For years the battle cry was simple. MMA fans believed in it to their cores. Those within the industry did as well.
“Mainstream.”
It’s what we all wanted. All we’ve ever wanted.
Hard-core MMA fans have always believed, and probably always will that all it takes to convert a sports fan into an MMA fan is access. If people just had the opportunity to see the purity of the competition. The salt-of-the-earth athletes. The excitement that can only be generated by full on fisticuffs.
How can you not love the courage, the discipline, the pure metal balls it takes to step into the octagon with the baddest kid on the block? The path from newbie to message-board savant can be walked in just weeks. It doesn’t take much to become a full-fledged UFC fanatic.
The sport is halfway there.
We have the mainstream in our grasp: Fights on Fox, FX and Fuel allow unprecedented access to America’s sports fans. Dozens of other TV deals put the world at Zuffa’s fingertips.
But that’s only part of the puzzle.
Mixed martial arts hasn’t seen that transcendent figure, the man or woman who takes that access and molds himself or herself a merchandising and endorsement empire.
There hasn’t been a John McEnroe, a Dale Earnhardt or a Hulk Hogan.
For the most part, even the most popular UFC fighters are interchangeable in the eyes of non-fans. There is no fighter who everyone knows by one name, no athlete who has crossed the divide into true celebrity.
We all thought Georges St-Pierre would be that guy: The fighter who became synonymous with the sport. He seemed well on his way. Endorsement deals were struck with Under Armour and Gatorade. Could Nike or Pepsi be far behind?
Somewhere along the path to Kobe or Peyton status, GSP lost steam. Was it the simple fact that a fighter is only in the spotlight a couple of times a year? Was it St-Pierre’s notorious disdain for media and sponsor appearances? Or is it something more?
Thursday, St-Pierre signed a new sponsorship deal. It wasn’t with Coke. It wasn’t with Sony. It wasn’t with Converse or adidas. It was with Hayabusa, an MMA niche brand that serves a very specific audience. Is this a sign?
Perhaps the mainstream isn’t quite ready for MMA.
We spent years knocking on the door. Numbers (and a ton of young eyeballs) forced the door open, maybe before the general public was quite ready.
The UFC is on the cusp of something special. But St-Pierre’s failure to capitalize is an indication sports fans aren’t quite ready to grasp MMA with both hands and make it a part of their lives.
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