UFC's best days are long gone

[Deleroux]

Of course it is. But it seems to me most people who aren't trying to pass themselves off as some sort of MMA sophisticate would rather watch two men try to fight to a finish rather than waiting to see who can score the most points.

Just because some have the loudest cries doesn't necessarily make them a majority; hence the phrase 'vocal minority.'

I would agree that the current point/judging system could surely be changed to perhaps facilitate/encourage different behavior within the octagon, to a certain point.

I think many fighters do go for the finish when they can, some are obviously more successful than others, and some finishes are more available to some fighters in certain fights than others. But fighters are different, which means fights are different. A guy who can finish Joe in a given fight might not be able to finish Bob in a given fight.

I think finishes can certainly be satisfying, and exciting but to me, finishes aren't what makes a great fight. But I suppose that just depends on one's definition of 'great fight.'

 

[waters]

the only people that are complaining are the Brock Lesnar and GSP fans, I wish these fans would just go away, its bad for the sport, nothing can make them happy because GSP was just the perfect fighter and Brock Lesnar is the leader of he nerd world! WAR UFC

 

[The_Renaissance]

It's stagnating in exactly the way I expected.

FOX deal brought with it a demand for a shitload of extra cards a year, meaning a shitload of new fighters are needed to fill the extra slots. You can't simply create UFC-calibre talent, so a shitload of guys currently on the roster are NOT top level in the slightest. As a result, we get a load of forgettable, cookie-cutter fights between forgettable, cookie-cutter fighters.

A UFC event no longer feels the 'occasion' it used to, for me. It was THE sporting event of each month, now it's just everywhere and the cards are getting more and more diluted.

Also, I said years ago, don't listen o Joe Rogan when he tells you to look forward to the coming of the 'new breed' of fighters who have trained in MMA specifically since day one. We should have been DREADING this influx, not welcoming it. These dudes are jack-of-all-trades type fighters who master none – they aren't in there to KO you, or submit you, because are they aren't specialists. They know just enough about all aspects of the game to get by and have great cardio coz they are in it for the long-haul, not to try and finish the fight.

 

[CountOfSoCal]

lol

What an interesting counter argument. I expected something like that from you.

 

[DaGenius]

Well the thing I will say is that mma has slowly gotten further and further away from a fight. Some of this is good as it has added some legitimate sport aspect to it all which increases the long term viability of mma

But some of it makes me sad as well. I think in the coming years new stars will come and push the sport further and that will be good. Right now, it ain't what it used to be

 

[taedium]

The big question is, how much does spid3yo get paid to post in EVERY thread complaining about over saturation?

 

[Unbreakabull]

We need more baristas and less professional fighters.

um, we actually got that now

 

[Teefs]

Just because some have the loudest cries doesn't necessarily make them a majority; hence the phrase 'vocal minority.'

I would agree that the current point/judging system could surely be changed to perhaps facilitate/encourage different behavior within the octagon, to a certain point.

I think many fighters do go for the finish when they can, some are obviously more successful than others, and some finishes are more available to some fighters in certain fights than others. But fighters are different, which means fights are different. A guy who can finish Joe in a given fight might not be able to finish Bob in a given fight.

I think finishes can certainly be satisfying, and exciting but to me, finishes aren't what makes a great fight. But I suppose that just depends on one's definition of 'great fight.'

You're oversimplifying it with the "vocal minority" jab. More and more people now are just not seeing a reason to pay for the product. I personally knew probably 12-15 guys who were regularly buying a PPV every other month or so, and now can't even be bothered to go out to the bar to watch the fights for anywhere from free to $15. I've been watching the sport for years myself and I can't even be assed to watch a fight anymore unless I come here and see people making it sound worthwhile.

On the whole, numbers are also down quite a lot this year. It's a trend largely supported by the fact that guys are fighting for points now rather than trying to entertain a la the Tri-Star method perfected by GSP, who ironically managed to build a reputation during his first run up to and as Champion while ignoring the fact that his fights largely sucked for the last seven years. ("Hey, he passes guard!")

All the above said, I'm not trying to pass off my thoughts on what's entertaining as the end all and be all of why we should or shouldn't pay for fights. Simply that more people these days are recognizing that the star power of years past is gone and the trend as of late is people fighting safe en route to an unentertaining decision to keep their jobs rather than putting on a performance that makes it seem like the price of admission was worthwhile at the end of the day.

Now, if you like how the fights in UFC are trending lately by all means keep shelling out the money to watch the fights. I seem to be one of a growing number of fans who simply expect the worst these days and can't see the value in the price of the card anymore.

Anyone who's been a fan of the sport for a while knows full well these types of threads rarely popped up in years past as opposed to how frequent we see them now after yet another mediocre card.

 

[sdaccount]

Is the UFC growing in the US? Its been on FOX for the past few years. Every one that wanted to watch has had the opportunity to watch already. TUF is flat as well.

Is the UFC dead? Its not dead, but I don't think its growing. If the FOX contract doesn't get renewed, the UFC goes back to monthly PPVs

 

[Andrew784]

Tough times it has been without George and Anderson, but they are still getting bigger and bigger outside America.

 

[SnowBlynd]

Is the UFC growing in the US? Its been on FOX for the past few years. Every one that wanted to watch has had the opportunity to watch already. TUF is flat as well.

Is the UFC dead? Its not dead, but I don't think its growing. If the FOX contract doesn't get renewed, the UFC goes back to monthly PPVs

If its grown its a secret to us. Seems regressed. Bars don't show it and casuals don't know about most ufc events or could even name a champ.

