I went from an MMA fan to a UFC fan

real2124

real2124

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When I first heard of something called MMA about 5 years ago I started to watch UFC events from start to finish.

I paid an equal amount of attention to prelims as I did to main events.

I knew nothing about any of the fighters or the marketing/hype of the main events...

Ignorance was bliss. It was great.

Nowadays I see the MMA world as a kind of soap opera where I'm hooked on the drama and have been consumed by the UFCs marketing machine.

Tldr: don't be like me and become a WWE styled fan.
 
I follow Bellator some. (If I remember to set DVR on Friday night)

Might tune into WSOF for 2-3 fighters, usually forget to watch or can't find on guide.
 
real2124 said:
When I first heard of something called MMA about 5 years ago I started to watch UFC events from start to finish.

I paid an equal amount of attention to prelims as I did to main events.

I knew nothing about any of the fighters or the marketing/hype of the main events...

Ignorance was bliss. It was great.

Nowadays I see the MMA world as a kind of soap opera where I'm hooked on the drama and have been consumed by the UFCs marketing machine.

Tldr: don't be like me and become a WWE styled fan.
Click to expand...
Taking a step away from MMA for a few years fixed it for me. Now I just feel like im looking in from the outside on all these crazy people caring about all these silly situations. But I still enjoy fights.
 
Well its like being a basketball fan, if you like watching the best of the best are in the NBA.

Just like the UFC, we can say its shit, or greedy or whatever, but this is the pinnacle of the sport.
 
I used to follow almost everything I could. My cable company cut HD net and eventually I cut cable though. So now fight pass and ppv at bars is all I normally get to see.
 
You actually represent the vast majority of posters on this forum.
Although your self awareness is unique amongst those types of fans.
 
The-AxeMurderer said:
Well its like being a basketball fan, if you like watching the best of the best are in the NBA.

Just like the UFC, we can say its shit, or greedy or whatever, but this is the pinnacle of the sport.
Click to expand...
Actually I think a better analogy is a basketball "fan" that only watches the playoffs.
 
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5yrs ago? You sound young & jaded...
 
real2124 said:
When I first heard of something called MMA about 5 years ago I started to watch UFC events from start to finish.

I paid an equal amount of attention to prelims as I did to main events.

I knew nothing about any of the fighters or the marketing/hype of the main events...

Ignorance was bliss. It was great.

Nowadays I see the MMA world as a kind of soap opera where I'm hooked on the drama and have been consumed by the UFCs marketing machine.

Tldr: don't be like me and become a WWE styled fan.
Click to expand...

Literally one of the best posts I've ever seen on this site, hype nerds won't get it or get butthurt but you kept it real. Well done mate!
 
Its all good man. People watch nfl but not the college games. Doesnt mean theyre not a fan of football.
 
real2124 said:
When I first heard of something called MMA about 5 years ago I started to watch UFC events from start to finish.

I paid an equal amount of attention to prelims as I did to main events.

I knew nothing about any of the fighters or the marketing/hype of the main events...

Ignorance was bliss. It was great.

Nowadays I see the MMA world as a kind of soap opera where I'm hooked on the drama and have been consumed by the UFCs marketing machine.

Tldr: don't be like me and become a WWE styled fan.
Click to expand...
Fairly typical outlook of a fad oriented so called fan.
 
The UFC is the most out there for sure and they really market their events cause they make enough money to do so.
What they do with embedded the countdown show and the road to the octagon show is amazing cause even if you're not a hardcore and u catch one of these before an event it gives u something to look forward to and it gives u a taste of the fighters personalities.
TUF has been a huge success for them also.
When it comes to marketing and getting their brand out there and exposing their fighters they're #1 by far.
With a lot of fighters leaving UFC and going to other organizations and fighting (a lot of them taking a loss here and there) made me realize there is other good (not great) promotions out there and I've become a bellator fan now too.
I think if bellator did a few more things like the UFC they would have just as big of a fan base cause they do have great talent and marketable fighters.

As for now like a few guys said MMA is UFC like nba is basketball
 
I started watching MMA/UFC in around 2004 or 2005. As the sport (and specifically the UFC) began to grow in the US, I was watching everything that I could. I loved the early SpikeTV/UFC days. I loved EliteXC (my first live event was EliteXC Primetime) and StrikeForce and WEC. As recently as 2010, I would stay up after my wife went to bed to watch whatever random promotion was HDNet after Inside MMA finished. I watched every season of TUF (US seasons anyway) up to the Edgar/Penn season.

