On Vacation

I am on vacation through Friday, May 9. There may be some light, informal posting, but I'm not making any promises.

MMAPayout.com Experiences Record Traffic in April

MMAPayout.com experienced record traffic in the month of April. The site set new records for page views, visits, and unique visitors, which were up 63%, 53%, and 23% respectively from last month. Coverage of Affliction's promotional plans on April 25 generated the highest single day traffic in the site's history.

MMAPayout.com is the only website devoted to the business of MMA.

CB Capital Partners Announces Sponsorship of MMAPayout.com

CB Capital Partners, a leading boutique investment banking firm, announced today that it has reached an agreement to become the presenting sponsor of MMAPayout.com. The site is one of the most respected within the MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) community and garners a high, loyal readership base with quality content dedicated to the business of MMA.

“We have already seen positive results in partnering with Adam Swift’s MMAPayout.com,” said Chris Baclawski, Managing Partner of CB Capital Partners. “His site is read by some of the most well-respected MMA executives in the industry. It is a good fit for us since CB Capital already advises some of the most prominent MMA athlete-entrepreneurs in the world. Given our expertise in mergers & acquisitions and capital raises, we believe we are uniquely positioned to help MMA-related companies achieve their financial goals.”

"MMA professionals rely on MMAPayout.com to keep pace in a rapidly changing industry,” said Adam Swift, owner of MMAPayout.com. “As the leading source for news and analysis of the business of MMA, the site attracts the attention of some of the most important eye balls in industry. This audience makes CB Capital Partners an ideal partner and I am proud to be associated with the firm."

About CB Capital Partners Inc.
CB Capital Partners Inc. is a full-service investment banking and financial advisory firm headquartered in Newport Beach, California. CB Capital Partners specializes in customized financial advisory assignments including capital raising, debt placements, strategic and financial partnerships, and mergers and acquisitions transactions. Visit http://www.cbcapital.com for more information.

About MMAPayout.com
MMAPayout.com is the leading source for news and analysis of the business of MMA.

Happy Easter

Good Friday marks the death of Jesus Christ and the beginning of the Easter Holiday. While Christians around the world observe the death of Christ today, it is His resurrection on Sunday that is the foundation of the Christian faith. John 3:16 perfectly captures the essence of this faith and the significance of these three days:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

In Christ's resurrection our hope is found that in the end even death itself will be defeated. Easter is a celebration of the power of love to conquer death. As Henry Knox Sherrill observed, "the joyful news that He is risen does not change the contemporary world. Still before us lie work, discipline, sacrifice. But the fact of Easter gives us the spiritual power to do the work, accept the discipline, and make the sacrifice."

During this awe inspiring time, let us join together and give thanks to God Almighty for the glory of His grace and the power of His love.

Happy Easter and may God bless you,

Adam Swift
Editor of MMAPayout.com

On Vacation

I'll be traveling this week. I've canned some content and will have my computer so I don't anticipate much of an interruption, but email correspondence may be a little slow through Thursday.

MMAPayout.com Experiences Record Traffic in February

MMAPayout.com experienced record traffic in the month of February. Unique visitors to the site were up roughly 30% over January with visits and page views also up significantly, 40% and 20% respectively. New visitors accounted for 47% of traffic, while the top five visitor locations were New York, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, and Seattle.

MMAPayout.com recorded its highest traffic ever on February 20 for coverage of HDNet v. Zuffa, but that total was surpassed on February 28 with coverage of the Couture-Zuffa preliminary injunction hearing as well as the EliteXC-CBS and UFC-Budweiser deals.

MMAPayout.com is the only website devoted solely to the business of MMA.

Record Month for MMAPayout.com in January

MMAPayout.com experienced record traffic in the month of January. Unique visitors to the site were up roughly 60% over December with visits and pageviews also up significantly, 64% and 71% respectively.

MMAPayout.com is the only website devoted solely to the business of MMA and in only six months has established itself as a leader in news and analysis of the MMA industry.

MMA Goes Hollywood

The latest issue of FIGHT! magazine is now available on newsstands. I have a piece called "MMA Goes Hollywood" focusing on the growing profile of MMA in Hollywood with quotes from Dana White, Randy Couture, and Couture's sports and acting agents. Key quotes to wet your appetite:

“Most of these athletes at the end of the day want to take the celebrity that they’ve built on the field or through their sports and translate that into other opportunities whether that is business, entertainment, or whatever they may want to do,” Matt Walker (Couture's sports agent) said. With Gersh, “I don’t have to go outside of this office, all I have to do is push the buttons, find the people here that believe in MMA, believe in my client in the same way, and then you can do it all internally.”
...
As a fighter, Couture sees Gersh’s involvement as a welcomed development. “I think that there are a lot of athletes out there in our sport that are being misrepresented. They’re not being done justice in their fight careers. I think a lot of those purely fight managers don’t have the capability of helping athletes try to diversify and make the transition somewhere else.”
...
“They’re parasites and what there job is to tell you how fucking great you are, how many other things you could be getting, how badly your getting fucked, and how much better they’re going to make your life,” Dana White said. “That’s there job. But with most of the things that these guys tell these fighters, they’re lucky if thirty percent of it comes true.”

