UFC is in trouble and they know it.

[Mikedh]

LOL these comments are hilarious. I never said UFC is dying or they arent making revenue and ppv numbers are down. All I said is that them hyping fighters like no tomorrow shows that they are desperate and need more stars. Connor has blown up recently and only god knows how long that will last and Ronda attracting casuals all around the world for sure with her movies and being a women. But other than that who else is there?

A fight promotion advertising it's fighters and fights for shows they are going to put on. How desperate!

 

[Mikedh]

I get where TS is going. The sideshow took over the center ring. Not even close to the best fighters, technically, but HEY! Two chicks beating the tar out of each other! And look how sexy they are outside of the ring!!! (The decision to bring in stylists for the female fighters should have been a dead giveaway) It's the equivalent of the NBA putting all its advertising dollars into the WNBA...what does it mean for the men's fight game?

It's a prize fighting promotion that got big through a reality show. When wasn't it a sideshow and who are the best fighters they are not promoting?

 

[MayankSharma13]

A fight promotion advertising it's fighters and fights for shows they are going to put on. How desperate!

Have you even read my first post? I said there is a fine line between marketing and straight bs. That was what I was referring too when I said hyping.

 

[Mikedh]

Have you even read my first post? I said there is a fine line between marketing and straight bs. That was what I was referring too when I said hyping.

What is straight bs? This is a promotion that ten years ago had Chris Leben fight a 0-0 fighter in a sanctioned match because he peed on his bed in a reality show. Five years ago the biggest star was a pro wrestler and Kimbo was one of their biggest ratings draws.

 

[IIIIIIII]

i agree. and i think one of the biggest reasons for this, is because there are, 1) too many fighters, and 2) the ufc placing its brand above the fighters.

back when you had those stars in the early-to-mid two-thousands, there weren't that many fighters. so because of that, people focused on those fighters, and they were seen as, "the elite". nowadays, it seems as if anyone can be a ufc fighter. it has removed the prestige of what it is to be a ufc fighter.

another thing that i'll say about this topic, is that the ufc made a HUGE mistake when they got rid of the ufc-primetime shows. a big aspect of having fans wanting to watch a fight, is getting fans emotionally invested in who will win. it doesn't always have to be about how a fight plays out. you get fans to watch a fight before it even begins. even if a fight is, "boring", they will root for a certain fighter, and that in-of-itself is exciting.

 

[IIIIIIII]

Conor, Rousey, the rising star of Joanna, the likely return of Silva for a couple of fights, the possible return of GSP, Lawler, TJ Dillashaw, etc.

The doom mongering is cute and all, but the PPV numbers for the UFC have been VERY good this year. Not their best year ever, but much better than 2014.

their numbers are decent, but they could be MUCH better.

 

[BisexualMMA]

The hype around Rousey and her accomplishments themselves mirror those of Royce Gracie very closely. I wouldn't use them as examples of something different.

Rousey's accomplishments in her division speak for themselves. Other than her beating male BWs and being a "once ever" athlete and shit like that (and there IS lots of it, I admit) they aren't really saying much that isn't true.

As for Conor, very good fighter, but absolutely no reason whatsoever for this degree of hype at this point, based on his accomplishments.

But this has been going on forever in combat sports. Does anyone remember Michael Grant in boxing? The next guy to unify the HW belts we were told, then lost his first fight that involved any pressure and tailspun out of boxing without leaving a mark at all.

Talk and putting on a show can get you farther than your resume should... Prince Naseem Hamed.

Muhammad Ali. One of the greatest HWs of all time, yes. But without all the talk, poetry, shuffling and swagger, would he really be remembered as much greater than Joe Frazier?

I don't know. Things aren't THAT different from how they always were.

Did you actually see how they promoted the fighters in the early UFCs? False weights, false belts in bullshit disciplines. Wasn't Gary Goodridge representing the fighting discipline of armwrestling as a world champion or something?

There was some real Frank Dux style shenanigans going on in the early and mid 1990s.

