UFC: A New Breed

Taking a break from USC for a second, we turn our attention elsewhere. I came across this fairly recent article and it got me thinking. While soccer is expanding here in the US as was brought to our attention by RG3, no sport is growing faster than the UFC. Owned by Nevada's Zuffa LLC, Ultimate Fighting is an MMA (mixed martial arts) organization marketing different fighting styles with fighters from around the world. So now the question begs…who has the upper hand? Boxing, wrestling, or the UFC?

According to this article, I have to say UFC because boxing just isn’t nailing the pay-per-view buys that it used to. I mean, De-La Hoya in 2006 got close to 900,000 buys, but no event in 2006 ever cracked 1 million buys. With the over-reliance on Oscar De La Hoya and the lack of a true primetime heavyweight, boxing is in trouble. WWE has sort of oversaturated the market with its many pay-per-view events. However, it does maintain the advantage of having a huge international audience. On the other hand, UFC has a small international audience and bulging domestic audience. But that is slowly starting to change, especially on April 21^st when the UFC goes to England to showcase its brand new fighter, Mirko Cro Cop. This is a huge fight internationally and one that I won’t miss. With Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz 2 passing 1 million pay-per-view buys in December 2006, the UFC is proving why its here to stay. Its gaining a whole new audience of young adults and teens who are addicted to its mind-blowing value and possibly stealing viewers from boxing as well as wrestling. The stars Andrei Arlovski, Chuck Liddell, and the ever popular Randy Couture are reasons why this sport has only one way to go. Up. UFC 70 takes place April 21st from Manchester, England- available on Pay-Per-View. suggest you check it out. [Update: UFC 70 will be free on SPIKE TV for U.S. residents]