Comments on: HDNet Fights: Moving MMA Forward

By: MMANinja

MMANinja — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 07:31:08 +0000

Didn’t get a chance to see the first show but after watching the second one, it definitely showed a lot of promise and potential to put together some great MMA shows with just enough name fighters and good up and comers.

Plus, they’re giving the fans what UFC isn’t willing for whatever reason, to watch Fedor. And possibly Randy vs Fedor in Oct and Ken Shamrock vs Frank Shamrock.

By: HDNet Fights at the AAC in Dallas Saturday Night

HDNet Fights at the AAC in Dallas Saturday Night — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 19:59:22 +0000

[...] “HDNet: Moving MMA Forward” [...]

By: Jeremy (not that Jeremy)

Jeremy (not that Jeremy) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:20:36 +0000

Dave, I think you’re overstating Cuban’s financial commitment to MMA.

This deal is about content. As long as he was able to get a consistent string of reliable content for HDNet out of the other promotions, he was happy to do it. However, I think that it’s becoming apparent to most people that a lot of the smaller MMA organizations are quickly being gobbled up by either ProElite or UFC. The ones that haven’t been gobbled up are on some pretty shaky financial ground in a lot of cases, or are solid financially, but operating on a very local level.

Therefore, he needs to put some money into some promotions somewhere in order to keep that stream of content coming.

HDNet has always had a problem of having not quite enough content to fill out it’s schedule, so they show a lot of repeats. That tends to limit the attractiveness of the channel to distributors. The channel, along with HDNet Movies, is reliant on distributor license fees for it’s revenues, and to meet it’s targets, needs to expand it’s national footprint.

MMA, like MLS, NHL, NASCAR, etc, gives HDNet a convenient way to fill out that schedule for little money. The alternative is endless reruns of Bikini Destinations (not necessarily a bad thing).

By: Zack

Zack — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 01:01:34 +0000

Can’t blame them for not putting on a blockbuster card for their first show, especially when its on a week tape delay on TV.

By: Diamond Dave Williams

Diamond Dave Williams — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 00:16:22 +0000

I will agree, with the above comments about Mark Cuban entering the MMA cage to make money.The difference between what Cuban wants to do and what the UFC is currently doing is, that Mark Cuban will spend money as his organization grows in order to attract better talent and thus having better fighting cards which in turn will make more money. Mark Cuban has his own television station and therefore will be able to develop his fighters images in such a way that any organization could only wish for….by constant television exposure.
ICEMUNCHER either did not read or he does not understand that MMA is gathering the largest numbers on HDNET. Mark Cuban has proved in the past that he is not afraid of bringing in foreign talent to bolster is sporting interests. I think that it is totally plausable for Cuban to sign Fedor as well as the entire RED DEVIL club to bring in instant credability, not to mention, there are a number of heavyweights out there that do not belong to the UFC that could make for some instantly high viewer fights.
With the emergence of EliteXC, Mark Cuban and anything that Frank Shamrock gets involved in, I would say by early 2009, the UFC is going to have to find a way to stop its own internal bleeding.

By: David

David — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 21:30:29 +0000

I like what IceMuncher said about Cuban and I agree; Although Erik Paulson has some sick submissions and I am tuning in for sure!

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 21:26:38 +0000

I tend to agree with both of the above comments. I’ve seen a number of bush league MMA shows. I’d guess I’ve seen about 30 fights, total. I can count on 1 hand the number of fights that went past the first round (two). I’d bet not even a third of the fights went past the first 2 minutes. The fights I’ve seen on HD Net are cut above that. Once in a while, you’ll see a horrible mismatch like the usual bush leaguer’s I’ve witnessed, but usually, they are better than that.

As far as Cuban goes, I don’t trust his motivations either. It seems to me that its an excuse to get his fact shown on TV some more. However, if it makes money, he’ll keep at it. Billionaire or not, like anybody else, if doing this will make money, he’ll do it. Once the luster is gone, if it isn’t making him money, he’ll stop.

By: IceMuncher

IceMuncher — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 20:43:45 +0000

This card holds zero interest for me. It’d be interesting to see if HDNet Fights can grow, but I honestly don’t think it will.

Cuban may be a billionaire, but he’s not an MMA fan. The only thing he’s a fan of is his own fame. This is merely the newest fad he can join to get back into the spotlight, like the attention whore he is. That’s why he started his “The Benefactor” reality show, and his current stint on Dancing with the Stars. He’s not going to dump millions into his MMA company, because he honestly doesn’t care much about it. He’ll dabble, but he’s not going to dump millions into it to make it grow.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 19:16:15 +0000

I have to say that for the most part, what I’ve seen so far on HDnet is pretty good. It’s infinately more watchable than either the IFL or Bodog and the fights have been pretty decent as well.