“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”-Mark Twain
In one time or another I think everybody felt a sense of intimidation by a person whether it was consciously or not. When we feel that sense of fear heightened by excitement, a million thoughts run across our head. Flight versus fight, which instinct do you use to win in this situation. Anyone can talk the talk but who can walk the walk? Many “don’t believe it until they see it,” so is that why we feign the impossible? Is that what MMA represents in the worlds we vicariously live by? To be entertained by nature’s dominant way and to become the king of the jungle. As testosterone levels escalate, men compete to settle who the best of the best is in the most humanistic way possible. By gaining pride and respect from others, especially your peers, this gives the fighter the impression of alpha male status. By being entertained in this spectator sport, we get addicted to the emotional story that identifies within us. To see physical stature not compete with the skills of the specialized and to witness the unthinkable to the luck of the game, humoring the bystanders with unbelievable outcomes. As the popularity of mixed martial arts achieves All American sport level, how will or did it get to that status?
There is one person in particular that is known to have changed the face of UFC with mixed martial arts, the notorious Royce Gracie. Being the son of the father of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Helio Gracie, Brazilian born Royce learned how to spar against resisting opponents rather than using the Asian technique of “kata”, which is a form of elaborate training techniques (Downy 206). This meant that when you take down your opponent to the ground and lock his feet, something the opponent is not familiar with, this will stop him from using any abilities as he is being dominated by the person on top (Downy 206). This approach surprised many with his domination of his infamous first professional fights in a challenge of sixteen people of many sizes. He amazed many with his wins as he clobbered previous champions in a different form of fighting using techniques that were superior then weight advantage (http://www.royce-gracie.com/royce-gracie-biography.htm). In some matches, he just grappeled, choked, or joint lock opponents and didn’t have throw a single punch (Downy 202). Commentator Jim Brown said, “What we learned here is fighting is not what we thought it was,” and I’m pretty sure many could agree after watching this impressive fighter using strategies that many have not seen or have been familiar with before (Downy 202). This is how the Ultimate Fighting Champions became popular since the aspect of fighting has now become an amusing form of sports.
Interestingly the idea of Ultimate Fighting Championship actually came from an advertising executive named Art Davie. He wanted to find the world’s best “fighter!” Davie was able to meet Rorion Gracie through a client that was researching martial arts and ended up becoming one of Gracie’s students. Davie suggested a single elimination tournament consisting of eight men who would get the title “War of the Worlds” to his teacher Gracie and John Milius, who is also a student of Gracie as well as a film director and screenwriter. Both agreed and Milius became the creative director while Davie devised the business standpoint. He was able to persuade twenty-eight investors and started the WOW Promotions with the aim to franchise these events through television (http://www.completemartialarts.com/whoswho/ufc/ufchistory.htm).
With the intent to broadcast the fights through television shows, WOW productions introduced their ideas to popular channel but were declined and ended up signing with SEG, which is part of Pay-Per-View. SEG were the ones that came up with the name “The Ultimate Fighting Championship.” The first event included a broad spectrum of fighters including kick boxers, karate expert, sumo wrestlers, etc… With so many different varieties of fighters competing to be the best, the show became an instant hit. In 1995 Gracie and Davie sold their franchise to SEG and dismissed WOW productions but Davie continues to be the Commissioner of UFC up until 1997 (http://www.completemartialarts.com/whoswho/ufc/ufchistory.htm).
In the beginning years of UFC, there were no weight divisions and pretty much little to no rules that made the sport that much more entertaining. Of course there were “no biting, no eye gouging, hair pulling, head butts, groin strikes,” but that’s just not fair period and I’m pretty sure the athletes believe that that’s not the way to compete fairly since the production was known to respect competitors. With fighters only being defeated by surrendering or being unconscious with no referee’s examining the match, this was as real as it can get (Downy 206). In other sports that contain fighting, there is one specification that the certain athlete is good at. But in mixed martial arts, the athletes are able to use a wide range of skills (http://www.completemartialarts.com/whoswho/ufc/ufchistory.htm).
But the hit of this gruesome sport would not go smoothly as controversy started stirring up about the material content that is being presented to the public. Many criticized the realism of the sport and UFC was banned in some states. This led to the drop by the major cable companies and the number of audiences dropped. As UFC started losing popularity, they decided to change their rules to be cooperative with the state athletic commissions to survive the sports industry. The changes included: “weight division, mandatory gloves, limits on permissible striking areas including back of neck and head, kicks to downed opponent, small joint manipulation, pressure point strikes, and timed rounds” (http://www.completemartialarts.com/whoswho/ufc/ufchistory.htm).
