The Doggy Bag: Ball of Confusion Edition

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For as long as I can remember, people have talked about when MMA will be a “major sport” and “mainstream.” First, it was “The Ultimate Fighter;” now, it is the Fox deal that is supposed to make the UFC “mainstream.” I was wondering if you think this kind of discussion will ever end. I think MMA is as “mainstream” and as “major” as it is ever going to get. I guess I am just not sure what people want the sport to look like. It seems crazy to me that people think the UFC could ever challenge the NFL for popularity, no matter what Dana White says, but it seems that so many people are pissed off by the Fox deal because the UFC somehow hasn’t become that kind of popular. People are unrealistic. -- Serge from Montreal

Chris Nelson, associate editor: While I’m sure some people who want MMA to be more mainstream would be happy with increased coverage on “SportsCenter,” I think there’s a sliver of the fan base that will only be satisfied when we’re living in a dystopian future where all other sports have been vanquished. I can see it now: Bruce Buffer, clad in a charred tuxedo and an eye patch, belts out introductions in the bombed-out shell of what was once Madison Square Garden. The combatants -- former MMA detractors Bob Arum and Bob Reilly -- are cattle-prodded into the Octagon and forced to do battle before a national audience, since the UFC is now simulcast on every television network. Knees to the head on the ground are still banned, however.

All that is to say: I know what you mean, Serge. People are unrealistic. More to the point, diehard MMA fans are unrealistic. While I think there’s room for more growth internationally, I would tend to agree with you that MMA has essentially peaked in North America. The UFC is airing regularly on a major network, while Fuel TV has turned into a UFC-centric channel since the Fox deal. It’s safe to say that most people in America know what MMA is -- even if they know it as “cage fighting” or “that homoerotic wrestling stuff” -- and those who are into it have gravitated toward it. In my experience, MMA isn’t a sport that wins people slowly over time. You hear about it and you’re in or you’re out.

Even the people at the very top of the sport can unrealistic about its popularity and potential. When Dana White boasts to the Wall Street Journal that the UFC is bigger than the NFL “globally,” I get it. By and large, other countries don’t care about American football; on the flipside, there are probably a lot of places where MMA will never surpass cricket. But it’s hard to take White seriously when he says MMA is “neck-and-neck” with soccer, then backs it up with the argument that “fighting is in our DNA.” So is killing large game, but those deep cable hunting shows aren’t exactly blowing up.

This seems as good a time as any to mention my latest pet peeve: the rallying cry for MMA in the 2016 Olympics. With the London Games starting up, I can understand why people would feel the desire to get behind this, but I also think it’s a virtual impossibility, something folks blindly support without much thought. And, in my opinion, the main trouble with the idea is also something which will prevent MMA from growing larger than it already is: the lack of a unified, national (or even international) amateur circuit. If fans want MMA to become more mainstream, or to be included in the Olympics, maybe the focus shouldn’t be solely on the UFC. Maybe they should be looking at fortifying the sport from the bottom up.

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