 

[MayankSharma13]

The UFC's business model has always been about the brand first and the fighter's second. The matchmaking is specifically setup to be as difficult as possible in order to prevent fighters becoming bigger than the sport.

Completely agree with you on how they put the brand first and the fighters second. Funny thing is its all turning against em now that people are finding out how they are. As for fighters becoming bigger than the sport I think Connor and Ronda are getting at all time highs in UFC. Rondas in movies so that makes her huge and Connor was a self made man. He talked his way up. I heard that Connor refused to put on his fight kit in the mendes fight and instead wore his own shirt from reebok. Even after the fight dana told him to put on the championship kit but he just handed it too his trainer. I think Connor is a smart man he is trying to promote himself rather than the ufc.

 

[Priceinator]

TS has only been watching MMA for a fews years and sort of remembers what MMA was like when he was younger and would hang around the couch when his dad watched it.

 

[IIIIIIII]

Back in "The Day" there weren't really that many stars at a time, and there weren't many fighters. The whole sport has much more exposure. More people in the world know who Donald Cerrone or Uriah Faber are than knew who Tito Ortiz was in 2003.

but that's why those few fighters were stars. they were, "the elite" of all fighters. the ufc watered down the sport by having too many fighters. more people may know the name donald cerrone and uriah faber. but they don't really care about them. no one ever says that they're going to buy a ppv for either of them.

 

[MayankSharma13]

What is straight bs? This is a promotion that ten years ago had Chris Leben fight a 0-0 fighter in a sanctioned match because he peed on his bed in a reality show. Five years ago the biggest star was a pro wrestler and Kimbo was one of their biggest ratings draws.

Lies served as marketing tools. You know like saying ronda your the best ever (said by rogan) which casuals will actually believe (she is the best womens fighter dont get me wrong but not best fighter ever). Stuff like that Ronda was just an example. As for everything you said after its true. Sad to have this sport run that way.

 

[Mikedh]

Lies served as marketing tools. You know like saying ronda your the best ever (said by rogan) which casuals will actually believe (she is the best womens fighter dont get me wrong but not best fighter ever). Stuff like that Ronda was just an example. As for everything you said after its true. Sad to have this sport run that way.

What do you mean "lies"? They have a show to sell, buy it or don't. Everything you said has always been happening but used to be much worse.

What they are saying about Rousey is a hell of a lot more true than what they used to say when they dragged old ass Ken Shamrock out there.

Clearly mainstream media finally picking up on a fighter for once shows that everyone thinks she's a total joke.

 

[AWilder]

There is a fine line between marketing and just straight up lying to hype stuff. Some examples are the propaganda set by dana and friends to make some fighters look legit and some the best in the world. Their propaganda minister Rogan often says things that I find hilarious and now everything he says is a joke for me. Him being in a position of commentating its his responsibility to acknowledge the newer fans and tell them the truth instead of hyperbolizing everyone and everything. Same with everyone else playing a part in all this unwarranted hype.

Misunderstanding Rogan's role at the UFC as an announcer/commentator/hype-man and his role as Joe Rogan, the fight fan is your failing, not the UFCs. Rogan is paid to push what the UFC tells him to do. He may or may not agree with everything that comes out of his mouth. He's part of the UFC machine and is not an unbiased third party. He's paid by the UFC, and acts accordingly. Why would he go against what's good for his employer. If you listen to his podcast you can tell he doesn't like to get into topics that would disparage the UFC. He might ask about fighter pay or some kind of scandal but rarely will the discussion ever say bad things about the UFC.

 

[MayankSharma13]

The hype around Rousey and her accomplishments themselves mirror those of Royce Gracie very closely. I wouldn't use them as examples of something different.

Rousey's accomplishments in her division speak for themselves. Other than her beating male BWs and being a "once ever" athlete and shit like that (and there IS lots of it, I admit) they aren't really saying much that isn't true.

As for Conor, very good fighter, but absolutely no reason whatsoever for this degree of hype at this point, based on his accomplishments.