Although the rules changed to better the sport and satisfy the authorities, the rise to fame was a long road to go. The events were still held at small venues and certain home video releases were not allowed therefore UFC were not able to get sanctioned. Close to bankruptcy, Zuffa LLC purchased UFC from SEG with executives Frank and Lorenzo Ferttita along with Dana White in 2001. Since Lorenzo Ferttita was a former member of Nevada State Athletic Commissions, he was able to secure sanctions and UFC was able to return to the major cable Pay-per-view. This was the best thing that could happen to this sport since it is based in Nevada where arenas are huge venues in popular Las Vegas hotels followed with legal gambling (http://www.completemartialarts.com/whoswho/ufc/ufchistory.htm).
Now, how is UFC, a spectacle that surrounds itself with so much controversy, going to be able to become an American pop culture and grasp globalization? First American pop culture is defined as “public culture.” Meaning, it refers to the common terms and individuals press for power, policy, and identity that is not a matter of private conscience, but seen publicly as they promote their agendas (Crothers 14). “Civic” is what we the Americans are defined as the values, ideas, and expectations of what we believe is the norms such as liberty (Crothers 15).
Second, globalization is defined by B. Steger in the Crothers text as “a set of social processes that are thought to transform our present social condition into one of globality” which includes economic, political, or cultural factors (Crothers 17).
As Americans, we depict everything around us and analyze structures that build our societies that affect our lives. A formulaic convention to American pop culture would be VIOLENCE. Even though violence has been around for ages, it still shocks many to see the act but effectively draws attention. We see it in television shows, movies, and hear it in music (Crothers 62).
Then, of course it would have to be SEX. For American’s, anything related to sex is pushing the buttons. Nudity, sexual expressions, sexual activities are all seen as a big deal in our culture, but what’s the norm for us, isn’t the norm for other countries. Nowadays it seems we are more opened to the idea of sexiness but there are still limitations to what’s appropriate and what’s not. But obviously sex sells because the porn industry is a billion dollar empire that apparently isn’t affected by the current economy or will ever see a drastic decrease in sells (Crothers 64).
These two are so important in American pop culture, that there is actually a link that goes hand in hand with these subjects. Since the sensation of sex is the “most emotionally charged aspects of human life,” it is no surprise that violence accompanies the “experience of sex” (Crothers 65). So, sex and violence will heighten the marketing appeal to any business therefore it’s no coincidence that the media feeds on the audiences.
Even though these might be the most prominent definitions of what we believe is American culture, there are still the smaller sublets to these norms. We might not notice it but unconsciously we believe what a gender role is. Whether that is female being a housewife cooking and cleaning her house to a male who is working to support his family. When we see a homosexual, not always the case but sometimes we recognize automatically that they are not straight. That’s probably because a male is acting feminine or vice versa. We somehow assume what it is to play our gender through society and what the media portrays as gender roles. With the recent California overturn of same sex marriage, we have come a long way from the first time we saw a gay person openly come out. I mean I remember when Ellen Degeneres came out on her show that she was gay and all the controversy that surrounded it leading to her show getting cancelled and her career going downhill. Who would’ve known after a couple years of that gays, lesbians, and transgenders would be welcome with open arms even having their own television show like Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.
Going back to UFC, sex, violence, and gender roles fit in perfectly to this sport. The main focus is on violence that has to do with gender role about challenging their own species to a duo to suggest who is better. From olden days males were looked as the strength of the two genders and the women, sorry but the weak. This could be a side of a male’s genes that have to be masculine to even attract attention from women. Now days when we watch a UFC match, there is an octagon girl who very attractive and wearing very little clothing is holding the number of rounds. I guess sex really does sell because these girls are just as popular as the fighters to these male dominated audiences. They’ve posed in playboy, have their own calendars and some even had their own endorsement deals (http://www.fighters.com/09/22/hot-mma-ufc-ring-girls).
For globalization, it might be a little hard to proceed and achieve. The NFL is a rising form of what America’s future globalization topic would be. Since coca-cola and McDonalds are the epitome of an American product and globalizing it anything up against them will have a really hard time catching up to their status (Crothers 142). Does UFC have a chance at becoming the next leader of American pop culture and globalization?
Boosting ratings and luring audiences is not that hard for UFC. Sportization also known as “good sport” is defined as having a basic set of rules of fairplay to have tension and make the sport interesting but still protect the players from harm and violent act. At this time judges such as umpires, referees, etc... Were introduced to help keep the rules in play. But this could work both ways since sportization is a balance of tension. For example if something is too boring, they would make the sport interesting by changing the rules to make things harder for the players or game to score. But if the game is too dangerous, such as biking, they would protect the players by having a mandatory helmet wearing rule (.http://webct.hpu.edu/webct/urw/lc894623185011.tp2673223394011//RelativeResourceManager?contentID=5033622123011).
Desportization is the concept of ‘no hold barred’ concept, opposite of sportization. They try to focus on the needs of the viewers since they are the main source of income. This relates to the first article because sports are all about speculation nowadays. This type of sport is more interesting because the rules are very scarce. People are interested to see sports such as UFC because it shows what no other sports won’t allow. But this all relates to the marketing scheme of making money. The more interesting the events are, the more popularity and viewers it’ll gain. No matter the outcome as long as the match is thrilling (http://webct.hpu.edu/webct/urw/lc894623185011.tp2673223394011//RelativeResourceManager?contentID=5033622123011).
