UFC functioning like a strict sport: objective competition format + more frequent fighting

[Rubios]

I believe (not that I'm a business expert) that UFC has already reached the critical mass to benefit from shifting towards a rigurous, equitable sports competition.

On the long term the credibility, liability and perceived fairness of a sport increases the fan's engagement and commitment to the product.
Fan's behavior has been widely researched in major sports (I'm a journalist, a former sports one) such as football (actual football that you call soccer =) ), basketball, baseball, American football, athletics...
People prefer/need the sense of the organization not interfering and a transparent, established competition format.

A year-round bracket tournament to crown every division's champion and next year's ranking ("seeds").
If a fighter couldn't make it to the next round fight (because of and injury, still recovering from last fight KO or such)... well, that's part of the game. Many football/NBA players get injured, miss half season and fall drastically in the classification. Shit happens.

Football, NBA, athletics is including more games/meets per season.
You can't keep your audience hooked if the top dogs (not being Poatan) fight so scarcely.
In this tournament, every ranked fighter gets to fight thrice a year*. If they are unable to make it to the cage, they automatically lost the fight.
*Losers in the first round fight each other, and the ones losing a second time leave the ranking and get out next year's tournament, so they would only fight twice.
Best prospects occupy their spots in the ranking.

You beat this guy, you advance a round and face the winner of these two. Fair and square.
No need for fighters being morons and playing stupid characters to climb the ladder.

 

[Ube]

MMA will never be a real sport. It definitely has elements of sport, but it’s more of a spectacle, more about the drama of a competition where the main goal is to deliver a car accident to your opponents head.

There’s nothing sporting in that. Unless you consider a shootout or a swordfight a sport.

 

[Rubios]

MMA will never be a real sport. It definitely has elements of sport, but it’s more of a spectacle, more about the drama of a competition where the main goal is to deliver a car accident to your opponents head.

There’s nothing sporting in that. Unless you consider a shootout or a swordfight a sport.

That's exactly my point because I believe that sets a ceiling that's detrimental both for the fans and the show, if your favorite fighter is sidelined for a year.

Throwing the towel or quitting between rounds would become a thing, and I don't find it bad at all per se in order to be able to fight 3-4 months later.

 

[liner]

Trying to compare and fit prize fighting into traditional sports models doesn't work and it never has.

This isn't some new thought you are having.

You can't force top fighters to consistently fight like how leagues have schedules set up. It's a nice thought for some but personally I like cage fighting just how it is.

there is spectacle involved.

Cage fighting might not be for you if you can't acknowledge and accept this. Enjoy the ride when you get a top fight you want, and otherwise just enjoy all the others. We are in a time when every fight on every card is shown. Don't over think it all and just enjoy the violence

 

[Cartiac]

Yea, ummm, I take it you have never watched UFC 1

 

[PaddyO'malley]

Real talks fam mi wish dem do a ting weh dem do a tourney 1yr too short ngl but do like over 4 years mandem scrap build up pts no stress aboot ranks just scrap hard an' often den dem qualify fi tourney been makin' money scoopin' up fans on socials fi while alrdy now tayum fi glory den mandem scrap di final 18mos til di final bout concludin' di cycle call ting The Road to Title #TRT winner gets a fat

Ting work fi real check it oot

-Can crushers dem can still qualify fi TRT but opps wif less pts give yuh less reward
-Yuh nuh scrap yuh nuh get pts weak score nuh qualify fi TRT
-Di big dawgs who have dem pts stack up worth mad pts fi defeat dem culd but di opps catch up yuh zeeit but if u killin' it yuh can just w8 heal up save it fi di tourney
-UFC can push can-crushers hard but if dem nuh defeat enuff cans dem nuh qualify

 

[JohnMandick]

It's not a sport and never has been a sport.

I'm not sure there is the will to ever be a sport.

 

[Bowel-forged Stool]

Human cockfighting and sport do not go together

 

[AmonTobin]

I dig it man. The prize fighting, game playing, cherry-picking, ducking, favouritism, privilege, is all utter bs and corrupts the sport. I prefer UFC be more like the Olympics and less like WWE.

 

[wildchild88]

People don’t realise how taxing an mma fight can be on an athlete’s body and brain.

3 fights a year guaranteed is a lot if youre fighting in competitive fights that go the distance. Especially if you’re going through super intense camps and sparring all throughout the year.

Some of these fights literally take years of these guys’ lives. An elite mma fighter is vicious and could kill a regular person in seconds, and they have to spend between 15 - 25 minutes in there with them. That’s a lot of damage.

With the framework you’re talking about they’d need to step up the medical support infrastructure around the fighters to ensure there getting the best care. With more medical eyes on fighters, it’s possible you could see them fight less for medical reasons.

 

[Qays Stetkevich]

I believe (not that I'm a business expert) that UFC has already reached the critical mass to benefit from shifting towards a rigurous, equitable sports competition.

On the long term the credibility, liability and perceived fairness of a sport increases the fan's engagement and commitment to the product.
Fan's behavior has been widely researched in major sports (I'm a journalist, a former sports one) such as football (actual football that you call soccer =) ), basketball, baseball, American football, athletics...
People prefer/need the sense of the organization not interfering and a transparent, established competition format.

A year-round bracket tournament to crown every division's champion and next year's ranking ("seeds").
If a fighter couldn't make it to the next round fight (because of and injury, still recovering from last fight KO or such)... well, that's part of the game. Many football/NBA players get injured, miss half season and fall drastically in the classification. Shit happens.

