Is/was MMA ever bigger than boxing?

[ColombianFist]

Boxing is in a transition period. I've been a fan since the age of 10 or so, so I've followed the sport off and off for over three decades. There are a lot of stars who are at the end of their careers and currently no one has captured the public's attention in the same way, at least in the US. Additionally, the belts are actually worse than they were a decade or so ago before "super" or diamond champs. The proliferation of belts has really hurt the sport's credibility since it's hard to say there is one guy/gal who is the best in a given weight class since they don't hold all the belts. As a fan, it's frustrating. Things with MMA are a little more straightforward since the UFC is the dominant org and just run like a sports entertainment company (popularity matters as much/more than actual ability/objective rankings). You get more blockbuster fights in MMA right now, and that is more attractive to casuals.

I still prefer boxing overall. A good, high level boxing match is fucking incredible in terms of endurance and grit. I still can recall how I felt during the Pac-Marquez quadrilogy, or the elation in my neighborhood when Chavez beat Camacho...or the craziness of Douglas' KO of Tyson...but the sport is definitely in a rough spot bc of greed on the part of the sanctioning bodies and stupid shit on the part of promoters who turn everything into a pissing contest.

I didn't watched the first 2 Pac-Marquez fights but i did watch 3 and 4. Those 2 were amazing and some of Floyd's fights starting with the Hatton fight.

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

Some of the biggest sporting events were boxing matches

Nope. Its all hyperbole that they can get away with because its in the distant past so harder to debunk. Not to mention most of these allegedly huge fights were very US-centric as well so the idea that they were actually huge global events to rival the world cup or olympics is highly dubious.

Supposedly, the Spinks rematch was watched by about 2 billions persons. Number might have been inflated a bit, but he was wildly popular

2 billion ie around half of the worlds population at the time, many more than now living in abject poverty, allagedly tuning in to watch a fight that would have been happening in the early hours of the morning in a lot of the worlds timezones.

"inflated a bit"

 

[Street Samurai]

Ali was a global phenomenon my friend. Look at the reception he got in Manilla and in Zaire. He was also immensely popular in the muslim world. He was a true global superstar, and while i doubt the 2 billions viewers, I don't doubt for a second that that fight could have been watched by 1 billion persons

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

Ali was a global phenomenon my friend. Look at the reception he got in Manilla and in Zaire. He was also immensely popular in the muslim world. He was a true global superstar, and while i doubt the 2 billions viewers, I don't doubt for a second that that fight could have been watched by 1 billion persons

I would honestly be surprised if any boxing match ever did more than 100 million live viewers tbh, probably way less. Again, the world had like half the population back then, poverty rates were much higher, far fewer people had access to a tv, and timezones are a thing. Now if we are talking the amount of people that have watched replays of those fights in some way or another in the several decades since? sure, a billion is a little more realistic, but probably still high.

It was much easier to make up fantastical claims and exaggerate things in the pre-internet age. If Ali was around today we would have much more concrete numbers to work with regarding how big he was and how big his fights were.

 

[Kwic]

Country by country it seems to me (going by instinct):

Boxing is bigger: Mexico, UK, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Argentina, Venezuela, Philippines

MMA is bigger: Brazil, Australia, NZ, Poland, Sweden, Netherlands

Not sure/close: USA, Canada, Russia, Japan, South Korea

Thoughts?

Yeah, I would say Poland is correct.

 

[TJ Dillashank]

Boxing has been more culturally relevant than MMA since the start of the UFC, what will it take for MMA to surpass boxing?

I talk to casuals sometimes they usually know Conor, Nate, Jones, and Rousey also Khabib boxing as a casual myself right now I know Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, and Deontay Wilder, and Canelo although I have watched a fair few vids on it recently and most know older fighters.

 

[Sean Ryan]

MMA has been bigger ever since boxing finally pulled the trigger on Floyd/Pac, even before that it had been very close since the late 00s.

I'm a boxing fan, but the anti-MMA boxing types tend to massively overestimate how big boxing actually is, especially globally. Both sports are niche in most countries.

Factually you would have to argue that boxing is still bigger worldwide. MMA has seen exponential growth for a reasonable period of time. Its unknown really it may plateau but being a new sport its really, really hard to tell.

Boxing has been apparently dying for over 100 years. I think people are fickle and you can't really seriously estimate where MMA's popularity goes from here.

I think it looks good. It's the only sport that is new that has broken into the mainstream media. Honestly, it's surreal for me as I've been watching for about 20 years.

I think I understand why you get the pride fans who long for the old days. It was the feeling of having a niche or obscure sport that had hard-core support from a few people. MMA is the reason I'm friends with some people as there used to be that little people to talk to you about it.

 

[Wariowokecancel]

MMA is bigger than boxing right now.

Only if you count Sherbros and North America. The rest of the world is still boxing. Maybe among young men in their 20-30s in Europe it’s bigger but there are more older dudes who care more fox boxing.

