What UFC 223 Could/Would Have Been

[Workaholic]

UFC 223 is an amazing card with an incredible main event. A cursed main event, but an incredible main event. But given the risk involved with relying on Khabib and Tony to finally make it to the cage I'm a little surprised the UFC didn't stack this card just in case, or at the very least have another LW contender fight on the card so they could sub someone in if necessary. And hey, look at that, the UFC has an absolutely AMAZING fight night card booked the very next Saturday. With an ideal matchup of top LWs you could throw into the main event in case Khabib has too much tiramisu or Tony deadlifts and his spine finally decides to escape by any means necessary and flys out through his neck. In the old days without question this all would have been one stacked card

If they didn't book Fight Night Glendale and stacked UFC 223 like they would have in the old days we'd be looking at a possible PPV card that looks something like this:

Main: Khabib/Tony

Co-Main: Rose/JJ

Main Card fights: Gaethje/Poirier, Pettis/Chiesa, Condit/Brown, Iaquinta/Felder

Fox Prelims: Karolina/Felice, Borg/Moreno, Adesanya/Vettori

Fight Pass Prelims (pick 3-4 of): Lauzon/Gruetzmacher, Reis/Moraga, Boetsch/Shoeface, Waterson/Casey, Dunham/Aubin-Mercier



Anyone else miss the days of stacked PPVs instead of weekly fight nights or just me? I'm gonna watch all of both events regardless if I'm being honest but spending two saturdays in a row on MMA or having to watch some of the fights not live just isn't as enjoyable to me as getting stacked events a little more spread out

 

[Grijswaarde]

I get your point, but i'm fine the way it goes, and also with this card. If we want all cards to be stacked we only have one event a month max.. and a lot of the on paper non interesting fights are interesting af once they begin.

 

[Wise1]

I think you remember a lot more stacked cards than there really were. Cards from top to bottom with names you all knew were only slightly more common back then than they are today.

 

[Workaholic]

I get your point, but i'm fine the way it goes, and also with this card. If we want all cards to be stacked we only have one event a month max.. and a lot of the on paper non interesting fights are interesting af once they begin.

I'll watch anyone fight anyone at the UFC level I probably watch every fight so I know what you're talking about. But I think PPVs should have a little extra bang for your buck, not just be a main event you want to see stuck on top of the usual fight night card

I'd be happy with two stacked events a month, rather than the 3-4 watered down cards we currently get. That means if I'm sitting down to watch a fight card I know it's going to be gold start to finish

Also gives cards time to build and marinate. I hate when a dope fight night comes up and I go "Damn didn't even remember that card was coming up" because there is no time to get excited for a fight before it's here since the UFC and the fans were focused on a completely different card one week before

 

[Workaholic]

I think you remember a lot more stacked cards than there really were. Cards from top to bottom with names you all knew were only slightly more common back then than they are today.

That is true, but the UFC has more talent than it ever has before. They used to try and make cards like this they just didn't have enough guys for it. With the old system of building cards + the new talent levels and matchmaking we could get these type of cards at least once a month and still be able to have a fairly decent fight night and/or fox card in there as well

 

[Wise1]

That is true, but the UFC has more talent than it ever has before. They used to try and make cards like this they just didn't have enough guys for it. With the old system of building cards + the new talent levels and matchmaking we could get these type of cards at least once a month and still be able to have a fairly decent fight night and/or fox card in there as well

They are also paying more these days, it’s a matter of budget... I don’t know if this format is paying off for them but I am certainly purchasing less events than I was before.

 

[Workaholic]

They are also paying more these days, it’s a matter of budget... I don’t know if this format is paying off for them but I am certainly purchasing less events than I was before.

It is interesting but I do know that the UFC makes a profit on just about every event. As much as we joke about MM PPVs the UFC does turn a profit on them just not as much as they do on big shows. I don't know enough about that side of the business to know if it's more profitable to run a bunch of small shows and PPVs rather than a few big ones.

I just know what I prefer. And yeah I'm definitely buying less PPVs. I don't buy generally unless it's something I can get my more casual friends to go in with me on and those are coming fewer and further between for sure

 

[ritchest_eva]

They said that if anything happened between tony or Khabib that Poirier would be the fill in

 

[Workaholic]

They said that if anything happened between tony or Khabib that Poirier would be the fill in

Haven't seen anything about that did Dana or Poirier say something?

 

[magicmarker]

Haven't seen anything about that did Dana or Poirier say something?

If Dana said it then you know it will come to pass.