Football, NBA, athletics is including more games/meets per season.
You can't keep your audience hooked if the top dogs (not being Poatan) fight so scarcely.
In this tournament, every ranked fighter gets to fight thrice a year*. If they are unable to make it to the cage, they automatically lost the fight.
*Losers in the first round fight each other, and the ones losing a second time leave the ranking and get out next year's tournament, so they would only fight twice.
Best prospects occupy their spots in the ranking.

You beat this guy, you advance a round and face the winner of these two. Fair and square.
No need for fighters being morons and playing stupid characters to climb the ladder.

Ooooh man that would rule so hard. And could make for some epically stacked annual cards.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Simple solution: let everyone juice it up! More frequent fights, more exciting fights, less injuries, less gassing, less pullouts. No reason to oppose this if you're a fight fan.

 

[Fight Professor]

It would also need way way more real athletes and not a bunch of random local “talent”.

 

[Rubios]

(I am the OP, or the TS as you say on here and I don't even know what stands for lol)

Maybe I raised 2 different points, that could -but doesn't need to- be connected.

#1 I believe the fans (me, at least) would prefer a competition format with an objective system to determine who's the champ, who's next and who's... #7.

All huge mainstream sports have went through some "questionably chosen" match-making (the great-grandpa of the actual Champions League), ranking system (the antecessors of tennis' ATP) or both.

Even there was (is?) a failed, very recent attempt at it still ongoing with a terrible reception among fans: the SuperLiga.

People need veracity: a sense of a fair, even playing field.
That doesn't mean the best man wins -and that's part of the magic of any sport-, but any competitor could and has the same chances to win.


#2 Fighting schedule.
Football (I mean... soccer, I guess), NBA, ATP... calendars are insane.

@ the NBA, as most of you may know, injuries (or the ability to remain healthy) are a huge part of the game.
A great player fucks his knee or his ankle and is off the court for the playoffs or non-eligible for the MVP/best 5s because hasn't played enough matches.
That's the game. Game is hard.

 

[World eater]

With the framework you’re talking about they’d need to step up the medical support infrastructure around the fighters to ensure there getting the best care. With more medical eyes on fighters, it’s possible you could see them fight less for medical reasons.

Or, you know, just stop drug testing.
If it wants to be a proper sport and a clean sport, then for sure the top guys will not fight 3 times each year.

 

[RevolverOctopus]

Simple solution: let everyone juice it up! More frequent fights, more exciting fights, less injuries, less gassing, less pullouts. No reason to oppose this if you're a fight fan.

This is the best answer. Fighting is a spectacle and people like to watch freaks of nature perform. The fights would be a lot better. WWE guys are all juiced for a reason

 

[tymikeson]

1. That's exactly my point because I believe that sets a ceiling that's detrimental both for the fans and the show, if your favorite fighter is sidelined for a year.
   
   Throwing the towel or quitting between rounds would become a thing, and I don't find it bad at all per se in order to be able to fight 3-4 months later.

sport
/spôrt/


noun
noun: sport; plural noun: sports

1. 1.
   an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

 

[Ube]

sport
/spôrt/

noun
noun: sport; plural noun: sports

1. 1.
   an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

Definitions are often limited and don’t take into full account reality as we know it.

There are a lot of debatable topics related to the term “sport”

Taking this definition, then cheerleading is a sport, dance becomes sport, thumbwar is a sport, musical completions become sport, chess becomes a sport.

So no, throwing out a definition isn’t going to magically turn something into something it’s not.

 

[tymikeson]

Definitions are often limited and don’t take into full account reality as we know it.

There are a lot of debatable topics related to the term “sport”

Taking this definition, then cheerleading is a sport, dance becomes sport, thumbwar is a sport, musical completions become sport, chess becomes a sport.

So no, throwing out a definition isn’t going to magically turn something into something it’s not

dance is in the olympics
hand to hand combat similar in nature to mma, is in the olympics
sword fighting (fencing) is in the olympics
gun shooting is in the olympics
equestrian is in the olympics

isnt the olympics the pinnicale of the sporting world?


*Cheerleading was officially recognized as a sport by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympics and Paralympics Committees in 2021 and 2023, respectively


im just being a dick lol

but seriously, i would consider mma as a sport but it could be considered closer to war... as you are trying to kill/injure eliminate your opponent for all intensive purposes

 

[Sticko]

I believe (not that I'm a business expert) that UFC has already reached the critical mass to benefit from shifting towards a rigurous, equitable sports competition.

On the long term the credibility, liability and perceived fairness of a sport increases the fan's engagement and commitment to the product.
Fan's behavior has been widely researched in major sports (I'm a journalist, a former sports one) such as football (actual football that you call soccer =) ), basketball, baseball, American football, athletics...
People prefer/need the sense of the organization not interfering and a transparent, established competition format.

A year-round bracket tournament to crown every division's champion and next year's ranking ("seeds").
If a fighter couldn't make it to the next round fight (because of and injury, still recovering from last fight KO or such)... well, that's part of the game. Many football/NBA players get injured, miss half season and fall drastically in the classification. Shit happens.

Football, NBA, athletics is including more games/meets per season.
You can't keep your audience hooked if the top dogs (not being Poatan) fight so scarcely.
In this tournament, every ranked fighter gets to fight thrice a year*. If they are unable to make it to the cage, they automatically lost the fight.
*Losers in the first round fight each other, and the ones losing a second time leave the ranking and get out next year's tournament, so they would only fight twice.
Best prospects occupy their spots in the ranking.

You beat this guy, you advance a round and face the winner of these two. Fair and square.
No need for fighters being morons and playing stupid characters to climb the ladder.

Can't believe nobody's mentioned this before but you're literally just describing how the PFL works.

There are certain advantages to that approach but also some serious drawbacks.