 

[Vegeta]

MMA is bigger than boxing right now.

This.
Also boxing is for old people

 

[TankAbbott4Eva]

This.
Also boxing is for old people

So why would the Paul brothers be using boxing as a vehicle and not MMA? (Keep in mind the age of their audience)

 

[Johnnny]

Right now mma is more popular than boxing in america.

Mma currently is not anywhere near as popular as boxing was in the 50s to the 90s

MMA is more popular in the suburbs, but boxing is still much more popular in the inner cities. And among blacks and latinos, boxing dwarfs MMA in the US.

 

[Vegeta]

So why would the Paul brothers be using boxing as a vehicle and not MMA? (Keep in mind the age of their audience)

Because it is easier??
In Mexico, Philippines, Ukraine, Germany and the UK boxing is still a huge sport.
But for the rest of the world, only old people care about boxing.
I don't mean that disrespectful.

 

[TankAbbott4Eva]

Because it is easier??
In Mexico, Philippines, Ukraine, Germany and the UK boxing is still a huge sport.
But for the rest of the world, only old people care about boxing.
I don't mean that disrespectful.

Nah all good. I don't know if boxing is easier, maybe a bit less brutal and confronting, but yeah mostly older people who remember the 80s (and further back) are the boxing fans I suppose.

 

[DoctorDeelon]

Boxing has the legacy, MMA has the advantage of being new and exciting with more weapons.

But the fact is, it all just comes down to who's fighting. They're both spectacle-driven sports that need big stars to do big numbers.

When Mayweather retired, boxing took a big dip. When McGregor retires, the UFC will take a big dip too because they don't have a whole lot of guys (if any) who can sell 1 million PPVs or more other than Mac.

 

[13Seconds]

Country by country it seems to me (going by instinct):

Boxing is bigger: Mexico, UK, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Argentina, Venezuela, Philippines

MMA is bigger: Brazil, Australia, NZ, Poland, Sweden, Netherlands

Not sure/close: USA, Canada, Russia, Japan, South Korea

Thoughts?

You're wrong about sweden. Boxing is bigger here. Gets more coverage etc... Gus shit the bed.

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

Factually you would have to argue that boxing is still bigger worldwide.

This gets assumed but tbh I dont think its as cut and dry as that. The UFC is a behemoth compared to any boxing promotion. It has its own video game, it has brand/name value, it provides a major platform for the sport and its athletes, and it tours the world extensively. Whereas Boxing is fragmented across a bunch of much smaller basically regional promotions. I would expect that most weekends the UFC is putting out the most watched combat sport card globally for those reasons. I doubt theres more people outside of America tuning in to a typical Top Rank card, or more people outside of the UK tuning into a typical Matchroom card, with the occasional exception where its AJ, Fury etc fighting.

Also if you search on Fightfinder or Tapology or whatever for the upcoming schedule for MMA events worldwide, and then do the same on Boxrec for boxing events, theres not that much in it honestly. And really Matchroom is the only boxing promotion outside of America bigger than the likes of One, Rizin and KSW.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

I can only answer on the UK but you're bang on with that one. MMA is very niche compared to boxing here. Still a strong following but not in the same league as boxing yet.

I think the difference in the UK is that boxing has more of a casual fanbase but MMA fans are generally more hardcore followers of the UFC.

A lot of it for me is that the UK sports media still doesn't really cover MMA very much and I've never really understood why as there's a demand for it imo.

 

[Mentallooser]

Mayweather, maybe Canelo. Conor.

They can probably name you Fury, Wilder, Canelo, Mayweather, and Pacquiao. I'd wager that that is generally the amount of boxers that casual fans commit to their attention, regardless of era. I tried this game with people here, and they knew McGregor. 1 person knew Cowboy, but couldn't tell me the last name.

 

[weaselkenievil]

I think the difference in the UK is that boxing has more of a casual fanbase but MMA fans are generally more hardcore followers of the UFC.

A lot of it for me is that the UK sports media still doesn't really cover MMA very much and I've never really understood why as there's a demand for it imo.

I think that is a fair assessment yeah. Plus you get boxing on Sky Sports and MMA on BT Sport, nowhere near as many people have BT sport. No idea why the media don't cover it here, Sky Sports will feature the odd Netball story, rowing, hell even cricket, I don't know anyone who watches that garbage, never mention MMA at all. The tabloids have the odd Conor story I see on here but that's pretty much it.

I remember an appalling article on MMA posted here from the Guardian. It was basically a human cockfighting angle talking about 'snapped limbs and bouncing skulls'. The Cage Rage event the female journalist attended didn't have any snapped limbs, just sensationalist bullshit. I offered my services, received sod all response of course! Pretty sure that was the last time they ever mentioned MMA and CR went years ago.

 

[Dana's Moonface]

Bigger now for sure, at least in the States, but not close to boxing at it's peak which was mainstream or pretty much