UFC's not dying, it's just dormant because we're waiting for new stars

[BjPenn2017]

UFC can't make anything cool happen thats why.

Illa vs Islam? nope
Jones vs Tom? nope
Poatan vs Izzy 3? nope

Shit no one ever wanted tho? Oh we got that bro

Dricus Vs strickland 2
Sean vs Merab 2
Illa vs gaethje (coming soon)

Pretty much this. Matchmaking has been god awful lately, fact that a fight like Rodríguez vs Volk 2 was even considered is fucking laughable.

They also can’t attract North American talent to market to there main crowd because they don’t pay shit, so they get a bunch of people from poor ass countries where 12/12 American goes along way to fight for them.

 

[Mesos]

To those doubting. Are you sure that UFC has not been building new stars? This whole crowd in Spain is welcoming Topuria on stage. Seems like a star to me.

 

[theincognito]

The thing most stars have had in common - Conor, Brock, Ronda, even GSP, Jones and Anderson - is they came in like a bat out of hell and were at the top nearly right away. New and exciting, bursting onto the scene, all that jazz.

Even the most recent closest thing to a star in Pereira fits that.

Today's UFC model breeds familiarity. Fighters are generally around for years grinding their way up the card. Take Fluffy for an example. Already been in the UFC for 6 years.If you've been visible for 6 years and aren't a star it's probably not going to happen.

 

[FEDORGOATPRIDE15-0]

For some time I’ve felt like they aren’t really trying their hardest to deliver the absolute best product they could. I’m not sure why, but could be all the ”here’s the next slapfighting event” shit they also advertise while having watered down events.

Now there’s talk of doing more boxing stuff and partnering with the saudis or some shit? Bleh

MONOPOLIES SUCK.....ALWAYS....inferior product while telling you how great it is.....akin to selling us pork having us believe it's Filet Mignon...again it's a monopoly in the business

 

[Silverhawk]

Private equity firms are gonna do the same thing that is being done to film and TV. Live off the trademark as long as they can and then throw the corpse in the trash. Sure stars are gonna help but that's not gonna save an extremely watered down product in the end.

Guess we can be glad that TKO and Endeavour are public.

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

They also can’t attract North American talent to market to there main crowd because they don’t pay shit, so they get a bunch of people from poor ass countries where 12/12 American goes along way to fight for them.

Lmao cant believe this narrative has started to pop up in recent years to excuse fading American relevance.

 

[Shaolin Alan]

America's Best wrestling stars prefer collecting University coaching salaries, rather than CTE & an opportunity

 

[ArtardFiesta]

post covind it's been shit.

WW is a mess..... the real stars and future - brady, garry, shavkat have been ducked by usman, belal, leon and colby. These 4 also refuse to be active and get the division moving, they aren't even looking to fight each other.. I'm glad Dana has had enough of this nonsense and is moving ahead with jdm and islam.

MW with izzy defending agaisnt cannoirer, vetori, costa.

LHW was a mess for awhile until poatan saved it.

LW is a little held up where a guy like Paddy is better of going straight for the title shot then trying to have arman or justin fight him. LW right now is funny because a guy like Gamrot and Beniel are completely screwed gatekeeping up comers because ranked guys will only fight BSD or fiziev.

 

[Your Salad]

@hbombbisping sex life isn't over with its SO it's just waiting for new stars.

 

[Paolo Delutis]

The product is dog shit.

The overall level of fighter is higher in terms of skills, but the promotion and matchmaking are terrible and they put no effort into fighter development except in incredibly extenuating circumstances (like Suga).

They do everything the same from posters to promos to Apex events. All while charging more and giving you less reason to care.

Without compelling story lines and fighters to
get behind it’s just violence for the sake of violence, which becomes repetitive and formless over time.

There are plenty of stories at play both small and large scale..


In fact...Every fights a story...a story of who prepared more then the other guy, who has more courage or lacking courage... who's more powerful and can the others technique over come that...

We dont need fabricated, scripted, packaged stories to enjoy this sport....that would be pro wrestling..

That said, when a story naturally forms and grows and you have fighters who are willing to put it on line in those big moments it obviously helps the sport grow...

Competition from other viable promotions would correct some of the issues mentioned by you

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

There are plenty of stories at play both small and large scale..


In fact...Every fights a story...a story of who prepared more then the other guy, who has more courage or lacking courage... who's more powerful and can the others technique over come that...

We dont need fabricated, scripted, packaged stories to enjoy this sport....that would be pro wrestling..

That said, when a story naturally forms and grows and you have fighters who are willing to put it on line in those big moments it obviously helps the sport grow...

Competition from other viable promotions would correct some of the issues mentioned by you

They’ve done an atrocious job telling the stories and getting people to care.

I’m not advocating scripted bullshit, but there are ways to actually “promote” fights and fighters, and they’ve lost the plot.

