Maybe someone would like to substitute McCain's and Obama's faces in this photo.
Posted on 02/29/2008 8:45:39 AM PST by Clint N. Suhks
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - CBS is bringing mixed martial arts, the bone-crunching combat sport popularly known as "cage fighting," to prime-time television this spring, the U.S. network said on Thursday.
Branded as barbaric by critics in the 1990s for its lack of rules, mixed martial arts, or MMA, has evolved into a more mainstream sport that bars biting, eye-gouging, head-butting and strikes to the groin.
But fierce punching, kicking, karate, judo and wrestling moves -- with no protective gear -- are still very much a part of the sport.
One of its biggest stars, the bald, bearded Kimbo Slice, has become a YouTube.com sensation for video clips showing him punching his adversaries into submission within 30 seconds. The sport remains unsanctioned in more than a dozen states.
Beginning in April or May, CBS plans to broadcast four MMA events each year as two-hour live specials airing on Saturday nights, a time period once reserved for such family fare as "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "The Bob Newhart" and "The Carol Burnett Show."
Saturday nights have become a virtual dead zone for broadcast networks generally due to drastically changing viewer habits. CBS now devotes much of its Saturday prime-time lineup to movies, the news magazine "48 Hours Mystery" and reruns of its hit crime dramas.
But CBS executives are seizing on the growing popularity of mixed martial arts, especially among the young men most prized by TV advertisers, as an opportunity to build a lucrative franchise where none exists.
"It is a sport that has a very strong fan base and attracts a terrific audience," CBS Entertainment executive Kelly Kahl told Reuters. "We're putting it on Saturday nights, a night that has been underserved by all the networks for quite some time. So it's low risk and a potentially large reward."
CBS is bringing MMA fights to commercial network TV for the first time through a deal with ProElite Inc., one of the sport's leading promoters, which has produced mixed martial arts for the sibling cable channel Showtime since last year.
ProElite matches, and those of its larger competitor, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, also are big draws on pay-per-view television, and tickets to live events are often priced at more than $500 per seat.
Kahl said CBS would broadcast its MMA matches as they are already presented on Showtime, with no special rules or alterations to tone down the level of violence.
The refereed matches are conducted on circular mats enclosed in a mesh cage in a series of five-minute rounds.
"It is a sport, and it has violent elements. So does football, so does hockey," Kahl said. "If an injury does happen, we'll try to treat it as tactfully and tastefully as we can. But it's not something we're going to hype."
Douglas DeLuca, the CEO of ProElite, said most critics of MMA "have never watched the sport and certainly don't understand it."
"This is a sport of highly trained, highly talented ... world-class athletes," he said. "It is a chess match when these guys get in there and fight, when you understand exactly what they're doing. It's like a beautiful dance."
He also said the CBS events would not be limited to MMA's male stars. Some of the fights will feature the sport's female stars. One of them, Gina Carano, currently appears as Crush on the NBC reality hit "American Gladiators."
Oops.
Misread.
My bad.
Well, after the thrill of cage fighting between humans is gone, I would NOT be surprised.
I wrestled in High School and College and have a deep appreciation for its natural extension in Ultimate Fighting. Unlike boxing, real fights go to the ground where they generally end. How dull is it to limit only one aspect of the event like boxing/karate/wrestling does?
I couldn't agree more. He obviously doesn't know anything about the current circuit.
I think the Gracies are done, Didn't Hughes or Ortiz kick the snot out of the youngest one? If he hasn't retired he should.
It’s a sport, and it’s shown on TV, so yes it’s appropriate for such an establishment. I’m not fond of MMA myself, but the idea of boycotting a sports bar for showing a sport you don’t like is laughable and silly.
Just how does religion enter into this Cap'n Crunch?
“You know, we’re only about —> <— this far from gladiators and lions.”
“The emperor wants battles, the emperor gets battles, you’ll get the battle of Carthage.”
Sorry couldn’t resist a Gladiator quote.
Bill Richardson’s Chief of Staff (for his now dead pres campaign I think) has a son who is a MMA bad-ass. Very tough fighter.
It is already shown in bars
I hear you but using TV and “It’s shown on television” as the arbitor of appropriateness in society is moral relativism of the highest order.
If you use it in a business enviornment, then you’re giving critics the complete opportunity to discredit capitalism and the free market system.
“If there are signs that we have become less concerned than we should be with virtue, there are also signs that many Americans are becoming restless under the tyrannies of egalitarianism and sick of the hedonistic individualism that has brought us to the suburbs of Gomorrah. But, for the immediate future, what we probably face is an increasingly vulgar, violent, chaotic, and politicized culture.” Robert Bork America: Slouching towards Gomorrah (pg 342)
Unfortunate.
And how is MMA not appropriate for sports bars?
What is not appropriate?
You stated that MMA is not appropriate for showing in sports bars. Explain how you came to this conclusion.
The showing of MMA in a sports bar is an opportunity to discredit capitalism and free markets?
You're off your rocker.
Maybe someone would like to substitute McCain's and Obama's faces in this photo.
I’m mean in the respect (purely from the philosophical sense) that all - all - they care about is profits.
As they should. A business's #1 concern is and must be earning a profit.
Whether they are showing MMA, PGA Golf, Football, Poker, or national cheerleading champsionships. Without profit, they go dark.
Its probably immoral to show the cheerleading competitions though. It only encourages oldermen with impure thoughts about young girls to congregate and drink at the establishment, fueling their desires. Right?
This is good news! I’m really tired of the UFC trying to dominate the MMA world, so the more promotions and different organizations out there the better.
As for Kimbo, he’s a great brawler, but he’s going to get his clock cleaned soon enough. There are some really skilled fighters who will take him to the ground and have no mercy (assuming they can avoid his knockout). It was funny to see him end up in a slugfest with Tank after all the technical training that he went through with Bas. Oh well, a brawl is just as entertaining!
I was thinking more along the lines of the history of the sport. The Gracies are the Godfathers of modern MMA, Helio, Royce, Rickson. They brought the Brazilian jujitsu to the sport and dominated those that only knew how to strike.
The sport has changed dramatically over the years and a pure BJJ guy simply can't survive. A mix of boxing, wrestling, and jujitsu are mandatory now.
Oh, and it is so much less violent than boxing in my opinion. Boxing requires blows to the head over a much longer period of time which is what causes the long term damage.
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