Syndicate rallies stars to enjoy ownership without stress of winning.

The sport of mixed martial arts is exploding in popularity, led in large part by the fighters of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

There's another epic tussle involving the UFC under way, and it involves a couple of local heavyweights, Malibu-based Jakks Pacific Inc. and El Segundo-based Mattel Inc.

They are both negotiating with Zuffa LLC, the Las Vegas-based owner and operator of UFC, for the multimillion dollar licensing rights to make action figures based on the sport's biggest stars, including Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell, Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz and Quinton Jackson.

Don Gold, Zuffa's executive vice president of entertainment, confirmed that the company is in negotiations with several companies to produce the collectibles. The two local firms are thought to be frontrunners, given their marketing muscle and background. Jakks Pacific already has licensing rights for World Wrestling Entertainment characters.

The rights aren't going to come cheaply. The growth of UFC both domestically and internationally is startling. The eyebrows of sports marketers worldwide were raised last October, when a UFC pay-per-view event drew higher ratings among the coveted 18- to 24-year-old male demographic than the first game of the World Series did on broadcast TV. UFC acquired Pride Fighting, its major competitor in Japan last month.

Action sports figures are growing in popularity, particularly among adult collectors who have more income to invest in the products.

UFC signed an exclusive deal with Agoura Hills-based THQ International Inc. in January to publish video games through 2011. It also expects to announce deals for UFC-branded apparel such as hats and T-shirts.