It’s delusional to think otherwise - interest is at an all time low based on fight night ratings and PPV buys. They’ve artificially inflated ticket sale gates by raising prices and doing less live shows.

Competition is non-existent and will continue to be so, they’ve got a monopsony. At its peak in 2016 there were like 25,000 MMA fights a year, now there are like 16,000 (almost half).

The best guys don’t fight enough and the matchups are quite often poorly made. Was Fluffy vs Roman a necessary or desired fight?

It’s content for the sake of content. It doesn’t mean there aren’t still good fights or great fighters but it’s like a chef with tons of amazing ingredients at their disposal pumping out McDonald’s like 90% of the time because it keeps costs low and they’ve gaslit people into thinking they are getting Michelin star dining.

 

[Qays Stetkevich]

UFC can't make anything cool happen thats why.

Illa vs Islam? nope
Jones vs Tom? nope
Poatan vs Izzy 3? nope

Shit no one ever wanted tho? Oh we got that bro

Dricus Vs strickland 2
Sean vs Merab 2
Illa vs gaethje (coming soon)

Dolidze v Vettorri II was THE fight that absolutely no one asked for.

 

[TheGreenMachine]

This all started years ago with the Reebok deal. Making fighters all wear the same shorts took away the individuality of the sport. I understand some sponsors like Dip Your Oil were getting ridiculous, but it made fights stick out. When people think Chuck Lidell, they remember his blue flame shorts. Anderson? Bumblebee shorts. Tito? Punishment athletics. In the process of going to Reebok, they killed off a lot of the MMA/BJJ sponsors, clothing and lifestyle brands and replaced them with a generic energy drink (Monster) and non MMA brands. Those lifestyle brands (think Afflicition, Silver Star, Hayabusa, American Fighter, etc.) were huge in promoting MMA to the martial arts community and average people who liked their clothes. Every up and coming fighter seems generic now and no one stands out til they get to the very top. And even then, there's still a lack of individuality.

They've tried to fix it with the Venom customized shorts for champs/#1 contenders, but I think its a bit too late. That's all on top of increasing the number of events and watering down the top fighters on them. The last event I didn't know half the fighters on it and couldn't remember the names of the up and comers.

Imagine if Suga Sean looked the same way he did at 18 (no clown hair or pink)? He'd be indistinguishable from every other fighter? It's hard to invest and bring up fighters when everyone seems generic and you're pumping out fights left and right without promoting your talent.

 

[egk]

The problem is the UFC does not promote stars or the fighters in general. They promote the organizaion and Dana White.

 

[Luthien]

They don't want stars, stars you have to pay. Better to get a contract with ESPN that pays you no matter what. If you put on Bob The Bum 1 - 1 on Apex and pay him minimum wage. You can pocket that ESPN money

 

[BroScienceTalkatWork]

Didn’t know you could be on the rise a year before your planned retirement

 

[volcom5]

There will never be new stars, the greatest fans in the world, MMA fans has way making sure the never happens.

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

They don't want stars, stars you have to pay. Better to get a contract with ESPN that pays you no matter what.

They want both things.

If they didnt want stars why would they give O'Malley a title shot off the back of one gift decision over a top 10 opponent, and then give him a pointless immediate rematch after he lost the belt in decisive fashion? why would they invent the BMF belt so they can handpick who fights for it? why would they sign Poatan at 3-1, give him a title shot after 3 fights, then at LHW hold off the Ank fight and randomly give him Khalil as a title defence instead? why would they give Gane 3 title shots since 2022 even though hes only won 3 fights since then and one of them was an arguable robbery? why would they give Paddy a gift decision over Jared Gordon then put him against fading big names like Ferg and Chandler?

 

[KO Shotz]

It is absurd to me when ppl claim the UFC is "dying". I've been watching the UFC for around 25 years now & the sport & company is as successful as it's ever been. Where ppl get the misconception of the UFC not being as exciting as it used to be is because there's more fight cards spread out throughout a calendar year. There weren't apex cards & fight nights. All there was were PPV'S once a month & the UFC would stack those cards up because they had too. Now a days they don't stack up cards & it feels less exciting for some cards because of the multiple fight cards a month.

The HW division is dying tho for real. That is an accurate & legit statement.

 

[haj02]

People say this a lot but I dont see it at all tbh. They strapped a rocket to Sean O'Malley and basically artificially engineered him into a title shot. They fast tracked Poatan and made him arguably the biggest star in the sport within like a year. They've carefully managed Paddy giving him a gift decision over Jared Gordon so he didnt get derailed and then putting him against washed up big names. They're about give Gane his third title shot etc etc.

I dont think they're actively trying to avoid making stars, they just havent found anyone who can make a Conor level impact.

Giving people title shots isn't giving them a worldwide media tour or aggressively promoting them.