Author: Jake Martin

It’s time for the UFC to turn the page and create a new chapter that will capture mainstream audiences.

With the new Fox deal, the UFC is about to feature Pay-Per View quality bouts on free television, and the exposure created by Fox will undoubtedly increase both UFC revenue and the popularity of MMA.

Pretty soon, names like Junior dos Santos, Jon “Bones” Jones, Nick Diaz, Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen will become household names, and it won’t be because of any favors given out by ESPN.

Recently, ESPN interviewed one of the owners of the company, Lorenzo Fertitta, about the company becoming a Monopoly after UFC president Dana White refused to do the interview.

ESPN aired the segment during Outside the Lines Sunday, and omitted parts of the interview that told the complete story from the UFC’s perspective. After becoming enraged with the nine-minute feature on ESPN, White released videos showing the interview in its entirety.

Basically, ESPN and the UFC are going to war with one another, and I have a feeling that UFC is going to come out the victor in this one.

ESPN has never given the UFC their fair share of coverage after it was completely obvious that the general public has fallen in love with the sport. The UFC’s debut on Fox in November peaked near nine million viewers, and you can expect that number to grow each and every time they’re featured on Fox.

After seeing all the UFC ads during NFL playoff games, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the UFC reach 14 million viewers on Jan. 28. The bottom line is the UFC became the PPV king without a great deal of help from ESPN, and they’re going to continue to grow despite the lack of coverage from the “Worldwide Leaders.”

And don’t think White’s not going to hold a grudge against ESPN. This is the same guy that held a grudge against EA Sports after they refused to make a UFC game.

Once they saw how well THQ did with UFC’s Undisputed series, they came begging to make a UFC game, but White would have none of it and stuck with THQ.

What’s ESPN going to do when the UFC doesn’t allow video footage for them to show during SportsCenter in the next couple of years? I’m not saying White’s going to do that, but nothing White does will surprise me.

ESPN or no ESPN, the UFC is about to shake things up and gain tremendous popularity starting tomorrow with a free fight card on FX.

The UFC will then follow that up next week with a free fight card on Fox featuring Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis, Chael Sonnen vs. Mark Munoz and Michael Bisping vs. Demian Maia.

Might as well jump on the bandwagon now, because it looks like the UFC’s going nowhere but up from here.

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There’s a new hot prospect in featherweight division and his name is Jimy Hettes.

For those who purchased UFC 141 and had absolutely no idea who Hettes was, I think it’s safe to say they do now.

Showing off his judo and his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills, Hettes had his way with Nam Phan for three rounds.

It was the first time in his young career that a fight went the distance, but it might have been the most dominant performance in his MMA career. A couple of judges gave Hettes two 10-8’s for the way he was able to control Phan on the ground and smash him with elbows and punches.

Most of us knew that Hettes was a beast on the ground, but did I think he would dominate Phan like that? Absolutely not. In fact, I thought it would be one of those grind ’em out fights between two evenly matched guys, but boy was I wrong.

The 24-year-old proved that he’s a well-rounded fighter, and with a brilliant performance like that, it’s time to start thinking big picture when it comes to Hettes. The scary thing is that he hasn’t even begun to reach his potential, and looking back at last night’s fight and the fight he had before, the improvements he made are dramatic.

If you go back and look at Hettes’ fight against Alex “Bruce Leroy” Caceres, he showed his outstanding grappling skills and was able to submit Caceras with a rear-naked choke. Fast forward to last night, and Hettes showed that he’s more than capable of putting his skills together inside the Octagon.

Hettes was like a wizard on the ground as he was able to pass Phan’s guard at will, and he proved that he can stand his ground on the feet as well. This is a nasty prospect with a very bright future, and dare I say future title holder?

In a division where Jose Aldo reigns supreme and very few contenders scattered amongst the division, Hettes’ rise to the top could be short and sweet.

Chad Mendes will fight Aldo at UFC 142, and then you have fighters like Hatsu Hioki, Dustin Poirier, Erick Koch and Chan Sung Jung floating around. Hioki is coming off of an underwhelming victory against George Roop, Koch was supposed to fight Poirier but was forced to pull out after sustaining an injury and Jung is coming off of one of the fastest knockouts in UFC history against Mark Hominick.

That’s your short list of contenders, and when you’re talking about featherweight contenders, how can you leave Hettes’ name out? With Hettes’ dominant victory over Phan, he should instantly move into the top 10 featherweights power rankings, and a title fight is almost inevitable if he continues to improve in the UFC.

This sort of reminds me of Jon Jones’ fight with Stephan Bonnar at UFC 94. Jones was featured on the main card with a huge main event between Georges St-Pierre and B.J. Penn, and he wowed everyone with his dominance over a crafty veteran.

Basically the same thing happened last night, but this time it was Lesnar and Alistair Overeem creating the hype and Hettes showcasing his skills and benefiting from the exposure.

Jones would continue to dazzle fans with his impressive performances and win the championship. Is that Hettes’ future?

Judging off of his performance last night, the sky is the limit for this 24-year-old.

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