Losing interest in current UFC, after 12 years following MMA

[BForrester]

The first event I watched was UFC 5 on VHS my senior year of HS ('96), but I didn't become an MMA fan until the first Pride event I watched, Pride 12 in 2001. In 2003, I "discovered" Sherdog...

My interest is almost non-existent, now, for a number of reasons.

1. My favorite fighters have long since retired
2. I've cut the cable cord and have no desire to subscribe to ESPN+. I dropped cable because it was too expensive...not eventually spend the same amount per month on a dozen different streaming services.
3. I'm in my early 40s, have family, responsibilities on the weekends, etc....I'm not staying up till 1am to watch events.
4. I have no idea who most of today's fighters are. Unless you watch every event, of which there are far too many, it's hard to keep track of who-is-who and form any kind of fandom for any one fighter.
5. Styles are too homogenous. Most guys all fight exactly the same, to varying degrees. There are very flew clashes of fighting styles today. This is why guys have to set themselves apart by creating a "character" like some poor man's WWE.

I just find the sport much more difficult to follow than it used to be. If the sport is difficult to follow and you don't form some kind of "emotional" attachment to any of the fighters, your interest in the sport as a whole completely evaporates.

 

[BForrester]

If you were losing interest in any significant way, the first thing you'd stop doing is posting on MMA forums.

The average MMA viewer never posts about MMA on places like Sherdog, Reddit etc. So in terms of your level of fandom, you're still in die-hard territory.

I still post on Sherdog, but I've maybe watched 3 cards in the last 3 years. I think I post on Sherdog out of habit more than anything else. I still check the Play-by-play the next day after most events, but I don't know 90% of the names on any given card.

 

[ilfirin]

Sucks to be you I suppose? Been watching MMA for 22 years, no less entertained now than I was back then. That being said, I don't necessarily watch all the prelims these days, kinda depends on who's fighting. With the last card the prelims were just as good as the main card, for instance. It's more a matter of how much free time I have.

 

[Phisher]

Good MMA ended permanently over 15 years ago now.

LOL at this hipster nonsense.

 

[Phisher]

Sucks to be you I suppose? Been watching MMA for 22 years, not less entertained now than I was back then. That being said, I don't necessarily watch all the prelims these days, kinda depends on who's fighting. With the last card the prelims were just as good as the main card, for instance. It's more a matter of how much free time I have.

I usually skip Fight Night prelims or everything but the main event on Fight Nights because I don't have the time to sit through all of them every week. Also, a lot of the fighters on those cards should realistically be in LFA or some other regional promotion. The UFC is just signing people on the cheap to fill out cards and get their ESPN money.

I'll only go back if I hear about an interesting fight that I missed or if I want to do research on a fighter that I'm interested in.

It's gotten to the point where there are some fighters with over a dozen fights in the UFC that I've never seen fight once, which never would've happened back in the day.

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

Its been a relatively quiet year so far but theres been some good shit still (Jiri/Glover, Khamzat/Burns, another crazy Do Bronx title defence, that hilarious Tuivasa/Lewis fight, Ferg/Chandler, probably the best UK card ever etc). July is pretty stacked too...

Max/Volk 3
Izzy/Cannonier
Ortega/Yair
RDA/Fiziev
Nunes/Pena 2
Blaydes/Aspinall
Pereira/Strickland
Hermansson/Till
Gus/Krylov
Ankalaev/Smith

Lewis, Cody, Paddy, Bobby Green, Uriah Hall etc are booked too.

 

[Press Start]

As mentioned by many, there are some good fights; but yeah same boat. Started in 2005 (thanks to Ultimate Fighter season 1) and never missed an event. Even was watching bodog and eliteXC, etc all to get my “fix”….but alas I don’t get as excited about most of the fights anymore

it ebbs and flows

 

[Steve Fox]

Its been a relatively quiet year so far but theres been some good shit still (Jiri/Glover, Khamzat/Burns, another crazy Do Bronx title defence, that hilarious Tuivasa/Lewis fight, Ferg/Chandler, probably the best UK card ever etc). July is pretty stacked too...

Max/Volk 3
Izzy/Cannonier
Ortega/Yair
RDA/Fiziev
Nunes/Pena 2
Blaydes/Aspinall
Pereira/Strickland
Hermansson/Till
Gus/Krylov
Ankalaev/Smith

Lewis, Cody, Paddy, Bobby Green, Uriah Hall etc are booked too.

 

[TerryBogard]

UFC has been dead for YEARS! last time i watched anything was UFC 200.

 

[mudrubble]

UFC has been dead for YEARS! last time i watched anything was UFC 200.

Lol, you made it to 200? I tapped out at 97!

UFC makes less and less money every year and has less and less viewers every year, and has to downsize its roster because it's hemorrhaging money. It was recently sold for far less than the million dollars it was bought for (I believe it sold for around $400,000, and I hear Dana had to throw in some snow on the driveway to sweeten the deal). All indications are that it is dying. Don't they only have 40 or 50 fighters left under contract? No wonder they only have one event every 6 months!

I never watch. If I'm at a friend's place and they have it on I find a way to disable the TV. Water, a thrown glass, a teep kick - I get rid of the TV first. I write nasty emails and social media posts to the fighters. Otherwise I don't know who they are. All I know is none of these bitches can beat Matt Hughes even today. I saw him on WWE the other day and he looked a bit slow but I say he still takes these fools out like tomorrow's trash.

UFC is done. Officially dead and buried. I'd say RIP but it's more like good riddance. I'm trying to find out how to shut down Sherdog now. Every last vestige must go. It's dead. This will be my last post on this site. Matter of fact, I'm thinking that if I plunge that letter opener into my wrist deeply enough I may never have to hear about fucken MMA again....

 

[downthepines]

The first event I watched was UFC 5 on VHS my senior year of HS ('96), but I didn't become an MMA fan until the first Pride event I watched, Pride 12 in 2001. In 2003, I "discovered" Sherdog...

My interest is almost non-existent, now, for a number of reasons.

1. My favorite fighters have long since retired
2. I've cut the cable cord and have no desire to subscribe to ESPN+. I dropped cable because it was too expensive...not eventually spend the same amount per month on a dozen different streaming services.
3. I'm in my early 40s, have family, responsibilities on the weekends, etc....I'm not staying up till 1am to watch events.
4. I have no idea who most of today's fighters are. Unless you watch every event, of which there are far too many, it's hard to keep track of who-is-who and form any kind of fandom for any one fighter.
5. Styles are too homogenous. Most guys all fight exactly the same, to varying degrees. There are very flew clashes of fighting styles today. This is why guys have to set themselves apart by creating a "character" like some poor man's WWE.

I just find the sport much more difficult to follow than it used to be. If the sport is difficult to follow and you don't form some kind of "emotional" attachment to any of the fighters, your interest in the sport as a whole completely evaporates.

 

[scoobster]

Not enough stars

Ways way too many events with no-namers on the card

 

[GGpX]

I mean, yeah, there's a definite lack of stars, but there's a shitload of really good fighters that aren't stars.

The last two cards were awesome, this upcoming card has some really killer fights on it, the next PPV looks like it'll be a blast.

Maybe you've fallen out of love with the sport. Happens, man. MMA events take up a full evening, sometimes nearly a full day, of your weekend. I've cut back on the amount of MMA I watch simply because I just don't have the time or desire to watch MMA 6-7 hours non stop on a Saturday evening. I still love the sport, I just can't consume as much of it as I used to.

 

[fandangler101]

There is a big lack of stars, I feel there are many reasons, there are lots of reasons.. 1 reason I want to point at is back in the day there was not many events, for instance we would get a UFC PPV every 2 months, and no fight nights or anything else.. so everyone came off as a star, even the prelim fighters you knew who they all were and you knew everything about them, because there were long gaps between events so it gave time to pump up the show and get excited and build it all... but now there are sooooooooooo many events and they all just blend into each other, so no one really comes off as a star anymore.

I know I am a old fogey so perhaps I'm losing my memory, but I have a hard time remembering stuff these days in UFC, there are just so many events and nothing sticks out, they all blend into one another, and its straight on to the next one and I forget most of whats just happened.

You’re not alone. Back in the day we had time to process the results of an event. Time to celebrate the victories, and discuss redemption for those who lost.

I’m all for more MMA. I just wish the UFC spent time building up stars and worked on stacking cards.

 

[Cclick]

Lol, you made it to 200? I tapped out at 97!

UFC makes less and less money every year and has less and less viewers every year, and has to downsize its roster because it's hemorrhaging money. It was recently sold for far less than the million dollars it was bought for (I believe it sold for around $400,000, and I hear Dana had to throw in some snow on the driveway to sweeten the deal). All indications are that it is dying. Don't they only have 40 or 50 fighters left under contract? No wonder they only have one event every 6 months!

I never watch. If I'm at a friend's place and they have it on I find a way to disable the TV. Water, a thrown glass, a teep kick - I get rid of the TV first. I write nasty emails and social media posts to the fighters. Otherwise I don't know who they are. All I know is none of these bitches can beat Matt Hughes even today. I saw him on WWE the other day and he looked a bit slow but I say he still takes these fools out like tomorrow's trash.

UFC is done. Officially dead and buried. I'd say RIP but it's more like good riddance. I'm trying to find out how to shut down Sherdog now. Every last vestige must go. It's dead. This will be my last post on this site. Matter of fact, I'm thinking that if I plunge that letter opener into my wrist deeply enough I may never have to hear about fucken MMA again....

You sir are fucking gold. I just spit my tea all over my desk

 

[AmbassadorFright]

Besides Jiri vs Glover and the Kattar vs Emmet card most of the recent cards have been pretty weak imo. Besides Chimaev, Jones vs Miocic (if it happens) and a hand full of prospects there's nothing to get that pumped about

 

[knock_you_out]

Only casuals lose interest.

 

[markys00]

Waaaay too many events - with the UFC at least. They watered down their own product.

i never really understood this way of thinking.

 

[markys00]

You’re not alone. Back in the day we had time to process the results of an event. Time to celebrate the victories, and discuss redemption for those who lost.

I’m all for more MMA. I just wish the UFC spent time building up stars and worked on stacking cards.

their formula is pretty much the same as it always was. espn deal changed it a tiny bit, but its generally the same. with a night sky full of many stars, only a few stand out.

 

[kflo]

UFC has been dead for YEARS! last time i watched anything was UFC 200.

you joined sherdog 5 years after you last watched the ufc?