Not caring about half the fights and/or half the fighters does NOT make you a casual.

[Sticko]

Like 70% of fighters on the prelims will never go anywhere or be heard from again. They are basically Tachi fights or worse. Why should anyone care about low level MMA? Can any NFL fans on here tell you who the best running backs are in arena football?

Except Tachi Fights are full of people who would love to be in the UFC but aren't so no, it's not the same level. Maybe we're talking about the difference between a T60 fighter vs. a T100 or T200 fighter, or even lower.

 

[Nuclear Fallout]

Just means you know what you like and what you don't like. You can't be expected to like every fighter and card.

 

[christopher]

lol to be honest the UFC has been sliding so many good fights onto the prelims and then slipping by WMMA with ranked fighters but terrible fights onto the main card... I see your point, but if you feel that way, than I suggest you at least watch any fight that includes a ranking, so you can learn new names if you don't know them already or at least watch the relevant fights for any given division..and .. also while looking at the fight card and some of the early prelims at least click the fighters profile so you can find out what type of fighter he is, that way your not missing watching a standout new fighter that might be super exciting have nothing but finishes on their record or lots of KO's.. cause that is ultimately what most people come to see am I right? Lol dude's or dudette's getting knocked out cold...

But you really should find time every now and again to see some up and comer names, because truthfully the guys on the prelims 5-10 years ago are often's today's main event

 

[Char Jawz]

Who cares and why do you care if a bunch of people you don't even know call you a casual? For the record, nobody said you have to watch every fight to be a hardcore fan. Some of us try to, but it's not because we're trying to outdo "the casuals".

Just don't call a top 10 fighter a bum if they lose to another top 10 fighter and I won't call you a casual.

 

[Char Jawz]

The prelims outside 1 or 2 MAY be garbage, but how can you judge fighters that you've never seen fight before?

There may be multiple future contenders or champs, just go back & look at prelims from every ppv, you'll find plenty of them in hindsight.

So true. If people don't want to watch the prelims, just come here the next day and see all the threads about the latest uber-prospect or prelims war, then go back and watch it. Amirite?

 

[felmmando]

These made up rules for being a fan are just plain stupid

Complaining about their being too many fights is even stupider

I didn't understand the OP to be complaining about the number of fights, but simply arguing that it exceeds the minimum number one would have to watch to take a non-casual interest in the sport.

 

[ryun253]

Used to watch every fight during Pride due to time & always mixed up premier fighters throughout the card. I try to catch the main UFCs card but I get lucky to be able to watch an entire main card now

 

[Sweater of AV]

The line between the UFC and Uncle Goof's Stand and Bang Contender Series is disappearing...I'll catch a couple of fights on the cards these days.

Casual happily checking in.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

If you don't watch at least 5 fight cards a week you're a filthy casual.


@Kryptt is the only non casual on this site.

 

[agibmxmma]

Like 70% of fighters on the prelims will never go anywhere or be heard from again. They are basically Tachi fights or worse. Why should anyone care about low level MMA? Can any NFL fans on here tell you who the best running backs are in arena football?

If one is calling self a hardcore fan of Football, then they should know. But if a fan of just the NFL, as you state, then no. But that's the same as a fan calling himself a hardcore fan of MMA.. he should know all orgs and top fighters in such, but if a fan of just the UFC, then they won't know. Most casuals are just UFC shills and don't know much else and then try to reason why they aren't a casual. Yet hardcore fans, never defend self when called a casual, because it's a joke when said to.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

The line between the UFC and Uncle Goof's Stand and Bang Contender Series is disappearing...I'll catch a couple of fights on the cards these days.

Casual happily checking in.

This season's contender series is actually looking really good, hopefully they keep up the quality of the fighters they've booked so far.

 

[agibmxmma]

Casual isn't even insulting.

What sport does anyone watch and knows every player on every team and their family history? And sits to watch every event put on by the league and all bush leagues under it? To not be a 'casual' you have to have no life to watch that many hours of anything.

Or you can just be a fan of the actual sport, not just a team or specific org/league. Most who can afford to attend live events regularly, have a hectic life, yet are true fans, so knowing the history and those within the sport, are simple common knowledge from being an actual fan, not a so called casual.

 

[Kryptt]

If you don't watch at least 5 fight cards a week you're a filthy casual.


@Kryptt is the only non casual on this site.

And this week is comin in Hotttttt!

 

[Hellowhosthat]

And this week is comin in Hotttttt!

We could be on for double figures this week buddy!

 

[jk7707]

The UFC had 20 events in 2008 roughly split between PPVs and TV events. At the time, this was the most events the UFC ever had in one year. Prelims were not televised until 2009.

In 2008, you could have only watched roughly 100 fights live (20 events x 4 to 5 main card fights). If you were a hardcore fan, watching twenty events a year at 2-3 hours each was very manageable. If you only cared to watch Chuck, Tito, BJ, Forest and the like then you were rightfully labelled a casual.

Things are way different today.

You now have 40+ events a year with at least 12 fights per event. We're talking 500 fights a year. Most likely more. To say someone is a casual for not caring about some no names on the prelims is silly. If you only watch half the fights that will still be 2.5 times more than what the hardest hardcore fan would have watched in 2008.

In other words, the main card for UFC 261 is solid. The prelims outside of maybe 1-2 fights are garbage.

I agree. At this point the early prelims are filled with a bunch of fighters who are now coming up from the farm team in the DWCS. It's so obviously a cost cutting strategy by the UFC that it makes it really hard to care about most of those fights.

 

[Andrey Kamensky]

I feel ya. Makes sense.
I don’t watch all fights either. It’s not like I have time to watch several events that last hours every week. (Talking about MMA events outside of ufc too) So I follow my favourite fighters and the bigger names and try to give as much of a chance to the fighters that I don’t know as well to find new ones to follow. But I can’t catch em all. If I do that I’ll be watching MMA cards everyday basically.

 

[SerbBerserk]

I don't think anyone realistically expects you to be interested in a lot of guys, I have a few personal picks that I keep tabs on, and a general understanding of the champions and some of the current contenders and that's it. Prelims can be fun to watch though, so I would recommend it, some prelims have helped boring main cards for me.

 

[Pastinaca1]

Much better to be a casual than to be a hardcore.
If you know almost every fighter in UFC or you are very interested in watching any fight then it means you do not have a lot going on in your life and that is very sad.

 

[DoNoootin]

Great, and astute point actually.

Majority of fight fans in general seem to take the perspective of 'if you don't know every fighter and follow every single fight ever' = Casual. But that's silly.

You can still know a lot about fighting and love it a lot but follow a few fights, fighters or events.

I think a casual is someone who really doesn't know anything or care about fighting truly but just watches a few of the big ones as an event...

But it's not one or the other,
There is the 'casual expert' as you have defined = someone who follows a few but is not casual in the sense of not caring or knowing on a deep level.

 

[Pastinaca1]

Funniest thing is that some people use or take “casual” as an insult or something negative LMAO.

Hardcore is way worse, it means you are addicted to something that actually brings nothing to your life.