UFC(MMA) on a verge of explosion. - The Orange Mane

DB-Freak · 03-09-2006, 04:10 PM

http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/5373408

Once branded as human cockfighting and plagued by its own blood-soaked marketing, the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the sport of mixed martial arts almost collapsed before it ever really got started.

FOX Bite
Videos

Ultimate Fighting Highlights
Watch highlights of Chuck Liddell, Rich Franklin, David Loiseau and other UFC fighters.

The sport, a unique blend of wrestling, jiu-jitsu, boxing and kickboxing, was banned in much of the country in the late 1990s.
But through a combination of aggressive new ownership, sanctioning in pivotal states, and a hot cable television product featuring charismatic stars, UFC is undergoing a successful image remodel.

Also...

Boxing might be in trouble

What's it like being an Ultimate Fighter?

"We're not for everyone, and we don't try to be," UFC president Dana White said. "If you don't like fighting sports, great, this is America, that's your right. All we ask is that people understand what we are."

One thing is quickly becoming understood — mixed martial arts is heading for the mainstream of American sport, whether or not the mainstream is ready. UFC is coming off the biggest event in its history, UFC 57 on Feb. 4, in which light heavyweight champion Chuck Lidell defended his title against former champion Randy Couture.

UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell is the biggest star in mixed martial arts. (Josh Hedges/Copyright Zuffa, LLC)

The show drew a sellout of 10,301 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas for a paying gate of $3.3 million; another sellout of 2,000 watched the fight at the site on closed-circuit TV; and early pay-per view estimates are 350,000 buys. A live fight special leading up to the show on Spike TV on Jan. 16 drew more viewers than a much-hyped Miami Heat-Los Angeles Lakers game on ESPN the same night.

In fact, nearly 4,000 people showed up for a midweek weigh-in. Contrast that to when Liddell and Couture first fought in 2003, when there were just over 4,000 paid admissions.

"I'm kind of surprised with how fast this has all happened," said the 37-year old Liddell. "People are finally starting to understand what we're all about."

Yahoo even reported that its second-most requested topic in their search engines the weekend of Feb. 4-5 involved Ultimate Fighting, with "UFC results" among the most popular topics. Only that weekend's Super Bowl XL received more inquiries.

If fight fans needed to go online and search for results of the fight — which was not covered by traditional outlets like the Associated Press — that would seem to suggest mainstream media are missing the boat on a sport with a big following.

"There's a huge buzz about the sport right now," said David Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, who has covered the sport since its infancy. "Old sports editors are set in their ways, and I don't think they'll ever get it."

This is in part because many probably still remember the sport's original surge in popularity, which nearly caused it to be legislated out of existence.

The first UFC event was held in Denver in 1993. It was conceived to answer the age-old question of which fighting discipline was the strongest, a question that sold tons of newsstand karate magazines over the years.

"They didn't know they were creating a new sport," said White. "It was supposed to be a one-off event, but it ended up being so successful they did another."

Rules of the octagon

Nothing frustrates people in the mixed martial arts community more than the misperception of the basics of their sport. "Once a reporter asked me what it was like fighting someone 50 pounds heavier with no referee," said Ultimate Fighter Alex Karalexis. "And I said 'That's not what I do' and explained the rules. Then I picked up the paper and it talked about how I fight to the death with no ref against people 100 pounds heavier."

UFC conducts its bouts under rules that are becoming widely accepted as industry standards in commission states. Here is a partial list of UFC do's and don'ts:

What's legal

Punching
Elbowing
Kicking and kneeing standing fighters
Wrestling takedowns and throws
Olympic judo-style chokes
Submission joint locks
What's not

Head butts
Eye gouging
Hair-pulling
Groin strikes
Strikes to the spine or back of the head
Kicking, kneeing or stomping a grounded opponent
Holding the fence for leverage
Throat strikes

UFC quickly became successful as a pay-per-view attraction in the mid-1990s. But a backlash grew against the nascent sport's Wild West atmosphere, which often produced grizzly visuals. A relative lack of rules led to sideshow-type spectacles, such as a fight between 150-pound martial artist Keith Hackney and 600-pound sumo Emmanuel Yarborough; and another fight in which Hackney repeatedly punched martial artist Joe Son in the groin before Son submitted.

Worse, then-UFC owners Semaphore Entertainment downplayed the inherent skill of the athletes and instead played up the carnival aspect, promising and delivering blood gore.

"I had a debate on Larry King Live with them at the time and told them in no uncertain terms we couldn't sanction them unless they changed their rules," said Marc Ratner, executive director of the Nevada athletic commission. "They really dug in their heels in trying to avoid regulation, and they paid for it."

