Memories of MMA in 2004 seem like 20 years ago. Those were the days when the sport couldn't sniff coverage from any mainstream media outlet. UFC 50 drew just over 6,000 paid customers in Atlantic City and the pay-per-view only had 40,000 buys. Now we're debating whether UFC 121 will "disappoint" at only 800,000 buys or if Brock Lesnar haul in another audience of one million-plus? Television exposure and more coverage from big outlets has grown sport exponentially. We saw some great examples today. In the middle football season and the Major League Baseball playoffs, UFC was all over ESPN on the television side and ESPNRadio spent some quality time talking MMA when Tito Ortiz appeared on Colin Cowherd's nationally syndicated show.
Cowherd lambasted the old guard media for not recognizing how huge MMA is with 18-30 year olds.
"American newspapers are dying for 18-30 year old readers," said Cowherd. "Do you realize that Brock Lesnar and Tito Ortiz on pay-per-view will have more 19-year-old viewers than the American League Championship series on free TV?"
Cowherd introduced the conversation with Ortiz by saying that he recently sat down with four 20-something males from Boston and asked them what their favorite sports were. The 46-year-old said he was surprised when none of the guys mentioned the Red Sox at the top of the list. They listed NFL first and MMA second.
SportsCenter was hot and heavy for UFC 121. Brock Lesnar appeared last night and Sports Nation this afternoon. Even Cain Velasquez got a push on SportsCenter this morning.
Thanks to ESPNRadio1100 Las Vegas for Cowherd/Ortiz audio
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