the ufc has had the same basic formula since forever.
like, what makes a stacked? u said draws, but thats nearly impossible to measure without ppv numbers. wo what we look at youtube views? which can be paid for, and no doubt are. are we talking rankings? cause they are, according to most sherdoggers, nonsense. we end up in a no win terrritory.
i said the formulas havent changed much, but the reality is they simply expanded
1) having the sport grow so much requires expansion of what makes a "top fighter". back in the day you would only look at the top 10, now you look at top 15 or 20 even.
2) new weight classes, men and women, feels like a thinning of the org for many sherdoggers
3) with so many new fighters, you need more cards. most ppl dont watch every card. its easy for a guy to go 5-0 in the ufc and a casual wont even know who they are. ive seen someone iwth a 7-1 ufc record with no wiki page. 5-0 would get u title shot in the "golden era"
4) mma fighters get paid better than they used to. we often see the top guys holding out for the perfect date/matchup/location/etc.
5) part of their formula included TUF fighters as amarketing tool. now they have DWCS, Road to Octagon or whatever its called, Dana White Looking for a fight, and probably other im missing
6) i guess ufc has always been pretty international, but the more the expand into territories the more they cater to that region. its easy to call a card weak when its meant for the purpose of pulling in regional audiences. if thats the case its tougher to get higher skilled/ranked fighters there
