UFC on HBO

[PocketAces]

According to this piece on Ring Talk, the UFC and HBO are in negotiations for the UFC to be broadcast on HBO, and an announcement is coming soon! It looks like the UFC is about to become a mainstream sport.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Ring Talk, the head writer, Pedro Fernandez, is a long-time boxing guy who is one of the best reporters in boxing.

http://www.ringtalk.com/index.php?action=fullnews&showcomments=1&id=663

[JaredExtreme]

Hmmm interesting. It's good that the sport is getting more mainstream acceptance, but I know personally I'm not going to shell out any extra dough for HBO. Bit-torrent for the win !

[OmaPlata]

I was watching WEC the other day, the music they play during the start of the show and during the intros and stuff is hardcore headbanging bad heavymetal. I like metal, but they stuff they play is mindless pounding, making people who dont watch MMA think it is a barbaric sport where guys are just mindless idiots pounding on each other. Horrible representation of MMA, though thefights are good. Nick Diaz's brother Nathan is 4-1 now on there, hes not bad.
Another thing about MMA fighters Ive noticed is their lack of abilty to hold a postion. Once you control a guy and get a good position you can attack for a sub, most guys dont seem to care about holding it or controlling and give it up easily.

[kuk sool won]

Thats why you bite them, or nutt em

[Penance]

"MMA" as defined by UFC is going to get more and more retarded.

Unfortunately, in order to have a mainstream audiance, you have to cater to the mainstream. It's impossible to "convert" millions of people accustomed to professional wrestling and nascar.

It's impossible to make the typical "Sunday Night Fights" guy understand real mixed martial arts, or martial arts in general. The American culture at large just isn't set up for it. The average American Joe is conditioned for sensationalism. He is going to tune in and want a side to root for. He doesn't care who the best fighter is, he just wants to see blood and drama.

Dana White and Joe Rogan can talk about "respect" and "technique" over and over and over, but people will watch MMA for the same reasons they watch nascar and boxing: blood, explosions, crashes, knockouts. If it can't deliver, ratings will suffer. To compensate, UFC will change the rules until there is a sufficient number of KO's and blood, while still being "civilized" enough to stay on the sporting commisions' good sides.

Don't expect to see any kind of exotic submissions or chokes. Straight armbar, kneebar, RNC is about all you'll see. Not because the other stuff doesn't work, but because a culture will develop where these are the only techniques really drilled. Average Joe doesn't want to understand or know Jiu Jitsu or Sambo or anything else. He understands jab, cross, uppercut. Armbar, kneebar, choke.