I won’t be as critical of Kevin Iole at Yahoo! Sports as many other writers have been in the past, but I’ve wholeheartedly agreed with nearly every single posting I’ve seen on Iole from time to time. He’s been blamed for being a troll in the UFC’s hype machine, a “nuthugger”, and teacher’s pet to Dana White, and for the most part, his writing on the UFC would definitely lead me to believe those claims. People also state he isn’t a real MMA fan or historian, and the list goes on at the number of insults I’ve heard in regular conversation with hardcore MMA fans. I don’t mind his writing, and I’m by far not the best writer in the blogosphere or in any sphere, but I can critique one opinion that he mentions in his mailbag regarding the CBS/EliteXC fight in May:

Question: I feel EliteXC is doing MMA a huge disservice by putting Kimbo Slice as the main event on such an important card. I am a huge Kimbo fan but, lets face it, he is still more of a spectacle at this point in his MMA career. Why not legitimize our sport by featuring a championship bout between two thriving middleweights, Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith? Both men have appeared on UFC cards in the past, both are legitimate MMA fighters, and both appear to be just as marketable to the general public as Kimbo. What’s your take?

Iole: I don’t have a problem putting Kimbo on the card, but I find it horrible he’s in the main event against James Thompson. How CBS would accept Thompson as the opponent in a main event is beyond me. The guy has lost two in a row and six of his last eight. It’s a disgrace that a guy with a record like that would be put into a main event of such a significant card in the sport’s history.

I find it unbelievably ignorant that Iole can’t see why James Thompson is fighting Kimbo Slice as the main event on this card. Yeah, it’s a crap fight to have as a main event when you think of it in terms of quality, but in terms of entertainment, Kimbo Slice is guaranteed to “tee off” on James Thompson’s world famous weak chin. Even if we look at the opposite outcome, James Thompson isn’t going in the cage to submit Kimbo via heel hook or gogoplata. He’ll also be looking for the big knockout. Thompson is also known for his exciting opening round charges that have grabbed the attention of fans everywhere.

Sure, Smith vs. Lawler is the quality matchup we as hardcore fans all want to see, but there is one concept here that many writers are ignorant when analyzing the fanbase. The fanbase isn’t you. If you are writing about MMA on a daily basis, the majority of fans out there have nowhere near the knowledge that you have when talking about these fights. Do you want to see the fanbase that EliteXC is trying to pull in?

Go to a bar on a Friday night in a college town. Sure, fans will watch the fights and likely see a great fight between Smith and Lawler, but if Kimbo flatlines Thompson in the opening :30 seconds of the fight, those same fans sitting at that bar will be talking about that fight the next day and maybe even the next month.

Entertainment will grab viewers’ attention, and a fantastic knockout by Kimbo Slice will only up his drawing power and captivate casual fans to want to see him again. I’m not sure how people don’t “get it”.

For the most part, the MMA fanbase is split into two distinct groups: the casual fans and the hardcore fans. Hardcore fans generally have interest in all things mixed martial arts, wake up at 4 AM on a Saturday morning to catch a Japanese event, and follow the smaller events from Shooto and Cage Force to Ring of Combat or the IFL. The list is endless of promotions and events that hardcore fans have access to on any given day of any week. For casual fans, mainstream television is their haven for action. The UFC comes to them on SpikeTV, and now... EliteXC will come to them on CBS.

There is one distinct difference that many of us as hardcore fans have noticed when comparing ourselves to casual fans. The casual fanbase is usually interested in the brawlers, the knockout artists, the fighters who recklessly go out there to put their opponent in an unconscious state as quickly as possible. Hardcore fans, on the other hand, can appreciate the grappling, the jiu-jitsu, the ground game chess matches that can happen during a fight while also loving the standup wars between top echelon fighters.

EliteXC looks to be taking a page out of both fanbases by scheduling EliteXC Middleweight Champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler against The Ultimate Fighter Season 4 contestant Scott Smith. Both fighters have unbelievable power in their hands, and it should provide a spectacular ending for fans tuning in for EliteXC's CBS debut. Although this is only the first confirmed matchup of the event, we can likely see more “Cage Rage like” matchups in which strikers take the main stage. After all, the casual fanbase is still a bigger audience to attract.

