UFC’s very grim possible near future

[Koro_11]

HW - Jones or Stipe undisputed champ retires, you’re left with Tom and a bunch of guys he’s already beat in a very thin division. This is very likely to happen.

LHW - Ankalaev champ, If they do give him a title shot, he could very well win and he is arguably the least interesting champ on this list, which is saying a lot. This is very possible to happen.

MW - Chimaev champ. Yeah, a lot more of a needle mover than the rest, but then you have to take into account the unpredictability unreliability, and all the issues that come with him to show up to a fight and on weight, etc. This is fairly possible, assuming he fights soon.

WW - Belal or Shavkhat champ. Sure Shavkat is easily the better option here for us fans but to the UFC it’s still a guy who doesn’t speak English and can’t and won’t promote himself. The other option is Belal, and one of these two being the WW champ by next year is very probable.

LW - Makhachev or Tsarukyan champ. I guess the UFC would probably be happier with Islam, but he’s far from the type of mega star they look for in a champ. The odds of one of these two being champ by next year is almost certain.

FW - Evloev champ. Obviously, Toria is first fighting Max, but let’s say Evloev gets past Aljo, which is very possible, he will almost certainly get the next shot at whoever is champ, and with his grappling him becoming champ in the near future is also possible.

BW - Merab champ. O’Malley is one of their most marketable champs, but we all know what type of matchup Merab presents and he could very possibly be your next champ.

FW - Pantoja, Erceg, Abazi champ. I guess their preferred option would probably be Erceg Because he can bang, he speaks English, and the whole Australian market thing. That said he’s not exactly Mr. marketable either, and the other two even less so. Very probable one of the three will be champ next year.


Now the odds of all of these things coming true, might not be that high, but I think it’s a pretty safe bet that at least some of them, probably at least half of them, if not most of them are very possible.

UFC better pray that guys like Ilija, O’Malley, and Poatan keep winning because it doesn’t look good if they don’t.

 

[HHJ]

CASUAL

 

[The Siege]

If you are running the UFC or have a huge stake in it, sure, you might not like it.

If you are a fan who wants to see the best rise to the top, then not an issue at all. Might be boring, but at least it's organic and not manipulated.

If you are a "fan" who gets their panties in a twist because a fighter from a nationality, ethnicity, or religion you hate wins, I suggest therapy to get that inferiority complex checked.

(Using the general you, not you specifically TS)

 

[RockyLockridge]

HW - Jones or Stipe undisputed champ retires, you’re left with Tom and a bunch of guys he’s already beat in a very thin division. This is very likely to happen.

LHW - Ankalaev champ, If they do give him a title shot, he could very well win and he is arguably the least interesting champ on this list, which is saying a lot. This is very possible to happen.

MW - Chimaev champ. Yeah, a lot more of a needle mover than the rest, but then you have to take into account the unpredictability unreliability, and all the issues that come with him to show up to a fight and on weight, etc. This is fairly possible, assuming he fights soon.

WW - Belal or Shavkhat champ. Sure Shavkat is easily the better option here for us fans but to the UFC it’s still a guy who doesn’t speak English and can’t and won’t promote himself. The other option is Belal, and one of these two being the WW champ by next year is very probable.

LW - Makhachev or Tsarukyan champ. I guess the UFC would probably be happier with Islam, but he’s far from the type of mega star they look for in a champ. The odds of one of these two being champ by next year is almost certain.

FW - Evloev champ. Obviously, Toria is first fighting Max, but let’s say Evloev gets past Aljo, which is very possible, he will almost certainly get the next shot at whoever is champ, and with his grappling him becoming champ in the near future is also possible.

BW - Merab champ. O’Malley is one of their most marketable champs, but we all know what type of matchup Merab presents and he could very possibly be your next champ.

FW - Pantoja, Erceg, Abazi champ. I guess their preferred option would probably be Erceg Because he can bang, he speaks English, and the whole Australian market thing. That said he’s not exactly Mr. marketable either, and the other two even less so. Very probable one of the three will be champ next year.


Now the odds of all of these things coming true, might not be that high, but I think it’s a pretty safe bet that at least some of them, probably at least half of them, if not most of them are very possible.

UFC better pray that guys like Ilija, O’Malley, and Poatan keep winning because it doesn’t look good if they don’t.

Grim.

