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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