Three thousand spectators pack Androscoggin Bank Colisee from floor level to its decades-old rafters, many paying in excess of $100 for the privilege.
Pay-per-view cards play out to captive audiences in millions of American homes, attracting more consumers than professional wrestling and boxing at the same price.
An adrenaline-sports television network, Fuel, devotes more than half its 24-hour broadcast day to a single sport. Other, more popular cable or satellite stops furnish daily or weekly shows devoted to it.
The attraction is mixed martial arts. If you’re among the converted, you already recognized and celebrated those accomplishments. If you haven’t yet joined the choir, be aware that the song is here to stay.
Baseball is America’s pastime. Football is arguably its most popular sport, long ago graduating from fall favorite to year-round passion.
Hockey and basketball jockey for that other coveted position in the Big Three, each enjoying its popularity in different pockets of the population and at certain times of year. NASCAR and golf, in particular, are niche sports with rabid followers that place them in the upper echelon.
Don’t look now, but mixed martial arts — due in part to its overwhelming reception from the coveted 18-to-34 male demographic — is entering the conversation.
Many of those closest to the sport bristle at the previous generalization.
“I think it’s a simple sport. It translates well if you’re a man or a woman, if you’re old or young,” said Bjorn Rebney, CEO of Bellator Fighting Championships. “It’s not like the NFL where you need to explain, ‘OK, why are they doing that?'”
Rebney cites the example of his wife, who was born in Turkey.
“We can sit down to watch an NFL game 16 times a year, and if I try to explain it to her, she looks at me like I have rocks in my head,” he said. “But the first time she watched an MMA fight, she completely understood it.”
MMA appeals to a modern audience with a shorter attention span and more demands upon that attention than ever.
Rounds are five minutes long.
Almost all fights are scheduled for three rounds, and many end much more quickly. When Bellator made its nationally televised Maine debut at the Colisee in March, two bouts were finished in a don’t-blink clip of 12 seconds.
Every event comes with the trappings of an NBA game, WWE exhibition or rock concert.
Spectators are greeted by large screens, thunderous music, flashing lights and the requisite “card girls,” a boxing tradition that offers male fans eye candy under the guise of reminding them what round is coming up.
The New England Fights promotion has capitalized on that package by flooding it with local flavor.
At its next scheduled event in Lewiston on May 18, NEF is expected to open the cage doors to more than 30 fights. A majority of those will feature at least one fighter with Maine ties.
“It’s not just the fighters. It’s a lot of the people I talk to,” Lewiston fighter Brent Dillingham said. “They’re interested in it and want to have a part of it. They want to get involved and know more about it and learn more about it. It’s spreading like wildfire.”
Due to its many influences, MMA attracts a diverse lot of competitors.
Some might have trained as boxers before making the transition.
It has become a place to land for high school and college wrestlers who wish to continue stoking their competitive fires.
Children who earned black belts in karate or jiu-jitsu have grow into teenagers and adults and discover the sport as a controlled environment for using their skills.
As for the fans, if they don’t fall into one of those categories, they simply appreciate a sport that places a unique spin on the age-old concepts of combat and may-the-best-man-win.
But will the novelty wear off?
Like NASCAR, which peaked in popularity in the late 1990s prior to the death of icon Dale Earnhardt, MMA has inherent elements — the constant sight of blood, for example — that may cast a ceiling over its growth.
“I don’t think it’s at its peak yet, but I think it’s close,” said Travis Wiuff, a veteran of 85 professional fights around the world. “It’s mainstream now. I can’t think of a night of the week when it’s not on TV somewhere. ESPN covers it now. FOX Sports covers it. It’s definitely huge. It’s probably going to hit its peak soon.”
Locally and regionally, there are no signs of such a dip.
Despite ticket prices that ranged from $40 to $125, Bellator played to a nearly full house in Lewiston — hardly the per capita income capital of Maine — on what was a school and work night.
Sales for the May card have been outstanding, according to NEF officlals.
Later this summer, MMA will join musical giants Sting, Motley Crue, Kenny Chesney and Toby Keith in bringing its brand of entertainment to the Bangor Waterfront Pavilion.
Gyms devoted exclusively to the sport continue to pop up, thrive and expand.
Central Maine Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has a rapidly growing stable of fighters.
Dillingham recently broke away from MMA Athletix in Topsham, joining forces with fellow fighter John Raio to launch First Class Fitness & MMA in Topsham.
“The more people get involved it, they find that inner peace and strength that comes from it,” Dillingham said. “That’s what the martial arts have always been about.”
MMA: Maine’s Caged Craze
- ‘We’re a fighting state’: A look at the growth of the sport in Maine and a look at the dangers
- Getting hurt, playing hurt part of the game
- The Hot Corner: Making the change from the ring to the cage
- MMA: Did You Know?
- MMA: Still limited in some states
- By the Numbers: MMA Injuries
- Evolution from sideshow to sport: The evolution of safety in the sport has helped it expand and maintain
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