my link died so I'll post it
New competitor for boxing
Ultimate Fighting Championship draws different breed of contestants, fans
By Michael Hirsley
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 11, 2006
It is not only permissible to hit a man when he is down, it is often advisable in Chicagoan Andrei Arlovski's sport.
In addition to punching with fists, competitors are allowed to kick, wrestle, apply chokeholds and hit with their elbows.
Welcome to Ultimate Fighting Championship. Launched five years ago as an American version of mixed martial arts fighting and reformed from barely regulated "no holds barred" fights banned across the U.S., UFC is both more and less than the sport of boxing.
It is more in allowing all the brutal action that is forbidden in boxing but appeals to the video-game generation, especially the coveted 18- to 34-year-old male demographic.
It is less in that "you are not scorned as a quitter if you tap out (submit), unlike in boxing, so you can survive to fight another day," said Mike Garcia, a former boxer who now trains boxers and mixed martial arts fighters at a Chicago gym. "And unlike boxing referees, UFC referees will stop a fight quickly if one fighter is in big trouble."
While it may be to boxing what demolition derby is to auto racing, UFC proudly proclaims that no competitor has ever been seriously injured, a claim boxing can't make.
But the comparison in which UFC really wants to top boxing is commercial popularity. And the newcomer to the fight world is on the map and gaining inroads in live gates, corporate sponsors and TV exposure.
Take Arlovski, for example.
The Belarus-born Chicago resident is a newborn king in the UFC, at least until Saturday, when he defends his heavyweight title against Tim Sylvia in Anaheim.
They are not fighting in a cozy venue that a few thousand fans can fill. The first UFC event in California is slated for a sold-out 17,000-seat Arrowhead Pond.
In addition, the Arlovski-Sylvia main event and undercard fights will be shown on a $39.95 pay-per-view telecast.
Arlovski, 27, saw his first mixed martial arts fight on TV in Belarus "when I was 12 or 13 years old. I was surprised when I saw a 170-pound guy choke a 300-pound guy into submission.
"I thought, `I'd like to be like that.'"
At the time Arlovski was a soccer player. He began lifting weights, then went from high school into a police academy where he could train to be a police officer and a mixed martial arts fighter. He graduated and became both before traveling to the U.S. six years ago and focusing on the UFC.
After only nine fights, of which he won seven, he is a champion.
"I understand that I'm one of the best, not the best necessarily," he said with humility that belies his game face as "The Pit Bull."
The 6-foot-3-inch, 240-pound Arlovski wears a specially constructed mouthpiece with fangs into the Octagon, the eight-sided metal cage in which UFC bouts are contested.
Boxing promoter Dominic Pesoli, who owns the JABB gym at 410 N. Oakley where Arlovski trains, has been aware of UFC only since meeting Arlovski.
"It's way more legitimate than pro wrestling," Pesoli said.
State law forbids matches in Chicago.
"Ultimate Fighting is illegal in Illinois unless a representative comes in and demonstrates that it is exempt from the ban," said Susan Hofer, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulations, which authorizes the state's fight events, including boxing.
Hofer said UFC events could be allowed on a case-by-case basis. She said mixed martial arts competition has been allowed or banned depending on compliance with state rules, including an overseer sanctioning body and provisions for safety of contestants and spectators.
UFC President Dana White said the sport already complies with such rules. If it did not eliminate tactics like "biting, elbows to the spine and eye gouging," he said, "we would still be widely banned and we could not market ourselves and grow."
Live gate receipts, pay-per-view numbers and cable's Spike TV telecasts attest to UFC's growing popularity. Spike TV reported its premiere of "Ultimate Fighter 3" last Thursday drew 2.4 million viewers, a record for the network and a higher total than TNT drew for an NBA doubleheader in the same time slot.
There is another measure of UFC's legitimacy: Sports books take wagers on matches.
Mixed martial arts and the UFC have received a big boost in prestige and credibility in Nevada. Marc Ratner, one of boxing's most respected officials, recently resigned as executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission to become a vice president with Zuffa, LLC, which owns the UFC.
"About 10 years ago I was on a panel with [U.S. Sen.] John McCain and I said we would not think of allowing or sanctioning UFC events in Nevada because it had no rules or regulations," Ratner recalled. "It was like a barroom brawl."
The Nevada Athletic Commission participated in reforming the UFC, and sanctioned the mixed martial arts bouts six years ago.
"Now the UFC has referees, judges, rounds and rules to make it a regulated, safe sport," Ratner said. "The sport is growing."
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mhirsley@tribune.com
