For MMA, it brings a new host of challenges and expectations that could put it into contention for (more) record-breaking numbers.
Here are my predictions for 2008:
1. UFC regains PPV sales title
Boxing overtook the UFC in 2007 with $255 million in PPV buys. Could the UFC surpass $300 million? Lofty goal, but attainable...especially if the posterboys get title shots.
2. Roger Huerta wins UFC Lightweight title
Ever since I first saw Huerta fight, I knew he'd amount to something. A lot of people, including most all of sherdog.com, a MMA ranking site, find him overrated. Sure, he's had a few sugar-coated fights, but he just took out Clay Guida in late 2007. He's got a granite chin and great ring awareness. Give him time, lads. He'll take the gold in '08.
3. North Carolina hosts major MMA event
It didn't take precedence on Shelbystar.com, but I'm telling you, MMA is going to blow up in everyone's face, like it or not. Whether it be WEC, IFL or other outlet, Charlotte or Raleigh will host it, and people will freak out. Then, when the money starts rolling in, they'll praise the sport and become bandwagon fans (...now I'm stretching it).
4. "Kimbo" joins UFC
Yes, the underground street fighter has joined the ranks of MMA in EliteXC. If you haven't heard of this guy, you obviously haven't been using this "Internet" thing for long. Watch a few clips of the guy in action if you haven't already. It's scary. At any rate, he's busy preparing for a February fight against Tank Abbott, a washed-up lump of lard that is basically about as useful and talented as a pound of wet mice.
Kimbo will rip Abbott apart and join the UFC in late 2008. Can you picture Brock Lesnar versus Kimbo Slice in December? It could happen.
I'd hate to see what kind of truck it'll take to knock one of these guys out. No, wait, I'd love it.
For those that don't already know, I'm a mixed martial arts junkie. I live for the big knockouts, the bonebreaking submissions and the five-round championship slugfests.
When I recently learned that the N.C. Sports Commission now sanctions regulated MMA fighting in North Carolina, I was ecstatic.
I quickly went to shelbystar.com to find out what my beloved peers wrote about the incredible, earth-shattering news.
...
...
Nada.
Granted, it isn't the Superbowl, but I couldn't believe that the fastest growing sport in the United States didn't get at least a blurb back in August when it was announced.
Heed my words, friends. MMA will be an economic juggernaut for North Carolina. Ticket sales, hotel revenue, media coverage ... It's money in the bank.
Spread the word. Bring local MMA events to your area! And, tell the Star to sponsor me a trip to go cover them while you're at it.
I graduated in December from Appalachian State, which, in its own right, is an accomplishment.
I'd like to reward myself with something, but there's a few hitches:
-I'm getting married either this year or next. -I need a place to live once I stop mooching off my parents. -My fiancee wants a new car after she graduates, and I'm a sweetheart so I'll probably pay for some of it. -My parents are conservative penny-pinchers (but I love them).
Nevertheless, I'm wanting to get something for myself. I don't nickel and dime my money away, so I have a fair amount stashed away even after dropping copious amounts of dough on my wife-to-be's ring.
Here's my choices:
-A new Tablet PC, seen here, that would be great for drawing up cartoons (for future publishing) and mobile computing.
-A new DSLR camera, like this'un, that would be great for vacations, trips and rainy days. I'd also hope to get some pictures published.
-A new Samsung LCD HDTV, with all the bells and whistles, even though I already have an LCD HDTV. Yipes, that's a lot of money to drop, but hey, I've got a job, right?
Now, I've honestly narrowed it down to the laptop and DSLR, because the TV is just so expensive and it'll be less than a thousand in a year or two.
What the heck should I do?
Save for something bigger, like a down payment on a car/house? Save for honeymoon? Blow all of it on candy? Burn the money, as it is the root of all evil?
Guillermo del Toro is the modern day King Midas - everything he touches turns to gold.
From The Devil's Backbone to Pan's Labyrinth, the guy might be the next Hitchcock.
...but...I'm being optimistic. Remember what genre we're talking about here (Horror? Fantasy-horror? Fantasy-thriller?).
