The UFC on ESPN???? and Other Things Coming Soon

[Guest]

This is going to be unreal.
The UFC live on ESPN?
Fedor finally in the octagon??
Tito might return?

Holy shit.

http://mmajunkie.com/news/15628/dana-wh ... things.mma

[swerb]

Wow. This could be huge for the UFC. I'm surprised White hasn't struck some kind of deal with ESPN or the networks yet ... but if he's just been holding out for the *right* deal ... seems like he may have struck gold here.

Gotta give that cat a lot of credit for what he has done with the UFC and sport of MMA.

[Guest]

He just might be the smartest mother f-er in sports.

[mswerb]

The only people who I could see losing out on this would be the bars that carry the Pay per View events.

[Guest]

Nobody will lose.
The bars won't be affected, there will still be a pay per view every month.
The fans will win

[justmebd]

The only one who might lose out on this is Spike. Without knowing the contract situation, White may be looking to shift all his Spike programming to ESPN. The Pay Per Views aren't going anywhere.

Or at the very least, his Saturday night fights he does a few times a year would shift to ESPN.

Anyway, this can't be anything but good.

[Guest]

They just renewed the deal they have with Spike this year I believe.
The reality show will stay on Spike, no doubt about that.
ESPN will just carry only live events is what i'm assuming.

The fans win.

[davemanddd]

please excuse my ignorance, but what is the big deal with the ufc??? i guess i just don't get it. watching two guys beat the crap out of each other just isn't something that i consider a sport. it's more like they're trying to return to the days of the roman gladiators.

what, boxing wasn't boring enough that they had to add wrestling and karate into the mix??? and what's next, rollerball??? bloodsport??? throwing the christians to the lions again???

i mean when i'm channel surfing and i come across an mma telecast of any kind, i watch it for maybe a few minutes and it gets really boring really fast, especially when they get down on the ground and get into wrestling holds. plus, it makes me just a little uncomfortable when one guy ends up getting the other guy's "package" in his face, which often happens and maybe just a little too often for my tastes.

can somebody please explain to me what the draw is and why so many people are so fascinated by it??? now if they threw a ball in the ring and had to put it in some kind of a goal, well then maybe i could probably accept it a little bit more better, but as it stands, i just don't see the point.

[Guest]

Technique
Endurance
Discipline
Defense
Grappling
Striking
Jiu-jitsu
Speed

Those are my favorites, I can keep going if you'd like.
The goal is to be better than your opponent on that given day.
There are many fights where guys don't get the crap beat out of them, that's the ignorance factor. I know you don't watch it and people that don't think that what the sport is, but that's pretty far from it.

[mswerb]

Well put Spoon

[davemanddd]

Technique
Endurance
Discipline
Defense
Grappling
Striking
Jiu-jitsu
Speed

Those are my favorites, I can keep going if you'd like.
The goal is to be better than your opponent on that given day.
There are many fights where guys don't get the crap beat out of them, that's the ignorance factor. I know you don't watch it and people that don't think that what the sport is, but that's pretty far from it.

ho-hum. i can appreciate all of those traits, but it's just that none of those things make me want to get excited about it. is this like what us non-soccer fans go through as we don't understand why they get so passionately crazy into their "futbol" they way they do across the pond??? by the same token, they don't seem to appreciate our american style of football as much as we do either. anyway, it will be interesting to see how espn markets it.

[Guest]

Everyone has their favorites.
It's okay if you don't like mma, it's not for everyone.
I won't hold it against you.
I appreciate the honesty.

[Guest]

I was on this call today and my boy Tito Ortiz is back in the UFC.
ESPN will broadcast the UFC is some non-US markets, I'm assuming there is more to come from a US and TV deal standpoint.
Fedor isn't coming to the UFC and Dana is pissed. He said they gave him a crazy deal, the only hold up is the co-promotion that M1 wants and will never get and rightfully so.
This guy wants to fight the best and isn't proving it right now. Dana was livid and said he thought the deal was done then it broke down.
He wants Lesnar vs Fedor, and wants it very very bad.
Vitor Belfort is back also and will fight Rich Franklin at 205 lbs in Dallas.