Why Doesn’t UFC Get More Love?
13 Comments Published by Joel March 30th, 2007 in Fighting, Sports. Share This
Gary Andrew Poole questions why the Ultimate Fighting Championship (and its now-sister league, Pride) don’t get more mainstream coverage:
When I reported a piece a couple years ago for TIME (check out Robert Gallagher’s excellent photo essay from the story) about the UFC I came away impressed; I was given a lot of access to the fighters and management, and I studied the fighters in the dressing room doing their pre-fight routine and I watched some bouts ringside (UFC legend and current heavyweight champ Randy Couture graciously sat with me and explained strategy), and I thought the fighters had decent athleticism, and the passion and intelligence of the fans went against the prevailing attitude that the sport’s spectators were blood-hungry grunts.
I am not a UFC devote, although I’ve caught a few fights over the years, going back to the Royce Gracie days. But UFC seems primed for mass market ascendancy, offering all the drama of pro wrestling without the embarassment and all of the physicality of boxing. In our little crew there are several unabashed UFC fans—and they’re not watching it out of irony.
UFC may not be getting its due from ESPN and SI yet, but I suspect it won’t be long.
Is the UFC getting its due? [Gary Andrew Poole]
UFC is great. It is not necessarily the true ULTIMATE anything, but the fights are good, the fighters are talented and well-trained, and it is entertaining both on a primal, testosterone-driven bloodsport level, and as a more cerebral strategy game. Like chess with blood. UFC does get quite a lot of basic cable lovin’ on SpikeTV, where you can regularly catch replays and highlights of the Pay-Per-View events on various shows such as UFC Ultimate Knockouts and UFC Unleashed.
It’s true that there’s not much in the mainstream sports media, but that may just be a case of lingering bad reputation from the early days when UFC was pimped as a “no holds barred” event, allowing groin shots, hair pulling, and head butts (though not eye gouging or biting). As far as I know, UFC is still banned in many states because of this and I assume this is why the mainstream sports media tends to avoid it.
I’m still waiting for full scale gladiatorial events to catch on, weapons and armor would be so choice, of course you would need to come to terms with the whole “to the death” thing. Then again your could always stage it in a VR setting.
In general here:
The public views it as too violent, even though it is regulated and closely watched at this point. As boxing continues to decline into 18000 federations, weight classes and belts (WTF is a Bantem weight anyhow, christ) UFC will continue to climb.
People will get over the righteous indignation and see it as a sport no more violent than Hockey, Football or Boxing.
I think a big reason why it doesn’t get more attention from serious sports media (though I have seen lumberjack championships on ESPN 2…) is that it tends to be very similar to professional wrestling. Well, except it’s real and there aren’t as many rules. But you’re targeting the same type of audience, people who want to see big dudes beat on each other. I’m under the impression that boxing maintains a slightly different crowd only because of the gambling/Vegas aspect of it. The more UFC becomes a money sport, the more exposure it will probably get. Otherwise I think it’s going to follow the path of professional wrestling. Bloodsports just aren’t as acceptable to the media as competitive games.
It doesn’t get love from me because:
A) Fighting is silly (you could ‘win’ and still lose an eye) and organized fighting is more so.
B) The UFC isn’t what Ultimate Fighting was 15 years ago. In fact the current incarnation is filled with weenies compared to the guys who fought in the old days.
Weenies trained by the guys from the old days?
I think that UFC is right on the verge of becoming “mainstream”. By acquiring Pride this week they have gained even more of MMA’s loyal fanbase, and pay per view revenues are expected to exceed that of professional wrestling by the end of this year. I have a feeling that 2008 may be the year that MMA surpasses boxing.
Also, I am sitting ringside for the upcoming UFC pay per view event in Houston (April 7th). My friend and I are debating what sort of outfits we should wear to the fight. Discussed so far have been white tuxedos or some sort of “White Boy Pimp” get up. Any other good suggestions?
There are two reasons that I am not a UFC devotee:
1. Joe
2. Rogan
and boxing isn’t a bloodsport? Or football? or hockey? They get weapons in hockey, and fighting is allowed. Ever seen someone cleated in baseball or soccer?
C’mon.
Anyone from the new age of TRUE mixed martial arts fighters would ROMP all over anyone from the “old days” of the UFC.
True, it was amazing to see a martial arts master vs a biker. But someone like Matt Hughes who carries a depth of knowledge from several different disciplines is going to work them over.
UFC doesn’t get any love because non of the big gun media outlets cover it. ESPN needs to cover fights and interview athletes. The station’s Disney connection may be the driving force why the “savage” fighting won’t make it to the airwaves.
I wish I could see a live show, but alas, NYC – the door to many liberal ideals – just wont accept the “human cockfighting”.
I find it highly unlikely that anyone could ‘ROMP all over’ Royce Gracie in his prime.
The UFC buying Pride made the front page of Espn.com a couple of days ago. They outgross boxing and pro wrestling in PPV dollars and have massive basic cable ratings amongst the 18-34 male demo. They are on the cusp of the mainstream. I’d bet Chuck Lidell is more recognizable to high school kids than any single player in the NHL. The best fighter in the world, Fedor Emelienenko is coming and so is Shogun Rua and Wanderlei Silva it’s going to make the product worlds better than it has ever been.
As much as I love and respect Royce for what he did in the early days, any of the top ten 170lb fighters would in fact ‘ROMP all over’ him, even in his prime. It would be like the ‘72 Dolphins playing last years Colts.