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UFC is eroding the sport of MMA.

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yodog

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UFC is devolving into WWE. They try to captivate fans with stories and big personalities while pushing skill and merit to the back burners. They've always done this, but it seems to be accelerating to the point that things like championship belts have no meaning.

What is an interim champion? (from Wikipedia)

the champion of a particular weight division is temporarily unable to defend their championship because of medical, legal, or other reasons beyond the competitor's control ... Once the original champion can return, at the discretion of the sanctioning body or promotion concerned, they must defend their title against the interim champion - who will relinquish their interim title to fight for the full world title. If the original champion cannot return, refuses to defend their title, or transfers to a different weight division, the interim champion is promoted to full championship status.
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We all saw Jon Jones come back and defend the "heavyweight championship", but Tom Aspinal is still the "interim champion". There are 2 champions and people are so stupid they don't question anything, but demand JJ fights Tom. Of course this occurred after the actual champion was released from the UFC because he tried to get health care and better benefits for his colleagues. This scenario is one example of the UFC's disrespect of the sport of MMA.

This is annoying because UFC has it's roots in spectacle / freak show fights and it took forever to gain legitimacy. It was so cool when they first started showing results on ESPN.

...

grumble ...
 
yodog said:
UFC is devolving into WWE. They try to captivate fans with stories and big personalities while pushing skill and merit to the back burners.
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Problem is you guys (Sherdog in general) LOVES these silly little storylines that are cute. Shedoggers will OFTEN beg for fights that make no sense aslong as it fulfills some stupid "storyline" which is usually some dork reading way too far into things.
 
Don't you ever disrespect a real sport like WWE

the-rock-stone-cold.gif
 
jko1355 said:
Yeah the UFC is the worst... Dana is even worse!

Yuck.

P.s. your Francis is a saint schtick in the middle was the best part of your post.
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If you typed TLDR it would be more honest. I love MMA. It's the only sport I still watch.

I'm going by Francis's words and actions and ignoring UFC marketing. Francis story lines up with reality and the counsel he was given at the time from OGs like Mike Tyson. This is all documented. I don't believe the UFC narrative. Franc is more convincing with less incentive to lie. Additionally, the UFC did the same thing to GSP and Couture when they tried to get their coworkers benefits so history also aligns with Franc.
 
PFL ruining MMA.

A strong financially viable PFL putting on global Events and keeping their fighters busy creates a healthy atmosphere for competing organizations to develop more quality fighters and grow the sport with proper resources across the spectrum of support.

UFC draws fighters in -- to develop fighters and the sport.

PFL dropped the ball and their fighters are scrambling for a home that keeps them tuned up and fighting.
 
The UFC has just been massively diluted in recent years. Too many mediocre fighters, Champions leaving with the belt so its obviously not the best ITW anymore, boring grappling style. Every single event seems to end with several of the fighters on the card being told to retire by Dana White.
 
"devolving into the WWE"

15 years ago the biggest star in the sport was a literal WWE wrestler who got fast tracked to the title. Before that we had shit like Tito vs Ken, before that Tank Abbott.

The sport has always had one foot in pro wrestling. Pride even more so than the UFC.
 
UFC is definitely less legit than other major sports.

They get rid of guys that are the best fighters if they don't sell enough tickets.

What they did to mighty mouse was like the Utah jazz trading away John Stockton because he can't dunk.

Plus no matter how good you are, they'll give you the toughest path to a title if you're boring. And the easiest path to the title if you're exciting.

Does it make for a more exciting product? Yes, but it does come at the cost of some legitimacy.

I would prefer they alter the rules to discourage boring fights rather than play the hand of God in their matchmaking
 
yodog said:
UFC is devolving into WWE. They try to captivate fans with stories and big personalities while pushing skill and merit to the back burners. They've always done this, but it seems to be accelerating to the point that things like championship belts have no meaning.

What is an interim champion? (from Wikipedia)



We all saw Jon Jones come back and defend the "heavyweight championship", but Tom Aspinal is still the "interim champion". There are 2 champions and people are so stupid they don't question anything, but demand JJ fights Tom. Of course this occurred after the actual champion was released from the UFC because he tried to get health care and better benefits for his colleagues. This scenario is one example of the UFC's disrespect of the sport of MMA.

This is annoying because UFC has it's roots in spectacle / freak show fights and it took forever to gain legitimacy. It was so cool when they first started showing results on ESPN.

...

grumble ...
Click to expand...
I absolutely love the balls to post this while citing a Wikipedia article that literally also mentions WBO's has had an interim boxing HW champ since 2022 that's never gotten to unify, and who's current holder Parker is fighting for another belt instead of defending his or unifying.

The chef's kiss is of course part of the reason WBO's was so fucked was Fury fought unranked Francis in a non title fight instead of Usyk and kept the undisputed belt on hold. And Usyk wasn't even the interim champ either and is now defending against Fury over Parker.

But Jon's the asshole for defending against Stipe.

MMA fans have literally no idea how good they've had it with interim titles. They say dumb shit like this thread because they're used to interim titles getting unified or promoted relatively quickly meanwhile in sports like boxing where they're from nobody gives a flying fuck about them.
 
Lol the UFC is MMA and is where wvery great mma competitor wants to be unless they want the easy Bellator/Rizon/One/ PFL route- the UFC HAS better fighters in about every division as all those combined.
 
Yes and no.
It's destroying the integrity of the sport, but most people don't give a shit. Most people want to see the theatrics and eat it up.
 
MMA is not going to last long term anyway. Even legends like Nogueira are less than 50 years old FFS... can you imagine the long term health effects we're going to see in the future?

It is very obvious that the NFL is already trying to get people used to Flag Football because contact sports will eventually face severe restrictions when widespread CTE issues become too common/costly to ignore. Considering the entire purpose of MMA is to hurt someone... I find it highly unlikely we'll still see it 20-30 years from now.

Also, the UFC's biggest damage to the sport (besides their current monopoly) is that they completely tear down the past as soon as it's no longer "of use" to them. Most people get into sports because their parents were into sports and that fandom is engrained into them. There is a sense of legacy and belonging that keeps them coming back.

MMA fandom doesn't have that longevity for most and I think it's because the non-stop hype machine telling you that "the next card is the biggest ever and current fighter is the best ever" gets exhausting to hear over and over.

You get invested in certain stars, you tune in to see them succeed, and then as soon as they lose (or God forbid go to another promotion), the UFC acts like they were never that good (or never even existed) so all of your "investment" was for nothing. Not even getting to see your favorite fighter's best highlights in a countdown because they pissed Dana off at some point is particularly insulting. Considering fans are always obsessed with talking about "legacy", it's bizarre that they don't realize that legacy is completely manufactured and even those most deserving like Chuck, Randy, Wanderlei, Forrest, etc are basically completely forgotten already.

There's a reason why you can so easily identify the different eras of fans in MMA: The OG Gracie era, the TUF noobs, Ex-WWE Brock fans, Conor marks, Khabib marks, etc. People tune in for a while, become die hards, see their favorites get old, and then lose interest. There was a time you were looked down upon for becoming a fan from watching TUF but now there's barely anyone left from that era. MMA is a fad sport dominated by an extremely corrupt company that will never reach a sustained level of mainstream popularity. Its roots are in freak show fights and that will never change until the day it gets banned
 
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