New York banned the event in 1997, and many of the nation's athletic commissions followed suit. Facing pressure from the likes of Arizona senator John McCain, major cable providers pulled the plug on UFC.

"Honestly, they deserved to be banned," White said. "They made every mistake possible. It wasn't healthy for our sport."

Through the late 1990s, the sport limped by on satellite dish, staging shows at Indian casinos and in the few non-commission states that didn't specifically ban it.

"If someone has an issue with all combat sports, if they're in favor of banning boxing and kickboxing and mixed martial arts, then at least I can respect their consistency, even though I disagree with them," Meltzer said. "The thing that bothers me is the way mixed martial arts was singled out. There's never been a single death in a sanctioned MMA event."

UFC was on life support in the late 1990s, when Semaphore sold the company to Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta III, owners of the Station Casinos, in 2000 and brought along White to run the ship.

"When we bought the promotion, it was something that came from the heart," White said. "Every indicator at the time said this was a bad business move, something you couldn't make money in. We took a gamble because we loved the sport and knew the following was there."

The sport's turnaround began in earnest when it received sanctioning from the Nevada athletic commission in 2001 (New Jersey had given its blessing the previous year).

Long gone were the groin strikes and other dirty tactics. Referees were given far greater leeway to stop fights. Fights were set at five, five-minute rounds for title fights and three five-minute rounds for the rest, with judging instituted in the event a fight goes the distance.

"We got together with the people who run all these groups and told them there needs to be a uniform set of rules, like with boxing or any other combat sport," Ratner said. "The people at UFC have complied with everything we've asked of them."

Unlike previous ownership, the present UFC administration embraces government sanctioning as the key to the sport's legitimacy.

"We welcome the commissions," White said. "The old owners ran from regulation; we want it. Like boxing or football or any contact sport, that most important thing is that we take the care to protect the fighters' health and safety."

Of course, the blessing of a key commission wasn't going to revive a sport left for dead on its own. Enter White, a Las Vegas native who cut his teeth promoting boxing in Boston.

"He deserves a ton of credit for making the sport what it has become," Meltzer said of White. "He's the Vince McMahon of his generation."

Nevada sanctioning helped bring cable pay-per-view back on board, but only hardcore fans remained. The next step was getting back on television.

"I mean, it was ridiculous to me.," White said. "Television was at the point that they had people eating donkey (genitals) in prime time, and you're telling me there's no room on television for our sport?"

Bridging the gap was Spike TV's ,The Ultimate Fighter reality show, which is finishing up production of its third season. The show features would-be UFC fighters training in the Nevada desert, guided by UFC stars like Liddell and Couture.

"It was a way to phase on to television without going straight to showing the fights," White said. "Once people started to see what these fighters do — how much time they spend in training, what level of skills you need to make it — that helped break down the stereotypes about our fighters and helped the people see them as all-around athletes."

The show has helped the public gain an understanding of what the sport has evolved into. Fighters need to be cross-trained in all relevant disciplines; a puncher who can't wrestle will be taken down with ease; a wrestler who isn't versed in submission holds will find himself on the wrong end of a submission lock on the ground; and everyone needs to watch out for someone who can kick.

Wrestling throws are one facet of mixed martial arts, as UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes demonstrates on Frank Trigg. (Josh Hedges/Copyright Zuffa, LLC)

"When you first see the clips, if it is something you have never seen before, the visuals can be jarring," said welterweight fighter Frank Trigg, a former University of Oklahoma wrestler who has been featured in a UFC main event. "People have always had the idea that boxing is the 'proper' way to fight. So it takes time to understand the differences between what they're used to and all the subtleties of that go into a ground fight."

Another important piece of the puzzle fell into place when California recently legalized competition. The sport has long been West Coast based, but the Golden State was the final major holdout among Western commission states.

"The way I look at it, there were lots of underground shows, shows on Indian reservations, where the athletes weren't getting proper medical attention," said Armando Garcia, executive officer of the California athletic commission. "The sport has grown to the point where we need to make sure things are on the up and up."

All indications are that California is becoming a hotbed for the sport. The first UFC show in the state, UFC 59 on April 15, sold out the 18,000-seat Pond in Anaheim in two days before a single fight was announced — and that's with the cheapest ticket at $50 and no seats in the lower bowl priced under $200. An independently promoted show in San Jose headlined by Frank Shamrock vs. Cesar Gracie on March 10 is expected to draw more than 10,000 fans.

Industry speculation has it that such high-profile success could lead to the remaining mixed martial arts holdout states in the East, like New York and Maryland, getting on board.

"My guess is that every state with a commission that has its act together will legalize the sport eventually," Ratner said. "They're starting to understand this is just another combat sport."

