How do you feel about the current UFC product?

[Mcnugget]

Sometimes things are missing that holy shit this is unbelievable factor.

 

[Elvis.]

It’s good , I do enjoy it but not as much as before.
Dana’s embarrassing behaviour is really tired and old at this point, the uniform deal sucks , it takes a lot of the personality away from the fighters .
You shouldn’t have to be able to cut a pro wrestling promo to advance but that seems to be what counts now . Some of the commentators are just terrible, that Gianni guy should be thrown screaming from a helicopter in front of his family.
Being in anyway associated with power slap is a disgrace & makes everyone involved look like a circus performer

 

[DiazSlap]

Would love a poll if a mod would like to add. Question is simple, how do you feel about the current product? Is it better, worse, or the same since you started watching? Here’s some options:

-It’s better than ever.

-It’s as good as it’s ever been.

-It’s good but it’s been better.

-It’s ok, it’s been better and worse.

-It’s subpar but it’s been worse.

-It’s the worst it’s ever been.

Its the worst since i can remember….i find myself drawn back to boxing these days.


Aside from DDP and POATAN idgaf about any of the other fighters.

No real stars anymore.

 

[Gnosisrausch]

Whining about too many events is ridiculous, you don't need to watch them. I love all these events, could very much do without WMMA, though, or have WMMA as a separate product (you can say "don't watch" here as well, but it's really annoying in a live event).
The "no real stars" issue and lack of "holy shit" moments which were mentioned here, is something which I have been thinking about a lot in recent years as well. Current MMA definitely lacks "larger than life" characters/fighters, while the average skill level is constantly increasing.

 

[Senbonzakura]

The product is lacking but its a mixture of alot of things that are preventing it from being huge again.

More weekly cards around the world would be a good start. Fighters perform alot better with crowds. Apex is making alot of this stuff cookie cutter bush league and lifeless.

Better pay scale obviously and bring back KO and submission of the night with fat bonuses. Just small things to start will help

 

[TJ Dillashank]

Overpriced water downed cards with never-ending idiotic sponsors and slap fighting being pushed for some reason. Mostly fine though

 

[JakePaulMMA]

I'm old and remember when you had to go out of your way to watch the UFC or any combat sport on television so to see it go from toughman to a globally recognized sport is really cool.

I'm glad the taboo and stigma (from ignorance) about "human cockfighting" has disappeared.

The skill ceiling has risen considerably over the years for the average fighter and a larger pool of talent means we can watch more fights, if anything there's an oversaturation of events but that's a good problem.

If you wanna still see human cock fighting, it's still on the internet bro...

 

[StonedLemur]

Some fights are good, some are not. Same as always. Besides the rankings being pointless, belts being generally devalued and there being far too many shitbums on the roster, I'm still just here for the scraps and the blood.

Fuckin shitbums, I thought I was the only one to still use that lmao

 

[LostMyBlackBelt]

Most corporations are managed in a way that's closer to Soviet Union than a democracy.

USA is a Republic anyway, not a democracy. There are a few state bills every 4 years I get to directly vote on...

 

[numberonebspod]

UFC pays way more than other mma orgs. Weird, never enough for you socialists

My thoughts on fighter pay have more to do with half of a fighter's pay possibly being taken away by judges that don't always know what they're looking at (see Tuivasa/Rozenstruik), than how much an organization pays relative to other organizations. Probably didn't need to explain that though since you clearly know so much about other people's political/economic ideologies based on message board posts. Enjoy the fights!

 

[KAZSoliloquy]

the fights themselves are great. the overall product though, is boring and homogenized. they successfully drained 100% of the flavor out of mma.

 

[Fedorgasm]

I don't know who the current champs are below middleweight, and I don't really care to find out.

