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Aug
4
Today’s MMA; Top 10 Reasons for the Success of Modern MMA Part V
August 4, 2008 |
2. Ultimate Fighting Championship
Bluntly speaking, the UFC is responsible for bringing the sport of MMA to the masses, which increased its revenue, which allowed them to pay more fighters more money, which increased the talent level, which produces better fights, which keeps bringing in new and previous viewers alike, which is responsible for increasing revenue, which…get the picture? It’s a continuous cycle, and until that circle is broken by someone’s greed or stupidity, the trend will continue.
Before the UFC, MMA was a garage sport and its shows were being seen in the afore-mentioned garages, bingo halls, and county fairs. Before the UFC, the majority of MMA “athletes” were drunken beer-bellied guys with spaghetti stains on their wife-beater tank top, or over achieving gym rats who lived with their grandmother because their workout schedule wouldn’t allow them to get a full time job that paid real cash and not “Marvin’s protein points.” This is where UFC has taken the sport from, and thanks to the UFC, we will never have to see Bubba’s hairy belly get covered in his own blood, while Biff pummels his face in a boxing ring located in the parking lot of the local K-Mart slash Saturday MMA event center.
While it’s obvious what the UFC has done for the sport of MMA, there are always going to be those who “hate” the most popular thing out there. Just like the Dallas Cowboys were hated at their pinnacle. Just like the New York Yankees, Boston Celtics, and L.A. Lakers have been hated for being the best, the UFC is also taking heat for being the most accomplished and most well-known brand of MMA in the business. For whatever reason, some people just do not want to give dues to the company who made MMA a household event.
Some people view appreciation of the UFC as “selling out,” or “conforming.” Those same people have gravitated towards the new Affliction brand, EliteXC, Dream, or whatever other upstart MMA brand is out there, and quite frankly, that’s ok because the sport is still being watched. The problem comes when those same people discount what the UFC as a company has done for MMA, and the problem compounds when they discount the talent level in the UFC. We must all face it, like them or not, the UFC hold the greatest collection of MMA talent. They are like the NFL and everyone else is like the Arena League, or the defunct XFL. One day these other brands may be on par with the UFC, but they are going to have a lot of dues to pay and a long road to hike before they get there, or even close. Like it or not, that’s reality.