Adding to the appeal of the matchup will be the name recognition of both Lawler and Smith to people who have been watching the UFC over the years. Both fighters saw some great action in the UFC, and EliteXC will be looking to cash in on their names. Of course, the event is looking to have a grand opening event with big numbers, so that would mean the appearance of Kimbo Slice and possibly Gina Carano.

The rumors have been flying as of late as to who Kimbo Slice will ultimately face on the card. If anyone has seen Kimbo's infamous Internet brawls on Youtube, Sean Gannon could potentially be the next in line for a shot at Kimbo. Gannon is the only fighter in Kimbo's extensive backyard brawls that successfully defeated Kimbo. Other names being thrown around are Ken Shamrock, Don Frye, and Ricco Rodriguez. Shamrock's name has recently dropped off the map after being decimated by a lesser talented Robert Berry in Cage Rage, and Frye recently dropped out of his fight with Oleg Taktarov in the new YAMMA Pit Fighting promotion. The rumor mill has been churning over the potential of Frye's pullout being because of a possible bout with Kimbo Slice.

Kimbo vs. Frye is interesting for a number of reasons. Frye is a straight puncher with some solid power, but would likely lack the chin to take any number of devastating shots from Kimbo. He's the perfect man to take a beating from Kimbo that will increase his stake with casual fans as Frye's name is recognizable to fans who have been following the sport over the years. Shamrock is somewhat in the same boat, and most casual fans are ignorant to the rumblings in the British MMA scene. His most recent fight would likely be shoved under the rug. Rodriguez is the most intriguing fight for hardcore fans as Ricco does have the skill to defeat Kimbo on the ground fairly easily.

Undoubtedly, EliteXC will want Kimbo up against a brawler, so get ready for some big news in the coming weeks regarding Kimbo's opponent. It will likely be a man with a name that he can easily punch through to produce a big win and continue to become the promotion's poster boy.

Carano will most assuredly appear on the event's card as well. She is well known to American Gladiator watchers, and not only has her exposure increased, but her searches on every single search engine on the Internet have increased because of the show. The show also did some solid ratings which have led to another season being produced. Carano's sex appeal could add an extra element to the ratings that the event could grab.

EliteXC won't want to risk Carano losing, so my long shot bet for an opponent is Aysen Berik, the newcomer to women's MMA who is beautiful to look at, but a novice in the sport. What more could EliteXC want? Two beautiful women battling it out on national television that both have sex appeal, and it's almost a guaranteed win for Carano. Sure, the hardcore fans want to see her step up in competition, but will we see her possibly against Shayna Baszler next? It's a much better matchup, and it will give Carano a bit of a test.

Overall, EliteXC has the potential to create some matchups that will appeal to the much larger casual fanbase. Hardcore fans will likely tune in as well, and I will be the first to admit that I would love to see Smith vs. Lawler in the main event. Although it won't last long, it should be a fantastic standup war. MMA could actually get a boost... from Kimbo and EliteXC of all sources.

The sport of mixed martial arts has been growing for years. Fans met with each other at local events to watch local talent square off against each other in cages in the early days of the sport. Nowadays, we have access to televised events on various channels and can purchase pay-per-view events that feature event cards full of great fighters pitted against one another. The accessibility just got a whole lot easier for the masses.

CBS officially announced that they have partnered with ProElite to provide 4 mixed martial arts shows per year in a multi-year deal. All of the shows will have the moniker of the EliteXC brand. It’s a big day for mixed martial arts as a whole, but will EliteXC represent the sport in the best possible manner?

Many people are frustrated and peeved about EliteXC’s sudden rise to the spotlight. Poor production, terrible DJ music over introductions, stripper dancers, and overall bad commentary has made EliteXC the armpit of the MMA community for quite some time. The only real plus has been the matchups and excitement that they have provided for fans, and it has propelled them to being one of the significant players in the North American market, but still well below the UFC’s level.

One of the most concerning problems is how MMA will be perceived by the viewing public. For years, the sport has tried to stay away from the stereotype that is a street brawling, no holds barred bar fight of a sport. Many of the promotions try to stick to a more professional attitude in which safety is of a concern. For the most part, this has been the case in mixed martial arts. The UFC has been one of the most professional organizations in the sport, and many of the other promotions have followed suit. What happens when new fans watching this on CBS suddenly see guys like Kimbo Slice or frequently jailed Charles Bennett all over television? I think the stereotype that MMA fighters are ruthless felons could get attached. Hopefully it won’t.