 

[theincognito]

Whining about too many events is ridiculous, you don't need to watch them. I love all these events, could very much do without WMMA, though, or have WMMA as a separate product (you can say "don't watch" here as well, but it's really annoying in a live event).
The "no real stars" issue and lack of "holy shit" moments which were mentioned here, is something which I have been thinking about a lot in recent years as well. Current MMA definitely lacks "larger than life" characters/fighters, while the average skill level is constantly increasing.

"Holy shit" moments have literally never been more common. We just saw one of the biggest ones ever a few months ago by Max.

There are also still a lot of great characters but UFC does an absolute shit job of showing them.

For instance, Arnold Allen has come across as just another generic fighter for like 10 years, but it turns out he's actually a pretty entertaining personality:

 

[Hellowhosthat]

I still like it but I also watch some very low quality regional shit so I'm probably not the best person to ask

 

[Neck&Neck]

I love my UFC hot dog Brander. I take it everywhere I go.

“Is that a hot dog brander or are you just happy to see me”

 

[Cavar]

I'm old and remember when you had to go out of your way to watch the UFC or any combat sport on television so to see it go from toughman to a globally recognized sport is really cool.

I'm glad the taboo and stigma (from ignorance) about "human cockfighting" has disappeared.

The skill ceiling has risen considerably over the years for the average fighter and a larger pool of talent means we can watch more fights, if anything there's an oversaturation of events but that's a good problem.

I agree with you. While I look fondly back in time when sport was more underground, it's great to see how far the sport in general has come worldwide. It's crazy how good the elite level fighters are these days. I understand the oversaturation, they have to try and maximize their profits as much as they can. I still end up watching most of the events anyway. I do miss some of the legit beefs that different fight camps use to have but I know UFC probably wouldn't allow much of that these days.

 

[BearVictim]

I agree with you. While I look fondly back in time when sport was more underground, it's great to see how far the sport in general has come worldwide. It's crazy how good the elite level fighters are these days. I understand the oversaturation, they have to try and maximize their profits as much as they can. I still end up watching most of the events anyway. I do miss some of the legit beefs that different fight camps use to have but I know UFC probably wouldn't allow much of that these days.

You're right, it's a give and take where the product is sterilized and commercialized which is understandable from a shareholder's perspective, you want to maximize exposure to as many demographics to generate revenue for the sake of business, but you sacrifice the old school charm of MMA, although I don't miss seeing condom depot ads for the entire card.

Edit: maybe I'm older and have more responsibilities or maybe it's the increased availability of MMA or both, but I have trouble keeping up with even the UFC, I still watch the big ppvs with some buddies but there are so many high level fighters I struggle to keep up with everything, it's definitely a good problem.

 

[Ludwig von Mises]

Turned into a corporate shit bag called U FIGHT CHEAP.

 

[RockyLockridge]

I enjoy watching the UFC Product.

I rarely miss the Fights -- especially PPV's or DWCS. As an Interested Fan -- I can enjoy and learn something about the various fighters even when the Fights aren't rocking.

If I was a Dis-interested Fan that just wants to see Highlights, gamble (not professionally), or just needs a time waster when they're drinking with friends -- then I would have different expectations.

can i ask a personal question?

When did you start watching mma? because you do sound like me when i first started watching

 

[BlankaPresident]

Fighters are as good as ever. Guys like Poatan, Max, Justin, Tom, O'Malley, Islam etc are top of the crop for any era.

Fights are still exciting and technically ever evolving.

Matchmaking and roster managing is bad. You have hundreds of DWCS fighting each other in Apex cards and it's difficult to separate the chaff. And with the roster so bloated and the excessive length of the numbered events get too diluted. To make it even worse, there are so many pointless rematches that nobody asked for, ir seems the matchmakers aren't even trying.

So the TV product is terrible. A slog of low stakes fights taking place within some 8 hours, with bland generic production, bad commentary and awful pacing. I love the sport but nobody can afford to spend a whole night in front of TV every saturday. And even if you pick only the best events, they're too diluted and you lose some meaningful and important fights because they need somebody to headline Fight Nights.