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Aug
9
Today’s MMA; Top 10 Reasons for the Success of Modern MMA Part VI
August 9, 2008 |
1. The Ultimate Fighter / Spike TV - After reading this you probably have an idea how responsible UFC and Zuffa, LLC are for 
the product that MMA is today. They are also responsible for the single most watched MMA reality show ever, which baited and hooked hundreds of thousands of fans. This reality show, which is televised on Spike TV, is so revolutionary and so instrumental to the success of today’s MMA that, without this single show, there would be hundreds of thousands less fans, which means less money to go around, which means less money for the fighters, which means lower quality fights…I know, I know, we’ve already been down this road, but it’s true.
Ok, so the show was and is a big success, but Spike needs a huge pat on the back for taking a chance on this thing. It wasn’t a slam dunk, no matter how popular it is now. No sir, this thing was a risk. Someone’s job was on the line with this one, and they were sweating their jewels off waiting for the numbers to come in that would determine if they were getting fired or getting promoted. After the Forrest Griffin / Stephan Bonnar fight, everyone in Spike’s front office probably got promoted.
The biggest thing this show and this TV company did for MMA was they let us, the fans, get to know the fighters. I mean really, REALLY get to know the fighters. It’s so hard to not care about something if you are emotionally invested in it. It’s almost impossible to give up on a show, a fight, a PPV if you have emotionally bonded with the fighters. It would be like not following your neighbor down town when he tells you he’s going to go kick the tits off the guy behind the counter at AutoZone because he’s sold him a bum alternator for the last time. You like the neighbor because you drink beers together, but you also like Joe, the AutoZone guy because he cuts you huge deals on aftermarket parts for your AMC Gremlin. You have an emotional attachment to both guys, so the most logical thing to do is to go watch and see who gets their ass kicked, and see whose ego you’ll have to stroke for the next few weeks.
Point blank, T.U.F. brought in new viewers and cemented old MMA fans. Now on top of all the UFC PPV’s, they also get revenue and viewers from their T.U.F. finale, which by the way is a pretty big rating. Bravo guys. You win, UFC wins, we all win (even the UFC haters, they win, even though they don’t want you to know they’re smiling on the inside).
