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

[hbombbisping]

I think of it like boxing. Boxing struggled badly for a while there but some new stars have developed over the last decade or so bringing some life back into it.

UFC lost Brock, then Ronda, Conor and Israel fell off, Khabib retired, Jon ran from Aspinall,

but now with Topuria, Islam, DDP, Khamzat, Aspinall, Paddy, and other fresh faces on the rise I think it's only a matter of time before the UFC makes a come back.

It's really going to depend on how bankable the new stars become. The sport is only as big as its stars.

 

[Spam On Rye]

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.

 

[haj02]

They aren't coming, the UFC hasn't invested in new stars for years. They truly believe that's the wrong option and it's better to invest in the brand itself.

 

[Zebra Cheeks]

They aren't coming, the UFC hasn't invested in new stars for years. They truly believe that's the wrong option and it's better to invest in the brand itself.

Cmon man we just need a few more “so you wanna be a fucking fighter” speeches from Dana and we’ll have like 10 more stars no problem

 

[Spath]

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

 

[BFoe]

Cmon man we just need a few more “so you wanna be a fucking fighter” speeches from Dana and we’ll have like 10 more stars no problem

Sigh, we just don’t beat them off like we used to…

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

They aren't coming, the UFC hasn't invested in new stars for years. They truly believe that's the wrong option and it's better to invest in the brand itself.

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.

 

[wisdom blows]

Cards are really bad now. They have enough top 10 fighters that every main card of every PPV should be all top 10 guys. Putting the brand before stars is a mistake. People like personalities and individuals to root for, not a logo on the mat.

 

[FreddieRoachsVoice]

Stars rarely ever come along organically; careful matchmaking is what turns marketable talent into stars. Notable examples of this includes Chuck fighting Vernon freakin Tiger White, Conor fighting Dennis Siver in a title eliminator, Sean O'Malley and Khabib fighting nothing but strikers on route to their titles, Paddy Pimblett facing old skidding veterans, etc.

While not being full on rigged, matchmaking in prize fighting can be highly manipulated to get desired outcomes and build towards marketable match-ups. No one is going to care about a star for long if they're not successful.

With that being said, I'm not going to act like the UFC doesn't know this and has suddenly forgotten how to build stars. It's pretty obvious that their business strategy is to keep costs low and pay fighters as little as possible so instead of building up stars and giving them leverage in negotiations, the UFC implemented a rankings system (after refusing to do so for years) because now they can justify a card's "worth" based on the ranked contenders on it despite 3/4 of the top 15 in every division being pretty inferior talent in modern day.

2014 - modern day = a pretty noticeable change in how the UFC marketed their promotion. What changed in that era? The Reebok deal. Suddenly fighters aren't allowed to get their own sponsors, the UFC started making more money off of quantity of events instead of their quality, the ranking system came in, and suddenly there was a huge focus on "international talent".

These were not coincidences. The UFC knows they are not attracting the same calibre of Western athletes after the Reebok deal as there are WAY better career prospects than getting punched in the face for a living in these expensive countries. However, $15K to show is a LOT more attractive to someone coming from a developing country hence the sport is now primarily filled with talent from these places. The UFC essentially outsourced their talent, slapped rankings on them, and the die hard fans either don't care or can't tell the difference. This is what happens when a company has a monopoly; quality suffers and consumers either go without or learn to live with it.

TL/DR: New stars are not coming. The UFC's business model is not dependent on star power and they will continue to market the brand itself while underpaying talent as long as the die hards keep watching the inferior product.

 

[SuperNerd]

TS is right.

Nobody can turn these dorks into stars.

This happens in all sports. Majority of MMA fans have no scope and think the sky is falling.

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

Stars rarely ever come along organically; careful matchmaking is what turns marketable talent into stars.

