How the sands of time change things...remember when ESPN would show hot dog eating contests and poker but pretended that the UFC and MMA didn't exist?
Sorta like the kid who performs in drag whose parents don't approve, then becomes wildly successful on RuPaul's Drag Race deciding that now that you're making a ton of loot, they're not so concerned with what the neighbors think...the UFC is now streaming with ESPN.
PFL is doing million dollar championship tourneys.
Sport grappling is semi becoming a paid sport in some tiny capacity.
How far we've come everyone.
This weekend, we get Dillashaw fighting Cejudo who never really got time to breathe and appreciate that he dethroned the undeniable greatest flyweight in the division's history.
Greg Hardy is fighting so I'll just leave that at that.
Gillespie continues what looks to be an ascent to a title shot by the end of this year if he does work anything like he did last year.
Teixeira tries to stay in the top 5 ish of his division by getting a semi meaningful win.
Dustin Ortiz and Benavidez decide if Ortiz is moving into that hard to crack top 5 or if Benavidez will now look for a shot against Cejudo (as Benavidez has a win over the champ...). Who knows?
Cerrone is fighitng because he's Cerrone and it's on ESPN. Dennis Bermudez also looks to stay in the range of visibility of a career arc that has faltered en route to a title shot.
A ridiculous card, and PPV worthy with the title fight, and Teixeira and Cerrone, and a sign of a solid UFC year to come.
We'll see how all this streaming network business dilutes the packaging of the sport and what this means long term.
Sorta like the kid who performs in drag whose parents don't approve, then becomes wildly successful on RuPaul's Drag Race deciding that now that you're making a ton of loot, they're not so concerned with what the neighbors think...the UFC is now streaming with ESPN.
PFL is doing million dollar championship tourneys.
Sport grappling is semi becoming a paid sport in some tiny capacity.
How far we've come everyone.
This weekend, we get Dillashaw fighting Cejudo who never really got time to breathe and appreciate that he dethroned the undeniable greatest flyweight in the division's history.
Greg Hardy is fighting so I'll just leave that at that.
Gillespie continues what looks to be an ascent to a title shot by the end of this year if he does work anything like he did last year.
Teixeira tries to stay in the top 5 ish of his division by getting a semi meaningful win.
Dustin Ortiz and Benavidez decide if Ortiz is moving into that hard to crack top 5 or if Benavidez will now look for a shot against Cejudo (as Benavidez has a win over the champ...). Who knows?
Cerrone is fighitng because he's Cerrone and it's on ESPN. Dennis Bermudez also looks to stay in the range of visibility of a career arc that has faltered en route to a title shot.
A ridiculous card, and PPV worthy with the title fight, and Teixeira and Cerrone, and a sign of a solid UFC year to come.
We'll see how all this streaming network business dilutes the packaging of the sport and what this means long term.
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