If you've read my bio, you'll know that I am a huge fan of the country's 3 big sports. While I will never stop rooting for the Mariners, Sonics, and Seahawks, a fourth sport has wedged its way into my sporting realm (hint: it's not hockey or soccer). But unlike the big 3, mixed martial arts (mma) is an individual sport, without (yet) major media coverage and doesn't have hometown teams to automatically cheer for. While the IFL http://ifl.tv/ is trying to change some of that, mma is definitely unique, but so is ultimate frisbee. So why then am I a diehard mma fan? (and just want ultimate frisbee to die?) I list my reasons below:

1. Upsets: While their are still plenty of upsets in sports these days, mma has seen several Michigan/Applachian State, George Mason basketball type upsets in just the last few months. Unfortunately for me, some of my favorite fighters have been on the wrong end of them. Nonetheless, the "anything can happen" factor in mma, sets it apart from most other sports. (Maybe I'll be champ one day too)
2. Man vs. Man: Even in team sports, every fan looks at individual matchups. Can Deion Branch get open against Nate Clements? Can Kevin Durant score 30 on Ron Artest? But those matchups all come within a TEAM sport in a TEAM Game. In mma, it's man versus man and competitors can't use their teammates as a crutch.
3. It's a fight: Pretty simple logic here. If you were walking down the street and saw some guys playing football on one corner, a basketball game on another corner, and a fight on yet another corner, what would YOU stop and watch? But instead of drunken bar brawlers, mma fans get to see top level athletes putting together a blend of boxing, kickboxing, wrestling and submissions.