But this has been going on forever in combat sports. Does anyone remember Michael Grant in boxing? The next guy to unify the HW belts we were told, then lost his first fight that involved any pressure and tailspun out of boxing without leaving a mark at all.

Talk and putting on a show can get you farther than your resume should... Prince Naseem Hamed.

Muhammad Ali. One of the greatest HWs of all time, yes. But without all the talk, poetry, shuffling and swagger, would he really be remembered as much greater than Joe Frazier?

I don't know. Things aren't THAT different from how they always were.

Did you actually see how they promoted the fighters in the early UFCs? False weights, false belts in bullshit disciplines. Wasn't Gary Goodridge representing the fighting discipline of armwrestling as a world champion or something?

There was some real Frank Dux style shenanigans going on in the early and mid 1990s.

Really knowledgable post thanks for it. Glad to see more people on here who see it that same way. This has been happening in combat sports. Self promotion however is fine IMO. But I just find it downright awful when the company falsely promotes there athletes. It has been happening for a long time but some people are too blind to see it. As for Gary lol yeah he was a world champ in arm wrestling I remember it being mentioned in pride as well. Not too sure about the details on that.

 

[ElLunico]

Mcgregor and ronda are undefeated in the UFC and have dominated in devastating fashion in all their wins. Their hype is well deserved. Plus they have the " it " factor. The personality that most of the past greats didn't have. I actually lost interest in MMA the past couple of years but then conor and rousey came along and I'm watching as much as I can again.

 

[Bradstones]

The UFC is fine!!

 

[MayankSharma13]

Misunderstanding Rogan's role at the UFC as an announcer/commentator/hype-man and his role as Joe Rogan, the fight fan is your failing, not the UFCs. Rogan is paid to push what the UFC tells him to do. He may or may not agree with everything that comes out of his mouth. He's part of the UFC machine and is not an unbiased third party. He's paid by the UFC, and acts accordingly. Why would he go against what's good for his employer. If you listen to his podcast you can tell he doesn't like to get into topics that would disparage the UFC. He might ask about fighter pay or some kind of scandal but rarely will the discussion ever say bad things about the UFC.

I completely understand that. Hes a different person on his podcast for sure. But it still is unethical IMO even if his job depends on it. With Rogan a huge fan I am sure a part of him wants to just lay back and stop spreading all that bs but he is ufcs main tool. It must be hard on his part, still have respect for Joe. Also having his plentiful roles he does end up being a hype man in commentary. I mean no ones perfect but thats the kind of stuff you dont want in commentary. You want to know the real details not far fetched opinions to coerce newer fans into ufc hands. At the end of the day it is his job and I agree with what you said I just dont find it the right thing to do.

 

[bowened]

The only thing "dark" is that Jones isn't currently fighting. Otherwise there are many great, entertaining champs. I'd say it's actually on an upswing.

 

[trac209]

Lies served as marketing tools. You know like saying ronda your the best ever (said by rogan) which casuals will actually believe (she is the best womens fighter dont get me wrong but not best fighter ever). Stuff like that Ronda was just an example. As for everything you said after its true. Sad to have this sport run that way.

I think the UFC is trying to embody the George costanza theory of "it's not a lie if you believe it" . That's where they are going wrong in trying to placate the masses and hand them bullshit those in the know see as utter fucking bullshit. Not everyone who watches mma understands that of course rousey cannot beat Cain but it's nice to dream. My point to everyone who disagrees with TS and myself is why stoop to bullshit. Tell the truth, for one yes rousey is dominating her division and that's it. Don't act like she's a dolphin in a pool of great whites. That division is fucking weak period.

Two, stop with the cramming fighters down our throats as well. How about letting the fighters and results do the talking. you know what most superstars all have in common? Humility .... want to know why most people hated Tito and liked Randy look to that motto. Wanna promote people as villians to sell fights sure,but stick to the facts and quit playing everyone for fools.

 

[SuperNerd]

But other than that who else is there?

They never stop coming. You don't know them. I don't either, most Sherdogger never heard of them.

But the next great star is coming. It doesn't stop.