If the notion of protecting fighters doesn't get remaining commissions to change their tune, another factor might.

"Wait until the commissioners in New York and other places get a load of the gate the show in Anaheim," said Meltzer, who served as a judge on two UFC shows in the late 1990s. "And Nevada is bringing in a ton of money on these shows."

Either way, the principals involved say the perceptions of the sport are changing.

"I always knew the sport would get big if we were given the opportunity," Liddell said. "The interest was always there in the underground, it was a matter of getting the chance to show what we can do in front of a bigger audience. We have, and the people have responded."

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I hope the mods keep this on the main page instead of moving it to the off topic section. I would like to see where the Maners stand on this issue... and I know there are several MMA fans here.

I'm more than happy that this sport is becoming more mainstream. It's a sports that fighters need to become more well paid these days. I've been watching MMA since it's younger days(Vale Tudo) and this sports has evolved so much.

Kudos to growth.

KipCorrington25 · 03-09-2006, 04:12 PM

I like it. I used to watch boxing but this is better.

scorpio · 03-09-2006, 04:12 PM

I love the fact that I can now watch UFC for free on TV. That rocks so much. The Ultimate Fighter is the best reality show ever made.

DarkHorse30 · 03-09-2006, 04:14 PM

rollerderby is WAY better, dudes......

DB-Freak · 03-09-2006, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scorpio

I love the fact that I can now watch UFC for free on TV. That rocks so much. The Ultimate Fighter is the best reality show ever made.

More sports related shows the better.

I'm not a big fan of most TV shows out there.

DB-Freak · 03-09-2006, 04:18 PM

In time, UFC may TKO boxing's audience

The sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) is developing a substantial following, but is it cultivating any of boxing's mainstream audience?

Zuffa LLC, the Nevada company which controls the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and is thus the sport's dominant player in the U.S., has attempted to reach more avid boxing fans by courting the boxing media.

At last year's Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) dinner in Las Vegas, UFC had a substantial presence. Kevin Iole, the boxing beat writer for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, has covered every UFC event held in the city and thinks the barriers to acceptance by the mainstream boxing press and public have more to do with the limitations imposed on the major media than the quality of the UFC product.

"In newspapers, space is at a premium, even for boxing," says Iole, who says he's grown to appreciate the UFC as he's seen more of it. "To go to MMA, that requires the writers taking the time to understand the difference and to search out the demographic, and the writers aren't going to do that. They're going to try to get more space for what they already know and are comfortable with, and that's boxing."

One of the reasons newspapers aren't clamoring to cover the UFC is that mixed martial arts fans are not their customers. UFC's demographics skew younger, and young people are reading newspapers less and less these days. According to a study done by the Online Publishers Association, for only nine percent of adults aged 18-34 is the newspaper the first or second medium of choice.

Also, mixed martial arts has still yet to be sanctioned in many states. Fewer than half of state athletic commissions, which were formed for the purposes of regulating boxing, allow it; among those who do are influential states such as Nevada, New Jersey, Florida, and California, with an MMA-only commission having been recently been established in North Dakota. Because of that, UFC is still working to combat its "outlaw" perception — not the least of which is a confusion with Toughman contests, with which it has no affiliation — that is not often compatible with mainstream media coverage.

Generally, the safety aspects of the UFC, the result of a restructuring of the rules in the late 1990s, stand up favorably to those of boxing, but commissions have been slow to catch on, principally due to a lack of understanding of the disciplines the sport encompasses.

Larry Hazzard, commissioner of the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, was the first commissioner to give MMA his stamp of approval. But Hazzard brought plenty of background to his decision; he has black belts in Karate and Brazilian Ju-Jitsu and has taught close-quarter combat at a number of law-enforcement academies.

"Yes, this is a combat sport, but it's still a totally different animal," Hazzard said. "People are used to boxing, and they know what they're looking for. And it seems this (MMA) loses a lot of people once it gets to the ground. They don't understand the wrestling and the submission holds. If you put together a highlight clip of MMA action, it seems more brutal, and that's probably turned some people off."

Younger viewers are as likely to know UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes as they are the big names in boxing. (John Gichigi / Getty Images)

"It's still more a spectacle than a sport in many people's minds," says Tim Graham, boxing writer for the Buffalo News, who was recently elected president of the BWAA. "But I'm a fan of it. I see it as a very pure and worthwhile sport that's a worthy competitor to boxing."

Graham looks upon the fact that the UFC is both the promoter and the sanctioning body as a positive for the fans. "They basically control their product, and they can put on the very best matchups possible and give the fans what they want on a very structured basis. So from a business standpoint, it's everything boxing isn't."

