Is MMA in the West growing, at its peak, or dying?

I can't see them getting rid of Rogan. He already has name recognition, he knows his ****, he comes off as respectful to the fighters and a true fan of the sport, he is articulate and he is excellent at pointing out the technical details of struggles for position and submissions, illuminating a whole new level of skill that newcomers would otherwise have no idea about.

:hat

 

A $90 million plus cash injection per year plus a massively-increased profile for the sport gets Joe Rogan a hefty salary bump and a much bigger audience for his comedy shows and specials.

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Yeah, I can't see Rogan walking away from doing the big PPV events. He clearly loves the fights and gets a real buzz out of being so closely involved. Oftentimes he's giddy like a little kid when he runs into the cage to interview a winning fighter.

:hat

 

It is huge money which will take the sport to places it has never come close to being able to reach before.

And not only that, the broadcast deal means that UFC will be front and centre on primetime network TV. It will be emphasized and heavily pushed by the most powerful media empire on Earth. It will be this deal that marks the crossover from niche to mainstream.

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Exactly. Only on a much, much larger scale.

I think that Forrest vs Bonnar was the fight that ensured the UFC would survive.

Cain vs JDS will come to be regarded as the beginning of the mainstream era.

If Cain vs JDS is a classic, dramatic fight, then the process will be sped up considerably.

If it is a boring affair, it doesn't matter. Fox is far too heavily invested in the UFC for it to make a difference. They are very serious about making this sport huge.

They want to make it like boxing was back in the day, because there is ALWAYS a HUGE audience of guys who like to watch two tough guys fight each other. For decades, boxing scratched that itch. Then boxing ****ed itself over with the way it was run, and there was nothing to replace it. But the mainstream desire to watch two guys fighting didn't go away. It just wasn't harnessed.

Zuffa stepped into that vacuum, and now Fox is going to take it to the mainstream. They intend to make the UFC a legitimately high-profile part of American sporting culture. And they are exactly the guys with the financial muscle and the existing broadcasting infrastructure to be able to do that. They are the giants, and they are serious about making it happen.

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NO sport constantly features exciting, dramatic contests. No sport does that.

But for every GSP 5-0 decision, there is a Jon Jones brutal beatdown. And for every Jon Fitch borefest, there are two Chris Leben or Nick Diaz wars that have the crowd roaring.

:hat