For the sake of being fair, I'm going to allow myself to get hyped up for a minute here. I get the opportunity about once a year to really look forward to a film, and even though it's early 2008, The Orphanage is probably going to be the one I'll be talking about in December.
Ofanato, El (Spanish title) is the bouncing baby of filmmaker/director Juan Antonio Bayona and producer Guillermo del Toro. This is Bayona's first attempt at the American market.
This might be sad, but what's got me most excited is the fact that it's rated "R." Hear me out, though.
For years, starting with M. Night Shyamalan's series of PG-13 "me-too" horror attempts, the fright market has been so scared of losing money that they hold back, going against everything the genre was founded on, in order to get more butts in seats.
Is it not a perfect definition of irony? Horror writers are too scared to write real horror movies.
I'm not a sadist or masochist. I don't need Saw-like violence to get my jollies from a horror flick. I am, however, put off by directors/filmmakers that refuse to push the limits because of profit margins.
The only salvagable PG-13 horror movies out, right now, are The Sixth Sense and The Ring. (I pity those who went to see One Missed Call this past weekend. I'm really, truly sorry.)
Putting an "R" rating on a film removes the kiddy filter. Not that all movies need to be rated-R, but man, imagine if directors never had to cut a scene because it was too "mature" for the 16-year-olds. Dang, with an "R" rating, Ghostrider might've been decent. (Nah.)
Limited attention span warning: This movie is in Spanish with English subtitles. Then again, the people with short attention spans probably already clicked "back" by now.
I don't reminisce often - I don't see the need. Living in the past is just a lousy excuse for not having a future. But, every now and again, I look back, like most of us, and just shake my head.
I miss my long hair. I always wore a hat and matted it down, but my golden locks were glorious. Fabio had nothing on it.
I miss playing drums. Man, I used to be a gunslinger on my Pearl customs. Over the years, interest waned and boredom sat in, eventually killing my desire to tap-tap-tap for hours on end. My fiancee recently bought me Rock Band for Xbox 360, complete with a small electric drum kit.
If anyone out there has played Guitar Hero, you know that the game's "guitar" is nothing like a real one. But, the drums in Rock Band mimic real drums surprisingly well. It comes complete with a foot pedal, too.
Playing the little plastic set saddens me, because I traded my Vic Firth sticks in a long time ago and sold my set to the highest bidder (literally, I sold it to some guy in Washington on eBay).
Dang. I want to re-buy a set and get back in to the swing of things. It would help the recording quality of my music, but it's an expensive endeavor. I could always skip the acoustic set and go electric, but I'm not sure how that would look once I got back into live shows.
Eh. I should just take up basket weaving like everyone else.
Beginning in 1993 as a collaborative effort between advertiser Art Davie and Rorion Gracie pitting two combatants of different combat styles in a bloody gladiator match, the UFC was labeled and marketed as an innovative sport with no rules. Hair pulling and groin shots were allowed, and there were no weight classes. It was deemed too violent for TV, and the organization relied on PPV sales to drive the company forward.
After many years of struggling with controversy and slipping support from athletic commissions, the UFC nearly bankrupted before being bought by casino executives Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta eight years ago. The Fertittas used their connections with the Nevada State Athletic Commission and became sanctioned in Nevada in 2001.
The UFC was still hemorrhagging money though, losing $30 million in the first three years after purchase. The Fertittas needed a miracle.
Things were looking bleak for the sport. Organizations overseas seemed to be the only areas where mixed martial arts were flourishing. Nearly all hope was lost.
But then, the Fertittas saw a silver lining in a sky full of black: the possibility of a prime-time reality show.
Rebirth of an empire
"The Ultimate Fighter" launched in 2005 on Spike TV with gigantic success. The show featured up-and-coming fighters in competition for a UFC contract. It quickly became one of the most-watched television shows running.
The success spawned more seasons and more shows, with Spike TV airing live UFC events periodically.
In 2006, the UFC broke the PPV all-time record for a single year of business with $226 million in revenues, which surpassed Vince MacMahon's World Wrestling Entertainment and boxing. Since then, boxing has retook the record in 2007 with $250 million in PPV sales. The UFC is expected to retake the record in 2008.
