Many things together have made it this way. Too many cards leaving all cards watered down. The hw and LHW divisions are both the weakest I've seen ever. Wmma has a place, but I feel like the WNBA it should be seperate than men's. Not trying to be sexist or anything, it's just not the same at all. It could have it's own market.
While 155,170,185 have a lot of good fighters, the rest are pretty much watered down so much they just aren't interesting. Ccc is not appealing at all. I kinda liked mma way better when it wasnt a "legit sport". When fighters actually didnt like each other a lot of the time. I remember rivalries like btt and chute boxe...they absolutely hated each other.
People will say Fedor was never a super star...but I would rather watch him fight a 400 lbs giant, than any dc fight or stipe fight. Hw is the king of divisions, and they have no one now I even care to see. Pride was far more exciting than the ufc ever has been, because they had tourneys, and freaks like Bob sapp or HMC . No they weren't the most technical fighters, but their huge size was really hard to dismiss. Bob could have been great, but chose money. He couldn't even fight in the ufc because of his size. Pride rules allowed it with minor changes if chosen by the smaller guy.
There are just way too many cards now, and they cost way too much. I wouldn't mind paying 65 for cards stacked top to bottom, I never missed a pride event. One card a month is too many imo, so 2 or 3 is just nuts. While there are more well rounded fighters today, there are still no great heavyweights at all. We have 1 lhw that's great and he has no one remotely close to fight.
I still watch cards often...but stream them mostly. I did pay for khabibvsConor, because it was really a fight I looked forward to. I could honestly care less about marty vs Colby...because I dont like either guy. There are some great fights occasionally but it is way too far in between because there are just way way too many cards.
ESPN is bad, Reebok is bad. I sure am not getting espn+ just for the ufc. It was a huge mistake to take ppvs away from everyone who doesnt want espn+. I dont have the option to order a ppv on a whim now. I have to buy a subscription just to order it at all if I decided to.
It's like fighters are not at all scary guys anymore..they aren't intimidating anymore. Pride had wandy, who was a very scary guy, even the ufc had chuck who also had that intimidation factor. Mirko was a scary fucking guy in the day. Fighters actually didnt like each other and didnt hug and all that crap all the time. They had respect for each other, but not like it is today where everyone almost touches gloves every round, etc.
That's what made khabib vs Conor exciting...they genuinely didnt like each other. I knew conor would get dominated but I was willing to pay to see it live. While there are a few guys who dont like each other, it's no where near the same.
I remember how intense guys like wandy, Ken shamrock, chuck, rampage, etc that was fighting..not a sport...fighting. plus pride rules made it way more exciting as well. It's a fight...allow elbows, soccer kicks, knees to grounded opponents...it made it so much better. I know pride didnt have elbows..because they cut people, and people will say how knees and soccer kicks are dangerous...but I saw many people stomped and none ever got injured badly.
It changes a fight when fighter know they cant stay in a position feeling safe because they will get kicked in the face. Yellow cards for stalling changes a fight as well. It was a great rule. People couldn't just hold someone down and wait for the bell and be rewarded for it. People used to try to finish fights...no one tried to out point a guy. They tried to knock his head off.
They should also adopt the pride gloves, which would stop many of the eye pokes with their curved nature. Violence is a part of fighting. When they take it out of the "sport" just to become accepted by more people it just ruined it. I never missed a wandy fight...because he was violent and exciting. I never missed a Fedor fight because he was just so good and was also humble. He didnt intimidate like wandy, but when mirko koed his brother , u could see how bad he wanted to beat mirkos face in as payback.
The ufc pushes stars as the greatest etc and people buy into it which makes the ufc money. Its only about money now. I'm glad to see the fighters get paid well, but with the loss of all the excitement in 90% of the events I just dont care. What happened to all the good hws? Or the lhws? They use to be stacked in 2 different orgs. Now none have a good one.
While their are some great fighter now...khabib and jon are the only ones with the greatness. It's really unfortunate that jon has no one to fight. After khabib beats Tony he also will have no one to fight. Izzy, zabit, and a few others can be great as well, but they too will have no one to fight before long. If zabit goes up and beats max, then what. After izzy fights paulo then what. He has to move up and fight jon if he wins, if paulo wins he can do like 2 or 3 fights then will be in the same boat. ..theres no one else to move up for but jon.
It's been swinging this way for a long time. Since pride died. Anderson basically had no one to fight. He got a huge name and goat contention fighting guys from tuff or guys past their prime. To be good again they need a stacked Hw and LHW division. They need tile changes. They need to get rid of usada.
To be a legit sport..like the nfl etc, they lose all the things that made them good. The ufc was behind pride because pride had better HWs and LHWs and did tourneys. Better rules, 10 min 1st round, etc. Screw the current rules. Make it a real fight again not a polished boxing like event.
Sorry for the long post, but there are a lot of things that made it the way it is. Made it lose the luster it once had. If it is ever to be what it once was they need major changes. They have went down a path chasing legitimacy, and ruined the whole idea of combat..
