Mixed Martial Arts

[AndyMarquisLIVE]

Who else thinks MMA is about to be the biggest sport since NASCAR. I heard a few days ago NBC and CBS are in talks with the UFC to go primetime, and that UFC is about to merge and takeover the WEC.

I've been watching a lot of MMA on SPIKETV recently and must say it's not something I would be trying out in the near future.

But, I've noticed NBC Sports seems to be nesting all their eggs in the UFC, kind of like CBS Sports in 1979 when they made the risky decision to carry one of racing's most thrilling events live.

What say you?

 

[cmfam7]

Who else thinks MMA is about to be the biggest sport since NASCAR. I heard a few days ago NBC and CBS are in talks with the UFC to go primetime, and that UFC is about to merge and takeover the WEC.

I've been watching a lot of MMA on SPIKETV recently and must say it's not something I would be trying out in the near future.

But, I've noticed NBC Sports seems to be nesting all their eggs in the UFC, kind of like CBS Sports in 1979 when they made the risky decision to carry one of racing's most thrilling events live.

What say you?

I agree UFC is on the verge of exploding. I think it will depend upon how well Brock Lesner does tonight though. Also if Dana White can keep lining up big matches.

 

[greyhound]

 

[cmfam7]

Lead the way. Sorry we bore you.

 

[AndyMarquisLIVE]

I agree UFC is on the verge of exploding. I think it will depend upon how well Brock Lesner does tonight though. Also if Dana White can keep lining up big matches.

Didn't take long for Lesnar to get his azz handed to him. A minute and a half.

Yep, Brock Lesnar's the real deal.

 

[Lugnut]

Didn't take long for Lesnar to get his azz handed to him. A minute and a half.

Yep, Brock Lesnar's the real deal.

Frank Mir and Antonio Nogueira Rock!!! Both fights looked like they were going the other way then BAM!!!

GREAT fights!

 

[Larry Gude]

Ufc...

Who else thinks MMA is about to be the biggest sport since NASCAR. I heard a few days ago NBC and CBS are in talks with the UFC to go primetime, and that UFC is about to merge and takeover the WEC...

What say you?

...or any combat sport is not now nor ever will be even remotely as big as NASCAR.

It doesn't even come close to hockey. Fighting is a niche and that's it.

 

[CableChick]

UFC is/has been huge! I remember back in the 90's when Jones Intercable banned the UFC from all of their cable companies. They refused to show it because they basically caved from the onslaught of calls/letters they were receiving saying that the UFC was too rough/cruel/inhumane.

I remember, at the time, being so pissed off at Glenn Jones wondering why he could tell me what to and what not to watch. Hell ... it was a pay-per-view event for Christ sake .... if you didn't want it, you didn't have to buy it.





MSO defections put UFC in jeopardy. (Ultimate Fighting Championship) | Multichannel News | Find Articles at BNET.com


Interesting find about John McCain:

In the field of violent spectacle, Robert Meyrowitz, president and CEO of SEG Sports, is the brainchild (and Executive Producer) behind the regularly scheduled Ultimate Fighting Championships where "almost anything goes -- elbow chops, head butts, knees to the groin (only eye gouging and biting are frowned upon)." [PLUMMER, p. 86] Meyrowitz, noted Forbes, in his earlier years, was "one of the leading radio impresarios in the United States, supplying hundreds of stations with canned programs." [NEWCOMB, p. 328] His new company markets brutal fighting on pay-per-TV, in 1995 reaching 300,000 American homes for $24.95 per showing. By then, however, his bouts were formally banned in three states -- Kansas, Ohio, and South Carolina. Senator John McCain of Arizona joined many protesters, saying that he objected to the UFC on "a moral level ... [It embodies] the decay of American society. And I'm opposed because of risk to the health of the combatants." [PLUMMER, p. 86] By 1998, because of continued angry nation-wide condemnation, Meyrowitz's promotions were formally banned on many pay-per-view networks, including Cablevision Systems, InterMedia Partners, CI, TIme-Warner, Adelphia, Jones Intercable, and Request. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

 

[Lugnut]

...or any combat sport is not now nor ever will be even remotely as big as NASCAR.

It doesn't even come close to hockey. Fighting is a niche and that's it.

I dunno, it's one of the few sports where the "average joe" can relate. He remembers a fight in high school or some guy hitting on his girlfriend and how he told him to piss off. And the testosterone flows.

Most guys say to themselves "I could do that if..." it's a blue collar sport and people relate to it on a more personal level than they do NASCAR.

I think it plays to a very primal part of a man. Competition, dominance, on an individual level. "I *AM* the better man."

For me, NASCAR comes FAaaaar short "Drive fast, turn left" :shrug:

A fighter doesn't have the longevity of a race car driver (nature of the sport) so the corporate advertising opportunity is'nt there. But I think MMA has definitely grown beyond being the fad it once was. Hopefully MMA can keep people shady characters out of management, and it won't fade away like boxing.

 

[Larry Gude]

All...

I dunno, it's one of the few sports where the "average joe" can relate. "Drive fast, turn left" :shrug:
.

...I am saying is it isn't going to get that kind of market share.

Fight sports will always have an audience and the UFC's Ultimate Fighter is a great idea for a show, buy anyone who has fought; wrestled, boxed, had their share of playground/bar fights knows just how hard this is and just how little they really want to get into fights anymore.

 

[Kain99]

I Love UFC and predict it will go all the way!