Whether brand-name advertisers will see the nuance is another question.  Both boxing and professional wrestling have harnessed wide distribution networks and attracted a bountiful stream of well-known sponsors, such Procter & Gamble. But it’s been a harder road for M.M.A., despite having an audience that skews toward the young male, a demographic presumed to be both free-spending and susceptible to advertisers’ wiles.

“They all love the demographic,” says Jay Larkin, head of the International Fight League, a pink-sheets-traded M.M.A. company now jockeying with the U.F.C. and several other recent entrants for distribution and advertising dollars. But “no sponsor in his right mind is going to want to see blood smeared over their logo,” something Larkin says remains a distinct possibility in many M.M.A. events.

In order to avoid this potential messiness, his league has gone even further to placate the sensibilities of potential advertisers. Certain hits, like the elbow strike, are not permitted in I.F.L. bouts, and the league doesn’t put its contestants in a pen. “We don’t have the negative association of putting men in cages and having them fight,” says Larkin, the former head of boxing events for Showtime.

I.F.L. has inked deals with Fox Sports Net and MyNetwork to broadcast fight,s and the World Combat League, a new entrant backed by martial-arts master Chuck Norris, is following similarly restrictive rules.

Such precautions could turn off some hardcore fans. They may also prove unnecessary, as M.M.A. grows in popularity. The U.F.C. recently signed on Harley Davidson, and is hinting that an even more recognizable brand will come on board, possibly as early as next month.

Meanwhile, Spike TV has drawn advertisers like Burger King and DirectTV to its U.F.C.-based shows. These include matches and a popular reality series, The Ultimate Fighter, which tracks the rise and fall of hopeful combatants. Last year, both the fights and the reality show brought in more viewers from the 18- to 34-year-old male demographic than either Nascar or the N.B.A. playoff games shown on ESPN and TNT.

The show has also made one fighter, Chuck Liddell, into a minor celebrity, catapulting him into guest spots on HBO’s hip series Entourage and propelling his new book, Iceman: My Fighting Life, into a bestselling memoir, according to Amazon’s sales rankings.

“Our 18 to 34 numbers are great, rates are consistently up, and we’ve also drawn marquee advertisers,” says Brian Diamond, the senior vice president of sports and specials for Spike TV. “I’m 49 and I grew up with boxing—and I love it. But most of the younger guys are part of the MTV generation. They want things quick. They don’t want to watch something go for 12 rounds.”

Still, it’s unclear if M.M.A. has either of its rivals in a guillotine choke. After a difficult 2006, boxing had one of its best years ever in 2007, propelled by a few lucrative fan-pleasing matches like the May middleweight title fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather.

Meanwhile, publicly-traded World Wrestling Entertainment, continues to be a massive brand and licensing franchise, with a strong Web presence. Last week [February 14] W.W.E. reported $485 million in revenues for 2007, a record by the company despite grappling with the murder-suicide committed by one of its stars, Chris Benoit, and an expensive federal steroids investigation that ultimately led to the suspension of several wrestlers.