One man in mixed-martial arts today has more power than any punch by Quentin Jackson, is stronger any kick by Mirko CroCop, and is more tenacious than any submission by B.J. Penn. He controls the destiny of the sport and his influence is bigger than the sport itself. And now, with the sport arguably on the cusp of taking off in terms of popularity, marketability and financial success, one man threatens to cut off that tremendous growth. Who is that man? None other than UFC President, Mr. Dana White.

I don’t need to go into too much how the sport has grown in recent years. The record pay-per-view buys. The sold out shows. The amount of websites that have sprouted up in support of the sport. The name recognition of the fighters. The acceptance by the public, the sports media, and even state athletic commissions. More recently, we’ve heard about how EliteXC is going to on prime time TV (e.g. free) on May 31 with Kimbo Slice headlining. Both EliteXC and UFC have big name sponsors (*Showtime* and Budweiser, respectively). In short, the sport has reached mainstream status here in the U.S.

I love MMA, but it can be so much more than it is now. It can still grow to ever-dizzying heights. I disagree with the UFC’s business model of getting as many good fighters as possible under exclusive contracts to attempt to create a monopoly. It is not working and will never work. There will always be “free agents” out there who can arguably take on and beat some of the UFC’s best. Is the UFC’s Antonio Noguiera the best heavyweight in the world? Many would argue no, that Fedor Emelianenko is. But Fedor is a free agent who fights for M-1 Mix Fight. Is UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva the best at his class in the world? Maybe. But Paulo Filho and Cung Le are great fighters in their own right. The problem with these non-UFC fighters is that they fight in other organizations. And Dana White doesn’t want to allow them to fight.

We as sports fans are clamoring to see the best in the world take each other on. Dana White wants to protect the UFC brand and keep these guys from getting in the ring. The market and the fans are speaking, but Dana White and UFC are not listening. We’ll never know who’s best unless they actually fight one another.

How about showing that the best MMA fighters like Anderson Silva can beat boxers? Wouldn’t that show that UFC fighters and MMA fighters are the best fighters in the world. Dana White doesn’t think so. He won’t let Anderson Silva fight Roy Jones, Jr. in a boxing match. This is what fantasy sports is all about, folks. The fights that we dream about, think about, talk about when we have those water cooler conversations, they can happen. But Dana White won’t let it happen.

Cross-promotional fights would allow the best to fight one another and give everyone (including UFC and it’s parent company, Zuffa LLC) all the money and revenues it could ever ask for. They could be more rich than they can imagine. But they won’t. They want to protect their brand, and that’s selfish. UFC will continue to be the leader, but the fans will remain wistful of “what if” scenarios for their dream fights. If UFC wanted to make the best fights, they would allow their fighters to engage in cross-promotional fights. But for now, it ain’t gonna happen. Dana White won’t let it happen. That’s how powerful he is. And it shows how dangerous he is to the growth of the sport. Unless things change, MMA will die a premature death instead of continuing its upward climb as sport in this country.