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So in case you didn’t hear yet, the UFC announced a deal that will allow you, the wonderous public, to buy action figures of their fighters. God knows how much the fighters will get for having their image on carved into plastic, but then again what the fighters want has never really been a concern of the internet, has it?

Well, there’s a lot of folks still holding their breath for Thursday in the hopes some sort of super announcement that will change the world will occur. The rampant speculation has been bordering on retarded; Floyd Mayweather Jr. signing with the UFC, a WWE buyout, Fox TV deals, and more. Of course, what’s on the UFC’s own website?

http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=12696

Why, its a (likely) giant spoiler for Thursday! On their own website, they’re telling you that its a bunch of merchandising deals for JCPenneys and Visa. In other words, the dreams of many were just that. Dreams. And really absurd ones, to boot. What is so disheartening about this ultimately is the way one “journalist” (and I use the term as loosely as possible) after another after another has bullrushed into repeating such insane claims.  Ultimately, this activity has given them a significant amount of validity within the hardcore fan community by merely repeating them ad nausem. It happens whilst those who supposedly tow the line of high end reporting don’t even think to question the value of the sources from which such enormous news is being emitted. For instance, here is MMAOpinion.com’s terrific look at the story:

Apparently a “realiable source” has stated Vince McMahon and Dana White are buying the UFC from the Fertitta brothers through the remaining shares of the company. McMahon will not have much input, but instead, he will assist with financing the deal and making this happen. Of course this is just one variant of the rumors being spewed out left and round on the internet.

Who cares about checking sources? Publish it, guys! And then make sure to report about the buzz you just created by posting a story with no legs later on. What better way to justify your own existence? And then there’s MMAPayout.com:

Last night a poster on the Underground Forums added the following rumor “from a reliable source” to the mix: “a group of investors led by Dana White have agreed in principle to purchase the UFC from Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta for an undisclosed amount. Included in this investment group is WWE’s Vince McMahon who will now own a minority stake in the company. They also have plans on taking the company public by years end.”

Wow. Nothing demands being mentioned on the website of a claimed leader in MMA coverage more than a fairly anonymous post on a message board that’s been filled with complete non-truths in the past. This was merely just a small taste of the fine coverage provided. Going back just a day or so:

Inside the industry, the guessing game has advanced past *whether* the UFC’s sale is Dana’s big announcement and onto *who* such a sale might involve. Odds on favorites include FOX, Golden Boy, and WWE (NOTE: For the conspiracy theorist in all of us, WWE has an ambiguous press conference of its own scheduled for Thursday).

A change in ownership is one of the few things imaginable that would warrant White’s hype and circumstance. Of course this wouldn’t be the first time the UFC over promised and under delivered on an major announcement. And there’s always the possibility, perhaps even likelihood, that whatever White has in store, no matter how grand it truly is, will be overshadowed by the speculation that has proceeded it. But this feels different.

Note the way this was written. There isn’t just possiblity, but actually a sense of certainty that this time, the unmentioned voices of the MMA shadows are really positively sure that the UFC is to be sold, and voila, off to the races! This is not journalism, folks. This is not reporting facts. This is thinly veiled bullshit intended to draw in readers and bring increased numbers of new IP addresses for the purpose of selling ad space. Who are these inside industry people? How often have they been correct before? ”But this feels different”? On what basis? Because ESPN The Magazine printed it?  Maybe the UFC is going to get a weekly fight show, or run Japan, bring in another organization’s ace, or any of the other wide array of things they’ve announced or openly discussed in the past that never, ever happened. Maybe its not going to be any of those things, and it will be another situation like so many others prior in which they just announce that which we already know (in this case, merchandising). Given that the latter happens much more often than the former, I’m gonna bet that.

What the MMA media has done here is spit a lot of e-wrestling fed idiocy while passing it off as intelligent commentary, and using the spikes in interest such outrageous claims generate as the justification behind it.

EDIT 6/11/08: Well, if you believe Sam Caplan, the big announcement was to announce that MMA was approved in the state of NY, which, surprise surprise, would have been something that you, me, and everyone else would have heard about had it occurred two days in advance. And it didn’t end up happening at all. Will anyone have learned a lesson? Hell no they didn’t, because they probably saw their viewership fly through the roof over the last two days.