UFC and HBO

[CJC1981]

The ufc has apparently signed a deal with HBO to show a few fights (at midnight?) this year. I think it's good that the ufc is going to be broadcast on another channel even if it is at midnight. What bothers me are the ridiculous statements HBO's sports president and ex sports president were quoted as saying on sherdog.

Ross Greenburg (current HBO sports president) said he is not a big fan of the UFC.
Seth Abraham (former HBO sports president) said - "I think it's ridiculous for HBO to televise UFC. When I was at HBO, we had discussions once or twice a year about professional wrestling. We all agreed that it would get good ratings and we also agreed that it would tarnish our boxing franchise. I feel the same way about UFC. Boxing has a storied history. When HBO attaches itself to boxing, it attaches itself to Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Muhammad Ali. It attaches itself to history, achievement, and glory. UFC has none of those things, and it will tarnish HBO's boxing franchise. Will UFC get good ratings? Probably. But so would naked boxing."

These two ignorant a-holes are comparing mma to pro wrestling and naked boxing after their own company just got into business with the ufc! I'm tired of these old boxing snobs insinuating that boxing is somehow more civilized than mma. It seems like they will no anything in their power to keep mma down and not give mma a fair shake.

[rar1015]

I understand what you're saying man. Like it or not, those guys need to realize that boxing isnt what it use to be and mma is becoming more and more popular by the day. All this is doing is publicizing the ufc and mma in general and its just going to make it more popular.

[1819]

The ufc has apparently signed a deal with HBO to show a few fights (at midnight?) this year. I think it's good that the ufc is going to be broadcast on another channel even if it is at midnight. What bothers me are the ridiculous statements HBO's sports president and ex sports president were quoted as saying on sherdog.

Ross Greenburg (current HBO sports president) said he is not a big fan of the UFC.
Seth Abraham (former HBO sports president) said - "I think it's ridiculous for HBO to televise UFC. When I was at HBO, we had discussions once or twice a year about professional wrestling. We all agreed that it would get good ratings and we also agreed that it would tarnish our boxing franchise. I feel the same way about UFC. Boxing has a storied history. When HBO attaches itself to boxing, it attaches itself to Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Muhammad Ali. It attaches itself to history, achievement, and glory. UFC has none of those things, and it will tarnish HBO's boxing franchise. Will UFC get good ratings? Probably. But so would naked boxing."

These two ignorant a-holes are comparing mma to pro wrestling and naked boxing after their own company just got into business with the ufc! I'm tired of these old boxing snobs insinuating that boxing is somehow more civilized than mma. It seems like they will no anything in their power to keep mma down and not give mma a fair shake.

there is no comparison to wrestling. lol. wrestling is a multi billion dollar industry. the sad truth is ufc is not. sponsors would flock to wrestling on hbo. same with boxing. no doubt boxing has declined in recent years but it is still pretty easy to get sponsor money for boxing. very, very, difficult when it comes to mma.

[CJC1981]

there is no comparison to wrestling. lol. wrestling is a multi billion dollar industry. the sad truth is ufc is not. sponsors would flock to wrestling on hbo. same with boxing. no doubt boxing has declined in recent years but it is still pretty easy to get sponsor money for boxing. very, very, difficult when it comes to mma.

I agree that there is no comparison between pro wrestling and mma, but not just because wrestling makes more money. Pro wrestling, although it requires hard training and dedication is not a sport or even a competition. It is acting. mma is real. It doesn't bother me if people don't like mma, but when they try to portray it as some sort of a lawless circus because they resent the fact that mma is exploding and boxing is declining, i have to question their objectivity.

[rooster101]

I agree that there is no comparison between pro wrestling and mma, but not just because wrestling makes more money. Pro wrestling, although it requires hard training and dedication is not a sport or even a competition. It is acting. mma is real. It doesn't bother me if people don't like mma, but when they try to portray it as some sort of a lawless circus because they resent the fact that mma is exploding and boxing is declining, i have to question their objectivity.

yup, yup. mma will be the undisputed heavy weight champ of the world. like i saide in an earlier thread. when mma goes main stream tv, its over!!!!

