Do you think it possible that the UFC could actually sell the right to appear in the UFC to sponsors?
This would be for new fighters obviously, but it wouldn't have to be much different than Survivor.
Think about it. You could have _______ fighter, new to the UFC, trained by _______ and sponsored by ______. That way, the UFC wouldn't have to pay them jack, and they could actually make money by having the sponsors pay for the right of the fighter to appear.
You wouldn't even need a sponsor either, if the fighter himself deemed the publicity worth while, they could foot the appearance fee themself.