It seems like MMA is moving towards resportization, meaning to try and regain the respect of the sport by making new rules to not make it so harsh as the NHB to gain popularity and legal licenses again and spectacularization, a route different from focusing on skills and fights and actually getting to know the fighters by telling their “stories.” They focus on what’s popular and what the viewers like to see. They try to gain popularity and take things to the main stream so they could be just as popular as the other sports. They turn fighters into celebrities and rake in money by their status. They see it as entertainment!. UFC is becoming more and more popular and you could tell by the increasing prices to watch these shows on pay per view. It makes a lot of sense because of the sport becoming mainstream, more and more people are getting interested. Bars are making money by ordering the events and promoting it with special deals. Of course there are many gambling deals going on as well. Spike TV makes it interesting by showing the beginning of the fights, and then they cut it off and don’t show the main event. Even though there are new rules to protect the players, it is an all out brawl and you’re literally watching to see who gets knocked out! FIGHTING was always such a no-no that if you get the ok to watch it, why not? It is especially appealing to men and their testosterone. I mean the ring girls are wearing very little clothing and let’s be real, they are HOT! Now I know that’s to appeal to guys, even though some girls might be interested. They know what sells and NHB and sex is the perfect combination. By changing rules and giving what the viewers what they want, the sport gains more and more popularity. It even becomes a social thing by having house parties, time with friends, and having a good time. Especially in Hawaii when local boy BJ Penn started early in the boom of UFC fighting. Now there are many clothing lines that represent UFC, exercise machines, fighting school for older AND younger kids, and even Vegas is becoming popular by hosting these lavish events with celebrities sitting in the front row.
UFC already has a head start in going international since they mixed all forms of fighting to start their business. That means that they already have their foot in the door to audience appeal from different countries. Also because the sport doesn’t specify in one type of technique, there are more fans from different areas of fighting. Since UFC is dominating America with their own reality show, pay-per-view specials, and website, the next step would be obvious to market to the world. It sounds like the perfect idea to a successful business venture.
Yet, the process of making UFC the next “IT” sport is taking a slow road to victory. Not all countries are opened to American globalization. Many fear that America might take over the world, and we all know America has many enemies. To globalize anything, you have to think in depth. From culture, religion, norms, etc… it is hard to appeal to all the links to globalization but many marketers are smart to figure out which might be the easiest target.
An example of the hardship in globalizing UFC would be in China. China has the world’s largest population and the largest economy in the world. Although these statistics seem to excel other countries, that doesn’t mean that this huge country is all wealthy. There are still many poor people living in rural areas all over China (Crothers, pg 193). In a marketing eye, China would be a great place to invest any business because of its huge nation. But when it comes to UFC and bringing mixed martial arts into the Chinese cultural might be more difficult than one might’ve thought. While reading the article “UFC takes a chance on China,” as popular as the sport seems to be in the U.S., it is not gaining as much support in other countries. Since China is known for controlled population (http://maps.unomaha.edu/peterson/funda/sidebar/chinapop.html) and how greatly they emphasize a male successor to inherit the family assets. As a result, it is written in the article “there are roughly 250 million men ages 18-24,” which is the primary audience that the UFC directs its sport to. Nevertheless, as perfect as it sounds, introducing an English speaking show to other countries where there dominant language is their own, it is hard for audiences to get interested if they don’t understand what’s going on. Zuffa, a parent company to UFC, even sold 10% of its stake to Abu Dhabi hoping to contact and bring in other countries to support this American loving sport (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/mma/post/2010/07/ufc-takes-a-chance-on-china/1).
One of the examples that the Crothers text that relates to Mixed Martial Arts is “the global demand for other American product, like clothes and restaurants and sports, is also likely to grow over time.” If UFC becomes more popular with the U.S. and are able to expand as an American sport, there might be some interest to other countries because of other countries interest towards American Booms. This way they would be able to market their sport globally.
Another example of one of the main concerns would be “American popular culture will continue to be a major source of controversy in global trade agreements.” This example was explained as a state of fear for the country that is being introduced to new ideas because of how it would affect their own culture.
Third example would be “attempts to limit access to American popular culture, whether by state action or social rules, are likely to prove ineffective in the long run.” This is subdivision by spread of technology, global appeal, and global population movements (Crothers, pg.201). In the article it is written that UFC is being broadcasted on one of China’s largest portal (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/mma/post/2010/07/ufc-takes-a-chance-on-china/1). Even if China wouldn’t broadcast the fights on major television network, if people have access to the internet, they could find anything whether it be downloaded or streaming. As long as they get the word out about the subject, UFC in this case, people’s curiosity will lure them to researching it.
