UFC, Dana White and Network TV

[damo[23]]

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/tem ... &zoneid=13

As MMAWeekly.com reported last Thursday, UFC president Dana White said a third event was in the works for November, featuring a headlining bout between B.J. Penn and Diego Sanchez. The event’s broadcast platform was neither a pay-per-view nor a Spike TV event.

“Wait and see boys... if I can pull this one off,” White told reporters.

At the post-fight press conference for UFC 102 in Portland, Ore., White told MMAWeekly.com that he was flying to L.A. on Monday for another meeting with an undisclosed network.

When asked if he was finalizing a deal, White said, “I hope so... I really hope so.”

It seems like this could be huge for the UFC and MMA if this happens.

It would also explain the ceasing of Dana White's video blogs and the rise of more "fighter involvement" with their blogs leading up to events, it certainly gives a more proffessional but involving out look to fans, because lets face it, I think most watched Dana's blog for the humour, where as now I actually watch the blogs to get a better idea of who the fighters are and what they do leading up to events.

[Cammo101]

Hopefully this is the long rumored deal with Fox. Fox fits with the UFC demographic best and would also be less squeamish. A UFC/Fox marriage would be huge for both parties and MMA in general.

[Posey H8er]

I haven't heard much about Fox, I assumed it's with ABC/ESPN since they keep upping their coverage on TV and the web.

This deal would make sense with Dana recently saying that the WEC would likely merge with the UFC (so that there can be around 12 PPV events and a number of live tv events, most of them with title fights).

I liked Dana's video blogs because they sometimes gave a behind the scenes look at fighters. The new blogs give that X10.

[El Hardee]

Hopefully this is the long rumored deal with Fox. Fox fits with the UFC demographic best and would also be less squeamish. A UFC/Fox marriage would be huge for both parties and MMA in general.

Does that mean we'll see Jay Glazer as the MMA FOX analyst?

[Cammo101]

Hopefully this is the long rumored deal with Fox. Fox fits with the UFC demographic best and would also be less squeamish. A UFC/Fox marriage would be huge for both parties and MMA in general.

Does that mean we'll see Jay Glazer as the MMA FOX analyst?

Sadly, I doubt it. Rogan and Goldy are riding the UFC meal ticket until the wheels fall off.

[El Hardee]

Rogan is OK, I am just a little tired of "top of the food chain Jiu Jitsu" or when he jocks the weak rubber gaurd or any of Bravo's other stupid names for basic no gi BJJ. Goldie is horrible though, he has been doing fights for quite a while and still sounds like a newb.

[Cammo101]

Rogan is OK, I am just a little tired of "top of the food chain Jiu Jitsu" or when he jocks the weak rubber gaurd or any of Bravo's other stupid names for basic no gi BJJ. Goldie is horrible though, he has been doing fights for quite a while and still sounds like a newb.

At least they work well together.

The Rogan line that drives me nuts is when he talks about "Training in Big Bear at altitude" whenever Tito fights.

[High 5]

They both have their annoying quirks, but nothing is weirder than Goldberg's deep stare into Rogan from like an inch away.

Anyway, a deal with ESPN would be awesome. Especially if it meant more (and better) coverage before and after events. Right now you're lucky to see 3 seconds of footage on Sportscenter after a big fight. And after Bowles beat Torres the ESPN ticker said Torres beat Bowles by TKO. It would be nice to break up the Yankees/Sox and Brett Favre talk at least a little bit.

I don't know about FOX. UFC on FOX just seems weird to me. Even though I do enjoy NFL on FOX.

[cowboyronnie]

so much more bull on t.v. broadcasts, namely: filler and commercial breaks. the commercial breaks between rounds are esp crappy.

[4ho5ive]

Im gonna say ESPN as well. UFC/MMA has been getting more and more coverage lately and a deal would be big for MMA exposure as a whole. I hate Goldie's "So you want to be an Ultimate Fighter" or "Those arent boxing gloves Joe" lines. Personally, i think they keep it simple for the newer/uneducated/casual fans still learning the game. Goldie is a pretty good football announcer, i think they ask them to dumb it down a bit and understandably so.

Jay Glazer is the man, Max Kellerman too on a Fox sports related tip.

[CapeCrusader]

Dana White is more and more like Vince McMahon everyday. Destroying the competition day by day...they both do whats best for the company and both are working on tv deals now (Vince i think is working on creating one).

[El Hardee]

Dana White is more and more like Vince McMahon everyday. Destroying the competition day by day...they both do whats best for the company and both are working on tv deals now (Vince i think is working on creating one).

Vince already has one with NBC, I believe they are going to show a WM25 replay on NBC sometime this week.

[Posey H8er]

Im gonna say ESPN as well. UFC/MMA has been getting more and more coverage lately and a deal would be big for MMA exposure as a whole. I hate Goldie's "So you want to be an Ultimate Fighter" or "Those arent boxing gloves Joe" lines. Personally, i think they keep it simple for the newer/uneducated/casual fans still learning the game. Goldie is a pretty good football announcer, i think they ask them to dumb it down a bit and understandably so.

Jay Glazer is the man, Max Kellerman too on a Fox sports related tip.

Rogan always says "He got hurt really bad right there!!!" Gets kind of repetitive. But as a whole they are a good unit. I like Bas Rutten's commentary from Pride the most.

[Latrell]

so much more bull on t.v. broadcasts, namely: filler and commercial breaks. the commercial breaks between rounds are esp crappy.

Agreed...I have absolutely no qualms with PPV. If you have buddies that like MMA its like what?..10 bucks at most for a PPV? 10 dollars once a month to watch UFC without commercial and other bulls**t
sounds like a deal to me. As a fan I dislike this idea and I hope this is like a one time thing and doesn't become the norm.

[Headliner]

If you don't like commercials just get a DVR, Tivo or whatever you can get in your region.

I have a DVR, and i never watch anything live anymore. If it's an hour show, i start it 20 mins in and then fast forward commercials, and still finish at the same time. Makes life so much easier.

[CapeCrusader]

Dana White is more and more like Vince McMahon everyday. Destroying the competition day by day...they both do whats best for the company and both are working on tv deals now (Vince i think is working on creating one).

Vince already has one with NBC, I believe they are going to show a WM25 replay on NBC sometime this week.

No when I meant creating one, I meant creating a new channel. I read somewhere that he's going to keep his deals with like NBC and USA, but was looking to creating a channel from scratch.

[Cammo101]

Zuffa should team with HD Net and create an MMA Network. That would be freaking sweet. If they did that they would be able to show all major orgs. except for Strikeforce.

[Headliner]

Zuffa should team with HD Net and create an MMA Network. That would be freaking sweet. If they did that they would be able to show all major orgs. except for Strikeforce.

very smart

[Cammo101]

Zuffa should team with HD Net and create an MMA Network. That would be freaking sweet. If they did that they would be able to show all major orgs. except for Strikeforce.

very smart

Imagine a network that showed...

Old and new UFC events
Old and new WEC events
Old Pride events
Old Affliction events
Old and new WVR Sengoku events
Old and new Dream events
Old and new Adrenaline events
Old IFL events
Old and new MFC events
Old and new M1 Challenge Seasons
Live weight in and countdown shows for all new events
Inside MMA (possibly nightly)

And that is stuff just off the top of my head that I know either Zuffa or HDNet own the rights to. No telling what else they could acquire. And with Zuffa and Mark Cuban behind it, it would have plenty of money to spent.

Sounds genius to me. I would never change the channel.