“[The UFC has] already eclipsed boxing in terms of pay-per-view dollars. The real question is can it eclipse football!? Can it eclipse soccer? I think the answer to that is yes. It’s a more exciting sport. The UFC has had problems in the past getting guys from overseas. There’s not just the UFC, there’s also Pride, a huge international organization that a lot of people believe has the best fighters in a couple of different weight classes. But now the UFC purchased Pride. We’re going to get to see incredible match-ups now that weren’t available just six months to a year ago.”
– UFC ringside announcer Joe Rogan discusses the bright future of mixed martial arts now that the Fertitta brothers purchased PRIDE FC as told to the NYPost.com.
35 Comments »
Rogan is the man but I think he is drinking his own urine with the statement. Or he’s on too much DMT—or both! NFL is king and MMA will never get that close. I see it getting much more mainstream but nowhere near the gridiron type of fan buy-in. No way.
He better hope so seeing as there is no more fear factor.
Never reach the NFL. Bury boxing for good is a possibility. The NFL are you serious…LOL This guy must of been reaching for comedy material. Got me laughing
Personally, I think MMA has a long way to go before reaching the shear numbers that the NFL hold BUT….As far as pure revenue goes, the only thing that the UFC has not conquered is the Super Bowl. Facts are facts, on average the NFL has a more consistency win over pure consumers but single UFC events have broken through the NFL’s highest in revenue. The only thing left is the super Bowl, and of course fan turnout. But with its market growth over the past five years being 28% nearly 1.5 mil per year and a current turn out of just over 8.5 mil, the NFL will be overtaken by 2012, IF this growth continues. Those are the real numbers and that’s why Rogan said that..and no I don’t like Rogan!
I agree that MMA will become truly mainstream over the years but never bigger than Soccer/Futbol. The NFL may be huge in the States but let’s not forget that Soccer is WORLDWIDE! Anyways, there’s really no harm in wishful thinking. Regardless, I know I’ll remain an MMA fan for years to come.
yeah Rogan is shot, bigger than Soccer – no way! I personally would watch MMA over any other sport but lets be real, Soccer is HUGE!
Go back to sleep Joe… Sweet sweet dreams.
I think the UFC’s popularity would grow exponentially if they offered more slow-motion and super slow-motion highlights.
I like Rogan, he’s outspoken and knows his stuff (contrary to what fighters like Matt Hughes may suggest). I think he’s familar to a lot of “casual” fans who tune in to a UFC match for the first time “hey, WTF…the guy from fear factor is commentating this”. He’s quick enough to be able to commentate on the fight (and put Goldie on a short leash when Goldie talks out his ass), the stand-up comedy obviously gives him an edge to be able to segue quickly and still make sense.
I’m disappointed that “Inside the UFC” was cancelled (or on extended hiatus), its time-slot sucked which hurt for a lot of people but overall I liked the topics that he discussed and his interviews were always pretty interesting.
Yeah what the fuck happened to “inside the ufc”? They had like 5 episodes.
It’s not hard to believe that MMA..will get huge(Bigger than Football/Soccer)…Maybe not in our time…But i think that MMA is here to stay..just like football when it first went mainstream……Football commentators probably said the same thing, and no one believed….never underestimate the power of sports, espeacially MMA….
I doubt that MMA will eclipse the NFL in this country or Futbol in others. However, I do believe that MMA will become part of the national sports scene like boxing used to be. The only question is, who will be the first MMA champion to be on a box of Wheaties?
hahah….Wheaties…That’s classic….
chuck was on a box of Beaties
More like on a box of bandaids.
There is no chance of this, but it may get quite a bit bigger.
It will need to get on Network TV live almost weekly.
Taped delay fights will never work under any circumstance if they want to be considered with the big 5 sports.
I wonder if the UFC would get higher ratings than Golf with Tiger in the lead and Nascar? Wouldnt it be great to see the UFC and Pride live almost every week on NBC and/or ESPN?
with ESPN having a weekly magazine style show like THE UFC Tonite right after sports center.
Best chance of a MMA Fighter on a box of Wheaties is Couture.
The UFC should have called them, that really would be cool.
Couture would be perfect for wheaties, as a sponsor. Couture could wear Orange shorts LOL, that would be pretty sweet.
We will not see the day when a billion people tune in to a fight and entire nations shut down like they do during the soccer World Cup. Won’t happen.
MMA is growing exponentially, but to eclipse Soccer worldwide is just stretching it. Soccer or as the rest of the world cals it ‘football’ is the worlds game, where viturally every country stops and watch it when the World Cup rolls around. Hell the World Cup eclipses the Olympics as the most watched sporting even.
As for NFL, it certainly won’t eclipse it in the US, but arund the world, nobody cares about the NFL (hell most people think its Bob Sapp’s fighting technique.)
Rogan live at Gotham was on Comedy Central lastnight… funny guy.
MMA being bigger then soccer… maybe just in the US. Football, maybe in some countries… definately NOT in the US. No way MMA can beat out MLB or NFL.
Rogan drinks his own urine.
