Ultimate Fighting Championship / AP file

Mirko Cro Cop, left, punches Eddie Sanchez during UFC 67: All or Nothing on Feb. 3.

Like Myers, Meltzer believes some of WWE’s audience is gravitating to the UFC.

“It’s a pay-per-view rivalry,” Meltzer said. “I’m not saying it’s huge but it exists. Right now, UFC is definitely hot.”

Meltzer added that WWE needs to find a new superstar like “The Rock,” a crowd favorite who drew hordes of viewers.

“What UFC is doing that WWE and boxing haven’t done as well is create new stars,” he said.

HBO, for instance, has continued to rely on Oscar De la Hoya while a true heavyweight champion emerges, one with star power like Mike Tyson — who drew nearly 2 million buys twice in his heyday.

“The heavyweight champ of the world has always been the mythical strongest man in the planet. It’s important for the sport,” said Mark Taffet, HBO’s senior vice president of sports operation and pay-per-view. HBO hopes a new champion will surface from heavyweight unification matches that could take place this year.

Rochester, of the WWE, said the company is incubating new stars.

“We have the next Rock in John Cena,” he said, referring to one of WWE’s most popular wrestlers.

UFC managed to grow despite the lack of a heavyweight star, but the company recently inked a deal with the burly Croatian Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic. He’s fighting in Manchester in April.

Most fans don’t know Cro Cop but he has glimmers of being the UFC’s Mike Tyson.

“He’s the most spectacular knockout artist of any weight,” said Meltzer, the editor of the newsletter. “American fans love knockout artists.”

Taffet said he isn’t worried about UFC’s rise. The two companies are negotiating over HBO possibly airing a UFC fight. However, there are questions about which company will produce the fight and who will call it — along with some hard feelings. One of HBO’s most well-known ringside announcers is Jim Lampley, who has bashed the sport of mixed martial arts and the UFC.

Taffet said HBO is counting on strong business in 2007 when De La Hoya fights Floyd Mayweather on May 5 in Las Vegas. HBO hopes the match will take its place among the biggest pay-per-view-boxing events of all time — or at least break De La Hoya’s 1999 record of 1.4 million buys fighting Felix Trinidad.

As for WWE, Rochester said it’s not ready to concede the PPV title yet. While UFC had one good year, he said, WWE has generated more than $2 billion in total PPV buys over a 22-year stretch.

In this smackdown, WWE has plenty of fight left in it.

“We are not worried about UFC,” he said.

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