Felony fighters and some tacky DJ hip-hop music with stripper dancers isn’t exactly how I want to see MMA portrayed as a sport. The UFC is completely opposite of this model and is doing the best business in the market. Can CBS turn the tide of EliteXC and can the crappy music and strippers? It depends on how they really think they can attract the demographic, the same demographic that SpikeTV aims at. Do young men like strippers? Yes. Do young men like rap? Depends on the guy.

Will CBS be conservative and stick with a professional look of the show? I hope they decide to do so. It would do MMA so much more if the sport could enter the mainstream as a professional sport, and not just a spectacle.

EliteXC has entered the big time as far as exposure goes for its MMA promotion. On Wednesday, it was announced that EliteXC had signed a four show deal with CBS that would begin in April. The shows will be two-hours in length in what has been rumored to be a 9-11 PM EST slot. Of course, Kimbo Slice is rumored to be headlining the first show.

Adam Swift reported on his website that IMG Media was the pushing force behind the deal for EliteXC. IMG Media announced a partnership with ProElite in late November 2007. Swift reported earlier in February that there were significant rumors that IMG was possibly going to buy EliteXC.

Obviously, this is unbelievable news for the MMA community. EliteXC has managed to position itself in a way that will offer not only itself maximum exposure, but will also offer the sport as a whole a place to grow even more with that considerable amount of exposure. All of this was done without the UFC being involved just yet.

Will they be next? Some say that they will definitely be getting their own network deal soon, but I'm skeptical. The writer's strike was one of the big reasons as to why many of the big networks were reaching out, but CBS may simply not have the star power and shows to produce ratings even with the writers. They've looked to MMA to fill the void. NBC, ABC, and FOX may not need to do that. All of those networks seem to have a larger repetoire of successful shows that people watch.

My thought is that the networks will watch the ratings for EliteXC's first show in April, and make a move. The UFC is such a giant in the industry though, and may sign a deal with a major player if one is actually out there courting. If a major network isn't really interested right now in any of the other MMA promotions at this time, EliteXC could stand to make a breakthrough and ultimately the big money from the CBS deal.

It's a very interesting development that could help MMA move into the major network mainstream. The UFC's dominance in beating many promotions to new levels isn't a part of this deal, and ProElite must take full advantage. They may be on the verge of breaking into deal that could help their company out financially and get out from under the rock as far as exposure. The sport as a whole will benefit as well. We could see new sponsors in the demographic moving to support MMA, and that's the most exciting part about it. Fighters may begin to pick up some bigger sponsors and get paid the bucks they deserve. In the end, we should all win on this deal. Embrace.

Many people have been fairly critical of a possible deal between the UFC and a major network such as CBS. Personally, I doubt that the deal will come to life, and I don't think it will significantly boost CBS's ratings to help it pull some weight during the writer's strike in Hollywood. Before we look at the positives and negatives of this deal, I want to look at CBS's stance in the media market, their demographic to be specific. Does CBS actually fit with the UFC demographically? To be honest, it seems to fit. Let's take an in-depth look at the possibilities with this type of deal

Demographics

SpikeTV and the UFC has stated that the demographic is between 18-35. Young males. This is definitely the target demographic and it is fairly a large audience that they are aiming at grabbing up. CBS seems to have many shows that are aimed at that audience. "How I Met Your Mother", "Big Bang Theory", and a number of other edgy sitcoms litter the network's programming lineup. Add in the entire CSi lineup, the constant stream of reality shows like Survivor that feature scantily clad contestants, the Victoria Secret's fashion show, and the David Letterman Show. It seems like the demographics fit well together. There are a few nights in which we have family programming, but I imagine that the UFC and CBS will be working at televising an event on a weekend instead of a weekly show.

