Is/was MMA ever bigger than boxing?

The Chosen

Banned
Banned
Joined
Dec 18, 2019
Messages
9,494
Reaction score
12,917
Boxing has been more culturally relevant than MMA since the start of the UFC, what will it take for MMA to surpass boxing?
 
Never was, Never will be despite Mcg being popular and giving enough relevancy.

Boxing is coming along nicely and there's some nice matchups like Pac vs Spence and Fury vs Wilder and Usyk vs AJ, MMA is still very niche and in some countries isn't even known or has the same popularity as boxing. i am saying ths as someone who lives in a non mma country, boxing is more known.
 
I'm not even sure circus fights like the Paul brothers should even count as 'boxing'. I's really just celebrity competition.

Aside from that garbage you have some big time guys still kicking around. Outside of that, well, boxing is in shambles...

MMA might be bigger than boxing right now, in NA at least.
 
UFC 244 - Masvidal vs. Diaz at MSG upstaged boxing that night. Canelo had to wait till that fight was finished before his own fight went on because most combat sports fans were more interested in Diaz vs. Masvidal.
 
Boxing has been more culturally relevant than MMA since the start of the UFC, what will it take for MMA to surpass boxing?

In Australia there is far much more MMA on TV. Boxing is an afterthought. Boxing still manages to capture main stream media coverage better however.

UFC big advantage currently is that is a regular program and the best fights are made pretty easily (compared to boxing). Boxing is also so fragmented with so many belts.
 
Boxing is in a transition period. I've been a fan since the age of 10 or so, so I've followed the sport off and off for over three decades. There are a lot of stars who are at the end of their careers and currently no one has captured the public's attention in the same way, at least in the US. Additionally, the belts are actually worse than they were a decade or so ago before "super" or diamond champs. The proliferation of belts has really hurt the sport's credibility since it's hard to say there is one guy/gal who is the best in a given weight class since they don't hold all the belts. As a fan, it's frustrating. Things with MMA are a little more straightforward since the UFC is the dominant org and just run like a sports entertainment company (popularity matters as much/more than actual ability/objective rankings). You get more blockbuster fights in MMA right now, and that is more attractive to casuals.

I still prefer boxing overall. A good, high level boxing match is fucking incredible in terms of endurance and grit. I still can recall how I felt during the Pac-Marquez quadrilogy, or the elation in my neighborhood when Chavez beat Camacho...or the craziness of Douglas' KO of Tyson...but the sport is definitely in a rough spot bc of greed on the part of the sanctioning bodies and stupid shit on the part of promoters who turn everything into a pissing contest.
 
Oh God this question is so boring. At least use pro wrestling so it doesn't feel like some old cheeseburger.

In the states it's not so popular anymore cuz boxing is one of the worst marketed sports in the states and UFC/WWEs model would be better for Americans.
 
I'm not even sure circus fights like the Paul brothers should even count as 'boxing'. I's really just celebrity competition.

Aside from that garbage you have some big time guys still kicking around. Outside of that, well, boxing is in shambles...

MMA might be bigger than boxing right now, in NA at least.
No way in hell MMA is bigger then boxing in Mexico. And yes Mexico is in NA.

The truth is the even though the UFC can reach more people then every it's still seen as a niche sport with a very specific demographic. Boxing is accepted and entrenched so much in American society that we actually have gentlemen's agreements in fights to box and allow our opponent to stand back up.
 
MMA took over boxing in the early 2000s
 
Country by country it seems to me (going by instinct):

Boxing is bigger: Mexico, UK, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Argentina, Venezuela, Philippines

MMA is bigger: Brazil, Australia, NZ, Poland, Sweden, Netherlands

Not sure/close: USA, Canada, Russia, Japan, South Korea

Thoughts?
 

Forum statistics

Threads
1,234,241
Messages
55,267,270
Members
174,714
Latest member
F5CHAMPIONSHIP
Back
Top