Quite subtly, the world of sports changed forever on the Saturday night of April 7, 2007.
Matt Serra, a likeable underdog from Long Island, shocked the world of mixed-martial arts when he knocked out Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre – at the time regarded not just as the best in the weight class, but one of the top-five pound-for-pound fighters in all of mixed-martial arts. But as myself, my friends and millions just like us were slowly letting sink in the utter shock that had just been UFC 69, I was stunned once more.
Serra’s triumph – along with highlights from earlier in the card – blazed across the television screen once more, this time as part of Sportcenter’s opening montage. Yep, Sportscenter – ESPN, Bristol, Chris Berman, Dan Patrick, dunnahhnuh…dunnahhnuh.
Just about every sport known to mankind has somehow found its way on the show – a show that has been as instrumental to sports as sports has been to the show. There’s been this feature or that piece on a new or trendy or different sport. But this was no feature, this was coverage, highlights – intermixed with Major League Baseball, the NBA and a whole lot of NFL draft buildup. In those brief seconds, the UFC gained legitimacy in the sports world it had yet to realize.
Getting televised results for a UFC pay-per-view were never before available until this night – perhaps even more unbelievable when considering it didn’t come with news of one of the organization’s most popular champion’s triumphs. Granted, I’d had a few beers by this point of the night, but I was relatively certain that this was a history-making event and I still am. Better yet, it was one of those subtle points in history.
In years to come, it’s the likely the question of “When did the UFC really arrive?” will be pondered. Was it when the Fertitta Brothers purchased the company in 2001? Was it Spike TV and the UFC joining forces, leading to the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter” and it’s overwhelming success. Was it the rise of fighters such as”The Iceman”Chuck Liddell and Randy”The Natural” Couture into the mainstream spotlight, as the UFC became the king of the pay-per-view?
It was likely a combination of all of them, coming together to create the phenomenon that is currently the UFC. But on April 7, the UFC went a long way in ditching that phenomenon cloak. The company’s goal no doubt is to grow into a mainstream sport and that’s exactly what Sportscenter covers.
On this night, all the NFL and MLB fans, all the NBA and NHL rooters who had tuned in for results and fantasy stats, highlights and hype inadvertently experienced the octagon and all its glory. You see, with all the numbers and evidence to the UFC’s growing popularity, it’s hard for those, like myself, who follow it to wrap their minds around the notion that there still remains an untapped fan base.
At times, we are lost within our own worlds. Growing up in Suburbia, USA, I’ve had premium cable most of my spoiled life – I can’t fathom how people get through the week without watching The Sopranos and Entourage. I grew up playing football, loving pro wrestling and watching boxing with my dad – hence transitioning into the world of the UFC was an easy one. I’m 28 right now, smack dab in the middle of UFC’s strongest demographic of males 18-34.
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