Consumer

DALLAS (AP) ― Leave it to Mark Cuban to offer the ultimate in-your-face fighting experience.

Coming soon to a theater near you: Mixed martial arts in 3D.

"If you think watching MMA in person is amazing, if you think watching it in high-def is amazing, you ain't seen nothing until you see a punch come straight at you in 3D," Cuban said.

Testing is still being done and theaters are getting the equipment needed for this technological feat. It's all part of HDNet Fights, a promotion-production arm of Cuban's high-definition television network outlined Wednesday by the maverick owner of the Dallas Mavericks.

HDNet has been showing MMA events for more than a year, but under this new umbrella the network will have a lot more control of the product, all the way to setting up some of the fight cards. Their first installment will be Oct. 13 at the Mavs' arena. It will feature 10 bouts, with Eric Paulson coming out of retirement to take on Jeff "Big Diesel" Ford in the main event.

HDNet Fights is taking a new approach to MMA, which is a hybrid of everything from boxing to kickboxing to wrestling. The simple explanation is that they are going to promote each event like it's just another game in the NBA season. Cuban calls it "making these professional sporting events, as opposed to spectacles."

"There isn't really the need for a lot of sideshows and war paint and costumes and all those types of things because the sport of MMA in and of itself is enough of an attraction," Cuban said. "It's going to be more like Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade up here. They might not necessarily like each other, but they're very professional. We're going to introduce the sport to the concept of actually treating the athletes like professional athletes."

And like sci-fi characters, once the 3D showings take off.

Cuban said the idea came from seeing the NBA pull it off for the finals and the All-Star game.

"We're learning it right now," he said. "We're doing some testing with some folks out of Montreal. It's more about getting the theaters configured with the right equipment than it is on the broadcast side. It's going to be pretty cool."

Ultimate Fighting Championship is the leader in the MMA world. Cuban isn't planning on taking them on directly -- at least, not yet. The goal now is working with all the other entities and trying to unify them on the high-def network, under the HDNet Fights brand.

"We're more of an umbrella organization," he said. "If we need to create our own fights, we will. But we'd rather partner with great promoters and help them."

Cuban said at least one theater per city in the Landmark Theatres' chain will have the equipment. Landmark has theaters in 23 markets, including Dallas, Austin and Houston, according to its Web site.

While Cuban's group may sign two or three big-name fighters, they will focus on developing their own stars. Picking the up-and-comers and setting up all the fight cards will be the duty of Guy Mezger, a longtime martial arts star.

"A lot of promoters say how they're going to change the image of the sport," said Ford, a main attraction of the debut event. "From what I've seen so far from Mark, he's actually followed up with what he said."

The weekly broadcasts will have a lead-in show called "Inside MMA," which Cuban said will be modeled after HBO's "Inside the NFL." Actor Kevin James will co-host along with some fighters.

"We'll have a special guest that is going to shock some people, but also is going to (annoy) another group, so I don't want to get into that right now," Cuban said, smiling.

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