Has MMA Eclipsed Pro-Wrestling?

The UFC is beginning to occupy the niche in American society that professional wrestling once had.

What particular niche is that, you ask?

Like myself when I was a kid, children and young teenagers used to look up to professional wrestlers as if they were the closest thing to real-life superheroes. I remember idolizing pro-wrestling greats like "The Rock", Steve Austin and even way back with Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.

There's not a person alive who grew up in the '90s who didn't know about Hulk Hogan and didn't heed his wise words about taking vitamins and saying prayers.

Furthermore, what '90s toybox was complete without a wrestling ring and hordes of wrestling figures? Remember those plush wrestling toys as well?

Professional wrestling was on top of the earth. It was the "sport" that captivated the youth of the time period. It even generated a cult following with the various stables like the NWO and D-X.

Mixed martial arts is currently doing just that—and more.

While the UFC's image was once too brutal for children, this is changing.

MMA fans with sharp memories will remember two children at the UFC 135 press conference in Denver. Their presence alone signified that the UFC product and brand had begun to pervade the youth.

The UFC's inroads into the niche occupied by professional wrestling can also be seen in another crucial area of both businesses: MERCHANDISING.

The WWE was a trailblazer in the merchandising of professional wrestling. If it existed, Vince McMahon saw that a WWE logo was slapped on it and it was sold. From paper lunchbags to WWE-themed hockey games. But mostly it was the T-Shirts.

The WWE is still king in this regard but the UFC is catching up and is light years ahead of where they were when Zuffa purchased the company in 2001.

Is your kid a UFC fan? Then there are a multitude of action figures you can buy him/her and even a miniature Octagon playset that you can take on the road with you. For the parents looking to spend more money, you can purchase a cage bed for your baby grappler.

Outlandish characters like Chael Sonnen are also helping MMA transition into the role that professional wrestling once occupied.

Sonnen's antics have been compared to pro wrestling "heels" before and the comparison is a valid one (except Sonnen's verbiage isn't scripted). Look at the most recent Chael Sonnen shirt that has been made. Does that not remind you at least a little bit of something out of professional wrestling?

The truth is that while the professional wrestling industry and the WWE falter, MMA and the UFC continue to grow.

Such a change is not to be maligned by UFC fans as it will signify that the UFC and MMA have truly taken their proper place in the popular culture landscape.

The UFC and MMA are moving into the societal niche that the WWE and pro wrestling created.

Instead of kids looking up to Hulk Hogan and teens loving the wild antics of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, they will look up to Jon Jones and love the antics of men like and Nick Diaz; MMA fighters will become the rock stars of their time, just like the big pro wrestlers were during their golden age.

As it is, I am a testament of this logic, although I still love both pro-wrestling and MMA, I can see that MMA has grown leaps and bounds, and it is only a matter of time that MMA becomes what pro-wrestling was for me when I was growing up.