Iole echoes that, making the point that not only does the UFC seem to be more responsive to public demand than most boxing promoters, it has the business model necessary to do something about it: "If there's a big matchup in a division, they get that fight made right away."

Old-line boxing people have expressed little interest in the UFC or mixed martial arts in general, and that prospect is not likely to change. International matchmaker and agent Don Majeski points out that there was more commonality between boxing and wrestling fans in the 1950s and '60s, but he doesn't see it happening with boxing and MMA.

"Years ago there used to be wrestling and boxing in the same place, where you'd see a wrestling match one night and boxing the next night, or vice versa," Majeski said. "And often the boxing promoter and the wrestling promoter were one in the same, or they had a great rivalry between the two of them, where each disdained the sport of the other, and they went after each other's fans. (With MMA) I haven't seen much crossover promotion."

Younger boxing promoters, however, may be more accepting of MMA events. Scott Wagner, 37, who promotes his regular "Ballroom Boxing" series out of Glen Burnie, Md., says that if the sport was sanctioned and regulated in his state (it is not), he wouldn't hesitate to put on shows. "I'd do it in a minute," he says. "Actually, it wouldn't even take me that long."

Wagner recognizes something in the UFC's approach that boxing doesn't have a hold on. "People who don't like it are basing their judgments on something they don't know about," he says. "What I see about the sport is that the demographic, as far as sponsors go, is a bonanza. It's male, 18-25. I went to one of those events. They sold 16,000 tickets or however many that joint held. You couldn't get in that place. How many boxing matches do you go to and see that many people?"

There is little question that mixed martial arts is one of the fastest growing sports in America. "By the end of this fiscal year," says Hazzard, "we will have sanctioned more MMA shows than pro boxing shows in this state, which is a first."

It likely won't be the last time we'll hear that. MMA promoters, specifically the UFC, seem to possess more marketing savvy than their boxing brethren. They may not be capturing the boxing audience now, but they're latching on to a generation of customers who will eventually make up more and more of the demographic pool. And as its dyed-in-the-wool loyalists become fewer in number, boxing may in time have problems arousing the interest of fans who have been weaned on MMA.

KipCorrington25 · 03-09-2006, 04:22 PM

That's funny, I was a boxing fan for years and started watching the UFC stuff the last year or so and now I find boxing really dull. They are on to something here.

Smiling Assassin27 · 03-09-2006, 04:24 PM

Saw some dude, the current Middleweight champ i think, on UFC all access. The dude's workout is stupid crazy.

DB-Freak · 03-09-2006, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KipCorrington25

That's funny, I was a boxing fan for years and started watching the UFC stuff the last year or so and now I find boxing really dull. They are on to something here.

Boxing is science.

15 rounds of just punches flinging(perception) can bore some people. It's not as dynamic either.

But I still love boxing.

scorpio · 03-09-2006, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smiling Assassin27

Saw some dude, the current Middleweight champ i think, on UFC all access. The dude's workout is stupid crazy.

Rich Franklin is an animal. He used to be a school teacher, heh.

The guy broke his left hand and his foot in his last title defense and still won.

Liquid Courage · 03-09-2006, 04:33 PM

I've followed UFC since Gracie pioneered Brazilian Jiu Jitsu over a decade ago now. For those that don't know about the sport and/or are sick of watching overpaid pretty boys dance around a ring, I definitely suggest you check out UFC Unleashed or even Pride fighting through SPIKE TV or Fox Sports. The guys are almost all class acts and bust there asses to improve themselves and their sport. Not to mention that we have a GREAT fighter that lives/trains in Denver in Nate Marquardt, a totally ripped Pancration expert that just won his bout in UFC 58. I'm addicted and encourage the same to all of you!

dbfan4life · 03-09-2006, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DB-Freak

http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/5373408
UFC quickly became successful as a pay-per-view attraction in the mid-1990s. But a backlash grew against the nascent sport's Wild West atmosphere, which often produced grizzly visuals. A relative lack of rules led to sideshow-type spectacles, such as a fight between 150-pound martial artist Keith Hackney and 600-pound sumo Emmanuel Yarborough; and another fight in which Hackney repeatedly punched martial artist Joe Son in the groin before Son submitted.

I remember watching this one. Joe Son sure can take a punch to the nuts! Man, Hackney must've pounded on his nads a good 9 or 10 times before Son tapped out. Brutal!

scorpio · 03-09-2006, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liquid Courage

I've followed UFC since Gracie pioneered Brazilian Jiu Jitsu over a decade ago now. For those that don't know about the sport and/or are sick of watching overpaid pretty boys dance around a ring, I definitely suggest you check out UFC Unleashed or even Pride fighting through SPIKE TV or Fox Sports. The guys are almost all class acts and bust there asses to improve themselves and their sport. Not to mention that we have a GREAT fighter that lives/trains in Denver in Nate Marquardt, a totally ripped Pancration expert that just won his bout in UFC 58. I'm addicted and encourage the same to all of you!

