Not necessarily.  First of all, what evidence is there to suggest that many MMA fans are not already boxing fans, and vice versa?  There is at least some crossover between the two, so promoters looking to bring two completely different sets of fans in for a combination-style show may be disappointed.

Also, boxing fans and MMA fans already pay for a lot of pay-per-views.  With the way boxing is set up, fight fans often have to pay upwards of $50 just to see one or two big-name fighters, along with a couple of undercard bouts that are usually severely lacking.  MMA fans have their wallets regularly tapped into by the UFC, with its monthly pay-per-views, DVD releases and aggressive marketing of other merchandise.

So, why do upstart promotions always think that MMA fans (or boxing fans) are just going to throw their money at the next thing to come along?  That’s the other thing that makes this whole story even more perplexing- Jones, Jr. combines boxing and mixed martial arts on one card, but does not do a very strong job of either, with a card of fights that do not exactly entice even the most rabid fans to reach for their cash.

While Bobby Lashley may have a solid future in mixed martial arts, a fight between him and Jason Guida is not exactly headline material.  In the UFC or even Strikeforce, Lashley would be an interesting prospect who would either fight on the prelims or in the opening bout of the night, not as the main event.  Then, you have journeyman pro and former UFC heavyweight title challenger Jeff Monson against the portly (but skilled) Roy Nelson, most known for his IFL success and loss against Andrei Arlovski.  Again, both guys are good fighters, but this isn’t exactly a fight that will rearrange anyone’s heavyweight rankings.

I know what the devil’s advocates out there are thinking- “you can’t compare this to a UFC card, because it’s not the UFC”.  Well, when the promoter expects me to pay nearly what I would for a UFC event to watch it, why is the comparison unfair?  What in the world makes people think that MMA fans are so eager to spend money that we will spend $29.95 on a subpar card rather than just waiting and spending a little more on the next UFC card, which is never more than a few weeks away?

In the end, even with the best intentions, the MMA/boxing angle is really just an attempt to grab some attention and a piece of the pie.  We’ve seen all of this before, and though combining the two (supposedly adversarial, though there’s no reason they can’t coexist) sports may be a novel idea, in the end it is just another way for a promoter to try to get you to buy an unspectacular pay-per-view.

Also, although there is certainly an overlap between boxing and MMA fans, you have to consider that there are a number of fans of each sport that either have no interest in the other, or openly dislike the other sport.  There are plenty of MMA fans who may have been interested in seeing what Lashley’s got, or how Monson or Din Thomas will look, but don’t want to sit through any boxing matches in the process.  I can only imagine that there are also some people who wouldn’t mind seeing Roy Jones, Jr. fight, but do not want any part of watching ground fighting or mixed martial arts in general.