ATTN: UFC Owners. Wanna Bring Back Fan Interest? Bring Back Tourneys

[LongTermLurker]

Multi events tournements are a mess. Single night are fun but no more a draw than interesting match ups. UFC needs more popular fighters, putting fighters no one wants to see in a bracket is still a bracket of guys no one wants to see.

 

[Which Doctor]

*Sniff sniff* smells like redneck with a hint of hee haw in it in here.

 

[xhaydenx]

I ain't that interested in tourneys myself.

I remember the Bellator ones people would get injured and because they fought so often they wouldn't be in good shape for the later fights.

It was even worse in the K1 one nighters. You'd get dudes coming into later fights totally wrecked.

 

[trblesome1]

Uhh... they decided the 125lb #1 contender with a tournament

Just crowned a 125lb women's champ with a tournament.

Nobody gave a shit. OP disproven.

To be fair there probably wasn’t anything they could do to make anyone give a shit about those divisions

 

[Bobby Boulders]

It doesn’t work. Most fights result in both guys being injured! I don’t think a tournament ever worked (i.e. no injuries) since Mark Coleman and don Frye back in the 90s

There have literally been dozens of tourneys since the 90's that did fine. PRIDE, DREAM, Hero*s, Strikeforce, Bellator and PFL are currently in the midst of tourneys, with Bellator literally have been built on the idea of the tournament format, IFL, Rizin...it's a long list. All of those orgs have put on tournaments, almost all put on successful tournaments, and all did it after the year 2000.

 

[EradiatedHaggis]

At least you know your role unlike that other guy.

 

[JP557CU]

There have literally been dozens of tourneys since the 90's that did fine. PRIDE, DREAM, Hero*s, Strikeforce, Bellator and PFL are currently in the midst of tourneys, with Bellator literally have been built on the idea of the tournament format, IFL, Rizin...it's a long list. All of those orgs have put on tournaments, almost all put on successful tournaments, and all did it after the year 2000.

Ok I guess I should have been more clear, I mean one night tournaments. Not this Bellator nonsense where it’s a tournament spanning two years.

 

[Cross_Trainer]

Ive read some retarded reasons here as to why the ufc wont do this tourny format and the real reason is because they cant micro manage and manipulate outcomes as easily in order to dictate which marketable fighter gets the belt, so thats why they dont do it. The ufc are the ultimate control freaks, and they are frightingly close to wwe in that regard.

This makes some sense. Tournaments could be very unpredictable, especially in the earlier days of the sport, and they occasionally produced weird outcomes that nobody wanted. (UFC 3 comes to mind.) PRIDE managed their tournaments better, but they also had the occasional fixed fight (anything with Takada, for instance) or custom ruleset (Gracie / Saku) to give a little extra control.

All that being said, the big losers of a shift like this might be the camps and fighters who rely on intensive game planning for single fights. Fedoresque guys who are well-rounded and can improvise on the fly might do better than they do now.

I like the idea. A little unpredictability is good.

 

[Bobby Boulders]

Ok I guess I should have been more clear, I mean one night tournaments. Not this Bellator nonsense where it’s a tournament spanning two years.

Bellator has done a LHW tourney within the last three years that had a semifinal and final on the same night. Granted, one fighter couldn't continue, but it was still a successful event and not many were disappointed. Phil Davis won the final.

 

[EndlessCritic]

To be fair there probably wasn’t anything they could do to make anyone give a shit about those divisions

And why is that?

Right now, one of the biggest stories in boxing is the upcoming WBSS 118lb tournament. If people are thrilled about a 118lb tournament in boxing, why the fuck is 125lbs in MMA so hard to market?

(Answer of course: The tournament is featuring sensational Japanese boxing superstar Naoya Inoue.)

 

[trblesome1]

And why is that?

Right now, one of the biggest stories in boxing is the upcoming WBSS 118lb tournament. If people are thrilled about a 118lb tournament in boxing, why the fuck is 125lbs in MMA so hard to market?

(Answer of course: The tournament is featuring sensational Japanese boxing superstar Naoya Inoue.)

Big in what context, I’ve not heard about it.

Nowhere’s near the popularity the boxing hw greats use to bring

 

[Bobby Boulders]

Big in what context, I’ve not heard about it.

Nowhere’s near the popularity the boxing hw greats use to bring

His post was honestly the first I have heard about the tourney. But upon looking into it, it will be on ESPN. If ESPN isn't getting people excited for 118lb boxing, hopefully it translates into a lot of excitement for MMA and the UFC.

 

[fractal]

Uhh... they decided the 125lb #1 contender with a tournament

Just crowned a 125lb women's champ with a tournament.

Nobody gave a shit. OP disproven.

That has less to do with the tournament and more with the weight classes. Do you think a tournament at LW or above wouldn't generate much interest?

 

[Bobby Boulders]

That has less to do with the tournament and more with the weight classes. Do you think a tournament at LW or above wouldn't generate much interest?

Bellator's own HW tourney has had better numbers than usual, with the Fedor/Mir and Vader/Mo cards both averaging over 1mil viewers. Can't see a scenario in which a UFC HW tourney would do worse than that, or even on par with that. The UFC name alone would bring in more viewers on TV, or, I would imagine, healthy PPV numbers.

 

[Juventud]

It's all great until someone gets injured and a replacement comes in and fucks up the flow.

That's why they don't do it

It rarely works.

This.

DC winning the Strikeforce tournament was kind of lucky.
It could have easily turned to shit.

I hope Chael wins the Bellator HW tournament just to piss people off.

 

[Bobby Boulders]

This.

DC winning the Strikeforce tournament was kind of lucky.
It could have easily turned to shit.

I hope Chael wins the Bellator HW tournament just to piss people off.

I don't think Chael winning would be as bad as many are making it sound. It is essentially an OW tourney in the first place.

 

[HHJ]

USADA + Athletic commision = RIP tourneys