With great exposure comes great responsibility.
Believe it or not, there are still many, many people who believe MMA is a blood sport, that the goal is to try to break an opponents' limbs or even try to kill them. UFC President Dana White is looking to target that audience and educate them with the massive amount of new exposure the promotion will receive with its recent network deal on Fox.
While the hardcore fans already know just about everything, White believes there's a huge untapped market of people who simply don't understand what MMA is ... and he said as much in a recent article in the Los Angeles Times.
This could very well be one of the "major changes in production" that fans can expect to see in the new wave of UFC programming:
"We live in a bubble in our [UFC Las Vegas] offices and take it for granted people know what armbars, guillotines and triangle chokes are -- nobody knows what this [stuff] means," White said. "We have to view [Fox programming] as if nobody knows anything about this sport, that people die in this cage. We're going to educate the masses, treat it like nobody knows who we are. I think our [hardcore] audience understands that's necessary."
There has already been confirmation of huge changes. The classic "Gladiator intro" is being replaced, as is the nu-metal "Bring the Pain" opening theme song by Stemm. There have even been rumors that Gus Johnson could be involved in the pre or post-fight shows on Fox.
What's next?
Could we see a "Submissions 101" with Joe Rogan, explaining everything from armbars to gogoplatas, similar to what other organizations have done in the past?
Do you think this will help bring in new fans, Maniacs? Or will it be a lost cause going after people who have already made up their minds on MMA?
Opinions, please.
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