In a period of six years, the UFC went from being on the brink of bankruptcy to gracing covers of Sports Illustrated. From modest beginnings in 1993 to economic explosions in the new millenium, the UFC has been through it all. Quite an accomplishment for a sport that isn't even old enough to drive yet.
Hi, kids. Gather 'round as I teach you the word of the year for 2008.
"Ka-Chkk."
No, it isn't the sound of a rifle reloading. It isn't the sound of the paparazzi snapping candid photos of the latest celebrity happenings.
It's the sound of fibers tightening and muscles tensing as teeth are rattled by brutal knockouts.
The sport to watch in 2008 is the controversial, bone-breaking spectacle of MMA.
See:
Boxing, Post Mortem The days of fisticuffs and Marquess of Queensbury rules are over, my friends. Boxing may be the sweet science, but the algorithms are dated.
Let's face it: the main draw in boxing is watching two characters, the protagonist and antagonist, engage in a dramatic display of catharsis for 12 to 15 rounds.
...it's basically a soap opera inside nylon ropes. And, unlike boxing, at least professional wrestling admits it.
Boxing relies on the names to sell the events. Problem is, there isn't a Muhammad Ali anymore. There aren't epic matchups pitting two juggernauts weighing over 200 pounds clashing in a month-long verbal battle, all culminating in a vicious physical war.
Nope. Not anymore.
Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Ricky Hatton recently attempted to revive the spirit of boxing in a superfight. Guess what? They weigh under 150 pounds.
People don't watch fighting for a half-hour of dancing. Drop the pleasantries. People watch fighting to see someone get knocked out cold.
Say hello to mixed martial arts.
What is MMA? Mixed martial arts is a necessary evolution to one-on-one contact sport. It's boxing with a twist.
Picture a street fight with rules, judges and supervision. It's boxing with knees, elbows and throws. Safe to say, things get rough pretty quickly.
In professional organizations like the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), combatants square off in three five-minute rounds unless it's a title fight. A referee and ringside doctors make sure nobody is seriously injured.
...but even I wonder how things stay safe when Mirko Cro Cop fires off a kick to the head, or Anderson Silva drives a knee into someone's eye socket. Somehow, it does.
If fighters cannot continue, the fight is called off. Unlike boxing, there are no second chances to get up after being knocked senseless. This keeps the brain from being overly battered during a fight after a combatant regains his senses enough to continue.
Fighters can win by submission, knockout, technical knockout or decision.
The Evolution of Pugilism This isn't your mother's game of "slaps." The other guy across the ring (or caged octagon, as the UFC uses) wants to maim you. Two men enter -- one leaves with pride, the other with broken spirits (and sometimes bones).
As stated earlier, boxing's problem is the lack of personality to keep people interested. Mixed martial arts solves this problem by capitalizing on one of the lamest (but most effective) media tactics out there: a reality show.
All the drama of a bunch of fighters housed in close quarters is slimmed down into a weekly event on Spike TV. Each show focuses on the drama and emotion fighting brings out, with the final contender left standing receiving a $100,000 fight contract. Instead of voting people off an island like other shows, people are "voted off" with fists and armbars. The winner stays, the loser leaves...just like it should be.
MMA has individual organizations, but the "pros" are generally in the grandest MMA stage of them all: the UFC. You won't see a UFC champion brandishing a half-dozen titles like boxing. Until the unification of the Pride (a foreign MMA organization, now owned by Zuffa, Inc., also the owner of the UFC), there was only a single title per division. Now that the titles are unified, there's still only one "supreme" king of the ring in each weight class...just like it should be.
But what of the characters that boxing brings to the table? Doesn't MMA suffer the same problem?
Hardly.
What MMA lacks in character it makes up for in raw intensity. It's easy to love 44-year-old former-UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture because of his easy-going personality and sheepish grin, but you can also love him because he breaks people half his age in two.
Then there's Houston Alexander, a former construction worker and family man who donated a kidney to save his dying daughter.
MMA has character. Believe it.
Check in next time to hear how MMA is the currently the fastest-growing sport in the world and is quickly becoming one of the most profitable and successful comeback stories in entertainment and sports history!
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