I think Duane "Bang" Ludwig is from D-Town too

Elway 4 Life · 03-09-2006, 04:47 PM

I think one of the absolute best qualities of MMA is that Don King is not involved. I was a huge boxing fan years ago but it is so corrupt that its takes so much away from the sport. MMA is just balls to the wall action. Rarely is there a boring fight.

I LOVE THAT MMA IS BECOMING MAINSTREAM.

BMF Bronco · 03-09-2006, 04:53 PM

UFC is the best thing to happen to TV!

03-09-2006, 04:10 PM	#1
DB-Freak The lone sack artist Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 4,995	UFC(MMA) on a verge of explosion. http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/5373408 Once branded as human cockfighting and plagued by its own blood-soaked marketing, the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the sport of mixed martial arts almost collapsed before it ever really got started. FOX Bite Videos Ultimate Fighting Highlights Watch highlights of Chuck Liddell, Rich Franklin, David Loiseau and other UFC fighters. The sport, a unique blend of wrestling, jiu-jitsu, boxing and kickboxing, was banned in much of the country in the late 1990s. But through a combination of aggressive new ownership, sanctioning in pivotal states, and a hot cable television product featuring charismatic stars, UFC is undergoing a successful image remodel. Also... Boxing might be in trouble What's it like being an Ultimate Fighter? "We're not for everyone, and we don't try to be," UFC president Dana White said. "If you don't like fighting sports, great, this is America, that's your right. All we ask is that people understand what we are." One thing is quickly becoming understood — mixed martial arts is heading for the mainstream of American sport, whether or not the mainstream is ready. UFC is coming off the biggest event in its history, UFC 57 on Feb. 4, in which light heavyweight champion Chuck Lidell defended his title against former champion Randy Couture. UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell is the biggest star in mixed martial arts. (Josh Hedges/Copyright Zuffa, LLC) The show drew a sellout of 10,301 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas for a paying gate of $3.3 million; another sellout of 2,000 watched the fight at the site on closed-circuit TV; and early pay-per view estimates are 350,000 buys. A live fight special leading up to the show on Spike TV on Jan. 16 drew more viewers than a much-hyped Miami Heat-Los Angeles Lakers game on ESPN the same night. In fact, nearly 4,000 people showed up for a midweek weigh-in. Contrast that to when Liddell and Couture first fought in 2003, when there were just over 4,000 paid admissions. "I'm kind of surprised with how fast this has all happened," said the 37-year old Liddell. "People are finally starting to understand what we're all about." Yahoo even reported that its second-most requested topic in their search engines the weekend of Feb. 4-5 involved Ultimate Fighting, with "UFC results" among the most popular topics. Only that weekend's Super Bowl XL received more inquiries. If fight fans needed to go online and search for results of the fight — which was not covered by traditional outlets like the Associated Press — that would seem to suggest mainstream media are missing the boat on a sport with a big following. "There's a huge buzz about the sport right now," said David Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, who has covered the sport since its infancy. "Old sports editors are set in their ways, and I don't think they'll ever get it." This is in part because many probably still remember the sport's original surge in popularity, which nearly caused it to be legislated out of existence. The first UFC event was held in Denver in 1993. It was conceived to answer the age-old question of which fighting discipline was the strongest, a question that sold tons of newsstand karate magazines over the years. "They didn't know they were creating a new sport," said White. "It was supposed to be a one-off event, but it ended up being so successful they did another." Rules of the octagon Nothing frustrates people in the mixed martial arts community more than the misperception of the basics of their sport. "Once a reporter asked me what it was like fighting someone 50 pounds heavier with no referee," said Ultimate Fighter Alex Karalexis. "And I said 'That's not what I do' and explained the rules. Then I picked up the paper and it talked about how I fight to the death with no ref against people 100 pounds heavier." UFC conducts its bouts under rules that are becoming widely accepted as industry standards in commission states. Here is a partial list of UFC do's and don'ts: What's legal Punching Elbowing Kicking and kneeing standing fighters Wrestling takedowns and throws Olympic judo-style chokes Submission joint locks What's not Head butts Eye gouging Hair-pulling Groin strikes Strikes to the spine or back of the head Kicking, kneeing or stomping a grounded opponent Holding the fence for leverage Throat strikes UFC quickly became successful as a pay-per-view attraction in the mid-1990s. But a backlash grew against the nascent sport's Wild West atmosphere, which often produced grizzly visuals. A relative lack of rules led to sideshow-type spectacles, such as a fight between 150-pound martial artist Keith Hackney and 600-pound sumo Emmanuel Yarborough; and another fight in which Hackney repeatedly punched martial artist Joe Son in the groin before Son submitted. Worse, then-UFC owners Semaphore Entertainment downplayed the inherent skill of the athletes and instead played up the carnival aspect, promising and delivering blood gore. "I had a debate on Larry King Live with them at the time and told them in no uncertain terms we couldn't sanction them unless they changed their rules," said Marc Ratner, executive director of the Nevada athletic commission. "They really dug in their heels in trying to avoid regulation, and they paid for it." New York banned the event in 1997, and many of the nation's athletic commissions followed suit. Facing pressure from the likes of Arizona senator John McCain, major cable providers pulled the plug on UFC. "Honestly, they deserved to be banned," White said. "They made every mistake possible. It wasn't healthy for our sport." Through the late 1990s, the sport limped by on satellite dish, staging shows at Indian casinos and in the few non-commission states that didn't specifically ban it. "If someone has an issue with all combat sports, if they're in favor of banning boxing and kickboxing and mixed