UFC brass... but with much of the top talent from the
Invicta FC 135 lb division being signed to the UFC already, and many of the contestants on the season 18 TUF show coming from the
Invicta FC roster as well, it's has to make MMA fans wonder how cozy the relationship actually is between Zuffa and
Invicta.
In addition to those facts, before the "
Invicta Fight Pass" agreement was announced, we saw several more
Invicta fighters signed to the UFC... and we also saw several other
Invicta fighters receive a "free pass" or guaranteed spot in the house for the 115 lb Strawweight season of TUF 20, which is the first season of TUF featuring all women fighters.
As all of the top talent is siphoned-off from the
Invicta FC roster, that really only leaves the
Invicta FC organization as a feeder or minor-league women's MMA organization for the UFC.
What we're basically seeing here, is that
Invicta has become to the UFC what the WEC was to the UFC... a feeder organization where up-and-comers wind-up in the UFC, and where fighters find a temporary home who didn't fare as well in the UFC when given the opportunity.
Even though
Invicta FC's president Shannon Knapp states that the all female MMA organization is doing well and that she never considered closing the doors and giving up, MMA fans have to question if this is simply a precursor to an
Invicta FC buyout by Zuffa.
I've been calling this buyout scenario for quite sometime now... and with the writing on the wall becoming even more bolder, I think
Invicta FC will be the next MMA organization absorbed by Zuffa in the near future.
I'm of the opinion that Zuffa absorbing
Invicta is not only great for the UFC and
Invicta FC, but a fantastic deal for women's MMA and MMA fans alike.
So I'm gonna stick to my guns and say that regardless of what DFW and Knapp maybe be stating publicly, I say we'll be witnessing the absorption of
Invicta into the UFC sooner rather than later... what do you all think ?