In your opinion, how can the UFC become huge again?

[Pulver-ize]

Dump Reebok
Tournaments

 

[Blanqa Blanqua]

nobody pays better on average than the UFC, if other orgs want to OVERPAY to gain some sort of credibility then that's their problem, they're not paying out of the goodness of their heart.

Wow man, you are both stupid AND bad for the sport.

 

[rebell]

Put a clause in the contract where if you become champion, you MUST defend against the number 1 or 2 contender within 6 months and then continue to defend within 9 months after.

You can't be having Holly vs Bethe headlining over RDA vs Tarec, just ain't right.

I can be all for the Reebok deal however I think they need to up the pay scale.

 

[SMYD]

Sit the fuck down first off because you've been conned. The UFC was never huge.

Realizing this, they should focus on consolidating the hardcores. They are the foundation and guys like Conor will come around every so often. That's always been the business model in the fight game. Otherwise, it's just unnatural and convoluted which is what is happening with the UFC at the moment.

 

[VulcanNervPinch]

what does lowballing have to do with anything? Fans don't tune in to see who's getting paid.

They also don't tune in to see fighters who don't sign when they're offered garbage

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

Make it so Conor never has to defend a title

Wait, they already did that, or it looks that way

 

[originalbadguy]

Absolutely, going to take many changes to there model and how they operate.
1. Start with a basic obvious move, Get rid of the Reebok deal or at least let fighters put sponsors on opposite sides of the reebok logos on shorts and rear. allow fighters to bring in sponsor banners!
This will allow them to retain more big name fighters
2. I really believe another thing that would be helpful is come together with the fighters and create sort of a collective bargaining agreement on pay and Benefits. Not Necessarily creating a union, but really working with the fighters to create a fair and clear outline structure for the fighters and agents to work off of and feel like they are being taken care of and are valued.
This could include, things like rookie contracts and escalating pay structures, veteran contracts, when a fighter has earned the right to receive PPV points and increased pay for fighters in main and co main events. Maybe some sort of retirement fund for fighters who have competed 15 times or more in the UFC ect.
3. There really needs to be a focus on going after young prospects and securing them for the future and building there name value on undercards and fight pass cards. I also believe they need to cut the fat, meaning get rid of fighters earlier rather than later if they have proven that they really are going no were and there name value is not big. IE: Gleason Tibau or Abel Trujillo!
Why not use that veteran money to give bigger signing bonus to the fighters that have earned it! Bader! Or sign more prospects like the many Russian fighters that deserve to be in the UFC!
4. Add More weight classes! More championship fights Will give the UFC bigger events to promote and a championship always adds to name value for the fighters. Good for the fighters with sponsors and pay and good for the UFC bigger cards!
5. The UFC really needs to start doing yearly Grand Prix style tournaments with a 2 Million dollar winner purse and 500K per semi-finalist. Once a year 16 fighters one weight class and extra pay for the participants, to keep them in the tournament and not bowing out due to little injuries.Put the weight class between two divisions for example. 162.5 so you have guys from multiple weight classes going for the championship. Rotate the weights so fighters get a chance every four years or so to compete. The 16 fighters could come together on a selection show to determine the brackets. For example. After the fighters are revealed on the selection show, they could do interviews and going over fighters profiles, then come back two weeks later for another promotional show and fighters names are drawn randomly and they pick were they want to be in the bracket. So the first fighter picked would decide based on the bracket, what location and times throughout the year they would fight. So if a Russian was picked first out of the hat and he wanted to fight closer to home he may pick a spot in the bracket were the fights would take place 3 months down the line but in Europe! This would go on until all 16 names were drawn and the fighters would chose were , when and who they want on there side of the bracket in the first round ect. This would crate rivalries and excitement leading up to the opening rounds. Also do games on UFC.com with bracket predictions for the fans.
6. Add regional titles, to build up young talent in Europe, Asia, North America and South America. Gives you big fights for the regional events and again adds sponsor dollars for the young talent and a bump in pay and builds there name value and future stars!

Time to shake shit up and bring some excitement back to the UFC and get ESPN Ect talking about them more!

 

[Organic Damage]

The UFC acting like a professional organization would be a good start. Stop:

letting your spokesperson badmouth champs who don't bow to his will
lowballing fighters so they jump ship to the competition
underpaying fighters so they beg for bonuses in a bush-league manner and hold up divisions for money fights
instituting draconian advertising restrictions upon independent contractors

Etc.

But that'll never happen...

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

Would also help if the referees would stop giving in to crowd boo's and standing up fighters on the ground that are working for positions. Seems like the fight goes to the ground 30 seconds later they get stood up regardless of action. Its MMA not K1

I've seen a few fast stand ups lately, but in general I feel most stand ups are justified. I think active fighters and fighter is dominant positions aren't stood up very often. So I agree that it is not K1 and should not be reffed like it is, I don't see overly fast ref stand ups as a huge issue.

 

[Agent Mulder's Hair]

Alright it was more popular before but really was it ever huge? Like no one outside of us combat sports fans gave a shit. And no one really does but this (off topic) may/mac fight is gonna bring the biggest attention to the UFC than it's ever had before.

Ok I'll give ya that.

 

[VVarhead]

So nobody knows Kenny Florian, but you want a Legends division?

You clearly lack some fucking common sense.

 

[Jarl the Sagan]

Maybe they can start to treat the fighters and champions with a little bit of respect. They are turning the belts into WWE trash because they want to make superfights instead of great fights. Imagine if teams A and B made it to the superbowl but team A played team C instead because the NFL thought it would get better ratings.... It delegitimizes the sport more than anything else.

 

[Kebab made by Khabib]

1. Get rid of Dana.
2. Don't let USADA test the HW division. Or make a PED division (freakweight).
3. No more WMMA headliners.
4. Bas Rutten as commentary @fights.
5. Pay the fighters a normal amount.
6. Get rid of Dana.

 

[LastingEffect]

Isn't UFC big enough?

Asking for great fights is quite ignorant. What's a great fight? Fight that makes most cash.

 

[LastingEffect]

1. Get rid of Dana.
2. Don't let USADA test the HW division. Or make a PED division (freakweight).
3. No more WMMA headliners.
4. Bas Rutten as commentary @fights.
5. Pay the fighters a normal amount.
6. Get rid of Dana.

Why to get rid of Dana? How that would help UFC to grow?
Paying fighters more is not best business move. But it arguably could bring more A level athletes. But That would cut profits.
Removing WMMA? Are you freaking crazy?
Bas Rutten isn't that good of commentator. Have you watched PRIDE? He talked BS all the time.

 

[tank_arce]

Allow PEDS period.

 

[Pernell]

Wow man, you are both stupid AND bad for the sport.

Care to elaborate insteead of crying like a girl?

 

[Pernell]

They also don't tune in to see fighters who don't sign when they're offered garbage

LOL wut? They'll just tune into somebody else.

 

[Weidman]

Let them juice.

 

[fearoth]

Go back to what made them good in the first place, but that's never going to happen. The UFC will sink down further when Rogan leaves the company later this year.