[1819]

yup, yup. mma will be the undisputed heavy weight champ of the world. like i saide in an earlier thread. when mma goes main stream tv, its over!!!!

it will be a very long time, if ever, that you will see mma everywhere. the people that say boxing is dead dont realize how much boxing is out there. there are literally dozens of shows in every state every week. not just the big venues but the small 300-600 people venue shows that are there week in and week out. mma is literally years and years away from that and i really dont think you will ever see it.

[zodiac666]

yup, yup. mma will be the undisputed heavy weight champ of the world. like i saide in an earlier thread. when mma goes main stream tv, its over!!!!

hell yea, i just think about how much bigger its gotten since i started following it in UFC 1. and think about all your friends, how many of them follow boxing and how many follow MMA. at least with people i know, MMA is much more popular. like you said it just needs to go mainstream tv, then...BOOM!

[CJC1981]

Does anyone know where to go to look up ppv sale statistics. I'm not sure, but i would guess that recent ufc ppvand ticket sales are pretty competitive with recent boxing ppv and ticket sales.

[BgMc31]

Boxing vs. MMA is like Skiing vs. Snowboarding. Snowboarding has exploded in recent years (X Games) but it still doesn't carry the credibility of skiing only because skiing has a storied history... like boxing. I understand we are all mma fans here, but we need to be realistic. As great as mma is, it will never overtake boxing permanently. Remember in the 90's when WWE (WWF at the time) was out drawing Monday Night Football. The NFL never panicked because they knew that fringe sports come and go in waves. Even the luster of the X Games has worn off a bit since it's initial popularity.

[rooster101]

Boxing vs. MMA is like Skiing vs. Snowboarding. Snowboarding has exploded in recent years (X Games) but it still doesn't carry the credibility of skiing only because skiing has a storied history... like boxing. I understand we are all mma fans here, but we need to be realistic. As great as mma is, it will never overtake boxing permanently. Remember in the 90's when WWE (WWF at the time) was out drawing Monday Night Football. The NFL never panicked because they knew that fringe sports come and go in waves. Even the luster of the X Games has worn off a bit since it's initial popularity.

started out with good points! however, mma is hardly a fringe sport!!! its boxing on steroids . its a way you can test your true hand to hand combat skills. you have to bring more to the table then just boxing, or wrestleing, judo, ju- jitsu etc...if you are going to have a shot at winning at the top level, you should at least have two disciplines to cover your stand up game and your ground game. dont get me wrong im not trying to simplify boxing. i think boxing has a lot of skill. all im saying is that mma is boxing+10. and thats what the perception of mma is. you know what they say? "perception is everything". X games, snow boarding, skiing, WWE, has never drawn the paper view that mma has in the short amount that it has since it been etablished. the only thing that skiing and mma have in commin is snow. as far as mma is concerned im talking about the snow ball affect that just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

regards rooster101

[davinci191]

what is it that we all love about this sport? for me its the skill that you need to win and of course the fact that this is the rawest form of competition, man against man. I think that boxing fans love there sport for the same reasons but allot of boxing fans dont know that MMA is even out there. MMA can only do one thing and that's blow up! as soon as everybody gets a taste of this its over, you are hooked. So yea I think MMA will take over boxing, but it wont be for a long time. as for this comment from Seth Abraham (former HBO sports president)"When HBO attaches itself to boxing, it attaches itself to Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Muhammad Ali. It attaches itself to history, achievement, and glory. UFC has none of those things, and it will tarnish HBO's boxing franchise. Will UFC get good ratings? Probably. But so would naked boxing." this idiot has no idea how far the sport has come and all the great things that the vets of MMA have done.