martial arts, then at least I can respect their consistency, even though I disagree with them," Meltzer said. "The thing that bothers me is the way mixed martial arts was singled out. There's never been a single death in a sanctioned MMA event." UFC was on life support in the late 1990s, when Semaphore sold the company to Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta III, owners of the Station Casinos, in 2000 and brought along White to run the ship. "When we bought the promotion, it was something that came from the heart," White said. "Every indicator at the time said this was a bad business move, something you couldn't make money in. We took a gamble because we loved the sport and knew the following was there." The sport's turnaround began in earnest when it received sanctioning from the Nevada athletic commission in 2001 (New Jersey had given its blessing the previous year). Long gone were the groin strikes and other dirty tactics. Referees were given far greater leeway to stop fights. Fights were set at five, five-minute rounds for title fights and three five-minute rounds for the rest, with judging instituted in the event a fight goes the distance. "We got together with the people who run all these groups and told them there needs to be a uniform set of rules, like with boxing or any other combat sport," Ratner said. "The people at UFC have complied with everything we've asked of them." Unlike previous ownership, the present UFC administration embraces government sanctioning as the key to the sport's legitimacy. "We welcome the commissions," White said. "The old owners ran from regulation; we want it. Like boxing or football or any contact sport, that most important thing is that we take the care to protect the fighters' health and safety." Of course, the blessing of a key commission wasn't going to revive a sport left for dead on its own. Enter White, a Las Vegas native who cut his teeth promoting boxing in Boston. "He deserves a ton of credit for making the sport what it has become," Meltzer said of White. "He's the Vince McMahon of his generation." Nevada sanctioning helped bring cable pay-per-view back on board, but only hardcore fans remained. The next step was getting back on television. "I mean, it was ridiculous to me.," White said. "Television was at the point that they had people eating donkey (genitals) in prime time, and you're telling me there's no room on television for our sport?" Bridging the gap was Spike TV's ,The Ultimate Fighter reality show, which is finishing up production of its third season. The show features would-be UFC fighters training in the Nevada desert, guided by UFC stars like Liddell and Couture. "It was a way to phase on to television without going straight to showing the fights," White said. "Once people started to see what these fighters do — how much time they spend in training, what level of skills you need to make it — that helped break down the stereotypes about our fighters and helped the people see them as all-around athletes." The show has helped the public gain an understanding of what the sport has evolved into. Fighters need to be cross-trained in all relevant disciplines; a puncher who can't wrestle will be taken down with ease; a wrestler who isn't versed in submission holds will find himself on the wrong end of a submission lock on the ground; and everyone needs to watch out for someone who can kick. Wrestling throws are one facet of mixed martial arts, as UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes demonstrates on Frank Trigg. (Josh Hedges/Copyright Zuffa, LLC) "When you first see the clips, if it is something you have never seen before, the visuals can be jarring," said welterweight fighter Frank Trigg, a former University of Oklahoma wrestler who has been featured in a UFC main event. "People have always had the idea that boxing is the 'proper' way to fight. So it takes time to understand the differences between what they're used to and all the subtleties of that go into a ground fight." Another important piece of the puzzle fell into place when California recently legalized competition. The sport has long been West Coast based, but the Golden State was the final major holdout among Western commission states. "The way I look at it, there were lots of underground shows, shows on Indian reservations, where the athletes weren't getting proper medical attention," said Armando Garcia, executive officer of the California athletic commission. "The sport has grown to the point where we need to make sure things are on the up and up." All indications are that California is becoming a hotbed for the sport. The first UFC show in the state, UFC 59 on April 15, sold out the 18,000-seat Pond in Anaheim in two days before a single fight was announced — and that's with the cheapest ticket at $50 and no seats in the lower bowl priced under $200. An independently promoted show in San Jose headlined by Frank Shamrock vs. Cesar Gracie on March 10 is expected to draw more than 10,000 fans. Industry speculation has it that such high-profile success could lead to the remaining mixed martial arts holdout states in the East, like New York and Maryland, getting on board. "My guess is that every state with a commission that has its act together will legalize the sport eventually," Ratner said. "They're starting to understand this is just another combat sport." If the notion of protecting fighters doesn't get remaining commissions to change their tune, another factor might. "Wait until the commissioners in New York and other places get a load of the gate the show in Anaheim," said Meltzer, who served as a judge on two UFC shows in the late 1990s. "And Nevada is bringing in a ton of money on these shows." Either way, the principals involved say the perceptions of the sport are changing. "I always knew the sport would get big if we were given the opportunity," Liddell said. "The interest was always there in the underground, it was a matter of getting the chance to show what we can do in front of a bigger audience. We have, and the people have responded." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I hope the mods keep this on the main page instead of moving it to the off topic section. I would like to see where the Maners stand on this issue... and I know there are several MMA fans here. I'm more than happy that this sport is becoming more mainstream. It's a sports that fighters need to become more well paid these days. I've been watching MMA since it's younger days(Vale Tudo) and this sports has evolved so much. Kudos to growth.

