Props: Broadcasting Cable

Quoteworthy:

"A lot of people don't realize we are in a half a billion homes around the world. You know all the things we've been through in the United States, but this sport travels well. Cricket will never be big here and the NFL will never be big around the world. But we are all human beings and fighting is in our DNA. We get it and we like it. So we are working on a couple moves now and should be in a billion homes around the world in the next couple months. Sports Business Journal just came out with a survey asking big names in the industry which sport could start its own network and 4 out of 5 said us. They are right. I agree. That will happen within the next couple years.You are starting to see now ESPN is starting to cover us more. I think this is one of those things ESPN will probably kick themselves in 10 years saying, 'We could have fucking had that.'"

UFC President Dana White believes the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will be broadcast to "a billion homes" in just a few months -- but on which channel? The sport of MMA has grown significantly since UFC 1 back on Nov. 12, 1993. Since then, new rules, medical suspensions and fighters adapting to more than just one style have transformed MMA from bar-room brawl to bona fide sport. Now the UFC is getting coverage from ESPN worldwide, on the verge of being on Network television and being treated as legitimate. What do you think Maniacs? Is the UFC finally hitting the mainstream status Dana White hoped for? Or do you take this news with a grain of salt, since it's not the first time we've heard it?