Has fan backlash ever forced UFC to change?

[skylolow]

I think the UFC listen to the beat of the fans more so back in the early 2000's to about 2009ish. Beyond about 2017 they could care less what us nuts on the internet have to say.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

homonyms are the bane of my existence

Don't be so phobic of homonyms. I wonder it's there a term for that..

 

[RockyLockridge]

Don't be so phobic of homonyms. I wonder it's there a term for that..

some kid at Berkley is working on it right now, I'm sure.

 

[kneebartotheface]

I think the UFC listen to the beat of the fans more so back in the early 2000's to about 2009ish. Beyond about 2017 they could care less what us nuts on the internet have to say.

It's
Couldn't care less.

If they could care less it doesn't make sense.
Why do you yanks always get it wrong...

 

[snugglecakes]

Mighta forced them to change a few comments sections to comments disabled status to silence & bury a few backlashes here n there

 

[prime_lobov]

UFC fans are sheeple who eat up anything Dana throws at them. We’re talking about the same people who believe that Jon Jones’ creatine was tainted with cocaine and tren. Same people who gaslight themselves into believe decision artists like Strickland and Merab are peak entertainment.

UFC has no reason to change anything based on the fans.

 

[BowserJr]

So the petition to strip Jones of the title got to 100,000 signatures and I don't think that means much, there has been a movement of sorts. Every instagram post or UFC video has a shit ton of comments about stripping Jon Jones.
Has fan backlash ever made UFC think twice tho? I've been watching since 2008 and I can't remember anything tbh. Has it also ever been this widespread?


I'm also curious about whether UFC is feeling a bit of pressure of about this situation or do they don't care at all? What do you guys think?

Closest thing was everyone being for Hunt v JDS and Dana made it happen.

And it was awesome

 

[shorinryu86]

Time for Dana White to step down

 

[KungFuCow]

99% of people that are complaining will still watch Tom vs Jones

If you hate Jones, you'll watch, hoping that Tom stomps him out. Don't even pretend that you won't.
Dana knows this. So 150K people signing some petition only means, hey, 150K viewers, cool

How'd that work out for Bud Light?

 

[KungFuCow]

1: I know you will be watching the fight.
2: Shit comparison.
3: Anheuser-Busch InBev's (NYSE: BUD) stock is performing well as of May 30, 2025. The stock recently reached a new 52-week high, closing at $70.53 on May 29, 2025 .

I havent bought a PPV since UFC 44 so they wont be getting any of my money. Im one of the few people that actually said I wasnt buying anymore after a price increase and Ive stuck with that.

Its not a shit comparison. Its another example of the consumer driving change.

Just because its up now doesnt mean they didnt suffer. Maybe go back and educate yourself a little.

Just to save you some trouble.

Anheuser-Busch InBev faced significant financial impact due to the backlash surrounding its partnership with Dylan Mulvaney. Reports indicate that the company lost approximately $1.4 billion in sales in North America throughout 2023. Additionally, its market capitalization dropped by around $4 billion in the immediate aftermath of the controversy. Bud Light, once the top-selling beer in the U.S., saw a nearly 30% decline in sales and struggled to regain market share

BTW, AI thinks if just 50% of the people boycotted the event by not attending or buying the PPV, the UFC wouild lose between 33 and 58 million. Thats fairly significant and enough to get someone's attention.

 

[GordonMMARamsey]

I actually posted in that thread that the next step is to try to get people to boycott 1 PPV. Just one. If fans can drive down PPV buys and attendance in protest of the whole JJ thing, I promise you the situation would be dealt with within days.

Hitting the UFC the only place they care about (their precious money) will get some action.

Pretty sure they just said that UFC 315 had the lowest PPV buys in company history. I don't know if that counts the early days with UFC1 and stuff like that. But they have been tumbling for 18 months. The UFC is out of stars. Nobody gives a fuck about 90% of the fighters. They keep raising the price.

 

[Psychojoe86]

I think it was rich franklin rematching Dan Henderson. Fans didn’t like it and it was ultimately changed.

Not sure otherwise.

 

[xhaydenx]

I'm sure it has affected how they do things, but they're usually not going to outright tell you that. They'll make some changes and warp the narrative to make it seem like it was part of their plans for the most part.

The backlash with Jones/Aspinall won't mean shit to the UFC though. They have the potential for maybe 1 last fight with Jon. That's one last business chance with him. After that, Jon is retiring and there's no more money for them to make off him.

So, if Jon really doesn't want to fight Tom, the UFC aren't going to try and force the issue. If they strip him or whatever, there goes that potential last pay day. They're not going to risk that payday just because 100k+ people signed an online petition lol.

Most of that petition is hardcore fans like people who post here, and that doesn't make up most of the UFC fan base. There's way more casuals who will barely care about what is going on with Jones compared to people like us here.

 

[neandertal]

Certainly not after the venture capitalists came in, the mob is more impressible lol.

 

[icemun]

So the petition to strip Jones of the title got to 100,000 signatures and I don't think that means much, there has been a movement of sorts. Every instagram post or UFC video has a shit ton of comments about stripping Jon Jones.
Has fan backlash ever made UFC think twice tho? I've been watching since 2008 and I can't remember anything tbh. Has it also ever been this widespread?


I'm also curious about whether UFC is feeling a bit of pressure of about this situation or do they don't care at all? What do you guys think?

dont think the UFC cares about some cry baby fruit cups

 

[Nathan LaMontagne]

I actually posted in that thread that the next step is to try to get people to boycott 1 PPV. Just one. If fans can drive down PPV buys and attendance in protest of the whole JJ thing, I promise you the situation would be dealt with within days.

Hitting the UFC the only place they care about (their precious money) will get some action.

This and only this.

 

[Brock Sapp]

Can't remember which UFC event it was. Early days, maybe UFC 36? The fights all went to decisions and mostly LnP and they introduced standups from the backlash.

 

[tritestill]

Dan Henderson vs Rich Franklin II got backlash and UFC cancelled that fight. Can't remember which card it was supposed to headline.

 

[Patof]

In 2010 they made Bisping vs Akiyama free because fans were complaining about the card quality.

They used to pay attention more, guaranteed money through their broadcast partner has definitely made them take revenue for granted.