In only four issues FIGHT! has become the largest MMA publication in North America with over 6,000 subscribers and available in bookstores like Barnes & Noble and Borders nationwide. Since its inception the publication has gone from a bi-monthly format to monthly and expanded into Canada with expansion into Europe, Mexico, and Latin America on tap in the not too distant future. As part of an aggressive marketing plan, a full year subscription (12 issues) is now available for $18.95, at least $10 below the competition and 65% off the cover price.

Thanks to Donovan Craig and Matt Brown at FIGHT! who are both a pleasure to work with.

Hurt Clothing

MMAPayout.com is pleased to welcome Hurt Clothing as a sponsor. MMAPayout.com readers are eligible for free shipping using the discount code "MMAPAYOUT."

MMAWarehouse.com

MMAPayout.com is pleased to welcome MMAWarehouse.com as a sponsor of the site. MMAWarehouse.com is an online e-commerce company which offers 1000s of MMA clothing and gear products in stock at competitive prices, and ready to ship out in a flash.

Started in 2004, MMAWarehouse.com is one of the first companies of its kind and has grown very quickly since its inception - now posting annual sales in the millions.

Stagr

MMAPayout.com is pleased to welcome Stagr as a sponsor. Stagr is one of MMA's fastest growing apparel companies with sponsored fighters including Georges St. Pierre, Joe Stevenson, Clay Guida, Gabriel Gonzaga, and Nick & Nate Diaz.

You can check out the full line at Stagr.com and follow the exploits of El Skel at the MMADHOUSE blog.

Payout in MMA Sports Magazine

I have a piece titled "Boxing v. MMA: Different Business Models Equal Different Payscales" in the current issue of MMA Sports, available nation wide in Barnes and Noble. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson graces the cover and the article appears on p.59.

Thanks to MMA Sports, particularly Elie who is a pleasure to work with.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from MMAPayout.com. I've been traveling the last few days, celebrating the the holidays, but things should get back to normal later this week. I'm working on year end pieces as well as a belated review of UFC 79.

Regards,

Adam Swift
Editor, MMAPayout.com

Merry Christmas!

Calvin Coolidge once observed, "Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas."

For Christians, this spirit is epitomized by our Savior, Jesus Christ. Christ came to earth as God's only son and gave His life that we might live. On Christmas we celebrate the birth not only of our Savior, but the redeeming love that his birth brought into the world.

Christian and non-Christian alike can come together to embrace the spirit of the season, the peace, love, and mercy that Christ represents. In the words of Charles Dickens, let us honor Christmas in our hearts and try to keep it all the year.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours,

God Bless,

Adam Swift

Happy Thanksgiving!

E.P. Powell said, "Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude." So in the spirit of those words and this holiday, thanks to everyone who has supported this site and myself over the last two plus months. It's been a remarkable ride that wouldn't have been possible without the support of people like you and for that I am truly grateful.

As Melody Beattie once said, "Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours,

God Bless,

Adam Swift

"On Assignment"

My apologies for the lack of original content and updates over the past week. I'm currently working on a magazine feature that is due this coming Friday. After that things should get back to normal. - AS

MMAPayout.com Experiences 553% Increase in Traffic

MMAPayout.com experienced a 553% increase in average daily impressions in October over the previous month.

MMAPayout.com is the only website devoted solely to the business of MMA. In only six short weeks, MMAPayout.com has established itself as a leader in news and analysis of the MMA industry, providing the most comprehensive breakdown of Zuffa's finances and standard contract available anywhere to date, correctly foreshadowing pending labor disputes with the UFC, furnishing far-reaching analysis of Randy Couture's dispute with the UFC, and the most in depth coverage of the Xyience's recent troubles.

Special thanks to Sherdog.com, FightOpinion.com, FightLinker.com, FiveOuncesofPain.com, BloodyElbow.com, and UFCDaily.com for their support, as well as to you the readers.

Clarification

I just wanted to make a quick clarification regarding the status of this site. Payout remains a separate entity and is not associated in any way with Sherdog.com. Apparently, there had been some confusion as a result of my contributions to Sherdog.com.

Payout on Sherdog

I am pleased to announce that I will be contributing coverage to Sherdog.com. Sherdog is the world's largest MMA website with over 2 million unique visitors each month. The site also has a content integration agreement with ESPN.com.

My first piece for the site is now available - Behind the Curtain: Zuffa's Finances Come Into Focus.

New Domain Name

You can now reach the site at http://www.mmapayout.com/. The old blogspot address should automatically redirect.