My experience with not-even-casuals validates that the UFC is incredibly short-sighted

[Rubios]

Okay, it’s a N=4 sample. But their behavior was so similar (and logical) that I think something extrapolable can be drawn from it.

Four lifelong friends. In their forties, give or take a year. They’ve never practiced nor shown any interest whatsoever in martial arts. We’re Spanish, Topuria is everywhere right now, but they couldn’t care less.

We were having a few beers today and the topic came up. The thing is, thanks to my proselytizing (endlessly ranting), all of them have ended up scratching the surface of MMA. At different times over the past two years, and without talking to each other or to me about it.

Of course, if someone doesn’t dedicate enough time and consumption to it, the algorithm won’t start feeding UFC content everywhere. So they haven’t heard about any of the recent “flavor of the month” fighters: they have no idea who Khamzat is, for example.
But they do know who GSP, Jones, DJ, AS, Fedor… were.

What did they do? Probably the most common entry route into any hobby: they looked up who the greatest of all time were. But they found that after the top five or so, things got murky. Some lists had Randy, others BJ, others Khabib...
So they ALL ended up on the official UFC records page.

That’s how they learned who Oliveira is: from the submission record. And Max. And Merab.
And (I'm getting there, sorry) Izzy and Aldo: from their number of title wins.

This led them to think they had arrived too late to MMA, that the best years were already behind. And that might be true (it’s debatable) but the UFC is so busy trying to catch “lightning in a bottle” that it loses sight of the fact that helping its current potential legends write that history is far more important in the long run.

Let me give a few specific examples that come to mind:

The clearest ones are Volk and Islam. Volk is one title win away from Aldo, and I don’t think anyone can question the level of opposition he’s faced.
Recent rumors point to Evloev. He’d be the most deserving contender, sure, but I don’t think anyone would lose their minds if they gave the shot to Lerone, increasing Volk’s chances of another successful defense.
And (even though he already has the résumé to back it up) the UFC could just say, “Ladies and gentlemen, here’s the greatest featherweight of all time. Today. Right now.” And let him retire after the Evloev fight.

Islam has 15 consecutive wins: one short of Anderson Silva. He could get it against JDM, yes, but the UFC could (should?) have suggested that he fight one last time at 155, where he’d have been the clear favorite to hit 16. Then, once he has secured his name up there and the UFC can announce that the greatest lightweight ever has tied a historic record, he could go for the next challenge: winning a second belt.

And without question, the UFC should prefer Pereira going for a triple championship over a fight against Jones.

Making history, building and preserving the legacy of this era, will always be a better choice than constantly chasing the next carrot.

 

[CasualBot]

If islam continues finishing people like Silva did, i am okay with the comparison.

I hate decision wrestlers.

Islam has been fresh air for that.

 

[Oscar Madison]

Maybe your friends are amusing you -- like good friends sometimes do.

They might not care at all, but since you keep bringing it up, they want to let you express your ideas to get it out of your system.

But its not out of your system and now you got them doing homework.

They might bail on you.

 

[Tweak896]

I think it's hard for people to track now when all the names fight 1.5x a year. Even 2x is sort of low. If they lose any of those fights then they have a bad record for years. One thing people forget about the rise of Conor was he was on the main card every few months.

It's hard for super fans to remember fighters, it doesn't help that the only thing Topuria did for 2025 was 1 round against Olivera. Maybe UFC should bring cans in against Topuria or others and keep them busy so they aren't forgotten.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

History and prestige get in the way of short-term profits, though. Gotta pay those loans!

 

[Mr.Maelstrom]

The machine that it is now, It's too big to fail.
UFC has completely come through on the promise to be the premier fighting organization.

So it doesn’t really need to evolve, it can afford to self sustain with or without having meaningful reigns and iconic periods that stand out even 2 months afterwards.
Their success has allowed them to run a profitable sports/spectacle promotion in perpetuity.

The need for bold creative ideas isn't being met

 

[Rubios]

The NBA is the most profitable and widely followed sports organization in the world, and if it weren’t for Wemby (and maybe Luka), it would be facing a serious problem now that LeBron and Curry are close to retirement and Durant has become irrelevant.
It’s not good for attracting new fans if they feel like they’ve shown up late to the party.

It’s that simple.

 

[Captain Herb]

You chose Sherdog to peer review your paper?

