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If you have 10, and the next year you have 21, that would be a growth factor of around 106%. Seriously, don't give me stats like that. They mean nothing.

And the argument that the UFC is more popular than the Olympics is uninformed at best. It isn't even more popular than golf. To say that ignores simple reality.

Gruden:

It was their viewer growth. Their website got 106% more hits this year than last year and the year isn't over yet!

tmz has had the scoop on brady's messed up foot before the superbowl, and the leinhardt deal

What? YOu're arguing hits on a website and claim that means their fanbase grew by 106%? How about if I check it twice a day instead of once. Once from my house and once from my job? Suddenly it appears that twice as many people are checking?

I only want to know one thing: How many people are watching? And I GUARANTEE that more people watched the Open Championship final yesterday than has ever watched a UFC match. It isn't even close.

tmz has had the scoop on brady's messed up foot before the superbowl, and the leinhardt deal

The Prodigy is Bill Brasky | 07/21/08, 09:58 AM
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not first, and for 3 days a link to their site was the only way you could get photos

they had the video and were the first to report on the brady foot boot deal.

it is bad to run up the website hits, how about running up the MASSIVE increase in PPV sales over the last three years.

The real test for MMA's success is how well EliteFC draws on its 2nd non-cable broadcast...and yes I realize that EliteFC is inferior to UFC, but the non-cable airings are the best way to measure success..

That said, 106% growth of a viewer base of say, 500,000 is only slightly over 1 million....and I think I was pretty generous w/ a 500,000 guess (non-PPV event)

And I GUARANTEE that more people watched the Open Championship final yesterday than has ever watched a UFC match. It isn't even close.

Gruden Again | 07/21/08, 10:01 AM
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i would wager against that... mma is growing and its just the ufc.. (though they are the undisputed kings) affliction just had a show.. wec.. dream.. they are all drawing large views. i will not say it as popular as nascar (which is not a sport.. i dont care if you dumb rednecks get mad) or college football (it never will be) but it is showing positive signs of growth and is surpassing boxing. the word "mainsteam" may not be a great way to describe it, because ignorant old fools and people who dont understand the sport call it barbaric and violent, but that is only because they knwo nothing of it.

they had the video and were the first to report on the brady foot boot deal.

The Prodigy is Fearless | 07/21/08, 10:15 AM
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ok, and at what point did other major news sources try to pick up the story, maybe put him on larry king like hogan and dog the bounty hunter??? thats right they havent and wont b/c noone cares

And I GUARANTEE that more people watched the Open Championship final yesterday than has ever watched a UFC match. It isn't even close.

Gruden Again | 07/21/08, 10:01 AM
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bdawk, to argue against this statement is probably the stupidest comment in the history if FN, more people world wide watched the open yesterday than have watched an MMA fight, total, ever, combined, all time

now we are going to every college game in his argument, well I will tell you what, we will take every Natl Televised NCAA Football game last year and combine the #'s, then we will take every Televised MMA event period and combine the #'s, the MMA (as a whole including but not limited to the UFC) will not make 3% of the NCAAFB viewership

frank i usually agree with you even though you are quasi-insane. and does world wide really matter??? if thats the case every statement about football being popular is untrue and we should all just td about soccer all day.. but here in the us no one watches golf, soccer, or hockey. though you may not like it, it is a fact that mma is growing and is a legitimate sport.

"It is far more popular than cycling, and it is also more popular than Olympic sports seeing as the olympics are on once every 2 years!"

Bass masters is more popular than cycling, unless the Tour de France is happening. And the Olympic comparison isn't fair. That doesn't make it mainstream.

and there is no point in comparing ufc to college football... thats not even close. college football has more viewers than almost any sport in the us (because of how many people the stadiums hold) but to compare mma to golf is just insulting..

they had the video and were the first to report on the brady foot boot deal.

The Prodigy is Fearless | 07/21/08, 10:15 AM
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Frank addressed this, but they reported on Brady because he happens to F models. Perez Hilton had the Brady boot as a special edition because Perez Hilton actually wants to do Brady himself. Rampage hit TMZ and...well...where else? Eventually it had to get reported on by the big sites.

I do have to add thsi about the discussion world wide, if you want to include the world then let's bring Japan into the discussion, or Russia they love them some MMA, and in Japan it has been HUGE forever.

It was on ESPN

Seriously, you'd argue that more people watch a UFC pay per view than watched the British Open final yesterday? The Open Championship is broadcast AROUND THE WORLD. Over 3 million AMERICAN TVs are tuned in. Show me ONE UFC match with 3 million viewers.

Let alone the millions more around the world.