Vince and The UFC

by Michael Rome on Jan 4, 2008 6:57 PM EST in MMA News

Dave Meltzer has a very interesting bit in this week's observer about Vince McMahon's role in the growth of MMA.

When The Ultimate Fighter debuted on Spike, it came on at 11 after Raw. It was a perfect lead in for the UFC. Apparently WWE had a no-compete clause with Spike that applied to UFC, and Spike needed Vince to approve TUF to put it on. He did approve it, and the rest is history.

Next to the XFL debacle, this has to be Vince's biggest mistake of the last 15 years. His domestic PPV numbers have crumbled in the last two years, corresponding with the incredible rise in UFC numbers.

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Re: Vince and The UFC

This is one of Eddie Goldman's obsessions. He believes the UFC promotion self-consciously caters to the "fake wrestling" market, (not the boxing market) and they way they lured their audience was by running the "so-called reality show" TUF right after WWE on Spike TV.

by klown on Jan 4, 2008 9:23 PM EST reply actions

Re: Vince and The UFC

my best friend is a huge wrestling fan but he hates cant stand to watch MMA. Wrestling fans like the story line and drama of wrestling, not the physical fighting and therefore should not be considered fight fans...in my humble opinion.
Let them keep watching their male soap opera

Leg Locks Rule!

by jjdnb on Jan 5, 2008 2:28 PM EST reply actions