(Sports Network) - Every now and then, I get the urge to cross the line.

Two years ago it came in May.

I dropped in on Spike for a few minutes, had my first real exposure to the phenomenon known as mixed martial arts, came away unimpressed and spent the better part of a week answering e-mail that ranged from simple disagreement to violent death threat.

Last year it came in March.

I skimmed an Associated Press story about a youth MMA outfit in Missouri, wrote of my disgust at seeing 5- and 6-year-olds beating each other senseless and found myself a day later explaining those views to Geraldo Rivera live on the Fox News Channel.

So needless to say, I re-enter the fray this time anticipating tumult.

But before it begins, my cage-happy friends, we may finally have reached common ground.

While I'm not quite ready to join the hardcore element of numbered pay-per- views and shaven-skulled promotional wizards, I have to admit that my latest contact with boxing's more menacing cousin was something less than the disaster to which I'd become accustomed.

In fact, a recent one-week stint in the New York City suburbs had two distinct side-effects:

First, it confirmed every suspicion I'd had that moving from the Northeast to Florida 27 months ago was among the smartest things I've ever done.

Two solo 1,100-mile car rides on I-95 -- one in each direction -- on consecutive Sundays illustrated beyond a doubt that life south of the beltway, while admittedly too slow for some, is just right for this ex-New Yorker/Pennsylvanian with no particular interest in seeing the change of seasons.

A few more big-time fights in these parts...and it'd be a snow-free Valhalla.

And second, while ceding possession of the remote to a hulking ex-Marine who's now a sheriff's deputy in Tennessee (a move rooted as much in intimidation as friendliness), I got an involuntary chance to see just what makes the average MMA fan -- Joe the Concusser, if you will -- tick.

Lo and behold, it wasn't all bad.

Upon catching an encore presentation of the top 20 fights in UFC history, I was simultaneously impressed by the compelling action in the highlights and the athleticism present in their stars -- Georges St. Pierre, Randy Couture and Anderson Silva, etc.

These guys are studs, period.

They're as tough, brave and durable as any athlete in any sport.

The exchanges in the fights were as good as any I've seen in a squared ring.

And if anything ever broke out in a bar I was in, I'd want any of them on my side.

But before we get too warm and fuzzy, let me confirm at least one other thing, too:

In spite of fiery talk in some forums, boxing isn't going anywhere.

The largest pay-per-view show in MMA history, complete with a well-known WWE alumnus in a guaranteed train-wreck matchup, apparently fell far short of the 2.4 million PPV buys generated by De La Hoya-Mayweather, a twosome known far more for tactical skill than visceral might.

In fact, though it was hyped as a violence-fest, featured a burgeoning crossover star and signaled the brand's arrival into triple digits, UFC 100 still couldn't out-draw an easily predicted 154-pound snooze-fest or a few Tyson spectacles long after "Iron Mike" had lost his luster.

I don't speak for everyone, but that hardly warrants a death knell to me.

It's a fact that as long as boxing still has compelling fighters involved in compelling fights, people will plunk down $49.95 to see them. The fans have shown it, the numbers have confirmed it and no amount of full-throated blather on testosterone-fueled message boards makes it any less so.

Whether in the U.S. or overseas, guys like Manny Pacquiao, Ricky Hatton and Wladimir Klitschko have still consistently sold out arenas anywhere from 20,000 to 50,000 in capacity, even in a down economy and often against lower- than-top-shelf opposition.

And when two big stars do get together -- like Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto will this fall and Mayweather and Pacquiao ought to in 2010 -- another two new entries on the all-time top 10 PPV buy list are a better than even-money bet to this low-budget gambler.

That doesn't at all mean that MMA won't continue to thrive and build its audience.

It's a compelling product with a marketing genius pulling the strings.

What it does mean, though, is that it's far from becoming the only game in town.

Sorry Sherdog, but save the funerals for arena football.

* * * * * * * * * *

This weeks title-fight schedule:

Saturday Vacant IBO cruiserweight title - Biloxi, Miss. Danny Green (No. 6 contender) vs. Julio Cesar Dominguez (No. 61 contender) Green (26-3, 23 KO): Former WBA champion at 175 pounds; Unbeaten above 168 (14-0, 11 KO) Dominguez (20-4-1, 14 KO): First title fight; Won four of last eight fights (4-3-1, 4 KO) FitzHitz says: Green in 8

WBA light heavyweight title - Astana, Kazakhstan Gabriel Campillo (champion) vs. Beibut Shumenov (No. 9 contender) Campillo (18-2, 6 KO): First title defense; Split four fights outside Spain (2-2, 0 KO) Shumenov (8-0, 6 KO): First title fight; Represented Kazakhstan in 2004 Olympics FitzHitz says: Shumenov in 6

WBO featherweight title - Las Vegas, Nev. Steven Luevano (champion) vs. Bernabe Concepcion (No. 1 contender) Luevano (36-1-1, 15 KO): Fifth title defense; Unbeaten in Las Vegas (8-0-1, 3 KO) Concepcion (29-1-1, 16 KO): First title fight; Unbeaten in 22 fights since 2005 (21-0-1, 13 KO) FitzHitz says: Luevano by decision

Last week's picks: None Overall picks record: 114-44 (72.1 percent)

Lyle Fitzsimmons is an award-winning 20-year sports journalist, a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and a frequent contributor to Stone Cold Sports on the MVN Network (stonecoldsports.com) and several sports radio talk shows throughout the U.S. E-mail him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him at twitter.com/fitzbitz.







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