 

[Thesnake101]

Why include Chim when he hasn't fought and has gone life and death with the best WWs he's taken on so far? We have no clue how he'd do against the more physical MWs at the top.

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

Poatan doesn't speak two licks of English and is easily marketable, just like Shavkat can be. Disagree with that one.
I think Evloev is too shit to touch gold and now that Mokaev is gone to the C leagues, he will be the new focus of my haterade.
They will squeeze what money they can out of Chimaev but his title aspirations are indefinitely on hold due to the pullout against Bobby. They know very well gold around his waist is bad for business.

 

[Koala]

HW - Jones or Stipe undisputed champ retires, you’re left with Tom and a bunch of guys he’s already beat in a very thin division. This is very likely to happen.

LHW - Ankalaev champ, If they do give him a title shot, he could very well win and he is arguably the least interesting champ on this list, which is saying a lot. This is very possible to happen.

MW - Chimaev champ. Yeah, a lot more of a needle mover than the rest, but then you have to take into account the unpredictability unreliability, and all the issues that come with him to show up to a fight and on weight, etc. This is fairly possible, assuming he fights soon.

WW - Belal or Shavkhat champ. Sure Shavkat is easily the better option here for us fans but to the UFC it’s still a guy who doesn’t speak English and can’t and won’t promote himself. The other option is Belal, and one of these two being the WW champ by next year is very probable.

LW - Makhachev or Tsarukyan champ. I guess the UFC would probably be happier with Islam, but he’s far from the type of mega star they look for in a champ. The odds of one of these two being champ by next year is almost certain.

FW - Evloev champ. Obviously, Toria is first fighting Max, but let’s say Evloev gets past Aljo, which is very possible, he will almost certainly get the next shot at whoever is champ, and with his grappling him becoming champ in the near future is also possible.

BW - Merab champ. O’Malley is one of their most marketable champs, but we all know what type of matchup Merab presents and he could very possibly be your next champ.

FW - Pantoja, Erceg, Abazi champ. I guess their preferred option would probably be Erceg Because he can bang, he speaks English, and the whole Australian market thing. That said he’s not exactly Mr. marketable either, and the other two even less so. Very probable one of the three will be champ next year.


Now the odds of all of these things coming true, might not be that high, but I think it’s a pretty safe bet that at least some of them, probably at least half of them, if not most of them are very possible.

UFC better pray that guys like Ilija, O’Malley, and Poatan keep winning because it doesn’t look good if they don’t.

I really like your predictions but lets see what happens with Holloway

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Lots of cultural enrichment possible

 

[deman]

If you are running the UFC or have a huge stake in it, sure, you might not like it.

If you are a fan who wants to see the best rise to the top, then not an issue at all. Might be boring, but at least it's organic and not manipulated.

If you are a "fan" who gets their panties in a twist because a fighter from a nationality, ethnicity, or religion you hate wins, I suggest therapy to get that inferiority complex checked.

(Using the general you, not you specifically TS)

I'm a fan who doesn't like them because their style is so robotic & boring. You could even say unrealistic, outside a matted octagon.

They all fight exactly the same way & you know what you're gunna see. You're not on the edge of your seat wondering if there will be an early KO. You know it'll just be a slow, methodical "fight" aka battle for control.

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

I'm a fan who doesn't like them because their style is so robotic & boring. You could even say unrealistic, outside a matted octagon.

They all fight exactly the same way & you know what you're gunna see. You're not on the edge of your seat wondering if there will be an early KO. You know it'll just be a slow, methodical "fight" aka battle for control.

The people that act as if "muh perfect statistical meritocracy" is more important than actually being entertained in a fight are people that would have rooted against Flamma in 128 AD

 

[IIIIIIII]

those old, "ufc is dead" jokes are a thing of the past. the very distant past lol. the ufc won't be dead for a very long time. just like there is only one economy, there is only one ufc, which is essentially saying there is only one mma market. sometimes there aren't any mma stars, anywhere. you can only have so many ronda's, conor's, jones's, etc. sometimes there's no one, and you do with what you have. no tears should be shed for them haha.

 

[Bork Neslar]

You're just overthinking. Chill out. They will be fine.

 

[The Siege]

The people that act as if "muh perfect statistical meritocracy" is more important than actually being entertained in a fight are people that would have rooted against Flamma in 128 AD

Wanting to see a fighter win on their own merits is not wrong. That's called a sport. Boring teams have won championships throughout history in all kinds of sports.

