By now we’ve all heard the news that Elite Xtreme Combat, part of the ProElite empire, will be broadcasting events on CBS – the first network deal for any mixed martial arts organization.  I’ve said many times in this space that network deals are what need to happen in order for MMA to take its popularity to the next level.  Regardless of how many PPV buys a promotion gets, or how many people tune in to a pay channel to see a show, all the “mainstream” sports are free (or at least on cable).  You don’t have to pay to see the big events, and in fact the networks pay the sports’ organizations for the right to show them.  So really, as long as the big events aren’t accessible to all, mixed martial arts isn’t going to be considered an especially big deal by the masses.  And it could be.  The next generation’s Ali-Frazier could be a future version of Couture-Emelianenko.  And you never hear about how many PPV buys Ali-Frazier generated (granted, there was no such thing at the time, but come with me here.)  So this development is surely a big deal.  But I have one question:  is MMA in general (and EliteXC in particular) ready for such a spotlight?

I’m not here to trash EliteXC.  I’ve enjoyed a lot about the events that they’ve put on so far.  But let’s look at the facts.  The promotion’s biggest draw at the moment is reformed street fighter Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson.  Is that really the face that we want to put on MMA?  Because that’s what’s happening.  If you look at ESPN to gauge what’s going on (and where better to look?), you’ve got the very popular “Pardon the Interruption” featuring two or three segments on Ferguson over the past few weeks.  There has never been a mention of other top MMA fighters in this period (granted, they’ve talked about Quinton Jackson and Randy Couture before, but never this frequently.)  And again, I’m not downplaying Ferguson’s skills.  He certainly trains with one of the most credentialed trainers in all of MMA in Bas Rutten, and though we haven’t seen a showcase of all the skills he is purported to possess, “El Guapo” has little doubt about Ferguson’s ability once the fight hits the floor.  But do we really want the face of mainstream MMA to be a guy who’s sponsored by Reality Kings?  Have you wondered what the Reality Kings are?  Because I did after seeing the last EliteXC show.  I looked it up after the show was over.  Reality Kings is a company that runs a slew of Internet porn sites.  That’s right.  Kimbo Slice’s main sponsor is a porn vendor.  So call me old-fashioned, but that makes me a bit uneasy. 

It also makes me uneasy that at the helm of EliteXC is a former boxing promoter in Gary Shaw.  I have no personal dealings with Shaw, and I know nothing about him as a person, but on the surface?  He looks like the stereotypical sleazy boxing promoter – right down to the tracksuit he wears at the weigh-ins and how he poses for pictures with the fighters.  Say what you will about Dana White – and I have as much as anyone else – but there’s never been any doubt that his loyalties lie with MMA.  I have my doubts about Shaw. 

Moving on to the promotion itself, I’m excited to see what CBS will do with it.  Hopefully the production and commentating will be left up to the network, and we can see what the sport will look like when the presentation is taken out of the promotion’s hands.  Of all the things that holds MMA back from becoming part of mainstream pop culture, I honestly think that presentation is one of the main culprits.  Are we going to hear 80-year-old references to the stock market crash, courtesy of Mauro Renallo on CBS?  My hope is that the network gets some credentialed announcers for this show.  People who at least know something about the sport, but also don’t have any loyalties to promotions or fighters.  Could that really be so hard?  And what would be the difference if guys like Mke Goldberg, Mauro Renallo, Joe Rogan, and Bill Goldberg were replaced by guys like Bob Costas, Harry Calas, Al Michaels and such?  A few examples:  we wouldn’t know the names of the Octagon girls.  We might get to hear some actual play-by-play from the actual play-by-play commentator instead of the color guy.  You wouldn’t get the color guy saying, “I wish I could say that word,” when a fighter yells out “Where’s my f***ing belt?!”  We might not hear “It’s over!” every time someone gets into a little bit of trouble.  We would never have to endure the phrase, “Yo yo yo and away we go!” again.  I’m not saying we need Costas behind the mic or something, but the commentating in all of MMA could get a whole lot better than it is.  And while we’re at it, can we please scrap the dancing girls?  I have rarely seen such an ill-conceived idea as the thought of gyrating women directly behind a fighter who just got knocked out cold.  Do we really need that?  Are we that depraved that we can’t sit for a few minutes between fights with the commentary and previews keeping us busy?  We have to have some sort of eye candy?  Sure, there’re cheerleaders in football, but no one pays any attention to them either.  Get rid of the dancing.  It makes no sense.

You’ll notice that I’ve gone all this way without once mentioning the sport getting by on its own merits.  I have no doubts about the entertainment value of mixed martial arts being its own draw.  But you can have a great sport and present it like a sideshow, and it’ll get treated by the public in the exact same manner as the promotion treats it.  So if MMA is going to be a mainstream sport with real coverage on major networks, the promotions need to start presenting it in a real way.  Don’t gloss things over, and don’t cover up the news.  Don’t have your announcers consciously neglect to mention some of the biggest names in the sport simply because the promotion has a beef with them.  It’s stupid, petty, and counter-productive.  I think that the fights can speak for themselves if the show is done correctly.  Here’s hoping that CBS and EliteXC get it right, and that certain other promotions follow suit with good network deals.

To contact me, Shawn Ennis, shoot me an email at ennistorch@sbcglobal.net or visit my zone on the forums.