Do you think MMA is dying ?

[riddleofsteel]

People have been complaining about watered down cards since 2006. First it was about cards being filled with crappy TUF fighters. Now people complain about international fighters and fighters they don't recognize.

A lot of people think cards were stronger back in the day because they didn't air the prelims. Once you introduce another handful of fights to an event - most of which are "irrelevant" - it gives the appearance of a watered-down card, when in reality those fights were always there, they just didn't broadcast them. I think Fight Nights on Spike were only four fights long.

Yes, yes to both. And there is a strong overestimating in regards to the quality of some of the fighters on the fight cards 8-10 or more years ago.
The sport is growing globally, so there will be more fighters from outside of North America & Brazil and like you two state over and over the talent pool is increasing and if you don't make some attempt to follow mma outside of the UFC, Bellator then you won't recognize the fighters that are new to the UFC.

I don't understand where these posters think new fighters come from - they claim they don't know fighters from outside organizations, they say "who is that?" to guys that have had a few fights in the UFC; or guys that have had 5-7 fights in the UFC, "Who the fuck is this nobody?"
It is similar to Americans that are boxing fans yet barely know any fighters that fight outside of the US.

 

[Sherdoggy]

I don't think it can even be considered as declining until there are less and less shows. Right now there are more and more shows. There are so many UFC shows that I just saw something about Bellator/Spike not even going to try to find a Saturday night when the UFC isn't having an event because there are so few of them (and fewer all the time).

If PPV buys are down it matters by how much, because there are more PPVs and a bunch of money coming in from Fox that didn't exist five years ago. I would bet that UFC revenue is higher than ever.

 

[Street Level]

Ive heard a lot of people saying that the sport is declining and that the cards are watered down. A lot of people appear to be losing interest. It reflects in the ppv buys.

Express your opinions here. If you have lost interest, why ?

EDIT: ok wrong terminology. ...obviously the sport isnt about to die. A large fraction of the fanbase is losing interest though. For those losing interest, i am interested in hearing why.

-UNTIL- there are HUMAN BEINGS (stars) that can bring new people into the sport AND keep those fans interested the sport has peaked.we have a situation on our hands here where the UFC is by far the most visible entity in the sport but fans are losing interest in the UFC.
All the other big leagues sell their players as much as they sell their teams.
You see people that are fans of players and buy there jerseys etc. And you don't see the UFC selling their athletes' images. The UFC is all about the UFC and that is ultimately what is hurting the longevity of the sport.

 

[AtomicPanther]

Dying? No. Declining steeply? Yes.

I rarely watch MMA these days. It's become too predictable, 80% of most fights is either hugging on the fence or hugging on the ground. I used to watch MMA over the super bowl, if I wasn't rooting hard for one team. Now, MMA could go away tomorrow and I wouldn't bother me.

 

[maestrotaku]

the last UFC cards are a shit....how does anyone pretend everybody still watch them?

 

[JohnRem]

It;s not dying but it's peaked out

Let's face it, not everyone wants to see two people bash crap out of each other and MMA will remain a solid 2nd tier sport behind the big ones (Basketball, soccer etc)

 

[CC27]

Cant be dying if its already dead.

RIP MMA