Interesting fact about the popularity of UFC and Americas dominance

[BowserJr]

There is no debate that USA and UFC are the mecca of mma. Ironically however it's not that popular here. Non UFC dominate the attendance records. None of the top 30 are in the US. UFC only has like 3 events in the top 30. The majority of the biggest events were also pre 2010.

The US has the premier organization and its where the biggest bulk of top fighters are from but it would seem that there is far more interest in MMA abroad. I was thinking mma was more mainstream globally today but it seems that it was actually bigger prevent 2010 on a global scale.

IMO in terms of its overall peak (global popularity, grandeur, fighter skill, budo and staying true to the spirit of a fight and martial arts in general) it was between 2003-2010.

Source

List of mixed martial arts attendance records - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Koro_11]

Americans are more into WWE type stuff. Once in a while when you get some cunt like McGregor it will gain some popularity because it’s crass, but martial arts by themselves don’t do it for them.

A lot of great fighters but not enough good actors in UFC, they currently have no star that appeals to the average American (and no O’Malley is not a star lol).

 

[Shaolin Alan]

Thanks for providing sources to your claims, TS
(Yes, we know Japan had the biggest shows)

List of mixed martial arts attendance records - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[laleggenda27]

Most mma fighters come from other martial arts. And those martial arts are dominated by other countries.

The fact that the UFC is domiciled in the U.S. doesn't change that fact.

 

[Nizam al-Mulk]

Thanks for providing sources to your claims, TS
(Yes, we know Japan had the biggest shows)

List of mixed martial arts attendance records - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

I wonder if it is cultural. As a society they are much more disciplined / rule following but when it comes to entertainment they consistently put out the most wild out there stuff.

 

[BabyBlue_Bomber]

I wonder if it is cultural. As a society they are much more disciplined / rule following but when it comes to entertainment they consistently put out the most wild out there stuff.

I’ve always felt that it’s because Japan did not shy away from making MMA as close to pro wrestling as possible, and actually embraced that aspect of the sport…

Don’t forget, the Pancrase promotion in Japan was basically just shoot-wrestling matches, and even when Pride got started and K1 began holding MMA events, there were plenty of pro wrestlers who would cross over, and the Japanese fans loved that type of shit…

 

[Hellowhosthat]

They could probably do some shows in stadiums but they don't seem to like running them. Given how quickly UK ppvs sell out I can't see that they couldn't sell out Wembley if the tickets weren't prohibitively expensive

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

There is no debate that USA and UFC are the mecca of mma. Ironically however it's not that popular here. Non UFC dominate the attendance records. None of the top 30 are in the US. UFC only has like 3 events in the top 30. The majority of the biggest events were also pre 2010.

The US has the premier organization and its where the biggest bulk of top fighters are from but it would seem that there is far more interest in MMA abroad. I was thinking mma was more mainstream globally today but it seems that it was actually bigger prevent 2010 on a global scale.

IMO in terms of its overall peak (global popularity, grandeur, fighter skill, budo and staying true to the spirit of a fight and martial arts in general) it was between 2003-2010.

Source

List of mixed martial arts attendance records - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

IDK bro. There is a surprisingly low pro proportion of Murrkan champs and top5 fighters.

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

I’ve always felt that it’s because Japan did not shy away from making MMA as close to pro wrestling as possible, and actually embraced that aspect of the sport…

Don’t forget, the Pancrase promotion in Japan was basically just shoot-wrestling matches, and even when Pride got started and K1 began holding MMA events, there were plenty of pro wrestlers who would cross over, and the Japanese fans loved that type of shit…

Yeah the number of Japanese cans in early Pride events was huge.

 

[usernamee]

It's competing with so many other highly popular sports that are getting fed into the brains of the muricans watching the telly. Tough to break through.

Most other countries doesn't usually have so many super popular sports it's more like 1 or 2 really popular in a single country.

 

[don't ask]

There is no debate that USA and UFC are the mecca of mma. Ironically however it's not that popular here. Non UFC dominate the attendance records. None of the top 30 are in the US. UFC only has like 3 events in the top 30. The majority of the biggest events were also pre 2010.

The US has the premier organization and its where the biggest bulk of top fighters are from but it would seem that there is far more interest in MMA abroad. I was thinking mma was more mainstream globally today but it seems that it was actually bigger prevent 2010 on a global scale.

IMO in terms of its overall peak (global popularity, grandeur, fighter skill, budo and staying true to the spirit of a fight and martial arts in general) it was between 2003-2010.

Source

List of mixed martial arts attendance records - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

It's for this reason I think it's possible that another org overtakes the UFC. (Also, the aggressive shittiness of the UFC product.)