Rumored possibilities

The huge rumor is that CBS would air the Super Bowl Saturday card that would feature Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir and Tim Sylvia vs. Antonio "Minotauro" Nogueira. This is actually a very good card to air on a major network for a number of reasons. Brock Lesnar is one of the most recognizable pro wrestling figures. Tim Sylvia is fairly well known to the UFC faithful. Along with those fights, there are a number of other matchups that look promising to entertain the American public that seems to be obsessed with standup wars as evident with all the viral videos out there nowadays. It's a huge card that could generate record ratings for the UFC, and record earnings from advertising dollars.

The rumors are all rooting from the writer's strike, which has a possibility of running for a very long time from the current reports on the strike. There are a number of things that could happen to nix the deal if it happens. The writers could come back. The event could happen, but CBS drops the UFC from doing other events due to poor ratings. The UFC could do rather well and garner another deal for a series on CBS, which would expose the UFC to more viewers. The negatives and positives from the deal are big in regards to the risks and rewards. Let's look at those.

Positives

• The UFC is exposed to a larger audience.
• Larger audience equals more advertising dollars, better ratings, potential to make new deals with new sponsors.
• New sponsors obviously equals a hell of a lot of new money flowing into the organization.
• The possibilities of new sponsors sponsoring fighters with other products.
• If the UFC has success, CBS may look to expand their coverage of the UFC or add a deal that would bring some sort of series to CBS.
• Expands the view of mixed martial arts in the United States
  

Negatives

• Grand stage for the UFC to fail. As Fightlinker said during their Low Blow show, Evan Tanner could come out completely wasted and topple over numerous cameras and beat a fan or something.
• Bad ratings would probably kill any possible deals that other networks were looking at the UFC for.
• Bad ratings equals no new sponsors

My initial thoughts are that the negatives may far outweigh the positives because of that fact that the American public may still view MMA as "barbaric". It also seems that the probability of something catastrophic happening on national television when you have a guy like Tanner or someone like Dana White who somehow manages to mouth off his 10 year old potty mouth on television. Likely, it'll be on a small tape delay to avoid all of this. Will the ratings be enough? It's possible since the event will air on Super Bowl Saturday. I'm 50/50 as to whether this will actually work. If it does, we could see some resolution to a number of problems. Fighter pay, commissions in other states that haven't sanctioned MMA yet, and the possibility of bringing in more money from new sponsors and giving us more events are all bonuses to a positive outcome. We could also see a series on CBS if it's successful. I can see a show now. A MMA show in which regular joe schmos are picked and get to learn to fight MMA and whoever reaches the end "Survivor" style will fight a real UFC fighter. People who watch the show can look forward to the guy getting absolutely destroyed at the end of the show. Great TV!

What do you think?

Give me your take on the deal. I'm leaning on the line right now as to where I think this will be heading. I don't think it will actually happen, but if it does, there are definitely some huge benefits to having a successful event air on a major network. It'll boost the UFC and MMA in general into the arena of being recognized more in the general public. It could bring in new sponsors that actually pay fighters (Xyience does not!), larger audiences with bigger ratings, and a possibility of expanded partnership with CBS. It would also confirm that Dana White lies a lot since he said SpikeTV would be the exclusive network for the UFC.

Interestingly enough, Viacom and CBS used to be merged together. Viacom owns SpikeTV and MTV, MTV2, and a number of other networks. The companies split the merger due to the thought that MTV's growth was being slowed by the slower growing companies such as CBS, CBS Radio, and other mainstay networks that have been around for quite some time. Sumner Redstone, the CEO of Viacom before the split, still controls 71 percent of the voting stock in both CBS and Viacom. Although not technically under one roof, there is definitely influence and a reason as to why CBS was chosen.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out. If it happens and the writer's strike ends, will CBS simply drop the UFC? If successful, will they find a way to continue to fit it into a weekend schedule? Will it have a negative impact on MMA in the United States? Time will only tell, give me your thoughts.

**UPDATE**

According to Greg Savage over at Sherdog, he mentioned during the Savage Dog show that M-1 apparently swooped in to try to bag a CBS deal when the UFC was considering backing out entirely after they asked for a large amount of money because the UFC would lose PPV revenue. The offer was said to be near $15 million, and then they dropped it to $5 million, but CBS passed. M-1 apparently came to the table, and the UFC immediately came back to the table. Talk about trying to stifle the market for other promotions. It's smart though. This is purely a rumor coming from Savage, but he states that's what his sources told him.