You are currently browsing the articles from MMA Factor written on
Written by admin on June 11th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on TUF 7 and MMA.
It’s not exactly a scientific study, but MMA Rated’s Ariel Helwani took to the hotel lobby of the MGM Grand to assess interest among MMA fans regarding the July 19 Affliction show. He seems…less than optimistic. Again, we have to ask ourselves what success would look like for Affliction, whether it’s pay-per-view buys, ticket sales, or t-shirt revenue. There’s also the possibility that they’ll ramp up their advertising effort now that they have Trump money backing them.
In another video offering, Tito Ortiz talks with Maxim.com and manages to overstate his own importance to the world of MMA. Shocking. He also fields an awkward question about who taps out first in bed between he and Jenna. He’s a good sport about it, but it’s still weird.
Plus, we all know Jenna doesn’t tap. She’s been through some wars.
Written by admin on June 11th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on General and Videos and MMA.
(Ultiman Premium T-Shirt, only $29.95)
Earlier today we clued you in to the news that UFC is beginning an all-out merchandising blitz following their action figure announcement on Tuesday. We hypothesized that an influx of UFC gear at fine retail outlets such as J.C. Penny’s would just lead to more idiots walking around feeling like instant bad-asses with their official UFC caps cocked sideways. Some of you disagreed in the comments section. Apparently we underestimated your zeal for UFC watches and “wall decor.” Fair enough.
But if that’s the case, you’re going to love this.
In an email blast sent out today, the UFC is encouraging fans to buy hot items such as t-shirts (see above), beer mugs, and leather wallets as gifts for the men in their lives who were courageous or unlucky enough to have sired children. Order now to ensure delivery by Sunday!
I can only speculate what would happen if I gave my father a UFC shirt with “Ultiman” (he’s the embodiment of the UFC, resurrected from the early nineties logo), or a leather UFC wallet as a gift, but I can tell you that it wouldn’t go well. He’d probably look at me and look at Ultiman and wonder why I hadn’t at least bothered to shoplift him a pair of Dockers.
Of course, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe he’d love something like the UFC’s Black Discharge T-Shirt (is it just me, or does “black discharge” sound like something you should see a doctor about?), and maybe he’d wear it without knowing or caring about the logo, the same way my fat white Mormon neighbor wears FUBU clothing in blissful ignorance. Stranger things have happened, I suppose.
Just brace yourselves, because this is only the beginning. We might sound like alarmists now, but when you go to the pharmacy and see those Official UFC Condoms sitting right next to the UFC One-Step Pregnancy Tests (if you see Chuck Liddell appear on the stick, that means you’re knocked up), remember that you heard it here first.
Written by admin on June 11th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on General and News and MMA.
Written by admin on June 11th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on licensing and press release and UFC and MMA.
(Don’t uncork the champagne bottles just yet…)
Sam Caplan at FiveOuncesofPain says an anonymous source let the cat out of the bag regarding the big-time UFC announcement that we’ve been frothing about for the last couple of days. Here’s the story, as he hears it:
[T]he committee for Tourism, Arts, and Sports Development of New York recently held a vote on Wednesday to decide whether the state should regulate Mixed Martial Arts…According to the source, the bill was voted down in overwhelming fashion…
This web site has also learned that the possible legalization of Mixed Martial Arts in the state of New York was the planned announcement that UFC president Dana White had hinted at during an interview that was published on ESPN.com last week.
According to a source, White was confident that the vote was going to pass and believed he had assurances that the proposed bill would be approved by the committee for Tourism, Arts, and Sports Development of New York. However, the proposal was unexpectedly voted down for reasons that are not yet clear. In a strange turn of events, it is believed that the chair of the committee, Assemblyman Steve Englebright, who introduced the proposal, ended up voting against it…
Written by admin on June 11th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on New York and News and Dana White and UFC and MMA.
Written by admin on June 11th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on media and ratings and TV and EliteXC and MMA.
(Breathtaking.)
Apparently, action figures were just the beginning. According to a news release on UFC.com:
[F]ans of the Ultimate Fighting Championship will soon be able to collect Jakks Pacific UFC figures, use UFC-branded Bic lighters and Silver Buffalo watches, shop with a UFC credit card, and pick up UFC apparel at JC Penney stores…
Already, UFC-branded Bic lighters are hitting retail shelves, and after April’s ‘soft’ launch of UFC t-shirts at 450 JC Penney stores, the retailer will create “UFC Hot Zones†in August that will sell shirts and headwear in the Young Men’s department. Silver Buffalo, which has developed licensed products for such brands as WWE, Elvis Presley, Led Zeppelin, Bob Marley, and Kiss, will come on board this summer with UFC-branded watches, barware, bar accessories, lighting, wall décor, and billiards and darts accessories, and on June 15th, US Bank launches its UFC VISA card with no annual fee and the option to receive points for UFC merchandise…
There are also going to be more than a few happy faces when official UFC action figures hit major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart, and Toys R Us in Fall of 2009. Expected in this launch will be Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell, Forrest Griffin, Brock Lesnar, Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira, Michael “The Count” Bisping and UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva. Octagon playsets and role-play items based on the UFC brand and its classic and current roster of star fighters are also planned.
On the one hand, I’m really looking forward to the day when the checkout girl at the grocery store asks me “debit or credit,” and I slam down my customized UFC Visa card with the image of Joe Stevenson’s bloody face and say “What the fuck do you think?” But I’m also growing increasingly wary of the “WWE-ization” of MMA’s most prominent organization.
Written by admin on June 11th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on action figures and apparel and merchandise and News and UFC and MMA.
Written by admin on June 11th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Dana White and UFC and MMA.
Written by admin on June 11th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Affliction and Vitor Belfort and Terry Martin and MMA.
Written by admin on June 11th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on DREAM.5 and Denis Kang and MMA.
