Posted on 04/28/2006 9:33:35 AM PDT by SShultz460
The male 18-34 demographic is the Yeti of sports, an elusive, amorphous beast that marketers will go to great lengths to glimpse and then capture. There was an unlikely sighting April 15 in Anaheim as a capacity crowd of 17,000 fans -- most sufficiently old to vote, but insufficiently old to run for president -- packed the Arrowhead Pond for ... an Ultimate Fighting Championship event.
The card, titled UFC 59: Reality Check, had the feel of a marriage (shotgun, to be sure) between a Vegas heavyweight fight and a Lollapalooza tour stop. Suffice it to say, the tattooed outnumbered the untattooed by a significant margin. "Maybe older people haven't even heard of UFC," says 27-year-old Andrei "the Pit Bull" Arlovski, a past heavyweight champ who was upset in Anaheim, felled by a series of punches from his 6-foot-8 opponent, Tim "the Maine-iac" Sylvia.
The tableau in Anaheim was just the latest indication that however repugnant some may find it, UFC has entered the arena as a formidable sports property. The week before the fight, Spike TV's companion reality show, The Ultimate Fighter 3, drew record ratings for the network and, among the coveted 18-34 male demo, outdelivered the TNT NBA doubleheader
That week, "UFC results" was the second most popular topic entered in the Yahoo! Search engine. The first was Super Bowl XL. Days after he defeated Arlovski, Sylvia threw out the first pitch at a Dodgers-Giants game. "It's a combination of the sport itself and personalities," says Dana White, UFC's 36-year-old president. "Young people see it on TV and they dig it. Boxing is your dad's sport. This is something way more exciting." UFC is perhaps singularly well-suited to Generation Y, combining the brutality of video games with a rapid-fire pacing familiar to serial channel surfers.
(Excerpt) Read more at sportsillustrated.cnn.com ...
UFC/MMA Ping
Rich Franklin is a beast....
He's the man. I'd love to see him against Dan Henderson :)
UFC RULES!!!!!
I didn't know that there was a UFC/MMA Ping list. If possible can you put me onto that ping list?
I have the ping list, It's not big yet, but It will be :)
BTW what do you think of that Ortiz/Shamrock is back on now for UFC 61?
Which Shamrock? Ken or Frank?
So is Matt Hughes. BTW, I can't believe Silva beat Alrovski! Arlovski is an absolute animal! WOW.
I was a big fan of Tank Abbot.
It was awesome when they first started back in the mid 90's. Each fighter had to wqin 3 fights and the only things not allowed were biting and eye gouging.
Kenny, Frank will never fight in the UFC
I'm a huge fan of the Tournament format. I wish they could do it Stateside, but they can't.
I am looking forward to the PrideFC Absolute GP coming up next month
That fight was amazing! To watch a guy almost get knocked out to go on to win the fight was shocking. Package it into happening in about 20 seconds was just insane. I was going nuts...There is Nothing on TV that is Sports related, that is as exciting as MMA...
I've become hooked on UFC. My wife, who has never been a sports fan, won't miss it. It's what boxing ought to be.
The Hughes-Royce Gracie fight should be interesting. Gracie is very slick on the ground, but Hughes is an animal who's also unbelievable on the ground.
I've always wanted Mike Tyson to give it a try. I would love to see him get his a$$ stomped.
I think that fight will be a yawner. Hughes by decision. You can quote me on it.
A heck of a lot better than boxing. Until Don King gets his mits on it, anyway.
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