 

[Dr. Rose]

Americans are more into WWE type stuff. Once in a while when you get some cunt like McGregor it will gain some popularity because it’s crass, but martial arts by themselves don’t do it for them.

A lot of great fighters but not enough good actors in UFC, they currently have no star that appeals to the average American (and no O’Malley is not a star lol).

I also don't think O'Malley appeals to anyone that isn't already a fan.

 

[Dr. Rose]

They could probably do some shows in stadiums but they don't seem to like running them. Given how quickly UK ppvs sell out I can't see that they couldn't sell out Wembley if the tickets weren't prohibitively expensive

I read someone that it is cheaper to run stadiums in Europe and South America than it is in the U.S. That may be a factor if they don't think they will hit their margins.

 

[BowserJr]

I’ve always felt that it’s because Japan did not shy away from making MMA as close to pro wrestling as possible, and actually embraced that aspect of the sport…

Don’t forget, the Pancrase promotion in Japan was basically just shoot-wrestling matches, and even when Pride got started and K1 began holding MMA events, there were plenty of pro wrestlers who would cross over, and the Japanese fans loved that type of shit…

Japanese MMA sort of comes from Japanese pro wrestling which is pretty different from USA pro wrestling. There it's more like a real fighting with predetermined outcomes.

I think that may be why it was more popular there. That history blurred the lines between fake/real fights but there's no doubt about the realness toward the end of pride and k1 and the grandeur and pageantry from pro wrestling for sure made it bigger than life.

Wrestling is very popular here too but here it tends to look more fake and what makes it popular is the fake drama which ironically is what UFC has pulled from pro wrestling and IMO makes it trashy and then they took out the pageantry replacing it with blandness

 

[blaseblase]

"Not that popular"

Yet they still heavily rely on the American PPV audience.

 

[BowserJr]

It's for this reason I think it's possible that another org overtakes the UFC. (Also, the aggressive shittiness of the UFC product.)

One can only hope

 

[jeff7b9]

It's for this reason I think it's possible that another org overtakes the UFC. (Also, the aggressive shittiness of the UFC product.)

Aggressive shittiness is a good description of the current UFC product/promotion.

I have said many times they have been coasting for YEARS of the momentum of the Pride Merger and golden era stars and have done a HORRIBLE job if promoting and building new stars.

Ronda/Brock/Conor was the last era that UFC in ZUFFA ownership, did a very good job of building new stars. In the last ten years or so the only "stars" are fighters who promote themselves.

 

[don't ask]

Aggressive shittiness is a good description of the current UFC product/promotion.

I have said many times they have been coasting for YEARS of the momentum of the Pride Merger and golden era stars and have done a HORRIBLE job if promoting and building new stars.

Ronda/Brock/Conor was the last era that UFC in ZUFFA ownership, did a very good job of building new stars. In the last ten years or so the only "stars" are fighters who promote themselves.

You're exactly right. They don't know how to navigate a situation where they need stars, but are only interested in building Dana as a star because fighters inevitably push back against the shittiness of the UFC. Of course, the answer is not to make the UFC less shitty for the fighters.

 

[jeff7b9]

You're exactly right. They don't know how to navigate a situation where they need stars, but are only interested in building Dana as a star because fighters inevitably push back against the shittiness of the UFC. Of course, the answer is not to make the UFC less shitty for the fighters.

That's Dana's enormous ego on display.
He wants to be the star.

Also they clearly have a "brand first" marketing strategy, with the idea that people will tune in just because it is UFC, and to a certain extent it is true, but it is intentionally ignoring the reality that fight fans care about fighters and always have.

Noche was a perfect example/microcosm.
The event was a huge financial flop because the card was weak.

Dana couldn't explain to anyone WHY the event was going to be special and then seemed surprised that people didn't respond positively to no information and the promoter continually talking shit about his own fighters.
(Much of his hate at that time targeted at Merab, but his saying that the fighters didn't deserve better bonuses because the fights sucked last time he tried that didn't help)

And they refuse to fix it because in their dinosaur brains the fact that they are still making sizable profit (from past momentum, mostly from Zuffa era) to them justifies continuing to have a shitty broadcast team, a promoter that doesn't promote and no new stars.

 

[BowserJr]

Aggressive shittiness is a good description of the current UFC product/promotion.

I have said many times they have been coasting for YEARS of the momentum of the Pride Merger and golden era stars and have done a HORRIBLE job if promoting and building new stars.

Ronda/Brock/Conor was the last era that UFC in ZUFFA ownership, did a very good job of building new stars. In the last ten years or so the only "stars" are fighters who promote themselves.

UFC only promotes it's brand now. They don't promote fighters or fights. They leave that up to the fighters themselves.

Unfortunate that none of the other orgs are positioned to take advantage of this.

Man I wish One, Rizin or PFL would take some pages out of K1 or Prides books