Bud Light is one of the most popular brands of beer in the world. It is known for the Bud Bowl, Real Men of Genius, and now the first beer to step into the cage. Yesterday the UFC announced that the King of Beers, Anheuser- Busch, will make Bud Light their newest and most exclusive sponsor. The UFC could have announced a future fight or a new television deal, but the addition of this beer sponsor is a huge deal for the beer company as well as the UFC.

Annually, beer companies spend millions of dollars advertising. Last year alone they sponsored the most popular NASCAR driver, had some of the funniest Super Bowl commercials, and could be seen in almost every professional sports complex in America. Annually, the Bud Light creator is responsible for almost half of the beer sales in the U.S. Take this into the cage, and the UFC may have the top sponsor needed to put them and the sport of MMA in the forefront of american sports.

If it were a fight between Mickey’s Fine Malt Liquor and Bud Light, Bud light just completed a knock out similar to that of Rampage over the Iceman. Mickey’s is almost certain to lose it’s sponsorship with time considering Bud Light is on a different playing field. The UFC will eventually have to decide between the two beer sponsors. If or when this happens, Mickey’s has less of a chance than a Tito and Shamrock rematch. Bud Light is part of a monstrous corporate company that would smash Mickey’s in a fight of sponsors.

In my opinion this is a giant step in the right direction for the UFC and the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. Most of the media has said that the UFC needs a major sponsor and this is about as big as it gets. Not only will this open doors for the UFC in commercials, but it also opens the door for large companies such as Nike, Under Armor, Sony, or another top notch sponsor to come along. In the future we may see a Nike MMA clothing line, a Chuck Liddell Gatorade flavor, or even a Rich Franklin Math for Dummies Book. A large sponsor would bring larger demographics to the sport. It could create an influx of new fans and viewers that thinks of the sport as barbaric. In their minds, if Nike is a UFC sponsor, how barbaric can MMA be?

Only a day after StrikeForce inked a deal with CBS, the UFC announced the huge addition of the Anheuser-Busch beer Bud Light as an amazing turn of events for the UFC. If the UFC can capitalize on this move, then they will open some incredible doors for other companies to step forward in the future. It may be a matter of time before Chuck has a Bud Light symbol on his Iceman shorts. The move gives the UFC and the WEC a major sponsor in the addition of Harley Davidson. The UFC is the show of shows in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. They currently have the most talent, the most exposure, and they have solidified the best sponsors. I look for more big time sponsors in the future for the UFC.

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