In tandem with a love for MMA and a seemingly sincere "safety first" mantra, money has also driven the fight community to seek reputable third-party oversight. UFC is a billion-dollar enterprise — worth twice as much as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) — and the economic stimulus is welcome in the commonwealth. Estimates suggest that each UFC bout could generate up to $200,000 in ticket and vending profits; optimistically, area promoters see the advent of major MMA in Massachusetts as benefiting them, as well.
"It's great that the UFC is coming here," says Cavallaro, whose WCF already has a weekly television show on Comcast. "Guys like Kimbo Slice are out of this world. . . . If you haven't seen a fight live, you haven't seen a fight at all, and when people see the UFC, they'll walk out of there wanting to know the next time they can catch that kind of action up close."
Chris Faraone can be reached at cfaraone@thephoenix.com.
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Moments after Adam Vinatieri's field goal split the uprights as the clock expired in the Louisiana Superdome on February 3, 2002, the streets of Boston were in bedlam. Drunk people dangled from trees and hung off lampposts. Motorists leaned on their horns. I saw a guy hug a cop
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