The ESPN deal has been awful for MMA fans

Killer Kadoogan said:
there's a large majority here of fans who think that just because there is more, that it's better, and that as fans in 2024, we should be eternally grateful, because back then there wasn't a lot of MMA. but that's a stupid ass assessment, obviously. it's always been about quality vs. quantity. no one, besides these morons, wants to watch watered down cards, every weekend, full of nobodies, at unexciting weight classes, or ganders, nobody. besides these fools. no, you don't have to be grateful for mediocre watered down cards, no you don't have to immediately like all divisions, or WMMA for thefat matter. we all want to see the best. that has always been the case since day one. the worst fans are these guys who look down on those who don't want to watch crap, as if watching this crap somehow makes them better at sherdog or MMA, and then get violently offended when people say "hey, this actually sucks ass," as if having an opinion all of a sudden threatens their ability to enjoy watered down nonsensical hoo-haw. no one cares. either side. but my opinion is right.
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I said before that things arent perfect. There are problems now, just as there were problems then.

Yes I think people whining about too much mma are ingrates. Whiny little bitches who take every card that doesn't tickle their taint as a personal affront and cry themselves to sleep in Mommy's basement.

No one is saying you have to like everything but stop crying like a feeble newborn woman.

"Buurrrhuuuur I miss the days when it was new to me, why can't it still be like thaaahaaahaaaat"
 
HHJ said:
I said before that things arent perfect. There are problems now, just as there were problems then.

Yes I think people whining about too much mma are ingrates. Whiny little bitches who take every card that doesn't tickle their taint as a personal affront and cry themselves to sleep in Mommy's basement.

No one is saying you have to like everything but stop crying like a feeble newborn woman.

"Buurrrhuuuur I miss the days when it was new to me, why can't it still be like thaaahaaahaaaat"
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what are you doing now? not whining? i knew your ass would take the bait.
 
ryun253 said:
nobody's holding a gun to your head and telling you to watch
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These sissies are acting like they are though.


Imagine boxing fans acting like this. They see a shit card and go oh damn well I ain't watching that one.

But mma fans act like the sport will die any second

"Ufc is dying bro"
 
I do fuckin hate the Apex tho. They def need to be rid of that. Sooner the betta.
 
The higher ups are cashing out short term profit for long term. I think once the older execs leave we'll see better cards. Crazy how ESPN seems fine with being milked, you would think they would push back more.
 
TempleoftheDog said:
You should probably let “mma fans” speak for themselves. I prefer having a card almost every week.

If you complain about too many cards. I find it odd. We still get title fights and some good ppv. So we’re seeing the big fights. And we get pre-lim level fights too. Since I haven’t paid for a ppv in a long time. So I think it would be hypocritical of me to always shit on ppv cards.

I don’t think any ppv is worth what ESPN actually charges, including the ESPN+ subscription you people down south have to pay. The model is outdated, and will have to change eventually.

Flat rate every month for all content. For much cheaper than the $80US, or whatever the price is now. Plus access to the vault like with Fight Pass. I’m just not sure what a fair price is. Considering I can access most of this for free right now.
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The number of cards hasn't gone up from the Fox era. This is a myth some of you guys like to repeat.

www.statista.com

Number of UFC events 2022 | Statista

2022 saw a total of 42 Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) events take place, representing a small decrease on the previous year.
www.statista.com www.statista.com

We're not getting more cards, just shittier ones.
 
The card you brought up is often considered the best Fight Night in UFC history. Even in 2015 it was considered a phenomenon.
 
blaseblase said:
What's wrong with Cub headlining a card? That was right after his FotY against Choi.


View attachment 1042685


Is this the worst card you can think of from the Fox era? You would be grateful to get a card like this today.
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This card was epic lol. Another from that year was the Pittsburgh card. Pure violence. FN cards are rarely ever stacked like this anymore.
 
blaseblase said:
View attachment 1042663
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That card looks a hell of a lot better in hindsight than it did in real time.

None of the prelim fighters were known yet.

Overeem was looking like a UFC flop (had just lost to Rothwell and Browne).

Nate was not yet a star.

Stipe was just an unknown rising contender.

Still a good Fight Night though, especially compared to today.

*

I think it was covid more than the ESPN deal that ruined Fight Nights. It made UFC realize they got paid the same for shitty Apex cards as they were for good Fight Nights, so they went all in.

Now that the deal is coming up soon and they're trying to negotiate, they're finally putting more effort into Fight Nights and going on the road a lot more in the second half of this year.
 
I also have to sign up for ESPN if I buy a card, then cancel the next day. Waste of time, ESPN sucks.
 
I mean they put out cards nearly every week and it's nearly 3:1 ESPN+ cards. Sure they are behind the espn+ pay wall. And sure they fill a lot of those cards with contracted no names because they need to fill the fight obligations. Alex Perez vs Nicoleu lol

But occasionally the espn+ cards are great. Right?
 
And the fox cards were like 4x a year 3 months is a pretty long time to wait for a "free card"
 
the card quality is down because the overall talent in MMA is down. at least starwise. UFC being accused of being a monopoly also didn't help. how are we supposed to get all the best fights if the UFC doesn't have all the best fighters?
 
Different business models between ESPN and Fox.

For ESPN, they are in the PPV game for the UFC...they want just enough recognizable fighters on the lower tier cards to get people to watch, but not enough that it will detract from PPV sales, where they stand the best chance of turning a profit.

For Fox, they wanted viewership with big names so they could sell more advertising, without concern for the PPV portion, and they probably negotiated for X # of title fights etc.
 
HHJ said:
Yesterday was fuckin awesome bro. Fuck today


Tommorow: Yesterday was fuckin awesome bro. Fuck today
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You can objectively say that today’s/ESPN cards are A LOT watered down compared to before. It’s not nostalgia, it’s not a boomer moment, it’s a fact. If you like quantity over quality then that’s great for you because that’s what we have been getting for the last couple of years. I would much rather have 1-2 events per month than watered down cards that I don’t feel give me enough entertainment value to spend time watching.
 
I personally find oversaturation and dillution of cards to compromise my interest over time. The roster and divisions have grown beyond the capacity of even a seasoned fan like myself to keep track of them, which means I find myself often watching fighters I know very little about, and don't care. Even remembering them becomes difficult since they are sprawled across a million cards with very uniform presentation, often buried in undercards.

I personally prefer quality over quantity, less but more stacked cards, less divisions and belts, but more stacked ones with recognizable names and figures. Pride was special in that regard; cards were generally stacked and one knew the fighters from bottom to top.

Sport interest is built of narratives: rivalries, contenders. It's simply not as interesting to watch a fight between people you just don't know or care about, and since fighters are sprawled through a gazillion cards it makes following the threads exorbitantly difficult unless you spend obscene amounts of time reading and watching the sport.
 
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