 

[laleggenda27]

The UFC's business model doesn't actively try to turn fighters into stars; their primary objective is to make the UFC itself (and Dana) the stars.

In that way, the UFC is more like the NFL than other leagues (NBA, MLB, NHL, etc.). But the UFC takes it a step further by creating eponymous content/shows with Dana literally being the star (Dana White's Contender series; Dana White: Lookin for a Fight). You would never see the "commissioner" of any other legitimate sports league doing that.

Personally, I'm not sure this business model is viable in the long term. The NFL (and to a certain extent other leagues) can be the star of the show because team sports inherently bring fans along for the ride; the individual teams figuratively represent entire cities/states/fanbases. And those fans are tied to individual teams for generations. The same can't be said for individual sports, which is why you need stars.

 

[rjmbrd]

Okay, it’s a N=4 sample. But their behavior was so similar (and logical) that I think something extrapolable can be drawn from it.

Four lifelong friends. In their forties, give or take a year. They’ve never practiced nor shown any interest whatsoever in martial arts. We’re Spanish, Topuria is everywhere right now, but they couldn’t care less.

We were having a few beers today and the topic came up. The thing is, thanks to my proselytizing (endlessly ranting), all of them have ended up scratching the surface of MMA. At different times over the past two years, and without talking to each other or to me about it.

Of course, if someone doesn’t dedicate enough time and consumption to it, the algorithm won’t start feeding UFC content everywhere. So they haven’t heard about any of the recent “flavor of the month” fighters: they have no idea who Khamzat is, for example.
But they do know who GSP, Jones, DJ, AS, Fedor… were.

What did they do? Probably the most common entry route into any hobby: they looked up who the greatest of all time were. But they found that after the top five or so, things got murky. Some lists had Randy, others BJ, others Khabib...
So they ALL ended up on the official UFC records page.

That’s how they learned who Oliveira is: from the submission record. And Max. And Merab.
And (I'm getting there, sorry) Izzy and Aldo: from their number of title wins.

This led them to think they had arrived too late to MMA, that the best years were already behind. And that might be true (it’s debatable) but the UFC is so busy trying to catch “lightning in a bottle” that it loses sight of the fact that helping its current potential legends write that history is far more important in the long run.

Let me give a few specific examples that come to mind:

The clearest ones are Volk and Islam. Volk is one title win away from Aldo, and I don’t think anyone can question the level of opposition he’s faced.
Recent rumors point to Evloev. He’d be the most deserving contender, sure, but I don’t think anyone would lose their minds if they gave the shot to Lerone, increasing Volk’s chances of another successful defense.
And (even though he already has the résumé to back it up) the UFC could just say, “Ladies and gentlemen, here’s the greatest featherweight of all time. Today. Right now.” And let him retire after the Evloev fight.

Islam has 15 consecutive wins: one short of Anderson Silva. He could get it against JDM, yes, but the UFC could (should?) have suggested that he fight one last time at 155, where he’d have been the clear favorite to hit 16. Then, once he has secured his name up there and the UFC can announce that the greatest lightweight ever has tied a historic record, he could go for the next challenge: winning a second belt.

And without question, the UFC should prefer Pereira going for a triple championship over a fight against Jones.

Making history, building and preserving the legacy of this era, will always be a better choice than constantly chasing the next carrot.

Where in Spain are you located?

Are they just randomly searching for this stuff on Google?

 

[EndlessCritic]

Okay, it’s a N=4 sample. But their behavior was so similar (and logical) that I think something extrapolable can be drawn from it.

Four lifelong friends. In their forties, give or take a year. They’ve never practiced nor shown any interest whatsoever in martial arts. We’re Spanish, Topuria is everywhere right now, but they couldn’t care less.

We were having a few beers today and the topic came up. The thing is, thanks to my proselytizing (endlessly ranting), all of them have ended up scratching the surface of MMA. At different times over the past two years, and without talking to each other or to me about it.

Of course, if someone doesn’t dedicate enough time and consumption to it, the algorithm won’t start feeding UFC content everywhere. So they haven’t heard about any of the recent “flavor of the month” fighters: they have no idea who Khamzat is, for example.
But they do know who GSP, Jones, DJ, AS, Fedor… were.

What did they do? Probably the most common entry route into any hobby: they looked up who the greatest of all time were. But they found that after the top five or so, things got murky. Some lists had Randy, others BJ, others Khabib...
So they ALL ended up on the official UFC records page.

That’s how they learned who Oliveira is: from the submission record. And Max. And Merab.
And (I'm getting there, sorry) Izzy and Aldo: from their number of title wins.

This led them to think they had arrived too late to MMA, that the best years were already behind. And that might be true (it’s debatable) but the UFC is so busy trying to catch “lightning in a bottle” that it loses sight of the fact that helping its current potential legends write that history is far more important in the long run.

Let me give a few specific examples that come to mind:

The clearest ones are Volk and Islam. Volk is one title win away from Aldo, and I don’t think anyone can question the level of opposition he’s faced.
Recent rumors point to Evloev. He’d be the most deserving contender, sure, but I don’t think anyone would lose their minds if they gave the shot to Lerone, increasing Volk’s chances of another successful defense.
And (even though he already has the résumé to back it up) the UFC could just say, “Ladies and gentlemen, here’s the greatest featherweight of all time. Today. Right now.” And let him retire after the Evloev fight.

Islam has 15 consecutive wins: one short of Anderson Silva. He could get it against JDM, yes, but the UFC could (should?) have suggested that he fight one last time at 155, where he’d have been the clear favorite to hit 16. Then, once he has secured his name up there and the UFC can announce that the greatest lightweight ever has tied a historic record, he could go for the next challenge: winning a second belt.

And without question, the UFC should prefer Pereira going for a triple championship over a fight against Jones.

Making history, building and preserving the legacy of this era, will always be a better choice than constantly chasing the next carrot.

Romanticizing the heroes of past eras is how every sport works.

It's rare that you get to consider the present to be history making. And it's even worse when people pretend like everything in the present is the greatest.

I mean jesus, people were actually calling Woodley the GOAT welterweight when he was champion. It was absolutely laughable then, and it's laughable now.

Sometimes things in the past were better. But usually, there's a lot of great stuff happening in the present too. The best thing anyone can do is just watch, and make up your own mind.

 

[don't ask]

Okay, it’s a N=4 sample. But their behavior was so similar (and logical) that I think something extrapolable can be drawn from it.

Four lifelong friends. In their forties, give or take a year. They’ve never practiced nor shown any interest whatsoever in martial arts. We’re Spanish, Topuria is everywhere right now, but they couldn’t care less.

We were having a few beers today and the topic came up. The thing is, thanks to my proselytizing (endlessly ranting), all of them have ended up scratching the surface of MMA. At different times over the past two years, and without talking to each other or to me about it.

Of course, if someone doesn’t dedicate enough time and consumption to it, the algorithm won’t start feeding UFC content everywhere. So they haven’t heard about any of the recent “flavor of the month” fighters: they have no idea who Khamzat is, for example.
But they do know who GSP, Jones, DJ, AS, Fedor… were.

What did they do? Probably the most common entry route into any hobby: they looked up who the greatest of all time were. But they found that after the top five or so, things got murky. Some lists had Randy, others BJ, others Khabib...
So they ALL ended up on the official UFC records page.

That’s how they learned who Oliveira is: from the submission record. And Max. And Merab.
And (I'm getting there, sorry) Izzy and Aldo: from their number of title wins.

This led them to think they had arrived too late to MMA, that the best years were already behind. And that might be true (it’s debatable) but the UFC is so busy trying to catch “lightning in a bottle” that it loses sight of the fact that helping its current potential legends write that history is far more important in the long run.

Let me give a few specific examples that come to mind:

The clearest ones are Volk and Islam. Volk is one title win away from Aldo, and I don’t think anyone can question the level of opposition he’s faced.
Recent rumors point to Evloev. He’d be the most deserving contender, sure, but I don’t think anyone would lose their minds if they gave the shot to Lerone, increasing Volk’s chances of another successful defense.
And (even though he already has the résumé to back it up) the UFC could just say, “Ladies and gentlemen, here’s the greatest featherweight of all time. Today. Right now.” And let him retire after the Evloev fight.

Islam has 15 consecutive wins: one short of Anderson Silva. He could get it against JDM, yes, but the UFC could (should?) have suggested that he fight one last time at 155, where he’d have been the clear favorite to hit 16. Then, once he has secured his name up there and the UFC can announce that the greatest lightweight ever has tied a historic record, he could go for the next challenge: winning a second belt.

And without question, the UFC should prefer Pereira going for a triple championship over a fight against Jones.

Making history, building and preserving the legacy of this era, will always be a better choice than constantly chasing the next carrot.

I agree with you, but famous fighters want things like money and not getting poked in the eyes. The last thing UFC wants is for a fighter to gain enough power to make the UFC less shitty. Hence, no more stars. Only Dana White and the brand matter.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

If islam continues finishing people like Silva did, i am okay with the comparison.

I hate decision wrestlers.

Islam has been fresh air for that.

Islam has never finished anyone "like Silva did" nobody has.

 

[CasualBot]

Islam has never finished anyone "like Silva did" nobody has.

No doubt, just meant to show respect for "finishes" because i hate decisions. Even more so i hate "win streaks" with mostly decisions.

Silva cannot be touched in my eyes.
Like Fedor, it's a time & a place.

Islam i respect a lot more than (say) Hamfat,
Who decisions DDP, Usman, Burns, etc.

 

[dipstickjimmy]

And without question, the UFC should prefer Pereira going for a triple championship over a fight against Jones.

Making history, building and preserving the legacy of this era, will always be a better choice than constantly chasing the next carrot.

These last points are directly conflicting IMO.
Guys bouncing into fights and divisions for 1 fight but a title is what errodes the value of a title and tarnishes a legacy.

Jon Jones is GOAT LHW assuming you overlook the PEDs and cheating. His run at HW is a detraction from his legacy.

Pereira having 1 fight at HW and winning the title doesn't mean he is the best HW. He could be a triple champ but not be GOAT in any of his divisions.

 

[DumpsterBaby]

My limited experience with you has brought me to the conclusion that you’re self-centered enough to think that anyone should care about your story with the boys. Put way too much effort into that shit, my guy, unless you’re in your teens.

 

[Rubios]

Where in Spain are you located?

Are they just randomly searching for this stuff on Google?

Valencia, the city.

I guess, if I wanted to give... sumo, let's say, a try, I'd search for "best sumo fights ever", "best sumo fighters ever" and stuff like that.
So, yes, they landed in Wikipedia, rankings by ESPN, Bleacher Report and the likes... and the UFC record page.

Returning to MMA, I wouldn't start right away by listening to an hour plus long podcast covering the history of each weight class, i.e.

 

[fedorthegoat777]

These last points are directly conflicting IMO.
Guys bouncing into fights and divisions for 1 fight but a title is what errodes the value of a title and tarnishes a legacy.

Jon Jones is GOAT LHW assuming you overlook the PEDs and cheating. His run at HW is a detraction from his legacy.

Pereira having 1 fight at HW and winning the title doesn't mean he is the best HW. He could be a triple champ but not be GOAT in any of his divisions.

I think gsp, Penn, bones, moving up and picking up a win adds to their overall legacy. Obviously they are not the best in the division they move up to, but still cool nonetheless.

 

[dipstickjimmy]

I think gsp, Penn, bones, moving up and picking up a win adds to their overall legacy. Obviously they are not the best in the division they move up to, but still cool nonetheless.

GSP beat the man who beat the man.
BJ Penn beat the man who beat the man.
Bisping held the title that he won from Luke who won from The Chris, who took it from the MW GOAT. GSP earned a MW title shot by being the absolute GOAT WW.

BJ Penn beat the reigning WW king when there was no LW division to fight in. He was a worthy challenger being a top LW.
He was 6-1-1

Jon never fought a UFC HW champion. He won a vacant title in his first ever fight at HW against a guy who was never a champion. Then he insists on fighting a 42 year old former HW champ who was 3 years removed from the octagon and a full time fireman.
If Jon had actually unified the title against Tom his HW title would have legitimacy. As of now he never really was a champion. Ducking Tom killed his HW legacy and I think he might have been able to beat Tom. I would say 60/40 in favour of Jon. Had he already done that he would have the huge alleged payday against Alex in the bag by now.

 

[jeskola]

I find it hard to believe that 4 out of 4 friends of yours all ended up on the official UFC Recordholders page when researching MMA without some coaxing from you to look it up. or without you putting it up on a TV and making them look at it. I feel like there is more to this story, or that it is just made up.

Most UFC records are just a footnote. Its like in any sport - a guy sets a record and he says "yeah that's cool but I just want to win this game or this series". Its about the here and now, winning fights and the belt, and that's it.

UFC did try to make another Conor and Ronda, but for the most part (O'Malley is the exception), they stopped trying to do that years ago.