The Atlantic Comes Through Again -- Interview with Lorenzo Fertitta
From TheAtlantic.com:
DS: What is it about this sport now that is getting this audience under 35? I go out there, you’ve got 12, 13-year-olds to 35-year-old men and women, and they’re psyched. Is it because they were exposed to martial arts and different fighting styles when they were younger?
LF: It’s clearly a generational thing. You go back to the old western like a John Wayne movie where John Wayne would hit a guy, drop him, and then what would he do, grab him and literally pick him up and stand him back up! Right? So he could hit him again. I mean, it’s crazy! Who would ever do that? That’s not how fights work. We’ve all seen fights in bars and wherever, I don’t care if it’s a cowboy fight or whatever kind of fight. They didn’t used to fight like that. But that’s the way that TV influenced American culture, which evolved into, You don’t kick a man when he’s down. You don’t hit a man when he’s down.
Well, you go to Japan and Brazil and these other countries, they don’t think like that! You know, it’s not in their culture. And I think maybe through martial arts movies, or our impact on popular culture in the United States, that the younger generation didn’t grow up thinking that way.
The Atlantic posts another great interview, this time with Lorenzo Fertitta. He talks about a lot of the ins and outs of the UFC and Zuffa -- like many others, I'd like to know more about their financial details, but since they're a private company, they can keep that private.
Regardless, I posted the excerpt I did because I thought it was kind of a funny, yet honest assessment of some of the old-school differences in cultural opinions about fighting. Check out the link for the whole interview -- it's definitely worth it.
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Comments
Fantastic interview.
Fantastic interview. Must-read for the hardcores and the casuals. I'm glad to see Lorenzo getting more pub.
Interview pretty much acknowledges that he's the brains behind the promotion. Also drops some good financial nuggets. For example, arena fees are in the 6-figure range. Talks about fighter contracts, etc.
Great stuff.
Excellent , Pre....
Excellent , Pre....