 What was likely the biggest impact of the lawsuits against the UFC?
Fight Clubbed Fight Club , a movie about a fictional organization of men who strip down and beat each other to pulp, has provoked more than its share of media hand-wringing, particularly diatribes about Hollywood's infatuation with violence and Faludi-esque ruminations about the emasculated American male. Fight Club , however, has not sparked an iota of interest in a real organization of men who strip down and beat each other to pulp: the Ultimate Fighting Championship. UFC's flameout from national sensation to total irrelevance is a tragedy of American sports, a cautionary tale of prudishness, heavy-handed politics, and cultural myopia. UFC began in 1993 as a locker-room fantasy. What would happen if a kickboxer fought a wrestler? A karate champion fought a sumo champion? Promoters built an octagonal chain-link cage, invited eight top martial artists, and set them loose in no-holds-barred, bare-knuckles fights. "There are no rules!" bragged an early press release. Contestants would fight till "knockout, submission, doctor's intervention, or death." UFC allowed, even promoted, all notions of bad sportsmanship: kicking a man when he's down, hitting him in the groin, choking. Four-hundred-pound men were sent into the Octagon to maul guys half their size. Only biting and eye-gouging were forbidden.
 The cost of the lawsuits drained the resources of the promoters so they didn't have the money for ads, fighters, and venues
 Being in a legal battle doesn't look good, and it made the fans distrust the organizations promoting UFC  The cost of the lawsuits drained the resources of the promoters so they didn't have the money for ads, fighters, and venues  The lawsuits took up so much time that fights were delayed long past when the fans were willing to wait until  The UFC's lawyers were tied up in TV network disputes, and were too busy to guarantee good contracts for the fighters