I'm surprised to hear this on a "hardcore" MMA forum.

 

[PaddyO'malley]

Pretty marketable to me fam just Saiyan

#Conquer

 

[The Siege]

I'm a fan who doesn't like them because their style is so robotic & boring. You could even say unrealistic, outside a matted octagon.

That's all well and fine. If they can't be stopped by other fighters under an agreed ruleset, calling for the promotion to manipulate the standings or artificially disadvantage those fighters is pretty weak IMO. Or worse, to cut these fighters.

They all fight exactly the same way & you know what you're gunna see. You're not on the edge of your seat wondering if there will be an early KO. You know it'll just be a slow, methodical "fight" aka battle for control.

This isn't even true and I don't care to get into the details right now.

 

[Conan the K-9]

Lots of cultural enrichment possible

Yeah, nice to have some diversity.

 

[HHJ]

Wanting to see a fighter win on their own merits is not wrong. That's called a sport. Boring teams have won championships throughout history in all kinds of sports.

I'm surprised to hear this on a "hardcore" MMA forum.

Sheep casuals hiding in sherdawg clothing

 

[Rataria]

Lol TS acts like hes a majority shareholder in the WME and not like hes some broke prole playing fantasy ....

 

[nostradumbass]

Nah, this is giving a lot of different future possibilities and putting all into the same time. They won't all come true anyway, and definitely not all at the same time, and excludes some very big fights that could definitely happen, including some champ/champ fights.

Tom as champ is a good thing, even thought he's not much of a shit talker, he's well spoken and not like he's shy or super reserved, and has an exciting style. Jones would be a huge fight and they have time for new contenders to come up after that, or for Pereira even coming up.

Ankalaev wouldn't be an especially popular champ, but

Khamzat as champ could be a good thing too if they can get him to fight more often. Potential to go to LHW as well.

WW has Shavkat, JDM, Garry, and Islam likely coming up for a superfight at some point. Belal is old, and all his future matchups have fan friendly styles that he'd have a hard time nullifying.

Islam will beat Arman again, then move up and vacate if he wins the WW belt, and they'll have an interim title while he does. Biggest bummer for Ar

Max/Topuria is a very big fight, and we're talking a year away to see who's next. Evloev/Volk in the meantime would be the smartest to either derail Evloev or give him some hype before a title shot.

Merab is also getting old for BW, so if he beats O'Malley, good luck to him trying to spam TD Umar after that.

Flyweight doesn't matter anyway because that wasn't going to draw anyway.

If you are running the UFC or have a huge stake in it, sure, you might not like it.

If you are a fan who wants to see the best rise to the top, then not an issue at all. Might be boring, but at least it's organic and not manipulated.

If you are a "fan" who gets their panties in a twist because a fighter from a nationality, ethnicity, or religion you hate wins, I suggest therapy to get that inferiority complex checked.

(Using the general you, not you specifically TS)

Kind of weird to jump straight to screaming muh racism, islamaphobia blah blah, immediately after acknowledging yourself that they are just boring fighters.

Someone might be the greatest bowler, but nobody gives a shit because it's boring. People are fans of MMA because it's a more exciting sport to watch, so if that is no longer the case, the interest dies down too.

 

[The Siege]

Kind of weird to jump straight to screaming muh racism, islamaphobia blah blah, immediately after acknowledging yourself that they are just boring fighters.

Nah, there are a lot of posters who are self-admitted anti-Muslim/Arab/Russian/Dagi/whatever their insecurity may be and who specifically base their fandom on that. I am not reading anyone's mind or assuming. They have straight out said it. Not a problem, people are free to hate whoever, but calling for Daddy Dana to cut these fighters or prevent them from an earned TS shows they have some insecurities they need to deal with.

Someone might be the greatest bowler, but nobody gives a shit because it's boring. People are fans of MMA because it's a more exciting sport to watch, so if that is no longer the case, the interest dies down too.

I am not disputing that at all. People can watch or root for who they like, but when you have posters calling for the promotion to artificially disadvantage guys or even straight cut them based on being boring, dont you think that is a bit of an issue for something that calls itself a sport?

I think that Belal has had boring fights, same with Movsar, same with Ank, in fact I dont even like watching Ankalaev, but I would never call for the UFC to manipulate the rankings or any other variables to prevent him from getting a TS and winning. I want to see the best fight the best and want to see the what style is the most effective under this ruleset. That is all I am saying.