MMA's 40 Most Powerful People (2012)

[Cammo101]

I did this a couple years ago and it brought some interesting conversation, so I went and did an updated version. It is wild how much this list changed in 2 years.


1. Dana White (UFC President)
2. Lorenzo & Frank Fertitta (Zuffa Chairman/CEO)
3. Joe Silva (UFC Matchmaker/VP Talent Relations)
4. Georges St. Pierre (UFC Welterweight Champion)
5. Anderson Silva (UFC Middleweight Champion)
6. David Hill (Fox Sports Chairman/CEO)
7. Jon Jones (UFC Light Heavyweight Champion)
8. Keith Kizer (Executive Director of Nevada State Athletic Commission)
9. Bjorn Rebney (CEO of Bellator)
10. Craig Piligian (Executive Producer of The Ultimate Fighter)
11. Eric Shanks (Fox Sports Co-President/COO)
12. Marc Ratner (UFC VP Regulatory Affairs)
13. Greg Jackson (Trainer/President of Greg Jackson’s MMA)
14. John Landgraf (FX President)
15. Raymond Avansino Jr. (Head of Nevada State Athletic Commission)
16. Jose Aldo (UFC Featherweight Champion)
17. Scott Coker (Strikeforce Founder/Promoter)
18. Ed Soares (MMA Manager/Co-Founder of Black House)
19. Tim Katz/Skyskrape & Dan Caldwell/Punkss (Tapout Clothing Founders)
20. Tim Danaher (Bellator President)
21. Kevin Kay (President of Spike TV)
22. Sam Caplan (Bellator Matchmaker/VP Talent Relations)
23. Junior dos Santos (UFC Heavyweight Champion)
24. Ricardo Liborio (Founder of American Top Team)
25. Chael Sonnen (UFC Middleweight)
26. Mark Cuban (AXS TV Owner)
27. Joe Rogan (UFC Play by Play Announcer)
28. BJ Penn (Former UFC Lightweight and Welterweight Champion)
29. Chuck Liddell (UFC Executive VP of Business Development/Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion)
30. Rashad Evans (UFC Light Heavyweight)
31. Michael Bisping (UFC Middleweight)
32. Dan Henderson (UFC Light Heavyweight)
33. Vitor Belfort (UFC Middleweight)
34. Jon Anik (UFC Television Personality/Host of The Ultimate Fighter)
35. Urijah Faber (UFC Bantamweight/Former WEC Featherweight Champion)
36. Kenny Florian (UFC Lightweight/MMA TV Personality)
37. Frank Edgar (UFC Lightweight)
38. Dominick Cruz (UFC Bantamweight Champion)
39. Bas Rutten (Host of Inside MMA/Trainer/Personality)
40. Ronda Rousey (Strikeforce Women's 135 lb. Champion)

http://www.nbadraftguru.blogspot.com

[CPT]

Kinda hard (pointless?) to compare fighters to business people, managers, announcers, etc, so there's that problem right off the bat.

I'm sure you put a lot of thought into it, but a list with no explanation isn't worth a whole lot. What makes Jose Aldo (16) more powerful than Scott Coker (17)? And why is Greg Jackson (12) more powerful than both? Just an example.

Also, Sean Shelby is missing, and Joe Rogan should be way higher.

[SDM]

Where are the agents and managers? These guys are the straw that stirs the drink.

[CPT]

^Good call.

Malki Kawa (sp?) is the first guy that comes to mind, but I'm sure there are a few other powerful agents/managers out there.

You should take out all of the fighters, because as it stands, it kind of just seems like you took a list of the most powerful people in MMA and a P4P list and arbitrarily ranked them. Like I said above, it's tough to argue that Joe Silva is more "powerful" (still not entirely sure what that means in this case) than GSP or vice versa. Take the fighters off the list and at least it's an apples to apples comparison.

[CPT]

Wanted to expand on my Joe Rogan comment above.

Again, not sure how power is being defined here, but Rogan is certainly near the top of the list of the most influential people in the sport. So many people learn everything they know and have their opinions crafted by Rogan. From his commentary on every major event, to the countdown/promotional videos, to his podcast, his opinions are gospel to the majority of MMA fans.

Furthermore, in terms of power, I'm not sure there's one fighter that could legitimize an upstart promotion as much as Joe Rogan would. I mean, in a way it's a two way street, and he wouldn't have the same influence if the UFC didn't give him the stage, but I feel like Joe Rogan showing up on a Bellator (or Strikeforce pre-Zuffa) broadcast would mean as much or more in the eyes of the average MMA fan than any single fighter, with maybe a few exceptions. If that's not power, what is?

[Gold Chain]

But who's the strongest?

[REDDzone]

But who's the strongest?

lorenzo