ProElite lures CBS; UFC adds sponsor
Mixed martial arts took a giant step into the mainstream over the past week.
ProElite signed a deal to become the first MMA organization to broadcast live bouts on one of the major networks, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship finally landed the big-name national advertiser it has long sought.
ProElite, which produces EliteXC events on Showtime, will air four live two-hour broadcasts per year on CBS as part of a multiyear deal.
The first CBS bouts could air as soon as April. The promotion features such fighters as Kimbo Slice and Las Vegan Gina Carano, but no lineup or date has been confirmed for the first telecast.
The UFC’s answer was to add Anheuser-Busch as its exclusive beer sponsor.
The UFC has long searched for a blue-chip advertiser, which it has found with Anheuser-Busch, namely its top-selling product Bud Light.
“I don’t think we’re mainstream. I don’t even think we’re close to being mainstream,” UFC president Dana White said Saturday during a postfight news conference in Columbus, Ohio.
“Mainstream is when everybody in the country knows who you are. ‘American Idol’ is mainstream. The UFC isn’t mainstream. I think Budweiser is a strategic partner that is going to help us get there.”
The three-year deal includes placing the Bud Light logo in the center of the octagon at pay-per-view events. The contract goes into effect beginning with the May 24 card at the MGM Grand Garden and also includes sponsorship in World Extreme Cagefighting, owned by UFC parent company, Zuffa, LLC.
• AMATEUR CARD — Tuff-N-Uff Promotions will host the first sanctioned amateur MMA card in Nevada on April 12 at the Tropicana Hotel.
The event will feature mostly fights between competitors from Nevada-based gyms against fighters from gyms based in California.
Larger gloves will be used and bouts will consist of either two or three 3-minute rounds, depending on experience.
“Nobody in the world has ever been as passionate about mixed martial arts as myself,” Tuff-N-Uff president Barry Meyer said. “I have felt that amateurs needed the forum to showcase their abilities just like in every other major sport.”
With some of the proceeds, the company hopes to set up a nonprofit organization to help underprivileged children participate in mixed martial arts.
• NELSON WANTS MEGA-FIGHT — Roy Nelson is a native Las Vegan who has ascended to the top of the heavyweight heap in the International Fight League.
Now he seems interested in taking a shot at reaching the peak of the MMA world.
After retaining his IFL belt with a first-round knockout at the Orleans on Friday, the Cimarron-Memorial product was asked about the unlikely possibility of fighting the man widely considered the world’s best heavyweight, Fedor Emelianenko.
“I would love that fight,” Nelson said with a smile. “But I doubt they would want Fedor to lose before he fought Randy (Couture), so I doubt I’d get that fight.”
It is believed a fight between Emelianenko and Couture will happen as soon as Couture is free from the ongoing litigation with the UFC.
Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@ reviewjournal.com or (702) 224-5509.
