UFC Primetime on ESPN2

[Mr. Scot]

On now, profiling Georges St Pierre vs Jake Shields.

Hadn't heard about this program before. It's not even in my listings.

[lightsout]

Pretty good show. Seen it on before. I know they have MMA live after the pay-per-views as well.

[Mr. Scot]

Knew about MMA Live. Hadn't seen this one before.

My listings have something else in this spot. I just stumbled on it.

[TheRealDeal]

It's usually on Spike TV every wednesday after The Ultimate Fighter

They do it for big fights about a month out from the fight and they do 4 or 5 episodes to build hype. They did it for Lesnar and Cain as well. Same with some other big ones.

Dana said they showed it on ESPN2 because "why not, we're getting this thing everywhere"

I'm guessing they had a chance to fill a spot and took it. The UFC Hype Machine at it's best. A good way to get the casual fan interested

[Mr. Scot]

There was a time when ESPN stated an absolute refusal to show, discuss or even acknowledge MMA. Not so anymore.

[TheRealDeal]

It was pretty ruthless when it started. I think many reports now show that it is safer than boxing and football.

The only thing missing is healthcare for all fighters and better pay. A union would accomplish this but I'm not sure how I feel about unions in fighting.

[TarPanther9180]

ESPN needs to jump on the UFC bandwagon because MMA is growing and growing fast.

[TheRealDeal]

Having MMA on regular TV will be imperative if they want to continue to grow.

They need to regularly be on ESPN2 or ABC or NBC or something.

Bellator on MTV2 is awesome.