UFC Knocks Out the World Cup 2006, the X-Men and Jessica Alba!

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More proof that the Ultimate Fighting Championship is gaining in popularity:

Violent Sport Tops on Yahoo

Yesterday, the Ultimate Fighting Championship - a sport that blends martial arts with the theatrical flair of professional wrestling - topped the buzz metric on the Yahoo! search engine as the most searched term of the day.

Ultimate Fighting Championship, a frequent fixture on the Yahoo list, beat out other popular terms, including “X-Men,” “Jessica Alba” and “World Cup 2006.”

Far from surprised, Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White said the Web has catapulted the sport into the mainstream.

“This thing survived through the Internet through the years when it couldn’t get distribution” on television, White said.

Ultimate Fighting Championship matches are typically shown on pay-per-view or Spike TV, a cable channel targeting male viewers.

White said much of the sports buzz comes from online, where the typically young, male fans spend a lot of time.

“These 18- to 34-year-olds are all online, man,” he added.

Ultimate Fighting Championship also took a lead on Yahoo’s sports index, beating out the terms “NBA” and “MLB.” While White isn’t claiming to be more popular than baseball, he does think it’s a testament to the sport’s burgeoning popularity.

Nice.