I don’t think MMA is anywhere near being accepted into the “mainstream”. At least not the sport, and probably not even the UFC brand. I see people with Affliction shirts on all the time who have never heard the term “MMA”. I don’t ESPN wants to bring MMA to the mainstream, either. I think the best way for MMA to become mainstream is to keep building, and the UFC on Versus is a great starting point. Hopefully it will eventually turn into NBC Sports, but the best thing for the growth of MMA is more high quality free shows on cable TV. The networks are cool and all, but realistically the people without cable probably aren’t the ones buying PPV’s to begin with and I doubt that will change any time soon. MMA is and will continue to be a niche sport (or spectacle) which to be completely honest I am totally fine with.

Highlights of Velasquez’s ko of Nogueira were all over espn, appearing on sportsnation, pti, and possibly around the horn. I think mma is going to be featured on espn sooner than we think

I know MMA isn’t going anywhere and I kinda like having my own little sport that not everyone else is into. With that said, MMA is still in it’s infancy. I don’t think it’s time to go Chicken Little just yet.

He has a great point. One thing that I have always wondered is what would happen if a particular promotion went public and literally became like other sport leagues in the US. EX: NBA NFL etc. There could be an MMA National League where everyone can compete. I feel as though thats the way to go and thats the ultimate goal. But because the UFC is privately owned….. why on earth would anyone ever give that up? Imagine if camps were like NBA team owners giving the fighters contracts to train with their camp and then compete in the MMA League. That would be just silly. lol

Great article and great points. I think this is the reason Dana White made such a big deal with Mir’s comments. You cannot have people talking like that and expect to get a lot of positive burn on espn. Also the ratings on versus and the expectation of an oncoming fued between ESPN and comcast trying to pimp nbc sports and versus as an altrnative to espn. They do well on versus, you can bet espn will change their tune

It’s hard to become a mainstream sport without the ability for kids to stage pick-up games. Even as violent as pro, college, and HS football are, parents are usually willing to let their kids engage in touch-football pickup games with the neighborhood kids. Same with hockey, either on foot or rollerblades. Pick-up baseball (wiffel-ball) and baskeball, and soccer are givens. All the mainstream sports are something that most people have no problem playing a slightly altered version of a pickup game. There is no pick-up MMA. Sure, some dads with wrestling or martial arts backgrounds will involve their kids in it at an early age, but it’s not something that your everday parent is ever gonna be okay with little jimmy having a pick-up MMA match in the backyard

Luke, you should appear next to the dictionary definition of “American accent”.

Also, you’re correct that MMA is still small time. In a way, I like that. I like being part of the grassroots, because I get to participate in the arguments that are going to shape the sport, and because I AM a sports fan and I always wondered what it would have been like to see the early days of hockey or football. But it can’t stay this way forever; at some point, either it will attract enough attention that the seriously powerful decide there’s money to be made, or MMA’s potential will be seen as exhausted and interest will wane. But really, either way, this is a fun time in the sport and I’m enjoying it.

I don’t understand why so many MMA fans have an inferiority complex. If MMA stayed the way it is now and did not gain another fan I would be happy. The way I feel is it is our sport. It belongs to us the fans. I don’t need espn to cover it for me to feel the sport has validity. I am happy with the sport the way it is.

I think arguing that MMA fans aren’t sports fans is something that is less true than it was when the soundbyte was invented. Now it just gets recycled.

would dana even want his product on espn that is the question? i mean hdnet shows fights in japan and other promotions, strikeforce is on showtime and cbs but does dana want the ufc on espn or another national network. i think he should keep it on spike tv in my opinion

As Dana would say…“it has to be the right deal. I’m not gonna make a stupid deal.”
I thought MMA fans were fans of other sports too. My mma fandom has possibly encroachd slightly on my NFL fandom but not much. It has certainly encroached on my news houndom. I no longer need to watch as much CNN, PBS, or MSNBC (although I still will rarely miss a friday episode of “The News Hour” or Mclaughlin Group). My mma buddies are still NBA/NFL fans. I can see a lot of crossover betweeen NBA and MMA cause of the ghetto common denominator. More importantly I believe in the power of Jon Anik and The Live. They have it on TV in England. As that audience grows it will only a matter of time till it’s on at 11:30 pm here.

You’re right, Ghetto isn’t the best term. No one here fits that description. White dudes inked up from head to toe isn’t neccessarily ghetto it’s just more of a counter culture thing. Fighting with minimal rules isn’t something that appeals to mainstream yet. People like Machida and other are more attractive to mainstream because their styles emphasize artist in mma. Just a few years ago it was hard to find artists like that in the UFC. Now that we have more skilled artists each and every year I think we can expect to see more and more acceptance.

I could watch that hot asian chick play that sexy british chick ALL DAY!

MMA coverage has increased substantially over the last couple of years, especially since GSP became champion again at UFC 83 in Montreal. Rogers Sportsnet has really taken interest in the sport as event highlights and programming focused on MMA is a regular part of the weekly line-up. The sport’s popularity is incredible here and it only continues to grow.

I don’t know if MMA will ever be covered like hockey, football, or basketball by major networks like ESPN, but I personally don’t really care if it is either. There will always be those who are attracted to and repelled by the violence of this sport, it’s a very polarizing form of competition, and I am okay with that.

is the fact that no one yet has made a joke about Matt Brown in a suit. No one. Any takers? Bueller? Bueller?

MMA grew on the internet. The base of people that would religiously follow a show focussed on MMA news wouldn’t be there. They get their news and debate from bloodyelbow, sherdog ect ect. In fact MMA fans would be horrified at the level of debate that would make it on TV and most probably not watch. I gave up on MMA Live and that HDnet show a long long time ago.

There is no money in MMA unless you are the UFC or the cable channel they decide to focus their programming on (spike or ESPN UK). Even on spike (to the best of my knowledge) there is no MMA news type programming, people either don’t care and just want to see someone get knocked out (in fact they probably don’t even care who got knocked or who threw the punch) or they just go to bloodyelbow et al.

When it is lucrative it will happen. I am not sure when it will be lucrative. Maybe showing the odd fight would make money for both parties, but for the next few years it would probably not make financial sense for the UFC or ESPN. They both would expect too high a return for it to be viable. There is no money in it.

Also The UFC tends to focus on smaller level channels where they hold the balance of power in the negotiations. Even in the UK they did not go for the biggest sports broadcaster Sky Sports or any of the terrestrial channels. They first went for Bravo (the equivalent of spike) then Setanta sports and now ESPN UK. In each the network needed them more then they need the network. This is the way they do business. I cant see it changing in the current business climate.

When the UFC whores itself around to places like ESPN it will be after (if ever) profits drop significantly or if competitor starts to eats into their PPV buy rate. It will be a last ditch attempt at salvation, they will give ESPN (or whoever) programming, make a little profit, but primarily try use the exposure to boost PPV buys.

re-watching for rapist hands tks jb