The Underground Blog is an MMA news aggregation page appearing on the front page of MixedMartialArts.com, that makes occassional forays into related sports like boxing, BJJ, and folkstyle wrestling, among others. The blog filters content posted on the UG, plus rss feeds from over 100 sites, plus Google News Alerts, and excerpts with links the 14 most compelling stories each day in our sport.
I want to expand the page, to offer unique content.
We do not currently have a budget for the effort; to date the work has done almsot entirely by Chris and myself, at no additional cost to the company.
We do get eyeballs though. If you have compelling content you wish to get in front of so many thousands of the sport’s hardcore fanbase and countless professionals, please consider making a submission. The piece would of course include your byline, as well as links of your choice to your twitter, FB, homepage, etc.
If over time your content proves to be particularly compelling, we could move towards a modest compensation schedule.
The UG Blog is by design a mix of both what is most compelling, and what is responsible. If the sole goal was eyeballs, bloody street fight vids would probably dominate. If the goal was solely to elevate the soul of the reader, well, an unending stream of quotes about fighting from Ghandi, Seneca, Nelson Mandela, etc might be appropriate, but that would leave out what MMA fans most what to see.
Deciding what to add to news is not a precise science. The UG Blog should include things so wacky that you might mention them at the gym with a smile while you are putting on your shin pads. It should include all major stories on the sport daily. And it should include pieces with a responsible, ethical angle, like state, Provincial, Federal, and international regulation and legislation, and inspiring or cautionary stories.
UG members have not proved to be interested in long informed essays. Instead UGers appear to like relatively brief facts – the fight equivalent of what people in an office discuss at the water cooler. That said, if you have long and detailed information on an interesting topic, we are willing to try it.
Above all though, if you have something to say so compelling you would talk about it while sitting on the mat, I would love to see it.
If this holds any potential interest, email copy or a proposal to Kirik@MMA.tv with the subject line UG Blog. Subject line is important, as it will be be sent to a separate folder; anything other than UG Blog could get lost in the waterfall of messages.