Over the past few years, though, I don't really watch much other than the UFC, and I don't even watch everything the UFC has to offer. I don't have Fight Pass. I still watch most PPVs, but for years I wouldn't dream of missing one. I watch most of the free cards, or I DVR and watch the fights I'm interested. I will occasionally watch Bellator if I happen to catch it, but I don't make a point of it like I did with EliteXC and SF.

Part of it, I think, is the sheer amount of UFC on TV these days. Between FS1, Fox, and PPVs, there are cards almost every week. There is no more waiting a month (or more) to see the fights. Missing one card isn't a big deal, because there will be another one in a week or two tops. Part of it is probably just getting burned out a little just from watching so much of it for those years all year long (as opposed to a team sport with an off season). Part of it is having a kid and just needing to allocate my time differently.

I still get very hyped for certain fighters and certain fights. I'm really excited for UFC 198 and for Jones/DC 2, but it's like I used to feel that excited for every major card, and now I don't anymore.

I do sometimes miss those early SpikeTV days, with my apartment full of friends going nuts even though most of them didn't know anything about any of the fighters.
 
I mostly watch UFC but I occasionally watch a few fighters from outside like Fedor, Cyborg or some Bellator stuff.
 
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SocraticMethod said:
I started watching MMA/UFC in around 2004 or 2005. As the sport (and specifically the UFC) began to grow in the US, I was watching everything that I could. I loved the early SpikeTV/UFC days. I loved EliteXC (my first live event was EliteXC Primetime) and StrikeForce and WEC. As recently as 2010, I would stay up after my wife went to bed to watch whatever random promotion was HDNet after Inside MMA finished. I watched every season of TUF (US seasons anyway) up to the Edgar/Penn season.

Over the past few years, though, I don't really watch much other than the UFC, and I don't even watch everything the UFC has to offer. I don't have Fight Pass. I still watch most PPVs, but for years I wouldn't dream of missing one. I watch most of the free cards, or I DVR and watch the fights I'm interested. I will occasionally watch Bellator if I happen to catch it, but I don't make a point of it like I did with EliteXC and SF.

Part of it, I think, is the sheer amount of UFC on TV these days. Between FS1, Fox, and PPVs, there are cards almost every week. There is no more waiting a month (or more) to see the fights. Missing one card isn't a big deal, because there will be another one in a week or two tops. Part of it is probably just getting burned out a little just from watching so much of it for those years all year long (as opposed to a team sport with an off season). Part of it is having a kid and just needing to allocate my time differently.

I still get very hyped for certain fighters and certain fights. I'm really excited for UFC 198 and for Jones/DC 2, but it's like I used to feel that excited for every major card, and now I don't anymore.

I do sometimes miss those early SpikeTV days, with my apartment full of friends going nuts even though most of them didn't know anything about any of the fighters.
Click to expand...

Yeah I remember when I had to watch every card. Few of them were so packed like the Rampage/Wandy UFC 92, was just an amazingly entertaining card (ALL KOs in main).

There'd usually be like 2-3 fight I'd want to watch and maybe 1-2 I didn't care about but it has gotten too watered down and they don't have the talent pool to keep it interesting so now it's more 1 or 2 fights I want to see on a card if any.

I think it's a bad decision on the part of the UFC, they have to be losing $ on these cards and ppl do get burned out. You can't watch it every week, all year long. I'd be interested in maybe a season like 4 month of weekly cards then no more for rest of year and let the fighters rest.
 
A refreshing thread!

I used to watch K1 and stumbled upon Rampage versus Abidi and from there followed him in mma. It was somewhere around 2002-2003. From that moment on, I watched everything from Pride and soon after also UFC.

I used to have trouble sleeping the day before a big event because I was so excited, especially if Rampage or GSP fought.

I watched everything mma-related, even IFL. Today on the other hand, I even skip events and I find it harder and harder to get emotionally invested in fighters. There are but a few that I actually root for and most of them are soon to retire.

It's odd though, I have trouble seat myself but when I do, I still thoroughly enjoy mma.
 
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