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03-09-2006, 04:12 PM	#2
KipCorrington25 Free Safety Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Centennial Posts: 3,053	I like it. I used to watch boxing but this is better.

03-09-2006, 04:12 PM	#3
scorpio Cubicle Pimp Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 3,498	I love the fact that I can now watch UFC for free on TV. That rocks so much. The Ultimate Fighter is the best reality show ever made.

03-09-2006, 04:14 PM	#4
DarkHorse30 Smith Rules Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 2,091 Adopt-a-Bronco: wolf pot roast	rollerderby is WAY better, dudes......

03-09-2006, 04:18 PM	#6
DB-Freak The lone sack artist Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 4,995	In time, UFC may TKO boxing's audience The sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) is developing a substantial following, but is it cultivating any of boxing's mainstream audience? Zuffa LLC, the Nevada company which controls the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and is thus the sport's dominant player in the U.S., has attempted to reach more avid boxing fans by courting the boxing media. At last year's Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) dinner in Las Vegas, UFC had a substantial presence. Kevin Iole, the boxing beat writer for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, has covered every UFC event held in the city and thinks the barriers to acceptance by the mainstream boxing press and public have more to do with the limitations imposed on the major media than the quality of the UFC product. "In newspapers, space is at a premium, even for boxing," says Iole, who says he's grown to appreciate the UFC as he's seen more of it. "To go to MMA, that requires the writers taking the time to understand the difference and to search out the demographic, and the writers aren't going to do that. They're going to try to get more space for what they already know and are comfortable with, and that's boxing." One of the reasons newspapers aren't clamoring to cover the UFC is that mixed martial arts fans are not their customers. UFC's demographics skew younger, and young people are reading newspapers less and less these days. According to a study done by the Online Publishers Association, for only nine percent of adults aged 18-34 is the newspaper the first or second medium of choice. Also, mixed martial arts has still yet to be sanctioned in many states. Fewer than half of state athletic commissions, which were formed for the purposes of regulating boxing, allow it; among those who do are influential states such as Nevada, New Jersey, Florida, and California, with an MMA-only commission having been recently been established in North Dakota. Because of that, UFC is still working to combat its "outlaw" perception — not the least of which is a confusion with Toughman contests, with which it has no affiliation — that is not often compatible with mainstream media coverage. Generally, the safety aspects of the UFC, the result of a restructuring of the rules in the late 1990s, stand up favorably to those of boxing, but commissions have been slow to catch on, principally due to a lack of understanding of the disciplines the sport encompasses. Larry Hazzard, commissioner of the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, was the first commissioner to give MMA his stamp of approval. But Hazzard brought plenty of background to his decision; he has black belts in Karate and Brazilian Ju-Jitsu and has taught close-quarter combat at a number of law-enforcement academies. "Yes, this is a combat sport, but it's still a totally different animal," Hazzard said. "People are used to boxing, and they know what they're looking for. And it seems this (MMA) loses a lot of people once it gets to the ground. They don't understand the wrestling and the submission holds. If you put together a highlight clip of MMA action, it seems more brutal, and that's probably turned some people off." Younger viewers are as likely to know UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes as they are the big names in boxing. (John Gichigi / Getty Images) "It's still more a spectacle than a sport in many people's minds," says Tim Graham, boxing writer for the Buffalo News, who was recently elected president of the BWAA. "But I'm a fan of it. I see it as a very pure and worthwhile sport that's a worthy competitor to boxing." Graham looks upon the fact that the UFC is both the promoter and the sanctioning body as a positive for the fans. "They basically control their product, and they can put on the very best matchups possible and give the fans what