December 18, 2006 Observer Newsletter: UFC, TNA

"60 Minutes," the most watched and generally considered the most respected news program in the country, did its long-talked about piece on MMA on 12/10, which included interviews with Dana White, Renzo Gracie, Pat Miletich and Matt Hughes.

Aside from the big error which really had no excuse for being made at this point, in crediting the rule changes to White, there was little complaint any UFC fan could possibly legitimately have about the reporting.

All the significant rule changes were in place prior to the Fertitta Brothers buying UFC and putting White in charge in early 2001. It stated the rule changes led to the popularity taking off. It was getting weekly television that created new stars, and lucking into the right characters and the right grudge matches that led to the explosion in popularity. Without the rule changes, that wouldn't have happened. But it was not the rule changes but the getting of television that made the difference. 

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