UFC Is Staging 34 Fight Cards In 2012: Will The Media Be Able To Keep Up?

The UFC is upping the ante. Whereas in 2011 they staged 27 events, they're adding to the total next year by holding 34 full events (although pay-per-views will decline from 15 to 12). While there are a number of ways to assess the implication, what's most on my mind whether or not the mixed martial arts media will be able to keep pace.

MMA media are already short-staffed if by that we mean they lack enough capable reporters and editors capable of properly covering an event. Add to that relatively tight purse strings from an advertising landscape where legitimate ad buys are hard to come by. Add the further complication of dividing resources between two shows on the same day, finding talent in overseas market and having enough money to pay them all.

Now, imagine if Strikeforce is kept alive (a prospect I still find unlikely, but let's say they do for the sake of argument). It's all a complicated problem without an obvious solution or an obvious outcome.

The bottomline is this: the UFC does not need a doting media to survive, but having a robust, healthy and mobile media able to properly cover the full UFC schedule is in everyone's best interest.

Will they be able to do it? I explore the issue in the video below: