Losing interest in current UFC, after 12 years following MMA

Happens to every man eventually, fortunately they make pills for that.
 
I lost interest after the start of the "immediate rematch" era. Matchmaking has become AWFUL in the last 5+ years, ranked fighters are incredibly inactive so more than half the divisions are filled with unproven "top guys" who refuse to fight each other, and cards are insanely watered down. I still casually watch but the card had better be good to stay up that late in Europe
 
Greg House said:
The product has changed. Not saying this is better or worse but we as fans of the old product need to adjust or give up on the sport.

The sport used to be about the big fights on the next ppv. Big stars on each event. Anticipation. Fighters fought 3 times a year as an average. You knew all the fighters in the ppv. Now, look at the last 2 events. One was a ppv and the other a fight night and they had the same amount of good fighters.

We have decent events each weekend instead of one big one once a month. Fighters fight once a year. 600 fighters in the roster instead of 60 like 15 years ago, 100 fighters get cut/signed each year. New faces on every event. You can't get excited about an specific event when you are used to watching good events each weekend.

It's a different product that what it used to be. For some it's better, for others it's worse.
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Yeah, I mostly agree; I've been watching everything MMAesque that I can for more decades than I care to remember.

For me the problem isn't the "watering down" of cards, as I can actually access events with infinitely greater ease than a couple decades ago and that is great for me, and I'm easily entertained.

The problem as I see it is manifold: for decades there was this push to get MMA accepted into the mainstream, so you'd see things like Paul Daley being banned from the UFC for his afterbell punch on Koscheck, and I truly believed that the "sport" was on the road to being an actual sport. Problem is the UFC doesn't give a fuck about the sport, & it profits them to keep it not actually a true, meritocratic sport... so it isn't a true, meritocratic sport. Furthermore, the regularity of the events has shown a glaring weakness in the UFC's model: they can't actually promote stars.

Dang, i could go on & on about how the UFC is fucking up MMA...

But OP, may I suggest trying non-UFC MMA products? For example One is different enough from the UFC to feel fresh & exciting, & even though Bellator (insanely) presents itself as UFC-lite they do occasionally have great fights/events.

The UFC is toxic corporate bullshit, and it's totally rational to be turned off by it even if you can't tell exactly why; but MMA overall is in the best place it's been in my lifetime & there is actual hope the UFC becomes less shit in the form of the class action lawsuit & people like Francis actually standing up to them... Fingers crossed eh?
 
Uncertainly Principled said:
Yeah, I mostly agree; I've been watching everything MMAesque that I can for more decades than I care to remember.

For me the problem isn't the "watering down" of cards, as I can actually access events with infinitely greater ease than a couple decades ago and that is great for me, and I'm easily entertained.

The problem as I see it is manifold: for decades there was this push to get MMA accepted into the mainstream, so you'd see things like Paul Daley being banned from the UFC for his afterbell punch on Koscheck, and I truly believed that the "sport" was on the road to being an actual sport. Problem is the UFC doesn't give a fuck about the sport, & it profits them to keep it not actually a true, meritocratic sport... so it isn't a true, meritocratic sport. Furthermore, the regularity of the events has shown a glaring weakness in the UFC's model: they can't actually promote stars.

Dang, i could go on & on about how the UFC is fucking up MMA...

But OP, may I suggest trying non-UFC MMA products? For example One is different enough from the UFC to feel fresh & exciting, & even though Bellator (insanely) presents itself as UFC-lite they do occasionally have great fights/events.

The UFC is toxic corporate bullshit, and it's totally rational to be turned off by it even if you can't tell exactly why; but MMA overall is in the best place it's been in my lifetime & there is actual hope the UFC becomes less shit in the form of the class action lawsuit & people like Francis actually standing up to them... Fingers crossed eh?
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ONE is as bullshit as the UFC with politics tbf, they're terrible when it comes to shelving fighters for extended periods for not falling in line.
 
Kaiserjuan said:
Is it just me, or is the UFC not super exciting at the moment? I'm talking about the last 3 or 4 months.
Also, I cannot see anything super exciting happening in the near future. It's kinda lacking big stars and big names, it has somehow become kinda dull.

It's fully possible the problem is me though.
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What a NOOB!!!!
 
The simple problem is that this is turning more and more into a bush league, more and more into human cockfighting. I thought we were gonna move away from that, like @Uncertainly Principled said, to a form of meritocracy, meaningful rankings, contender matches, etc.

Instead nothing makes ANY sense anymore in terms of ranking or matchmaking. Fighters I get excited for sit out for years because they can't get opponents or money, people like Yair who sit out voluntarily, cherry-pick and pull out of fights get rewarded with main events, etc. It just doesn't make sense. It's the Ultimate Twitter Championship.
Another great example is TJ getting a TS over Aldo. lol how so? Tired of this company and their favoritism.

That said, the fights are better than ever. Last card was amazing. Some beautiful striking.
The match-ups are lacking, though. When do I get to see #4 in the rankings prove their ranking and fight #14? NEVER. The rankings perpetually stay the same because the same dudes in the Top 6 to 8 keep fighting eachother. #1 Contender loses and he drops to.... #1 Contender. LOL, they don't even lose their ranking anymore after a loss simply because they are promotable. Look at the WW rankings.
 
Kaiserjuan said:
Is it just me, or is the UFC not super exciting at the moment? I'm talking about the last 3 or 4 months.
Also, I cannot see anything super exciting happening in the near future. It's kinda lacking big stars and big names, it has somehow become kinda dull.

It's fully possible the problem is me though.
Click to expand...

There has been a lot of great fights to get entertained about. Jiri/Glover is all time classic. I take it you weren't entertained/impressed by that fight?
 
Hellowhosthat said:
It's been like that for a long time now though. They had a big rush in 2014 where they signed around 220 fighters to keep up with TV deals and the roster has been big ever since.
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I think the stars from that era camouflaged that change that was happening, at that point there was room for both types of fans, now there is only room for one.

2014 had Ronda then it was Conor. It's only since last year where everyone accepted that Conor is washed up and there are no stars to replace him, and that's when we all realize that UFC doesn't even need a replaceament with their current model. I don't even think they care to have more like that tbh, maybe Conor made them realize that stars have to much power and are hard to control.
 
You're not the same person you were 12 years ago. Viewing habits can change.
 
Pride FC was the golden Era of MMA.

With Pride dying started the declining of MMA.

However there are still good fights and athletes when they still challengers.
For example this weekend!
Tsarukyan vs Gamrot! and in the same card is Shavkat fighting again!
Those are all killers on their way up, what do you want more.
 
Kaiserjuan said:
Is it just me, or is the UFC not super exciting at the moment? I'm talking about the last 3 or 4 months.
Also, I cannot see anything super exciting happening in the near future. It's kinda lacking big stars and big names, it has somehow become kinda dull.

It's fully possible the problem is me though.
Click to expand...
It's not you , MMA is not your normal mainstream sport.
MMA has devolved since 18'ish in the depth department. 135 to 155 are on a different timeline as they carry the depth....for now.
UFC , ESPN and a new fan core have kept the machine going .
 
Arrrrgh said:
Cool.

TS did you watch the last two events?
If not go watch them.

They are arguably the two best back to back cards we've ever had.

If you have watched them and feel this way, then... well, cool.
Click to expand...
Not even close.

There were some good events, but don’t stand up to anything the UFC or Pride were doing in their heyday.
 
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