OK, MMA has now officially been accepted by middle America. With the exception of Paul Harvey’s long running radio show, it doesn’t get more “middle America” than Parade Magazine. That’s the mag insert placed in many Sunday newspapers all across our fruited plain. If you’re under the age of 40 there’s a good chance you’ve never read it. If you’re under the age of 20 there’s a good chance you may have never read a newspaper–at least a print version of one–based on all of the demographic research.

The print version of Parade is something of a “dumbed down” version of People Magazine. Lots of columns, news anecdotes, harmless talk about celebrities, etc. Basically, its stuff that your grandparents could read and not get offended by. There’s now a web version of “Parade” on these here Intertubes and they have a feature called “Personality Parade” where readers write in with questions about celebrities, show biz, etc. for Walter Scott whom I guess is an ‘impresario’ of some sort. To give you an idea of the type of questions we’re talking about the first one today is “Is Billy Ray Cyrus worried that his teenage daughter Miley”. You get the drift….

Imagine my surprise to see a question about MMA, and specifically the UFC:

Q Who draws more fans in the U.S.: World Wrestling Entertainment stars like Triple H or Ultimate Fighting Championship combatants like Chuck Liddell?—Kendell & Kennedy, Washington, D.C.

A The WWE is much larger and has more matches. But when it comes to some pay-per-view telecasts, nearly twice as many Americans pick the UFC. We think Liddell, 38, will achieve the same level of stardom as former WWE champ Dwayne “The Rock� Johnson.

That’s essentially true, but a little simplistic. I guess its enough to make anyone who’d turn to Parade for MMA information happy.

Also, while I agree that there will be a big star of the level of “The Rock” coming out of MMA I’m not sure that it’ll be Liddell. My money would be on Kimbo Slice, who’s likely off the radar of Mr. Walter Scott.

Personality Parade @ Parade Magazine