Are MMA and combat sports in general still growing sports?

[GoatArtemLobov]

I feel like 4 or 5 years ago, MMA was growing super fast in terms of number of practitionners. Same thing goes for bjj.
Conor and Honda had that huge impact so that there were dozens of noobs who were trying combat sports. There always were some new guys coming to the gyms I was training at. I was genuinely thinking MMA would become bigger than basketball in the US and eventually bigger than soccer in Europe.
Nowadays, I don't feel this enthusiasm among the population anymore (and I talk about pre-Covid, in a post6covid world, it can only become worse). The fact that the UFC has lost a lot of its superstars over the past years doesn't help too I guess.
What's your take on that?

 

[Freddy Fisticuffs]

Yeah i think it is still growing. A lot of dudes joined my gym even while all this is going on

 

[BoTyson]

In the uk it peaked around 2007, kept going until about 2010, now only die hard fans really mention it or know what it is, it is very much a American/Brazilian/Japanese sport.

'Soccer' as you guys call it is the most popular sport in the world.

 

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

I think it's still growing and hasn't reached it's peak thus far. There is still so much to be achieved in MMA.

 

[Post 2 Decision]

I was genuinely thinking MMA would become bigger than basketball in the US and eventually bigger than soccer in Europe.

 

[FIGHTING TALK]

It is still growing but not at the exponential rate it was in 2010-2016

There has definitely been a major drop off since the initial explosion of interest lead to what seems like a major peak in the middle of the 2010s

 

[CTE_Fan]

it was in decline ever since the Romans. they knew how to put on a show.

 

[BoTyson]

I don't get why Americans think 'Soccer' is only popular in Europe, i think every country geographically under the USA would have something to say about that, not to mention the Africans, its by far the most popular sport in the world, as for American sports, nobody gives a shit about them outside of America except the odd strange person wearing a basket ball shirt as a fashion item with no clue on who any of the players are and probably never played or watched basketball in their life, kinda akin to a European having a Chinese tattoo.

 

[GoatArtemLobov]

I think it's still growing and hasn't reached it's peak thus far. There is still so much to be achieved in MMA.

Ok but look at what the UFC has become lately.
Besides of a few big names, we only have underpaid part time fighters and now Dana wants to replace 20% of the roster by low-level guys from DWCS...

 

[Gio]

It is still growing, but they should start giving the fighters the right pay or else maybe they'll think of pursuing a different career.

 

[Paolo Delutis]

Still growing...but the lead promotion has to he careful about not neglecting the sport side of things for entertainment..there riding a thin line imo currently...

I am a martial artist myself and i wanted to do my first mma fight this year but covid hit... But if im.honest i would have hard time picking between bellator, PFL, and the UFC if i had to because of some of the choices the UFC has made recently has got me torn about what would be the best choice career wise if i did pursue fighting further then 1 fight...

The way i see it

UFC - is in an identity crisis currently as a sport league or a sport entertainment promotion

Bellator - Is a sport league but lacking wide spread talent some divisions are quite thin needs a bigger roster to be consider a more prestigious sport league

PFL- Pure competition based MMA league, a fighter friendly promotion, but it too lacks roster strength and salaries but is getting bigger every season and payouts will go up as celebrities are backing it and other big companys...also 1 mil for 1 year of fights is way better then 12/12k entry level contract the UFC is pushing even with bonuses..

So im torn but the sport itself is growing...for sure
As of today id go to PFL or UFC

 

[matheuss92]

There is room, but the sports need to get more professional faster. Those wages, or "purses" (not a career...) have to change. Some other stuff too. Thats one thing hardcores will have to decide: Do we want a "cleaner" sport, that even casuals can watch saturday night without the idea they might be seeing human cock fight, or we want to be just bleed forever? I also honestly think that Dana Whites run in make MMA great has got to an end. We need some profissional CEO shit

 

[GoatArtemLobov]

I don't get why Americans think 'Soccer' is only popular in Europe, i think every country geographically under the USA would have something to say about that, not to mention the Africans, its by far the most popular sport in the world, as for American sports, nobody gives a shit about them outside of America except the odd strange person wearing a basket ball shirt as a fashion item with no clue on who any of the players are and probably never played or watched basketball in their life, kinda akin to a European having a Chinese tattoo.

I'm European myself bro, I call it soccer because we are on an American forum.
Of course, soccer (or football) is big everywhere but especially in Western Europe, Italy, Germany, France, England and Spain alone have won around 70% of the world cups...

 

[Satan's Daddy.]

Yes, if they keep being promoted on cable channels like tsn, bt sports etc

 

[BoTyson]

I'm European myself bro, I call it soccer because we are on an American forum.
Of course, soccer (or football) is big everywhere but especially in Western Europe, Italy, Germany, France, England and Spain alone have won around 70% of the world cups...

I'm not debating that, but its not limited to Europe, its huge in Africa, Japan, all of South America.

Also why degrade yourself by conforming to call it 'soccer'?

 

[613]

Still growing...but the lead promotion has to he careful about not neglecting the sport side of things for entertainment..there riding a thin line imo currently...

I am a martial artist myself and i wanted to do my first mma fight this year but covid hit... But if im.honest i would have hard time picking between bellator, PFL, and the UFC if i had to because of some of the choices the UFC has made recently has got me torn about what would be the best choice career wise if i did pursue fighting further then 1 fight...

The way i see it

UFC - is in an identity crisis currently as a sport league or a sport entertainment promotion

Bellator - Is a sport league but lacking wide spread talent some divisions are quite thin needs a bigger roster to be consider a more prestigious sport league

PFL- Pure competition based MMA league, a fighter friendly promotion, but it too lacks roster strength and salaries but is getting bigger every season and payouts will go up as celebrities are backing it and other big companys...also 1 mil for 1 year of fights is way better then 12/12k entry level contract the UFC is pushing even with bonuses..

So im torn but the sport itself is growing...for sure
As of today id go to PFL or UFC

What a stupid post. Ufc is a sports league OR sports entertainment, but Bellator is a sports league? The same Bellator that did Kimbo vs DADA 5000 with Royce vs Ken 3 headlining?

 

[Mesos]

Even in the US it’s still growing but there is huge opportunities for growth in Europe, Asia, Africa. Mma still has a long way to go

 

[Paolo Delutis]

What a stupid post. Ufc is a sports league OR sports entertainment, but Bellator is a sports league? The same Bellator that did Kimbo vs DADA 5000 with Royce vs Ken 3 headlining?

And yeah, I'm sure you would pick Bellator lol. The organization that pays guys like you 1k to show and makes you seek your own tickets

U clearly didnt read the whole post ya dink...

I said there a sport league but lack the prestige of the ufc cuz the roster is weaker...thus dada 5000 and ken shamrock....they havent got the roster yet to go away from such match ups but that could change but as seen with corey and other cross overs they werent given title shots right away they earned there spot within the promotion for the most part.


Also i said id pick PFL or UFC currently...bellator isnt one of my options currently that could change as more guys arent as opposed to go to bellator as before

 

[Bork Neslar]

Yex.

 

[Deleted member 580830]

UFC, Bellator, ONE FC, ACA, KSW, PFL, etc.

It is growing everywhere in the world, everywhere. It did not even reach it's peak.