Image Is Everything: MMA's Final Step Towards Becoming Mainstream

Every day it seems as if Mixed Martial Arts is moving closer and closer to being accepted by the mainstreams sports world. Before we know it MMA will be covered like all other major professional sports.

While that prospect seems long overdue to many members of the MMA community, we have to realize that we aren’t quite there yet, and our young sport still has some evolving to do before it is truly ready to take that final step.

This push for mainstream acceptance starts and stops with image. Not just the image of the sport as a whole, but the images that our fighters and ambassadors portray.

Take UFC President Dana White for example.

Since his arrival in the sport White has done more to advance MMA as a whole than many fight fans would care to give him credit for. White and his partners took over a dying business in an essentially illegal sport and brought us to where we are today.

But, for all of the good that White has done in marketing and developing the sport, it is his persona that continues to hold it back.

White is brash, cocky, and unfiltered. While that has done wonders in connecting with the sport’s primary demographic, White’s act offends many and pushes the mainstream away.

Now that MMA and the UFC have established their presence within their target demographic, White should be looking to branch into new demos rather alienating members of those groups.

The reason that baseball, basketball, and football have become so entrenched in the mainstream is because their organizations are continually developing and implementing methods to attract new and broader fan bases.

In order for MMA to bridge that final gap into the mainstream, it will be critical that our organizational figure heads take a page from how the commissioners of the NFL, NBA, and MLB carry themselves.

Foul language may not seem like that big of a deal, but when was the last time you heard NBA Commissioner David Stern drop the F bomb?

Until the leaders of our sport represent it with the class that Commissioner Stern represents the NBA, MMA will remain just on the outside of that mainstream sports media inner circle.

It’s not just up to the owners and figure heads though, the fighters themselves must take some pride and responsibility in getting the sport to the mainstream level.

Why should it be the responsibility of the fighters?

It will be in the fighters own best interest for the sport to be mainstream and widely accepted. The biggest reason is MONEY.

Fighter pay has been a hot topic in the MMA community for some time now, but one of the easiest ways for fighters to increase their earnings is through endorsements and sponsorships.

Georges St. Pierre recently become the first mixed martial artist to garner endorsement deals with Gatorade and Under Armour. Both of which can be considered “Blue Chip” sponsors.

Once MMA finally breaks into the mainstream more and more of these “Blue Chip” sponsors will be looking to advertise with the various organizations and sponsor their fighters.

What fighters need to do is quite simple in theory, but far more difficult in practice, fighters must be cognizant of the fact that they are representing the sport at all times. Every word that comes out of their mouths, everything that they do is a direct representation of the sport itself.

Fighters must, at all times, carry themselves to a higher standard because of this.

For the most part the fighters who compete within MMA do this exceptionally well, but that is simply not good enough.

While the NBA, NFL, and MLB have their fair share of problems with athlete image they have the distinct advantage of already being widely accepted.

But, there is one thing that these professional organizations do that the major MMA organizations and their fighters should look into.

The NFL, NBA, and MLB all have some form of player development program. The purpose of the various programs is to educate their athletes about what to expect and how to handle being a professional athlete. Everything from basic media relations to early retirement planning is discussed.

The fighters and the major organizations must work together to develop somewhat of a similar program.

Will this instantly solve some of the fighter image problems that MMA suffers from? Of course not, but it does show the mainstream that MMA is ready to be taken seriously because MMA has begun to take an interest in improving its appeal from the inside out.

Our beloved sport is ever so close to becoming a widely accepted phenomenon, but until it can clean up its few remaining minor image problems the “Blue Chip” sponsors and fraternity of mainstream sorts media will keep their distance.