[ect0m0rph]

thats cool that it is on HBO, making it more regular in the publics eye. But didnt it used to be on fox sports. They would show some fights and now I never see it on there. I wonder if HBO will be the same thing

[CJC1981]

thats cool that it is on HBO, making it more regular in the publics eye. But didnt it used to be on fox sports. They would show some fights and now I never see it on there. I wonder if HBO will be the same thing

I don't think fox sports ever showed ufc, but i know they show old pride fights.

[BgMc31]

started out with good points! however, mma is hardly a fringe sport!!! its boxing on steroids . its a way you can test your true hand to hand combat skills. you have to bring more to the table then just boxing, or wrestleing, judo, ju- jitsu etc...if you are going to have a shot at winning at the top level, you should at least have two disciplines to cover your stand up game and your ground game. dont get me wrong im not trying to simplify boxing. i think boxing has a lot of skill. all im saying is that mma is boxing+10. and thats what the perception of mma is. you know what they say? "perception is everything". X games, snow boarding, skiing, WWE, has never drawn the paper view that mma has in the short amount that it has since it been etablished. the only thing that skiing and mma have in commin is snow. as far as mma is concerned im talking about the snow ball affect that just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

regards rooster101

MMA is a fringe sport, regardless of how big a fan you or anyone else on these boards are. Boxing is now on the verge of becoming fringe sport as well. Anything outside the big three (or four depending on who you talk to) is considered a fringe sport in the US. Football, Baseball, Basketball, and Hockey are considered the major sports. NASCAR, Boxing, Tennis and Golf are second tier sports, the remainder (MMA, X Games, etc) are fringe sports. MMA is great, I'm a huge fan, but I'm also realist.

[Hunter]

MMA is a fringe sport, regardless of how big a fan you or anyone else on these boards are. Boxing is now on the verge of becoming fringe sport as well. Anything outside the big three (or four depending on who you talk to) is considered a fringe sport in the US. Football, Baseball, Basketball, and Hockey are considered the major sports. NASCAR, Boxing, Tennis and Golf are second tier sports, the remainder (MMA, X Games, etc) are fringe sports. MMA is great, I'm a huge fan, but I'm also realist.

MMA has its own reality television show which blew the contender out of the water in ratings. That says something right there. Snow boarding is a fringe sport, is that why shaun white has his own clothing line now? Boxing is dieing plain and simple. I love boxing but the promoters gained to much power and to many robberies happen over and over. MMA is already passing boxing. The baby boomers grew up on the boxing and the section of the population is going to get smaller and smaller. My 1st causins(40 some) all can name the fighters from the ufc and pride. There friends can name most big name fighters from the ufc. They can barely name 3 boxers. Nascar is big but how many people can name anyone besides the major drivers or there favorite drivers not many. I would say just as many people can name the ufc champs as championship drivers in the 16-30 age range. As this generation gets older they will continue to watch. MMA is going to blow up

Disclaimer: I do not think the ufc is better then pride just stating in the united states people associate mma with the ufc. This will be changing and we will see pride and the ufc battle it out.

[Hunter]

I don't think fox sports ever showed ufc, but i know they show old pride fights.

They are going to be showing stomps, soccor kicks etc in the next year according to trigg. They due show some more recent fights such as gomi vs Aurelio etc. Just consider it ufc unleashed.

[rooster101]

MMA is a fringe sport, regardless of how big a fan you or anyone else on these boards are. Boxing is now on the verge of becoming fringe sport as well. Anything outside the big three (or four depending on who you talk to) is considered a fringe sport in the US. Football, Baseball, Basketball, and Hockey are considered the major sports. NASCAR, Boxing, Tennis and Golf are second tier sports, the remainder (MMA, X Games, etc) are fringe sports. MMA is great, I'm a huge fan, but I'm also realist.

oh, ok i guess i didnt really know what a fringe sport was. i see what you mean. but about the eairler post, mma will get so big that it will be a sin to compare it to WWE type sports.

- regards rooster101