Battling the Big Mo: MMA and the Power of Buzz

Abstract

For most people, playing sports as a child was all about having fun. Many people argue that professional sports are all about the money and not about the love of the sport, but that is not necessarily true. Those athletes just have a different goal at the end of the day, a bigger goal. They want a championship. In sports such as football, baseball, and hockey, the road to that goal is paved by wins and losses, arguably in the control of the players. If you play hard and get the wins, no one can take away the chance to win a championship. In other sports such as boxing and mixed martial arts, the road to a championship title is determined by ranking systems and match makers. Performances will bring hype for the fighter and bring momentum to the wave he or she will ride to a title shot.