Fistful of Dollars

CNBC ran a UFC profile piece/handjob last night. Pretty tame stuff. They did rely on an awful lot of clips from the bloody and barbaric early days of the organization, perhaps to counter the complete nut-hugging the rest of the story felt like.

Here are links to the entire piece if you missed it:

Part 1 is about where the UFC is today, how huge it’s become, and how cool it is that UFC president Dana White gets stopped for autographs and photos wherever he goes.

Part 2 spends some time with Rich Franklin, both back home and before his fight against Wanderlei Silva in Cologne, Germany. If you’re a Franklin fan it’s sort of fun (although they do seem a little preoccupied with his nickname, Ace, which he got because he looks like Jim Carrey’s Ace Ventura: Pet Detective). There’s also a bit of the history, including a not terribly enlightening interview with UFC founder Rorion Gracie (love his red belt, though).

Part 3 talks about the popularity of Tapout for some reason that I’m not sure I understand, as well as how the UFC stacks up against professional boxing, the emergence and disappearance of Affliction, yada yada, the UFC is still number one. Dull and nothing new, at least to anyone who’s a fan of the sport. I’m sure the usual CNBC viewer was riveted/appalled in equal measure.

Below are a few outtakes from the version that aired.