they want on a very structured basis. So from a business standpoint, it's everything boxing isn't." Iole echoes that, making the point that not only does the UFC seem to be more responsive to public demand than most boxing promoters, it has the business model necessary to do something about it: "If there's a big matchup in a division, they get that fight made right away." Old-line boxing people have expressed little interest in the UFC or mixed martial arts in general, and that prospect is not likely to change. International matchmaker and agent Don Majeski points out that there was more commonality between boxing and wrestling fans in the 1950s and '60s, but he doesn't see it happening with boxing and MMA. "Years ago there used to be wrestling and boxing in the same place, where you'd see a wrestling match one night and boxing the next night, or vice versa," Majeski said. "And often the boxing promoter and the wrestling promoter were one in the same, or they had a great rivalry between the two of them, where each disdained the sport of the other, and they went after each other's fans. (With MMA) I haven't seen much crossover promotion." Younger boxing promoters, however, may be more accepting of MMA events. Scott Wagner, 37, who promotes his regular "Ballroom Boxing" series out of Glen Burnie, Md., says that if the sport was sanctioned and regulated in his state (it is not), he wouldn't hesitate to put on shows. "I'd do it in a minute," he says. "Actually, it wouldn't even take me that long." Wagner recognizes something in the UFC's approach that boxing doesn't have a hold on. "People who don't like it are basing their judgments on something they don't know about," he says. "What I see about the sport is that the demographic, as far as sponsors go, is a bonanza. It's male, 18-25. I went to one of those events. They sold 16,000 tickets or however many that joint held. You couldn't get in that place. How many boxing matches do you go to and see that many people?" There is little question that mixed martial arts is one of the fastest growing sports in America. "By the end of this fiscal year," says Hazzard, "we will have sanctioned more MMA shows than pro boxing shows in this state, which is a first." It likely won't be the last time we'll hear that. MMA promoters, specifically the UFC, seem to possess more marketing savvy than their boxing brethren. They may not be capturing the boxing audience now, but they're latching on to a generation of customers who will eventually make up more and more of the demographic pool. And as its dyed-in-the-wool loyalists become fewer in number, boxing may in time have problems arousing the interest of fans who have been weaned on MMA.

03-09-2006, 04:22 PM	#7
KipCorrington25 Free Safety Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Centennial Posts: 3,053	That's funny, I was a boxing fan for years and started watching the UFC stuff the last year or so and now I find boxing really dull. They are on to something here.

03-09-2006, 04:24 PM	#8
Smiling Assassin27 STOP! KIPER TIME! Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: In a van down by the river Posts: 10,983 Adopt-a-Bronco: Von Miller	Saw some dude, the current Middleweight champ i think, on UFC all access. The dude's workout is stupid crazy.

03-09-2006, 04:33 PM	#11
Liquid Courage The 4th Amigo Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Portland, OR (deported from God's Country) Posts: 383	I've followed UFC since Gracie pioneered Brazilian Jiu Jitsu over a decade ago now. For those that don't know about the sport and/or are sick of watching overpaid pretty boys dance around a ring, I definitely suggest you check out UFC Unleashed or even Pride fighting through SPIKE TV or Fox Sports. The guys are almost all class acts and bust there asses to improve themselves and their sport. Not to mention that we have a GREAT fighter that lives/trains in Denver in Nate Marquardt, a totally ripped Pancration expert that just won his bout in UFC 58. I'm addicted and encourage the same to all of you!

03-09-2006, 04:47 PM	#14
Elway 4 Life Pass rushers apply here! Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 1,806 Adopt-a-Bronco: Von Miller	I think one of the absolute best qualities of MMA is that Don King is not involved. I was a huge boxing fan years ago but it is so corrupt that its takes so much away from the sport. MMA is just balls to the wall action. Rarely is there a boring fight. I LOVE THAT MMA IS BECOMING MAINSTREAM.

03-09-2006, 04:53 PM	#15
BMF Bronco Offseason sucks... Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Bozeman, MT Posts: 11,724 Adopt-a-Bronco: ME	UFC is the best thing to happen to TV!