I know this is really more in the realm of the Other Sports forum, but I just waned to know what people's views in general were regarding cage fighting. It has been viewed for many years as a brutal and quite thuggish sport and has had, and probably will always have, many vocal opponents in both the media and the government.
To be fair, in it's early days, organisations such as the UFC didn't really help it's cause, as it was pretty much a case of no holds barred bare knuckle fighting with pretty poor standards of refereeing. It was quite easy to see why so many people found it difficult to watch and hence why so many wanted it banned.
It's come a long way since then, and is growing at an incredibly rapid rate in both terms of popularity and the revenues it generates worldwide through PPV events. It now generates more PPV revenue than boxing in the USA. With tougher rules and regulations and a more keen eye on the safety aspect of the fights, I feel people's impression of cage fighting and the UFC in particular is changing rapidly. It even seems to be quite rightly viewed as a sport now, as opposed to just two guys beating the hell out of each other in a cage. The guys that compete are incredibly talented and well conditioned athletes. It's no doubt a sport, and a tough one at that.
What really made me realise just how much opinion has changed towards cage fighting was seeing the new Microsoft advert which has a clip of Rashad Evans sparring in a cage. Rewind 6 months or so and I feel that there was no way Microsoft would have been associated with cage fighting. To me it says two things. Firstly, that if Microsoft are willing to be associated with cage fighting, it certainly must be much more well accepted by the general public than it was not long ago, and secondly, that it's popularity is now at the level where even giants like Microsoft feel that they should jump aboard the bandwagon and make the most of it's popularity in their advertising campaigns.
It would appear that it's here to stay and will only grow in popularity. Even over here, it's gone from relative obscurity on TV channels like Bravo to being one of the main attractions on Setanta. It's certainly one of the main reasons I have Setanta.
How do you feel about cage fighting? Do you see it as a sport? Should it be altered or banned? Would you go to see a cage fight?
To be fair, in it's early days, organisations such as the UFC didn't really help it's cause, as it was pretty much a case of no holds barred bare knuckle fighting with pretty poor standards of refereeing. It was quite easy to see why so many people found it difficult to watch and hence why so many wanted it banned.
It's come a long way since then, and is growing at an incredibly rapid rate in both terms of popularity and the revenues it generates worldwide through PPV events. It now generates more PPV revenue than boxing in the USA. With tougher rules and regulations and a more keen eye on the safety aspect of the fights, I feel people's impression of cage fighting and the UFC in particular is changing rapidly. It even seems to be quite rightly viewed as a sport now, as opposed to just two guys beating the hell out of each other in a cage. The guys that compete are incredibly talented and well conditioned athletes. It's no doubt a sport, and a tough one at that.
What really made me realise just how much opinion has changed towards cage fighting was seeing the new Microsoft advert which has a clip of Rashad Evans sparring in a cage. Rewind 6 months or so and I feel that there was no way Microsoft would have been associated with cage fighting. To me it says two things. Firstly, that if Microsoft are willing to be associated with cage fighting, it certainly must be much more well accepted by the general public than it was not long ago, and secondly, that it's popularity is now at the level where even giants like Microsoft feel that they should jump aboard the bandwagon and make the most of it's popularity in their advertising campaigns.
It would appear that it's here to stay and will only grow in popularity. Even over here, it's gone from relative obscurity on TV channels like Bravo to being one of the main attractions on Setanta. It's certainly one of the main reasons I have Setanta.
How do you feel about cage fighting? Do you see it as a sport? Should it be altered or banned? Would you go to see a cage fight?
