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THE OTHER MONDAY NIGHT WAR

"I mean we're not trying to go against him. That night is the night Spike wanted the fight. Spike wanted the fight that night, so that's the night they called for it and Vince goes into (expletive) war mode. He's calling up (Mike) Tyson. He's bringing this guy back and the Rock might come back. I love it. He's a (expletive) animal. You've never heard me say we're going to kick the (expletive) out of Monday Night Raw. You've never heard me say that. I think we're two totally different, pro wrestling is totally different than the UFC and mixed martial arts. And I respect this guy. I like Vince McMahon. I've had breakfast with him. He's a good guy, but he is a (expletive) animal. I'm not trying to beat him on Monday night. I don't think we would beat them. Those guys pull killer ratings. It's been like the highest rated show on television forever. We're just putting a fight on Monday night because Spike wants us to."

- UFC President Dana White (UFC 108 Post Fight Press Conference)

With the focus of the wrestling universe squarely on the return of the “Monday night wars” between the WWE (featuring the return of Bret Hart) and TNA (featuring the debut of Hulk Hogan), there is another upcoming “Monday night war” that hasn’t garnered much attention. That of which I speak is coming up on Monday Night January 11th, between the aforementioned WWE and the UFC.

I say this because running opposite of WWE Monday Night Raw next week will be the UFC Ultimate Fighter 20 event. As of this writing, the UFC Ultimate Fight Night 20 card will feature Gray Maynard vs. Nate Diaz, Efrain Escudero vs. Evan Dunham, Tom Lawlor vs. Aaron Simpson and Amir Sadollah vs. Brad Blackburn.

This UFC event will mark the first time since UFC Ultimate Fight Night 2 (on October 3rd, 2005) that the WWE and UFC went head to head on a Monday Night. The UFC event that night featured the late Evan Tanner vs. David Louiseau in the main event, while the main event of that edition of WWE Monday Night Raw was Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle in a 30 Minute Iron Man Match.

When it was all said and done, the UFC Ultimate Fight Night 2 event drew a rating of 1.6 and that edition of WWE Monday Night Raw drew a rating of 4.4, a huge victory for the WWE. Now, while the UFC Ultimate Fight Night rating have hovered around the 1.5 to 2.5 mark, the ratings for WWE Monday Night Raw having been on a steady decline, with the final WWE Raw of 2009 doing a 3.6 rating.

Now, I’m not stating that the UFC running an event the same night as WWE Raw will destroy the WWE’s television ratings, because that simply will not happen. However, there can be considerations towards that fact that, to an extent, there is some form of viewers who tune into both WWE programming and UFC programming, I’m one of those people myself and there are more out there.

Also, what is different from the last time the UFC and WWE went head to head on a Monday Night, the UFC was just becoming a booming sport in North America, where now they have surpassed many sports in both the popularity and pay-per-view markets. To an extent, the WWE has declined in popularity (not by much though) since the last head to head meeting on a Monday Night, while to an extent, the UFC has risen in popularity.

TNA will also be firing a shot at the WWE prior to the potential WWE vs. UFC “Monday night war” with the promotional battle occurring on January 4th. Which for the WWE means that they will be facing a direct competitor in TNA one week and an indirect competitor in the UFC the following week, which outside of Monday Night Football for a few months, doesn’t happen to the WWE the majority of the year.

While the real “Monday night war” will occur on January 4th between the WWE and TNA, a secondary “Monday night war” will occur between the WWE and UFC on January 11th. Just like the battle between the WWE and TNA will have its circumstances, the fallout from the WWE vs. UFC battle next Monday cannot be ignored either.

You can contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com

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