NFL Lockout closes one door, opens another for UFC and MMA

Greed will imprison us all.

No one knows that better than the legions of National Football League (NFL) fans that are being held hostage right now by the owners and players inability to come to terms on an agreement regarding how to split the massive amount of revenue the league brings in each year.

They're also bickering over potential rule changes, whether or not to add a few games to each season, a rookie pay scale and many other labor disputes. All of these issues that have gone unresolved for far too long have led to the possibility of a work stoppage.

In short, by the time August rolls around this year, there may not be any professional football. But where one door closes, another one opens and there is always someone standing on the other side, waiting to walk through it.

Enter Dana White and his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

MMA is widely regarded as the fastest growing sport in the world and it's difficult to dispute that. However, they've still not fully broken into the mainstream on the level of the major sports leagues.

For years, though, they've been positioning themselves to do just that and, as CBSNews opines, their recent acquisition of Strikeforce, combined with the labor issues facing the NFL, might just be the catalyst they've been looking for:

As the National Football League spun into an abyss of finger pointing and legal action this past week, the Ultimate Fighting Championship made a brilliant, under-the-radar power play by acquiring Strike Force - the last remaining hurdle to unifying the sport under one organization. The UFC may appear like an upstart against the NFL powerhouse in terms of fan base, revenue and reputation, but securing absolute ownership of the elite athletes of the sport signals that Dana White and company are an entertainment force to be reckoned with. Bringing together the sport under one brand allows greater fan loyalty, more marketing opportunities and exponential revenue growth. It's a game-changer within an industry historically dominated by the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL.

The term game-changer has been bandied about recently but it truly applies here. The UFC acquiring Strikeforce has given them the look of those previously mentioned sports leagues.

Basically, they've become a one-stop shop. There is no longer need to go anywhere else to get your mixed martial arts fix.

And because of the large quantity of disheartened NFL fans, the timing of the move was perfect. Those fans will be looking for somewhere to go for their sporting entertainment needs. They want excellence in their sports allegiance but they also want stability.

Why can't the UFC fill the void?

The answer is, they can and they will. As the CBSNews article also brings to light, the NBA is currently headed for a situation not unlike that of the NFL, one that will surely fracture their fanbase. 

Guess who will be there to feast on the remains?

(Photoshop credit to Jesse Holland)