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Promoting live events in the combat sports industry is a notoriously difficult way to turn a profit, but Harrison Rogers believes he's going to be able to do exactly that with this weekend's launch of the United Fight League (UFL).
He also believes he'll be able to do it while rewarding fighters with two incredibly unique benefits: full medical and life insurance and an ownership stake in the promotion.
"It was such a fun evolution with Frank Mir and Tito Ortiz and Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson," the UFL CEO and founder told MMA Underground. "I've been able to be successful and blessed in a lot of different business ventures that this definitely was not a financially motivated thing. I knew going into it that it would probably be the opposite, but with how we are structuring things, there is definitely a market ready for disruption, if built correctly, that could be very financially advantageous for everybody involved – not just one owner or CEO or president."
UFL hosts its inaugural event on Saturday at Bell Bank Park in Mesa, Arizona. The night's preliminary card will stream live on the online video platform Rumble, with the main card streaming via pay-per-view on Rumble's sister company Locals.
UFL is launching with a grand prix format, hosting eight-man tournaments in six different weight classes. Saturday's event is full of quarterfinal bouts, with winners returning for the semifinal round later this year.
Harrison said each of the 48 competitors in the field is signed to exclusive deals and will receive one full year of health and life insurance as well as company stock awards.
"What started this whole plan was that I have some unique abilities based because of those previous business successes that allow me to solve some of the problems that me, Frank, Tito and 'Rampage' just kind of bellyache to talk about some of their horror stories of them growing the sport," Rogers said. "I was like, 'You know, I could probably take a stab at fixing that and fixing this,' but they're like, 'We've heard that before.'
"Everybody talks about people wanting to solve this, solve that, but now they see, holy cow, we're growing something that really is—I mean, we have our first group insurance policy, so we have our first 48 fighters that are fully medically covered, have life insurance, and this event, when we have our ceremonial weigh-ins, will be handed their stock certificates showing that they're all shareholders of the company.
"There's sacrifice in the event. Go leave it all out in the cage because the better show you guys provide, the bigger audience we get. Yeah, they're making a good purse for this event, but those shares are dividend-bearing shares that say they never fight again, every quarter, they can be getting mailbox money the bigger we get. One succeeds, we all succeed, and it's really cool to see these fighters start to feel like seeing the bigger picture. It's not just a one-and-done."
The UFL is currently a privately held organization, and Rogers said initial funding of the effort is thanks in large part to initial success in another one of his companies, F3 Energy. The debut event features a pair of welterweights with big-show experience in the main event, with former Bellator fighter Demarques Jackson (13-6) vs. four-time UFC veteran Jared Gooden (21-8).
Rogers said the organization is also looking to land additional athletes to help bolster the roster.
"One of the things that is helping us attract bigger talent is bigger purses, and so we've committed to signing our first million-dollar fighter contract before the end of the year," Rogers said.
As with any upstart company, the UFL faces some very serious challenges in attaining its vision. Rogers understands there will be critics as he looks to tackle some long-standing issues in the MMA industry, but he believes his organization is primed to deliver on its mission.
"I think with how new we are, we are super-blessed to have the names and talent of fighters that we even do currently, but the more support we can get from fans to watch, the more we're going to be able to attract the bigger-name fighters," Rogers said. "That's where the audience is going to be blessed, because right now we offer the benefits to the fighters, which hopefully attracts more and more and more talent that are exciting and interesting for the consumers. But it's kind of like, 'Hey, we don't need to do a cart before the horse. Let's get both carts going at the same time.'
"The more support we can get from the audience, the faster we'll be able to get more and more big names over, and the fans who have been asking and yelling and screaming for promotions just to finally start doing these things for fighters, we're doing it. So all the support we can get, not just buying the pay-per-view, but just like, share, comment, word of mouth. Just any support is so valuable right now, and we're relying on a lot of those fans that have been saying that people should be doing this for a long time – and instead of doubting and being skeptical, just showing free support is all we need right now."
