Brand "Maturity" for U.F.C.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (U.F.C.) taps into much the same scenario as Romans that had tens of thousands heading to the coliseum cheering on their fighting. Today, television increases the number of viewers to hundreds of thousands.

The “sport” is a pay-per-view “league” using mixed martial arts in bouts that regularly end in knock out or opponent surrender. Referees often call the fight because they are afraid for the health of the losing fighter. It is like WWE, but without the actors and numbers currently competing alongside professional boxing.

U.F.C.’s first attempt at mainstream media in the early ‘90s was halted by states unwilling to publicly host the then barbaric event. The “league” was at the time no more then a no-rules brawl. In order to legalize their events, U.F.C. had to calm down its fights by slowly and slyly inserting rules in an effort to “professionalize” the sport in the minds of the general public while still keeping its blood thirsty fans.

Why is U.F.C. continually backing away from its rugged anything-goes foundation now that they’re able to host fights? Growth. There is so much growth that they attempted to make the sport an Olympic event in 2004 and are currently lobbying to be featured on ESPN. Now they are forced to adapt their image to attract new spectators and break away from the niche market they occupied before, pleasing its limited audience.

U.F.C. is not the exception. Many companies shed the ways of their founding nature as they mature and look toward expansion. Some fans of the sport see it as “selling-out” but as new fans flock to U.F.C. by the thousands, it’s easy enough for them to turn the other way.

The no holds, mixed martial arts brawls they have branded themselves with, have helped them to secure a following, but like every brand, as it matures and grows it must adapt.