UFC is about to blow UP because of ESPN

[Bobby Boulders]

Thinking about it this has to be the biggest thing that has happened in the history of MMA to bring it into the mainstream platform.

It's not.

 

[Swarthy]

This is not the "biggest thing to ever happen to MMA." It's the biggest thing to happen to UFC, or MMA in the west. Check out some of Japan's most watched events. The UFC has never put up numbers close to Pride's highest rated events, or even K1's. 54 million people watched Bob Sapo/Akebono I. Hell, fucking Charles Krazy Horse Bennett has pulled in higher ratings than the UFC ever has, and probably ever will. LOFL

I understand your enthusiasm, TS, but the UFC still hasn't come anywhere close to the popularity that Pride enjoyed. The US is not the world, and the UFC isn't the only thing when talking MMA. Broaden your scope.

Your AV makes me so fucking hard

 

[BoxingMMA]

A fan’s a fan and whoever pays its better for us in the long run as the sport we love gets bigger.

But if it were up to me I just wouldn’t allow those who want to see MMA because its two dudes swinging at each other.

The way this sport started in the USA was because a bunch of big, strong, muscly, fat, juiced up dudes went inside a cage and fought skinny ass Royce Gracie and they were all owned thanks to martial arts, not “swanging and banging punches in bunches” bullshit.

Sure, its fun to see an action fight but I still love it when the “martial art” part of the sport triumphs over the violence and blood.

 

[West Linn]

It's not.

Then what is?

 

[Swarthy]

Then what is?

He has no idea because he just went with the first fart filled bubble that leaked out of his head.

In saying that still love that AV

 

[Turtlejuice]

I cant imagine how far the UFC would go if they were able to sign some WWE superstar. The UFC would be more popular than soccer.

What they really should do is sign some soccer stars. Imagine how many buys Ronaldo Vs Messi would do.

 

[Bobby Boulders]

Then what is?

So far, in the sport of MMA, it was Pride being on free TV in Japan. Tens of millions of people tuned in for those shows, something that has never happened anywhere else.

I wasn't hating on your post, bud. I am all for the UFC being on ESPN, and I do think that it will be good for the sport as a whole, and I do think that it will help grow a fan base in the US, but I just don't see them reaching the same apex that MMA in Japan did. It's possible... The current owners seem to want to focus on the entertainment aspect of fighting, and that was what made Pride matter to the general public in Japan. They had heroes from other sports, actors, pro wrestlers, etc., get in the ring and fight, people that the general public knew and cared about. Those "freak show" fights are what made people watch, and many of them continued bc they ended up watching the entire event and ended up liking the sport. It sucks for the hardcore fan, bc we don't like the CM Punks, but sometimes we get a Brock Lesnar who brings a new fan base and who can actually fight. I hate to say it, but unless the UFC plans on bringing in famous faces that the public knows, this sport will never be big here like it was in Japan. Just my opinion. I could always be wrong though. It was a perfect storm in Japan, there could be a perfect storm that is entirely different here. But it's telling that the most watched MMA fight ever in the US involved Kimbo Slice, a well known name to the public at large. Name recognition is the key. Most fighters don't market themselves like Conor.

 

[Deleted member 220895]

Disney channel is still gonna out-earn them.

 

[VVarhead]

My humble opinion is that UFC IS DYING BRO

 

[West Linn]

So far, in the sport of MMA, it was Pride being on free TV in Japan. Tens of millions of people tuned in for those shows, something that has never happened anywhere else.

I wasn't hating on your post, bud. I am all for the UFC being on ESPN, and I do think that it will be good for the sport as a whole, and I do think that it will help grow a fan base in the US, but I just don't see them reaching the same apex that MMA in Japan did. It's possible... The current owners seem to want to focus on the entertainment aspect of fighting, and that was what made Pride matter to the general public in Japan. They had heroes from other sports, actors, pro wrestlers, etc., get in the ring and fight, people that the general public knew and cared about. Those "freak show" fights are what made people watch, and many of them continued bc they ended up watching the entire event and ended up liking the sport. It sucks for the hardcore fan, bc we don't like the CM Punks, but sometimes we get a Brock Lesnar who brings a new fan base and who can actually fight. I hate to say it, but unless the UFC plans on bringing in famous faces that the public knows, this sport will never be big here like it was in Japan. Just my opinion. I could always be wrong though. It was a perfect storm in Japan, there could be a perfect storm that is entirely different here. But it's telling that the most watched MMA fight ever in the US involved Kimbo Slice, a well known name to the public at large. Name recognition is the key. Most fighters don't market themselves like Conor.

I appreciate your post, and I understand that you love PRIDE and that it was a great era, and of course MMA is huge and widely accepted in Japan. But I was specifically speaking about UFC and MMA in the States.

This is not the "biggest thing to ever happen to MMA." It's the biggest thing to happen to UFC, or MMA in the west.

You practically said the exact thing I'm saying in my post, but then went off on a PRIDE tangent. lol.

I guess I just didn't appreciate you telling me to broaden my scope.

 

[MrDaneBrass]

All I'm hearing here is non-stop conservative outrage.

