MMA acceptance in the mainstream media

Beefutz · 07-24-2006, 10:30 PM

The formal move is on. MMA can no longer be ignored and the major players in the sports business have taken notice of TUF ratings and PPV buys.

ESPN national radio host colin cowherd has UFC fighters on as guests and officially endorses the sport after saying it was for meatheads and mouthbreathers a few months prior.

ESPN has Sylvia on for interview weeks after UFC featured on quite frankly.

Fox Sports running more and more pride shows, Best Damn sports discusses MMA on occaision.

J.A. Adande (one of leading sports columninst for the L A Times) writes column about WFA event this morning...the column sucked but the fact that it was front page of the sports is what is significant.

Carlos Arias, the boxing writer for the OC Register, now covers MMA.

The writing is on the wall. MMA is about to blow up.

I saw this happen with NASCAR. The establishment hated NASCAR up until the point where they had to acknowledge the ratings and the crowds. Now Nascar coverage in national sports media ranks right behind the big 3 and may pass the NBA in the next 5 years.

Boxing is in real trouble. Once De la Hoya officially leaves the game, there will be no established draws left in the sport...yes mayweather is a great talent. Taylor is a skilled fighter, margarito can punch...but very few people will be willing to shell out 50 bucks to watch them fight. While MMA on the other hand is setting records for PPV buys.

The mainstream is about money....MMA is becoming lucrative...watching the death screams of boxing will be really amusing.

OneBigThrow · 07-24-2006, 10:38 PM

I think this thread should be used to cover the mainstream coverage of MMA

with links if possible, this is very good

good job, Sir

AikaImmortal · 07-24-2006, 10:49 PM

Very good post and I agree. The Ft Worth Star Telegram ran a bit about mixed martial arts a few weeks ago and it was very good. It seems like the print media is finally shying away from the misconcieved notions that our sport is a 'human cockfight' and are giving it the attention it well deserves.

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/15099615.htm

angryjonny · 07-24-2006, 11:21 PM

While I do agree that it is a great post. I have to disagree with the often used "boxing is in trouble" or boxing is running scared comments that have been made a lot recently. Boxing isn't going anywhere and it doesn't matter. They are different sports. They will both continue to be successful.

Harms · 07-24-2006, 11:49 PM

This was in the Houston Chronicle right before the Hughes/Gracie fight. It was on the front page of the Sports section.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/3878850.html

angryjonny · 07-24-2006, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harms

This was in the Houston Chronicle right before the Hughes/Gracie fight. It was on the front page of the Sports section.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/3878850.html

Good article. Except for the part where Dana lies about changing all the rules.

The one thing I said that bothers me about the UFC.

"We went right to the top of every state commission that we could get in front of and asked, 'What can we do to make you comfortable and make you believe that it's a safe sport?' " White said. "We set up rules and safety regulations. We got rid of some of the most barbaric aspects."

Dana did you not know this was done before you guys took over?

Beefutz · 07-25-2006, 09:11 AM

Johnny, I guess you and I will have to agree to disagree on this one topic.

I do see boxing as a direct competitor to MMA. I do think that boxing as a business is in trouble. I do think that the boxing establishmentwould love to stamp out MMA. You seem to disagree with me on these points, and that is your option.

I get the feeling that you are a big boxing fan. I am also a boxing fan. I am just responding to what I see out of the boxing establishment in reference to MMA. I think it is natural for someone who likes boxing to like MMA. They both are competitive fighting sports. So when the boxing mainstream (Rich Mirada, Jim Lampley...others) vehemently denigrates MMA or try's to pretend they have never heard of it, it makes me think that is a calculated response.

JoeRoganismyhero · 07-25-2006, 09:42 AM

Boxing has no where NEAR the popularity it once had. When Tyson fought on HBO...you watched. When there was a big fight even if you didn't order the PPV you knew 5 people that did, now I know NO ONE that gets boxing PPV's and I knew about 3 people that order every UFC event! the tide is definately turning, that's for sure!

angryjonny · 07-25-2006, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beefutz

Johnny, I guess you and I will have to agree to disagree on this one topic.

I do see boxing as a direct competitor to MMA. I do think that boxing as a business is in trouble. I do think that the boxing establishmentwould love to stamp out MMA. You seem to disagree with me on these points, and that is your option.

I get the feeling that you are a big boxing fan. I am also a boxing fan. I am just responding to what I see out of the boxing establishment in reference to MMA. I think it is natural for someone who likes boxing to like MMA. They both are competitive fighting sports. So when the boxing mainstream (Rich Mirada, Jim Lampley...others) vehemently denigrates MMA or try's to pretend they have never heard of it, it makes me think that is a calculated response.

I see what you are saying but when you think about it you say they are direct competitors but when do they ever really compete? They are not fighting for ratings from boxing. The only time they have directly competed with anyone is WWE because they are trying to attract the pro wrestling crowd. Sure they are both combat sports but they are not direct competitors.

subgenius · 07-25-2006, 11:33 AM

Pro-wrestling benefits from MMA success. The fans of MMA are in many cases also fans of pro-wrestling. I also think that fans of boxing are also fans of MMA and pro-wrestling. Fans of combat sports and sports entertainment in general tend to be more than just one-dimensional in their appreciation of sports.

Boxing will not disappear because of MMA. It may suffer in popularity, but it will always be around. MMA did not replace kickboxing and Muay Thai competitions. MMA did not replace pure BJJ or Judo competitions. In fact, pure MA sports are doing fairly well. And, it is safe to say that boxing is a Martial Art. People are already experimenting with ways to develop more mainstream MA programming, like with Final-Fu.

