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This is exactly what Dana White has wanted for many years now and this moment on April 29th could mark a permanent change in the way all future MMA events are broadcasted. The MMA fans are going to benefit in the long run as well because they are getting plenty more UFC fights without having to pay any extra money. The twelve fights will be spread out with five on Facebook, two on Spike TV and five airing on pay-per-view.
One thing is for certain when this all comes to pass is that the UFC’s grip on the MMA scene will tighten even further when the final bell rings. Currently, the only major North American MMA promotion not under the Zuffa umbrella is the Bellator Fighting Championships and they do not have the star power yet to pull off the same thing the UFC is doing. Which, if that remains to be true, means that there is no other MMA promotion that can pull off what the UFC is going to do.
Speaking of promotions under the Zuffa banner, that bring to mind the recently purchased Strikeforce promotion. In the past, Strikeforce has aired a few of their preliminary card fights on MMA news websites like Sherdog. MMA fans can now start wondering when and/or if Strikeforce is going to have their full cards aired from opening fight to main event.
Another question that the UFC is going to have to immediately face is whether or not they are going to over saturate their fans with all of these extra fights in one night. If you are an average UFC fan who decides to check out all the fights, you will now be going from five fights to twelve fights a night. While hardcore MMA fans will be enthused by this, one would think that the average fans may be getting bored sooner, rather than later.
Fans of smaller MMA promotions can make the argument that live streaming websites like Go Fight Live have been airing full MMA cards for some time now. However, with no offense to the smaller shows, it is hard to keep people interested in a fight card that featured ten to twenty fights in a row. While the UFC easily has the star power advantage, the one opponent they may not be able to fight is time itself.
While the majority of the focus on April 29th is going to be on Georges St. Pierre and Jake Shields, the long term effects could be dictated by twelve fights that start airing at 6pm EST. that night. UFC President Dana White finally gets exactly what he has been asking for, but is getting what he wanted truly a good thing?
You can contact David Tees at bigteesps3@yahoo.com
