It is important as a writer to try your best to keep your opinions unbiased, and to remain as objective as possible. Despite this, it is difficult to not have your personal history influence the way you view the world.
My mother was born in the Philippines, and met my father during the Vietnam War. Romance ensued and they had four children. I was the youngest, and was named after my Irish immigrant great-grandfather on my father?s side, who happened to be an avid boxing fan. I grew up watching boxing on PPV, professional wrestling, and the UFC. It was because of my love for one on one combat sports that I decided to take up wrestling in high school. In college I bartended at a sports bar, and worked during practically every boxing or mixed martial arts event on television. I am one of the few that covers both boxing and MMA, and one of the fewer who has a strong passion for both.
I readily admit that the best part of MMA is the striking component of the sport, and that the talent you currently see in boxing in regards to striking surpasses the talent you see in MMA.
However, boxing has a problem, and it?s starting to turn the casual fan away from the sport, and it is preventing the creation of diehard fans.
In 2011, the UFC had 15 PPV?s, and those PPV?s had an estimated total of 8,970,000 buys. The UFC just signed a contract with Fox to place events on network television, air their reality tournament live on FX, and air foreign versions of their reality tournament on the Fuel network. Their sister promotion, Strikeforce, extended their contract on Showtime and will have approximately eight events a year. Regional promotions such as Ring of Combat and Cage Fury Championships regularly sell out their events. Love it or hate it, the business of MMA is doing well.
