Ultimate Fighting wins over audiences

Sport may launch next big action star

By MARC GRASER

Hollywood's next big action star could be pummeling someone in an octagon-shaped ring right now.

Once blasted by state commissioners for its brutal bouts, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has won over audiences. Its live events regularly sell out in minutes, ratings for its shows on Spike are surging, and merchandise from brands like Tapout is flying off the shelves. Its athletes, with appellations like Mask, Ice Man and Rampage, have become household names among 18- to 34-year-old males.

With that kind of success, it's no surprise Hollywood's come calling.

Agencies like Endeavor and Creative Artists see UFC as the next World Wrestling Entertainment, which mints cash from live events, pay-per-view, TV shows, movies, DVDs, music, videogames and merchandise and has turned wrestlers like Dwayne Johnson into stars able to cross over with all auds.

But whereas the WWE always banked on over-the-top antics, the UFC may have to overcome some obstacles before it can step into the same kind of financial ring.

For one, its athletes are fighters first, specializing in mixed martial arts -- a combo of fighting styles that includes kickboxing and wrestling.

That means the punches thrown are real and the dreams of becoming a showman aren't at the top of many fighters' plans.

"I got into this because I love fighting," says Chuck Liddell, arguably the UFC's most recognized fighter, even among non-UFC fans. "It's what I enjoy doing the most," he says, and it's where he makes most of his money, competing in five bouts a year.

But 39-year-old Liddell realizes he won't be able to do that forever.

"I only have a couple years left, so I've started looking at what I can do when I'm done."

So far that's included having an episode of HBO's "Entourage" written around him (it's his favorite show), and appearing in the film "The Death and Life of Bobby Z" and the short-lived Spike TV series "Blade" as well as a musicvid for Nickelback and Dell commercials.

The opportunities are only expected to increase as UFC grows in popularity:

• Spike TV's broadcast of the UFC 75 fight last year attracted 4.7 million viewers, the most ever for a mixed martial-arts event in North America, according to the cabler, and was viewed by more men 18-49 than any other show on broadcast or cable that day. Women make up 30% of its audience.

• Its Spike TV reality series "The Ultimate Fighter" has averaged 1.9 million viewers for the network over five seasons since launching in 2005.

• When it comes to pay-per-view, UFC trounces WWE, with the league having earned $223 million from those broadcasts in 2006, vs. $130 million for WWE.

• Tapout, a UFC-affiliated clothing brand, generated $25 million in sales last year.

• UFC's getting into the gaming biz, with its first title "UFC 2009" bowing later this year from THQ.

• And proving just how friendly UFC has gotten, the league's been able to attract advertisers like Burger King, Coors Brewing Co., Glaceau's Vitaminwater and Budweiser as sponsors for its live events and TV shows.

"You can't just buy your way into this industry," says Marc Kreiner, prexy of Tapout. "It's the first new sport in years. It's rolled right past boxing and become something the public wants."

The attraction is that "people understand fighting," says UFC prexy Dana White. "As a human being, it's inside of us. People love it."

Liddell's not the only fighter Hollywood's going after.

Fellow fighter Tito Ortiz was a contestant on NBC's recent "The Celebrity Apprentice." Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is in Lionsgate's upcoming horror pic "Midnight Meat Train." And former heavyweight champ Randy Couture was recently tapped to star as a villain in Hyde Park Entertainment's adaptation of the comic strip "Mandrake the Magician." The heavyweight's also prominently featured in David Mamet's upcoming fight pic "Redbelt." Mixed martial arts fighters also appear in Summit Entertainment and Mandalay Independent Pictures’ actioner “Never Back Down,” out March 14.

The appeal is their day job.

Says Charles Lewis, a UFC fighter known as Mask and topper of Tapout: "Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn't a fighter, but he played one. The Rock came out of WWE. He was known for being a big character, but he wasn't really fighting. The difference is Chuck (Liddell) can really kick your ass."

Outside the fighters themselves, the UFC is repped by Endeavor, while merchandise brand Tapout is handled by CAA.

UFC isn't the only fight league that's gotten Hollywood's interest. William Morris reps the Intl. Fight League.

And investors have approached UFC's execs about forming a film division that would produce pics that star the league's fighters. WWE has a similar arm that's pumped out three pics so far and is readying its fourth.

UFC's owners wouldn't be opposed to producing movies. They've already talked with Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes shingle about developing projects that would star its athletes.

"At the end of the day, we're a fight company," says White, who took over the bankrupt fight league in 2001 and has transformed it since.

White says he used boxing as a blueprint of "how not to build the business," which according to the exec, made the mistake of taking fights off of broadcast and cable TV and pursued a pay-per-view model. The result: a loss in viewers.

"How do you create big stars? You put big fights on free TV," White says. "It builds the fanbase. It helps everything. The brand, plus the star equals success for everybody.

"There's so much room for growth. Everybody talks about how big we are right now and I don't even think we've scratched the surface. We're so far from mainstream that it's not even funny."

Films, or at least getting fighters into them, would only help the league attract more fans, just as exposure on Spike has done, say execs and its athletes.

"Any kind of exposure will help introduce the sport to new audiences and get them to try us out," Liddell says. "I'm a fighter first, but if the right movie comes along and it fits into my schedule, I'll consider it."