Hardcore MMA fans are the Trekkies of the sports world. Both follow their obsessions with a passion and a snobbery that alienates them from those who may not share their singular focus. They know everything and don’t want casual fans and the trappings of mainstream popularity tarnishing the purity of what was once all theirs.
I get it. It’s like being a fan of some garage band years before they made it big and then having to endure them being slobbered over by tweens and Carson Daley on MTV. Watching a private passion go public makes it less special in some ways, less intimate. You are no longer in an elite group of insiders but just one of the clamoring herd.
Now that the UFC is on FOX, the leap to the mainstream is inevitable, much to the chagrin of those who have been around since MMA was considered “human cockfighting.”
Here are some ideas on how to make that transition a little smoother without changing the nature of the sport.