This shit has got to stop. I've been a fight fan for 7 years now, first PPV I saw was UFC 86 with Rampage/Griffin headlining. I'm not going to pretend I'm more than what I am, I haven't been watching since UFC 1, I didn't know what the hell Pride was, and while I'd heard the names Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre before, they didn't mean anything to me. They do now.
I'm a fight fan, and I don't think that's going to change anytime soon. I don't order every PPV, I don't catch every Fight Night, but I watch what I can and I follow the sport. If I don't watch an event then I'll usually check out the play by plays, or at the very least the results the next day. I'm far from the biggest fan out there, but I enjoy the sport and have an appreciation for it. But what the UFC is doing these days really bothers me.
Over the past few years there has been an ever increasing trend of the UFC putting the legitimacy of the sport into serious question. With the recent official announcement of McGregor-Diaz 2, this is the proverbial straw that broke the camels back. Its not the worst offender, its just the most recent, and its the one that will receive the most media coverage from now until the fight. How much of that media coverage will dare risk their UFC credentials by pointing out what a complete joke of a fight this is? Will it sell? Absolutely. Will it entertain? Most likely. But that's not enough.
The truth is that the UFC has been putting money first for a long time, maybe even the entire time. I like to think when it started out Dana White and at least Lorenzo were fight fans themselves, they were passionate about it and they had a desire to run a kick ass fight promotion. Thats long since fallen by the way side in an effort to earn more money. And for a long time this was actually ok, because even though they were doing things that would make people question just how the hell fights are chosen (Online pole gave Anderson a title shot, Couture retires only to be offered a HW title shot, Lesnar gets a HW title fight after going 2-1 in his career etc....) they were advancing the sport more than they were hurting it. Legitimacy doesn't mean anything if nobody is watching. People are watching now.
So how can we justify McGregor-Diaz 2? Or Rockhold-Weidman 2? Or until recently Werdum-Velasquez 2? I know what you'll say "The UFC is a business, its supposed to make money" "They are obviously going to do whatever sells the most" "Just shut up and enjoy the fights". These are all valid arguements, but they all lack the obvious. As a fan of the sport, and not Dana White's wallet, why should I care? Because they'll be entertaining? So will lots of fights, I can name a whole shit load of fights that would be just as, if not more entertaining. You know what would sell at UFC 200? Johnson vs Cruz, McGregor vs RDA, Lawler vs Rockhold, DC vs Werdum. Wouldn't that be a hell of a line up? Wouldn't that make just an insane amount of money and be incredibly entertaining? So why not do it? Cause it makes no fucking sense.
Why should be so readily accept the absurdity of these fights? Why should any of us feel like we owe it to the UFC to keep putting up with their lazy bullshit? And they are going to keep doing it. As long as they make money off it they have no reason to give us anything better, to give us legitimacy. Why waste the effort, why waste the time on a sport that earns just as much money doing the gimmick? We deserve a better organization heading MMA, but they deserve fans that will show their appreciation for it and their distaste for anything less.
We are at the precipice. We are presented with a great opportunity to send them a message that we are sick of this bullshit. We have to hit them where it hurts, on their biggest show with their biggest star. I won't be watching UFC 200, and I hope you don't either.
I'm a fight fan, and I don't think that's going to change anytime soon. I don't order every PPV, I don't catch every Fight Night, but I watch what I can and I follow the sport. If I don't watch an event then I'll usually check out the play by plays, or at the very least the results the next day. I'm far from the biggest fan out there, but I enjoy the sport and have an appreciation for it. But what the UFC is doing these days really bothers me.
Over the past few years there has been an ever increasing trend of the UFC putting the legitimacy of the sport into serious question. With the recent official announcement of McGregor-Diaz 2, this is the proverbial straw that broke the camels back. Its not the worst offender, its just the most recent, and its the one that will receive the most media coverage from now until the fight. How much of that media coverage will dare risk their UFC credentials by pointing out what a complete joke of a fight this is? Will it sell? Absolutely. Will it entertain? Most likely. But that's not enough.
The truth is that the UFC has been putting money first for a long time, maybe even the entire time. I like to think when it started out Dana White and at least Lorenzo were fight fans themselves, they were passionate about it and they had a desire to run a kick ass fight promotion. Thats long since fallen by the way side in an effort to earn more money. And for a long time this was actually ok, because even though they were doing things that would make people question just how the hell fights are chosen (Online pole gave Anderson a title shot, Couture retires only to be offered a HW title shot, Lesnar gets a HW title fight after going 2-1 in his career etc....) they were advancing the sport more than they were hurting it. Legitimacy doesn't mean anything if nobody is watching. People are watching now.
So how can we justify McGregor-Diaz 2? Or Rockhold-Weidman 2? Or until recently Werdum-Velasquez 2? I know what you'll say "The UFC is a business, its supposed to make money" "They are obviously going to do whatever sells the most" "Just shut up and enjoy the fights". These are all valid arguements, but they all lack the obvious. As a fan of the sport, and not Dana White's wallet, why should I care? Because they'll be entertaining? So will lots of fights, I can name a whole shit load of fights that would be just as, if not more entertaining. You know what would sell at UFC 200? Johnson vs Cruz, McGregor vs RDA, Lawler vs Rockhold, DC vs Werdum. Wouldn't that be a hell of a line up? Wouldn't that make just an insane amount of money and be incredibly entertaining? So why not do it? Cause it makes no fucking sense.
Why should be so readily accept the absurdity of these fights? Why should any of us feel like we owe it to the UFC to keep putting up with their lazy bullshit? And they are going to keep doing it. As long as they make money off it they have no reason to give us anything better, to give us legitimacy. Why waste the effort, why waste the time on a sport that earns just as much money doing the gimmick? We deserve a better organization heading MMA, but they deserve fans that will show their appreciation for it and their distaste for anything less.
We are at the precipice. We are presented with a great opportunity to send them a message that we are sick of this bullshit. We have to hit them where it hurts, on their biggest show with their biggest star. I won't be watching UFC 200, and I hope you don't either.
R
