Mixed martial arts made its prime-time network TV debut without the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but with plenty of bluster and ballyhoo.
The CBS broadcast of a fight card from Newark, N.J., led off with an iconic image of the Statue of Liberty(!) followed in the opening moments by one reference apiece to the “warriors” and the “new breed of gladiator” who would be fighting in the cage that evening.
The announcers were just getting warmed up.