I hope ESPN discusses social justice issues before every broadcast just so I can imagine the steam coming out of your, and others ears.

Besides, MMA needs to come to terms with the racist wing of its fan-base, and ESPN is just the station to bring these issues to attention.

Stay tuned. It's going to be good.

Your girlfriend is definitely fucking other dudes behind your back. Or maybe right in front of you with full eye contact...

 

[NihilisticNomad]

I cant imagine how far the UFC would go if they were able to sign some WWE superstar. The UFC would be more popular than soccer.

Maybe in America lol the rest of the world really don't care for mma I'd say football (proper football not handball) cricket rugby tennis and F1 are MILES ahead of mma/boxing it's not in the media at all over here, still love mma (loved it more when rampage chuck etc were tearing it up it's pretty stale now with all the athletic point fighters around) but I'm under no illusions that it's very much a fringe sport in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Dana_is_your_GOD]

So basically the Conor/Khabib fight and then the mainstream goes back to not caring.

 

[SOAzmayesh]

Until the fighters stop getting injured just before fights and missing weight, it will remain bush league.

 

[McBlaze]

one, two, tree.... fook da Nurmagomedovs

 

[Bobby Boulders]

I appreciate your post, and I understand that you love PRIDE and that it was a great era, and of course MMA is huge and widely accepted in Japan. But I was specifically speaking about UFC and MMA in the States.



You practically said the exact thing I'm saying in my post, but then went off on a PRIDE tangent. lol.

I guess I just didn't appreciate you telling me to broaden my scope.

No worries, bud. But, yeah, with reference to what your post said and to answer your later question, Kimbo Slice was the biggest thing to happen in the west. He was proof that the names of the fighters are bigger than the names of the organizations. It may be Conor who is the biggest thing to happen now, but we don't have comparable statistics at this point. The ESPN deal IS a big thing, but only a piece of the puzzle. Kimbo brought in eyes bc he was on CBS, and anyone could watch. The UFC has been in a similar situation since then, with FOX, but they have not come very close to what Kimbo and EliteXC did on CBS, but that is bc the UFC has been concerned with PPV buys and immediate returns. If they had fighters on free TV, or on cable, that people gave a shit about, it would benefit them immensely in the long game. No one cares about seeing Donald Cerrone fight on FOX. We do, bc he's awesome, but most outside of MMA forums don't know who the fuck Cowboy even is. They know who Conor is, they know Brock, they knew Ronda. It's been an unpopular opinion if mine, but I've been saying for a while that while you're biting the bullet on your PPV money, if you throw one of those names on free TV you're going to get a much bigger audience than if you keep them on PPV. And while you don't get the immediate return, you will plant seeds for the future, by getting as big an audience as possible and actually creating a new fan base. Conor has a ton of fans who know fuck all about MMA. He's a name in the world, especially after his boxing match. He would probably bring in ratings that would dwarf Kimbo's CBS ratings. You'd be sacrificing money now, but by getting people to actually watch your show, especially if you stack it with exciting, young, just bleed fighters (or even old ass just bleed Romero), you will begin to see your fan base grow, which brings you money in the future. If you're getting a fucking ton of viewers, come time for a new TV contract you will command a much larger asking price. PPV is fucking dying anyway, no one wants to pay $70, especially for people they don't know nor care about. But you give them people they want to see, they eat it up.

TL;FWI: ESPN deal is awesome, but it doesn't matter if they don't put fighters on those cards that people actually wanna see.

 

[odog]

What’s an espn?

 

[Squintz]

So ESPN is going to put UFC on the map as if there were people who didn’t know it existed before the deal? It’s not like it’s some secret underground sport that only people in the ‘know’ know about.

People that watch ESPN aren’t going to have some kind of revelation and be like damn who are these guys fighting in the cage and why didn’t I ever know about this UFC thing before? How many UFC on Fox cards have there been? You know .... FOX the basic network channel that everyone gets for free? Yet there’s some huge market of undiscovered new fans waiting to discover the UFC thru ESPN a paid cable network channel? No.

 

[itheuser]

Your girlfriend is definitely fucking other dudes behind your back. Or maybe right in front of you with full eye contact...

Sounds like a standard conservative psycho-sexual fantasy scenario. Party of the depraved.

Take a break from porn. There are criminal profilers dying to speak to you.

 

[itheuser]

So ESPN is going to put UFC on the map as if there were people who didn’t know it existed before the deal? It’s not like it’s some secret underground sport that only people in the ‘know’ know about.

People that watch ESPN aren’t going to have some kind of revelation and be like damn who are these guys fighting in the cage and why didn’t I ever know about this UFC thing before? How many UFC on Fox cards have there been? You know .... FOX the basic network channel that everyone gets for free? Yet there’s some huge market of undiscovered new fans waiting to discover the UFC thru ESPN a paid cable network channel? No.

On top of that, unless the UFC disassociates itself from many of its racist fans, and some of its racist fighters, ESPN will not take kindly to their product.

Dana White's complicity with Trump complicates that dynamic, and I can see some reckoning coming down the pipe soon.