ESPN Finally showing UFC some love

Check this out.... from espn.com.... Looks different I'll tell you that. Going there everyday and never seeing anything there for MMA. Then today I'm like what is this???

Great news. It's about time if you ask me.

That IS surprising because I believe Disney now owns ESPN and made it clear that they didn't want to display any MMA (might tarnish Disney's image). I wonder what Dana's been up to, to sway them finally. Also funny is that along the "Spotlight" links they have MLB, NFL, NBA... and instead of it saying MMA it says UFC. So will they ever acknowledge Pride? More Dana magic behind this one?
Anyway I went on to read the article and at the bottom there is a transcript of fans calling in and talking with Couture... but you can only read part of it because you need to have an ESPN Insider account. Anybody on this forum have one of those accounts who could copy/paste that transcript for us?

they know were the money is at and are realizing boxing is a thing of the past

mma is a sport now, they should be covering it, when randy won the title, that should have been on sportscenter...not everyday a 43 yr. old man wins the heavyweight title..

its about time they woke up and smelled the coffee. it would be sweet if they started doing the ppv events on sportscenter, but i doubt it. im sure they would rather show 3 installments of nfl live each day.

nice

I think the tables have turned a little. MMA has gotten so big that they'd pass up on a lot of viewers viewing their shows. If I were Dana I'd work with FOX Sports mostly in attempt to give ESPN the cold shoulder after their attitude in the past. The UFC has gotten expsoure despite them and now he doesn't really need them.

Too little too late in my opinion.

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Posted by Ydoc

I think the tables have turned a little. MMA has gotten so big that they'd pass up on a lot of viewers viewing their shows. If I were Dana I'd work with FOX Sports mostly in attempt to give ESPN the cold shoulder after their attitude in the past. The UFC has gotten expsoure despite them and now he doesn't really need them.

Too little too late in my opinion.

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I agree! **** em!

Way to go ESPN. Still haven't seen anything on Sportscenter though, when I see a highlight of a fight with sportscasters who know what there talking about that will be the day I have the upmost respect for them. Thanks for the share, glad to see any org getting coverage from major sports media.

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Posted by jdubs

they know were the money is at and are realizing boxing is a thing of the past

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Boxing aint going no where. They have sites just like this, and die hard fans that will never come to MMA. I think if ESPN is gonna keep up with the times they have to cover popular sports. Good job espn!

i hope its never fully broadcasted on espn or covered. i like things the way they are. we dont need shitty espn broadcasters and anchors trying to talk about mma. it would only work if they had something like pride does on fsn when trigg or bas talks about the fights before and after.

Since MMA is such a brutal sport where men are faced with their shortcomings when they lose, I'd find it disrespectful for a douche sports show guy to go "Boom goes the dynamite" after showing a 5 second KO clip. I don't think they have the consideration to cover MMA. Here is hoping UFC keeps dodging the bullet that is ESPN.

They would be stupid not to they will lose lose so many viewers since mma is getting huge now, cause if they won't cover it someone else will.

Everyone better start hopping on the mma bandwagon before it's to late for them :)

I don't watch much ESPN so I don't care, but it is a good thing for promoting MMA.

Amen ! We will see real coverage emerge over the next year. I think MMA will continue to eclipse any other individual sport out there. I think UFC 68 helped there, Houston can confirm it. If UFC can continue to reach nearly 20,000 live fans things will continue to go crazy? The pay per views have already destroyed boxing as we all know. Now Im rambling, Im out