Bomber · 07-25-2006, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by angryjonny

I see what you are saying but when you think about it you say they are direct competitors but when do they ever really compete?

They compete for PPV dollars. Most fight fans are not going to buy both. They'll pick one or the other.

angryjonny · 07-25-2006, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bomber

They compete for PPV dollars. Most fight fans are not going to buy both. They'll pick one or the other.

Yeah I guess you can look at it that way. But technically they still aren't competitors. They don't hold a PPV the same night as a boxing card to take viewers away. Direct competition is when Ultimate Knockouts is on the same time as the WFA and when they were trying to get fighters to replace Kimo and the UFC is swooping in to prevent the fighters to take the fight. Which is why we ended up with Warpath (no offense to Warpath whatsoever) or when UFC put on the UFN on Monday night to directly compete with Raw's viewers.

I never see much about all this boxing is dying, running scared, going under etc. that is more than just opinions. Maybe the popularity has gone down a bit. I wouldn't be surprised if someone can pull out some numbers to prove me wrong but I think it's all just assumption. Every sport has down times. MLB didn't hold a World Series in '94 and completely shut down baseball for more than a year, pro wrestling's popularity goes up and down all the time. The same will happen with MMA. Sometimes I wonder if it's all just a fad and the interest of the new fans will move on to the next big thing.

Flying Triangle Choke · 07-25-2006, 02:50 PM

I just don't see boxing becoming big again anytime soon. It's not dead like some people say, but boxing hasn't really seemed to matter since the late 80s/early 90s.

Crashsti · 07-25-2006, 03:02 PM

MMA is becoming very mainstream. i have a couple UFC shirts and it was'nt that long ago where i had people asking me what the UFC was. nowadays you have all sorts of people who recognize the UFC brand name, i have even had a few people start talking to me about PrideFC. Boxing on the other hand is never talked about, most likely a result of a lack of marketable talent or poor business decisions made both by boxers and promoters. the funny thing about Boxing is that the leaders of the sport often bad mouth MMA, but you never hear MMA bashing boxing. MMA have a good deal of respect for the skills of boxing. of course, even though MMA and UFC is on the upswing it was'nt that long ago that the UFC was almost dead. MMA owes a great deal of its success to the UFC and the work that it has done to make the sport so mainstream.

tejas · 07-26-2006, 12:26 AM

i think boxing and mma are after the same fans, mostly men, probably 20 -45. ive been a boxing fan for over 20 years and a ufc fan since ufc 2. lots of people enjoy both. boxing isnt a dying sport but changes certainly need to be made. hbo cut back on televising boxing because of the high cost. too many pockets to fill. i think within the next few years you will see mma on espn, hbo and showtime. they see the ratings tuff gets and they have way fatter pockets than spike does.

I heart LNP · 07-26-2006, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeRoganismyhero

Boxing has no where NEAR the popularity it once had. When Tyson fought on HBO...you watched. When there was a big fight even if you didn't order the PPV you knew 5 people that did, now I know NO ONE that gets boxing PPV's and I knew about 3 people that order every UFC event! the tide is definately turning, that's for sure!

Agreed. I remember a few years ago when Holyfield, Lewis, Tyson ect. were around, I was never even a big boxing fan or anything but when these guys were fighting I would always buy the PPV or go to a friends house who was and I would be pretty pumped up because of all the hype and the fights were actually good. Then the Big name HWs disapeared and so began the downward spiral. Boxing wont be anything like it used to be until the HWs are better. UFC doesnt have any great HWs and they are still passing boxing. I am excited about the day when UFC gets great heavyweights and then everybody will truely be able to compare it to boxing.

subgenius · 07-27-2006, 10:50 AM

I was wondering about what it would do for boxing if they were to go down to using smaller gloves like the 4-oz "baby" gloves that the UFC and PRIDE FC and mostly every MMA promotion now uses. Would it provide shorter fights with more action? Would it be more exciting?

I heart LNP · 07-27-2006, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by subgenius

I was wondering about what it would do for boxing if they were to go down to using smaller gloves like the 4-oz "baby" gloves that the UFC and PRIDE FC and mostly every MMA promotion now uses. Would it provide shorter fights with more action? Would it be more exciting?

I would like to see it happen. I think at first you would see alot of boring fights with some boxers afraid to get hit with the gloves but I think eventually brawlers would take over boxing which would be great for fans of the UFC that dont like boxing but im sure the boxing purists wouldnt be plaesed.

asronn · 07-27-2006, 06:14 PM

I dont think boxing i really in any trouble. I just think most of boxings biggest stars are older guys right now, but the young guys will come. They always do. I think MMA may become the premier combat sport simply because of that reason. There are so many more high school wrestlers then there are high school boxers. And right now MMA has some really marketable fighters and the organizations pretty much control who fights who. Boxing has become so big with so many belts that you dont even know who the real champ is anymore. Right now we are witnessing the golden age of MMA, but what happens when todays stars age? I know I only got back into MMA when Tito came back. I like a lot of fighters and watch all the Pride and UFC that come on TV but its the stars that make a sport seem popular and boxing doesnt have many. When the heavyweight boxers return so will boxing IMO. I do think that because of MMA the top fighters in boxing will have to fight each other more and that makes it better all the way around. Good Job Dana, you scumbag