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Mixed Martial Arts Grows In Popularity

There once was a time when boxing ruled theSaturday night, it outdrew college football
sports landscape. The heavyweight championamong young men. Viewers of UFC 75 saw
was the most feared and famous athlete on theQuinton "Rampage" Jackson defeat Dan
planet. Boxers like Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali,Henderson to unify the UFC and PRIDE titles
George Foreman and Mike Tyson were householdin the 205-lb weight-class. Cheick Kong
names throughout the world. However, over thedefeated Mirko Cro Cop and Houston Alexander
last decade, a sport with history and honorknocked out Alessio Sakara in one minute of
has lost its popularity to upstart sportsthe first round. In the title fight, Jackson
like mixed martial arts (MMA). The decline ofbecame the first man to unify a major title
elite fighters in the heavyweight divisionwith a five-round victory. Judges scored the
and the lack of knockouts have led many youngbout 48-47 and 49-46 twice for Memphis, Tenn.
men to look for action and excitement innative. Fans attribute the success of the UFC
sports like MMA. Because of the decline ofto clever marketing such as the reality show
boxing, mixed martial arts has taken over and"The Ultimate Fighter," because fans can
has become the sport of choice for the agebecome acquainted with the athletes and begin
18-34 demographic and put the Ultimateto follow their careers. The million-dollar
Fighting Championship (UFC) on course to joinquestion is why are violent sports so popular
the ranks of elite sports leagues like theamong young men? "I suppose I like it for the
National Basketball Association and thesame reason you rubber-neck at a traffic
National Football League. "MMA resounds withaccident. You want to see how bad it can get.
18-34 (year olds) because that age range hasYou want to see how bad the knockout will be
a shorter attention span than other ageor how slick a submission will be. You want
groups. They buy video games, fast cars, coolto speculate what you might do in a similar
clothes, all on credit because they want itcircumstance," said Sigaud. To many fans,
now. They want instant gratification. In themixed martial arts have already surpassed
UFC, the normal bout consists of threeboxing in popularity, and some feel it will
five-minute rounds," said long-time fan Giamnot be long before it is on par with
Sigaud, 35, of Houston. According to UFC.com,mainstays like football, baseball and
MMA is an intense and evolving combat sportbasketball. The steroids scandal in Major
in which competitors use interdisciplinaryLeague Baseball, along with the NFL's image
forms of fighting that include jiu-jitsu,crisis and the NBA gambling scandal are many
judo, karate, boxing, kickboxing, wrestlingreasons why sports fans are turning to
and other techniques to their strategic andalternative sports like MMA. Questionable
tactical advantage in a supervised match. Thedecisions and a lack of star quality have led
Ultimate Fighting Championship began in 1993,to the UFC regularly outperforming boxing in
but mixed martial arts dates back to theits pay-per-view intake. With such quick
Olympic Games in Athens, according to "Aboutsuccess, it seems as if the UFC will soon
80 years ago, a Brazilian form of MMA knownrevival the three big sports leagues in
as Vale Tudo (anything goes) sparked localpopularity and profit. And for those who have
interest in the sport." Now that interest isnot yet caught the MMA bug, Sigaud asks "them
felt throughout the world as the UFC nowto watch the reality show from the beginning.
offers 12 to 14 live pay-per-view eventsThe UFC packages the fights amidst bad blood
annually through cable and satellitewhile living with each other and training
providers. Recently, a UFC event in Columbus,with each other. Also going online and
Ohio attracted more than 19,000 people-thewatching some of the signature fights helps.
largest audience in North America to witnessI would (also) ask them to ... watch a
a mixed martial arts event. More than 4.7pay-per-view event or a free night on Spike
million viewers tuned in to see UFC 75, theTV." After watching one fight, the UFC is
first ever title bout on Spike TV. On acertain that it will not be the last.



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