 

[Jinx_AA]

Agreed....UFC sucks lately...I love Mma....I don't love the ufc anymore...I won't pay for these watered down garbage cards... I advise everyone not to....maybe they'll bring back quality cards then....

You idiots that defend the ufc and every card, are the reason Dana keeps putting on these garbage shows...you let him get away with it

 

[schwe30]

Then stop watching and posting on SD.

 

[Sean]

I miss the days when a fight was a fight. Back when winning rounds wasn't the point. Back when two warriors went head up and let the chips fall where they may.

That ended at UFC 5 when Ken Shamrock layed on a man 40lbs smaller then him for 35 minutes to earn a draw which he would later start calling a win.

 

[krelianx]

These fucking gyms teaching these guys how to defend themselves is ruining the sport. We need more baristas and less professional fighters.

You need to start to realize that this is no longer an isolated phenomenon where just a few scattered people feel like the sport is getting less exciting. This is a growing trend, and affects the enjoyment of long time fans, like myself, who acknowledge the quality of technique is ever evolving, and yet that of the product is decreasing.

Nobody is saying the sport should go back to the 'dark ages', or is moping for the good old Pride days. That's not the end of the story.

If you enjoy the sport as much as ever, then great for you. But a lot of people feel like the sport is losing steam, due to a variety of factors, not all of them related to what happens inside the ring. And you come across in this patronizing tone, as if your unconditional enjoyment for the sport, was a sign of an intellect that appreciates technique and nothing else.

It doesn't work like that. People get tired of watching the same routine over and over; the sport has become exceedingly monotonous in presentation and content, and its ever escalating frequency just makes this worse and worse. Cards abound, there's more divisions, cards, and fighters than ever. The quality of the cards this year has been substantially inferior overall than in the last few years. I have elsewhere made a thread on this.

It has become quite difficult to follow the divisions and fighters, since everything is very scattered, moves rather quickly. Big household names have retired temporarily or for good, and many of the current stars have not been developed in a similar way. The presentation, hype, publicity, and just saturation is at an all time high. The ensuing professionalization of the sport has made point fighting more ubiquitous than before, and although a reflection of smart game planning, it is also an exploiting of a rule system that often is used to avoid fights.

I am not alone on these sentiments. There's a huge segment of the fanbase that shares these sentiments, as someone who trains and has many friends who follow MMA. This is not an isolated incident of a few bad events. It could just be a bad year, but it seems a trend, and it is important to call to attention.

 

[philweed]

I miss the days when fans talked about the sport, instead of cried about it

Seriously, can we have a "bitching and moaning" sub section please??

The whole Sherdog forum's best days are gone. Now theres a bunch of whiny little sissies here.

They need to have a separate "I hate UFC" or "Dana makes me cry" forum on here to keep the sissies out of real men discussion.

 

[cutch]

2013 was probably the greatest year the UFC has ever had, fight quality wise anyway, Jones-Gustaffson, Hunt-Big Foot, Wand-Stann, yeah they were boring as fuck.

 

[ZFury]

This sport is still really young, everyone is still really learning the sport. If anything point fighting is going to be trumped by guys who train to finish the fight. Not go for the knock out but finishing the fight instead of expecting to win a decision. Anderson did this so well he was/is the best finisher I've seen in MMA. If you showed you were hurt to him you didn't last much longer he didn't gas himself out just pin point accuracy to shut you off, not many other fighters have that ability. There's going to be fighters that are better than anyone we've seen yet in MMA, there's going to be plenty of good cards to come, WAR UFC 300.

 

[surgeyou1]

You need to start to realize that this is no longer an isolated phenomenon where just a few scattered people feel like the sport is getting less exciting. This is a growing trend, and affects the enjoyment of long time fans, like myself, who acknowledge the quality of technique is ever evolving, and yet that of the product is decreasing.

Nobody is saying the sport should go back to the 'dark ages', or is moping for the good old Pride days. That's not the end of the story.

If you enjoy the sport as much as ever, then great for you. But a lot of people feel like the sport is losing steam, due to a variety of factors, not all of them related to what happens inside the ring. And you come across in this patronizing tone, as if your unconditional enjoyment for the sport, was a sign of an intellect that appreciates technique and nothing else.

It doesn't work like that. People get tired of watching the same routine over and over; the sport has become exceedingly monotonous in presentation and content, and its ever escalating frequency just makes this worse and worse. Cards abound, there's more divisions, cards, and fighters than ever. The quality of the cards this year has been substantially inferior overall than in the last few years. I have elsewhere made a thread on this.

It has become quite difficult to follow the divisions and fighters, since everything is very scattered, moves rather quickly. Big household names have retired temporarily or for good, and many of the current stars have not been developed in a similar way. The presentation, hype, publicity, and just saturation is at an all time high. The ensuing professionalization of the sport has made point fighting more ubiquitous than before, and although a reflection of smart game planning, it is also an exploiting of a rule system that often is used to avoid fights.

I am not alone on these sentiments. There's a huge segment of the fanbase that shares these sentiments, as someone who trains and has many friends who follow MMA. This is not an isolated incident of a few bad events. It could just be a bad year, but it seems a trend, and it is important to call to attention.

Well said

 

[CarloSpcyWeiner]

Yeah! Who cares about legitimate sport! We wanna see sloppy tough man bar room brawls!