UFC Goes to Bristol

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Therefore I'm always a bit surprised when I namedrop having interviewed the likes of Ken Shamrock and Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell and get nothing in return but a confused look. It's likely that confused look will change relatively soon. With the UFC exploding in popularity over the last three or so years, reigning supreme in pay-per-view sales, selling out arenas, buying out its biggest rival and branching out across the globe, it's hard to believe - in my world - that not everyone is on board. Sportscenter could change all that, because, for sports fans in general, Sportscenter is just what it set out to be decades ago - the center of the sports world.

It's our nightly fix. It's what's good and bad in today's world of sports. Sportscenter has made the world of sports as important as sports fans always thought it should be. It has also become the flagship for over-hyping and over-analyzing everything from the Yankees middle relief to NFL fullbacks drafted after the fifth round to Shaquille O'Neal's big toe.

And on April 7, the UFC became a part of all that. Shortly thereafter, UFC 70 got its airtime on Sportscenter, as well, and May 26's UFC 71 is slated to get even more coverage leading up to the card. Rumors have ESPN and UFC joining forces in the near future, so maybe that's why the UFC suddenly got the coverage it deserves. Then again, maybe it's just because it's impossible to ignore the UFC anymore.

Then again, maybe I'm just a microcosm of Sportscenter, making a bigger deal of a sporting event than it should be. I mean there's at least a few people left in Middleofnowhere, USA that don't get ESPN, right? One thing is for certain, though: On April 7, Matt Serra pulled off an upset of monumental proportions, astonishing most of the mixed-martial arts fan base and everybody in my buddy's living room. And, consequently, on that same night, the UFC took a step further to getting into everybody's living room.