"The UFC is dying or mediocre product recently", I'm seeing a lot of this lately

[elcj]

I've seen a lot of such comments recently, with many saying it's oversaturated with too many events.

I feel a big issue is, the Champions, top P4P fighters and most popular fighters, don't fight enough.

If you look at the list of Champs and top fighters, you'll see most of them take huge breaks in between fights. Ofc the buzz stagnates when the biggest fights aren't happening.
There are also no storylines. What is there to be hyped about or interested in?

Big cards bring more attention to lesser-known fighters. But ofc, the card isn't big without big names.
Nobody cares about up-and-coming or lower ranked fighters that show promise or are on great streaks. Why care about such fighters when it could be years before they even get a sniff at a title shot, because title fights happen once in a blue moon and the matchmaking is a mess?

There's also rarely any story or drama around many fights.

Also fights are a lot tamer nowadays... There's that too.

 

[humdizzle]

ufc did ok in the ufc

 

[duke_droese]

The funniest one is Leon fanboys saying that the UFC is dead with boring people like Belal as the champ

I will say though, it does feel like it's not the best of the best anymore. That might be a good thing as it allows more competition in the MMA sphere.

 

[Milenkovic]

Who cares about a story for fighting? Want that, go watch WWE.

Problem is, the product is oversaturated with too many watered down cards.

 

[epic1stpost]

People been saying that kinda stuff for years

 

[Get To Da Choppa]

I've seen a lot of such comments recently, with many saying it's oversaturated with too many events.

I feel a big issue is, the Champions, top P4P fighters and most popular fighters, don't fight enough.

If you look at the list of Champs and top fighters, you'll see most of them take huge breaks in between fights. Ofc the buzz stagnates when the biggest fights aren't happening.
There are also no storylines. What is there to be hyped about or interested in?

Big cards bring more attention to lesser-known fighters. But ofc, the card isn't big without big names.
Nobody cares about up-and-coming or lower ranked fighters that show promise or are on great streaks. Why care about such fighters when it could be years before they even get a sniff at a title shot, because title fights happen once in a blue moon and the matchmaking is a mess?

There's also rarely any story or drama around many fights.

Also fights are a lot tamer nowadays... There's that too.

Sherdoggers have claimed that UFC has been dying since TUF 2

 

[Swamp Rat Jones]

"Recently"?

That's been said for at least the last 15 years

 

[don't ask]

The UFC is rushing towards mediocrity... it's their business model now. They used to be shitty in increments, but now they're aggressively going all in.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

WME went quantity over quality and never looked back

 

[wildchild88]

UFC product is trash in my view. I hate the production values of it, it gives me a headache. Being screamed at with propaganda with obnoxious nasal voices.

But they are experiencing massive economic growth.

So the sentiments in OP mean nothing really. A lot of hardcore fans don't like it, but UFC just care about the bottom line. Greenbacks.

 

[tritestill]

The problem is UFC has to combat delusional fanboys who believe they know more than they actually do and are in love with a romanticized past. Can't battle against the nostalgia people hold. UFC having less cards gave fans a chance to anticipate, but with 2-4 cards per month, it doesn't have that same feel, which is fine. UFC has expanded, larger roster means more fights, who would have guessed that? People complain about the new schedule pf not having a card middle December through January. MMA fans are highly emotional, like women. Who would have guessed that?

The other problem the UFC has is having to battle putting down some filler cards with fans who actually do know what they are talking about and are not prisoners of their false memories.

The other problem is having to sensationalize things for casuals, who ironically, make up a large portion of their POV buys, viewing audience and ticket sales.

 

[tritestill]

WME went quantity over quality and never looked back

ESPN cut the check!!!

 

[Gamer007]

A dark age is coming for sure. They've been economically propped up by the ESPN deal, but that evaluation was based off Pre-2018 (When the PPV's were actually selling big and we had stars like Conor and Ronda fighting consistently).

 

[J'Ghasta]

Im too tired to diagnose specific causes right now but the UFC has definitely gotten worse since like 2016 which was pretty much its last good year. Big downward trend since then. UFC prime was 2003-2016.

 

[Pharenheit]

Over-saturation is a sport killer. It’s basically about filling apex cards with the cheapest talent possible to fill the quotas espn has set. I

 

[DagOban**]

I find it a shame that UFC doesn't believe in its product anymore. It feels the need to interfere : chooses fighters and who fights whom, all based on other things than who is the best. It also shits on the legends that made the sport.

Shame.

 

[jmboyd24]

The UFC product is significantly worse in 2024 than it was in 2021. There are more crap fights and simple production elements are going downhill. Who the hell approved the music used for fight night cards these days?

Losing Ngannou was a massive blow and for some reason Dana has decided to hold up the heavyweight division for years to make a fight that no one cares about anymore. There are still great fights and moments but the management of the company seems to have been pretty poor recently.

The fact that they're still holding fights at the Apex is mind boggling. Imagine a major sports league holding a third of their events in a studio with no crowd.

 

[svmr_db]

The UFC product is significantly worse in 2024 than it was in 2021. There are more crap fights and simple production elements are going downhill. Who the hell approved the music used for fight night cards these days?

The music they play as some of these prelim fights end is hilarious, it's usually some form of pop music that is so ill-fitting & light hearted that it makes the fights look like a joke lol.

 

[witt1021]

the best fighting organization on the planet and we get fight night cards where 5 fights have fighters not even ranked in the top 100. i can see it becoming watered down and over saturated but with me i love watching people fight. so really if you just love MMA then you shouldnt give a fuck at all. just enjoy the fact we can watch people beat the shit out of each other on a weekly basis.

 

[PhotographyRaptor]

Are you new to Sherdog because, recently?