Football? Never! Also I doubt that MMA is bigger than football even in USA, football is gaining popularity in states, and according to some research it is most played sport (or near top) among kids.
American Football? In USA? Also never!
And its not problem how sport is attractive to watch, it is how attractive its to play, look at Football, sure its not most exciting sport to watch but it is easy to learn and easy to play. You need ball and 2 rocks for each goal a there you go. And to enjoy football properly you only need to master basic techniques, that will take you 5 mins.
Football takes years to master, gridiron takes weeks. Hence why football is the most played sport in the USA yet you guys suck at it.
in the u.s., i can definately see mma getting bigger than soccer. soccer is HUGE internationally, but in the u.s., its kinda like whatever. football is always going to be the u.s. sport and i can never see another sport getting as big as american football in the u.s. however, like i previously mentioned, i can see it getting bigger than soccer. the question is, will it remain more popular than soccer in the u.s.? or will it die out like a fad?
Football in America and futbol around the rest of the world will always be bigger than mma. Having said that, I do think that MMA will eclipse boxing, if it hasnt already, and still has a lot of room to grow. I just want to see it get to the point where even the undercard guys are getting paid well.
By having high goals that are somewhat unrealistic provides a margin for realistic ones to actually happen. DO I think the UFC will grow to that size in popularity???Nope, but what i do see is the UFC meeting or surpassing the popularity of Professional Wrestling, which if it does, would be HUGE. For it to reach that peak, The UFC would have to eliminate the majority of the competion and run weekly promotions similar to wrestling now, but still offering PPW superfights monthly to showcase elite fighters. Honestly right now watching only one event a month sucks ass, and with the purchase of Pride, I can see this happening in the next 7-10 years.
MMA can be bigger than the NFL, but never bigger than soccer, at least not until anyone over 20 dies and the new generations take over. There are more die hard fans in soccer than in any other sport. How many sports can you name that have instigated wars among neighboring rival countries?
That’s some ludicrous and wishful thinking, but it just proves how much Rogan truly loves the sport.
Rogan’s seems like a good guy and always answers my myspace messages about psychedelics.
I believe the UFC will become a top 5 professional sports league in the US which will put it up with the likes of:
NFL
NBA
MLB
Nascar (yes, cars driving around in a circle is that popular)
and above the likes of :
NHL,
PGA,
Tennis, etc
That being said, I still think the NFL will be a longshot #1 for the forseeable future
yeah right but mma could make more money in the whole world then the afl and nfl in america thats not a challenge at all. but i dont think any sport could beat soccer
I love MMA but there is no way ever that the UFC will pass the NFL as far as popularity..
Totally random note..How about former NFL wide reciever Johnnie Mortan fighting in this K-1/Elite XC thing along with former Heavyweight Wrestling Champ with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, former WWE Wrestler and former defensive takcle for the Minnesota Vikings Brock Lesnar…kind of interesting…O ya Royce Gracie fights too…
After watching Royce get rocked by Matt Hughes is it even of peoples interest to watch him fight anymore?
DOES JOE KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE LOVE FOOTBALL.JUST LOOK AT IT REAL SIMPLE SUPERBOWL SUNDAY OR UFC VS PRIDE .SAME DAY SAME TIME BOTH ARE FREE WHAT WILL GET WATCHED MORE FOOTBALL BUT IT WILL BE A VERY CLOSE SECOND.[quote comment="32159"]I believe the UFC will become a top 5 professional sports league in the US which will put it up with the likes of:
NFL
NBA
MLB
Nascar (yes, cars driving around in a circle is that popular)
and above the likes of :
NHL,
PGA,
Tennis, etc
That being said, I still think the NFL will be a longshot #1 for the forseeable future[/quote]
PERFECT!!!!!!
I dont think mma would eclipse either because football and soccer are on everyweek and mma is on a couple of times a month.
How come all you Americans think that NFL is the worlds bigest sport,well your wrong,the worlds bigest sport is football or soccer as you guys call it.Around the world hardly anyone watchs NFL apart from in America but soccer is the main sport in almost every nation other then the US.I think that one day MMA will be the bigest sport but that could take fifty years or more,but when your talking globaly (yes there is world outside of the US)then MMA is probably already biger than NFL,soccer on the other hand it will take a long time to get all these soccer mad nations to convert to MMA.Me personaly MMA is my favourite sport by a long shot and combat sports of any sort have been all my life.I fukin hate soccer,cricket,tennis,golf,basketball and all the other shit,I mean how can people get so excited about an upcoming golf tournament,I think they all really hate it they just watch it to fit in with their gay stinky fukin friends.
I have the feeling that in the US in a few more years will resemble Brazil in the way the population views sports. In Brazil #1 is soccer than MMA/BJJ..The US, football is bigger than soccer but in due time MMA will be bigger and better than the NFL (my opinion), but throughout the rest of the world, soccer will always remain #1. MMA #2.
Box of “Beaties” he refers to is up on ebay right now. This one is signed by Chuck Liddel, Frank Shamrock and Tito Ortiz.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280188133010