It’s a foreign concept to them. I heard some sports radio host make a comment of along the lines “I respect them as athletes, but I cannot stomach watching a sport where it’s ok to beat a man when he’s down.” So even if every MMA fighter acted as gentlemanly as Michael Jordan and Peyton Manning at all times, that age group still can’t get past the concept of the sports itself. So what are you going to do, sanitize ground n pound offense away so you can get your wish of being covered as much as the NFL? Who cares if they’re as big as the NFL: the UFC is a household name, you can watch several MMA programs during the week on cable television and the sport is holding its own against its real competitor boxing.

I don’t understand this obsession MMA fans have with making MMA bigger, I think it’s great where it is right now. I think UFC needs to pay fighters better money, but now the UFC gets disappointed when they get only 300,000 buys when 5 years ago they were popping champagne when they get 150,000. And it should never be like every other sport. That is part of its appeal, there’s still a edginess to it that you don’t get with boring baseball, sanitized football or mediocre basketball.

While this may be the current high-water mark, I still think that the sports overall popularity has just scratched the surface. Boxing is hanging by a thread right now, and people like to watch other people fight. How about this, if you were a day trader and wanted to make a quick buck – sell. The next couple of PPV’s may not do as well. But, if you were an “investor” and concerned about the long term prospects, MMA will be much bigger in 1-2 years than it is right now.

The thing I most admire about UFC’s business model (and I think they learned this from WWE) is the smart international expansion. Having so many countries that generate revenue is a great safety net. Besides, if WWE can ride out the horrible waves of publicity that they have had through the years and still thrive (Benoit, Steroid scandals, young wrestlers dying all the time) I have no reason whatsoever to think that MMA wouldnt be able to do the same. There will ALWAYS be a home for UFC on a cable TV channel (at least for the next 10 years).

Also, this fall will be the highest rated TUF ever, and at least 2-3 of the heavyweights will come out with a big name and people interested in seeing them.

And I personally am not concerned with how Old White Guys affect the “fans,” I’m concerned with how they affect the sponsors and execs the sport needs to get on TV so it can be watched by everyone who doesn’t have the disposable income of Young White Guys – which is most of the world.

Neat write-up Zach.

There are two approaches here, you can continue to try to stack shows and hype them which costs a lot of money, or you can have a run of cheaper budget shows to cash in.

If this were a stock on the open market, either one might be bad (revenue per show down, or costs up). Clear sell.

There is something on every UFC show that is incredibly violent. I don’t think boxing would ever face threats of bans even though there are way more deaths in boxing, and we see biting as well. MMA is never going to be able to please everyone; what the UFC has done is create a large, devoted fanbase that is increasing in passion and size on a daily basis. A few rabid anti-mma advocates who are incredibly uneducated about the sport should not dictate policy.

MMA legislation will get entirely passed in NY next term and there will be an event in MSG in 2009. It is inevitable.

I am not arguing that what Hendo or Brock did was excusable. Their actions were terrible, but at least in Dan’s case, understandable. People who were anti-mma before this show are still anti-mma; whether or not Hendo had nailed Bisping when he was down or given him a bunch of flowers, old, faux-righteous politicians are still going to say it is vulgar and human cockfighting. However, when they see their respective states’ budget deficits, all those complaints will vanish when they look at the bottom line and see how much money they could bring in if the UFC came to town.

They are BUILDING their company and brand very successfully. Harley Davidson, Burger King, and Bud Light are replacing Xyience and Mickeys as sponsors. They are the highest grossing PPV entity in the world. You are right, they are obviously going about things the wrong way.