The two hosts of ESPN's Pardon the Interruption, Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, make no secret that they don't like mixed martial arts. But on the eve of the Randy Couture-Brock Lesnar fight at UFC 91, they acknowledged that the sport has become a major success:
When Kornheiser asked Wilbon if UFC has surpassed boxing, Wilbon answered, "Sadly, yes. It's undeniable the numbers -- you can't even argue them, Tony. It's sad for me because I'm a child of boxing. I grew up with my father, on his knee, watching Howard Cosell, Wide World of Sports."
Wilbon has said in the past that MMA is a fraud, but I wonder if maybe what he was saying at the time is that EliteXC was a fraud, not that he doubts the legitimacy of the sport itself. I'm not sure that Wilbon really grasps the differences among the various MMA promotions.
As for Kornheiser, he said, "I don't know jack about UFC. It strikes me as totally barbarous, but other people like it and I'm not going to knock it."
The PTI guys will never be UFC fans, but when the mere fact that they're acknowledging the UFC's popularity is good for MMA.
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