Partly but you cant force it, as we have seen with guys like O'Malley and Colby. I would say with Conor the thing that actually pushed him over the edge into megastar status WAS an organic event, if he hadnt beaten Aldo in such a "holy shit" way he wouldnt have become so huge imo. It was the fact that a lot of people tuned in hoping/expecting to see him humbled then he goes and sleeps an ATG on a 10 year win streak in 13 seconds. Jorge blowing up was similar, it was heavily based on that shocking Askren KO.

The UFC knows they are not attracting the same calibre of Western athletes after the Reebok deal as there are WAY better career prospects than getting punched in the face for a living in these expensive countries. However, $15K to show is a LOT more attractive to someone coming from a developing country hence the sport is now primarily filled with talent from these places.

I would say its more that the people from those countries are just better fighters than Westerners on average, and unlike the 90s/00s the pipeline to get to the UFC is much more established. If anything the UFC has tried to stave off the takeover of guys from Russia etc and artificially push/protect guys from more desirable markets.

 

[rjmbrd]

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.

Keep in mind private equity has owned the UFC for nearly a decade - Silver Lake owns Endeavor, who bought the UFC in 2016.

Endeavor has now been taken private by Silver Lake, ejected Ari as CEO, and the UFC is now public via TKO. If retail investors dump TKO, perhaps we see some changes, but I find that unlikely.

The UFC is doing a 'mid' job at bookings, pay and investment in talent because they are simply not punished for doing those things poorly. Live sports rights are really valuable as linear TV has been failing for some time.

Amazon or ESPN would both be bidding to subsidize their UFC deal to keep the product away from competitors. Its a bizarre marketplace right now.

 

[Paolo Delutis]

Alot of pissing and moaning going on here..

Are Sherdoggers aging into raging old men or is UFC dying . Lol

The product is fine ..just in transition... Another guard change over.

The fighters havent come together yet , which is the only thing from keeping sthe Sport from truly going to another level ..as UFC still has the monopoly...till the market can be blown up and shared .. we wont see the true top level of this sport yet... with competition comes a raise in product quality...

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

Alot of pissing and moaning going on here..

Are Sherdoggers aging into raging old men or is UFC dying . Lol

The product is fine ..just in transition... Another guard change over.

The fighters havent come together yet , which is the only thing from keeping sthe Sport from truly going to another level ..as UFC still has the monopoly...till the market can be blown up and shared .. we wont see the true top level of this sport yet... with competition comes a raise in product quality...

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.

 

[TrueBias]

It's true, but it takes time. First, the fighter has to be an entertaining WINNER. Then he's gotta MARKET himself. But most importantly, he has keep BUSY. Conor did that, ronda did that.

Paddy is slowly doing that, topuira or however you spell it is doing that.

Not fighting at all does nothing for the brand or the fighter.

 

[Uber_Noober]

Power Slap is where it’s at

 

[Mesos]

I think of it like boxing. Boxing struggled badly for a while there but some new stars have developed over the last decade or so bringing some life back into it.

UFC lost Brock, then Ronda, Conor and Israel fell off, Khabib retired, Jon ran from Aspinall,

but now with Topuria, Islam, DDP, Khamzat, Aspinall, Paddy, and other fresh faces on the rise I think it's only a matter of time before the UFC makes a come back.

It's really going to depend on how bankable the new stars become. The sport is only as big as its stars.

Exactly. Fight sports in general are very star driven and if no stars rise up, then the sport sinks in popularity. UFC is finally starting to rebound with some newer guys notably Topuria. Hes the biggest star UFC has had in Europe since Conor and Khabib. Topuria is getting alot of mainstream attention in Spain. If he keeps defending the title we could see a global star in him. Dulatov is another interesting star in the making from Europe. For the US its harder to find one that stands out right now.

 

[whocares]

Considering the UFC is intentionally booking all fighters with name value further and further apart with every event, not sure what more "stars" would do but put more fighters on the 1 to 2 fight a year diet.

The scheduling and matchmaking is the issue now, maximizing the amount of low salaried fighters on every card is the priority. But then it's not an issue at all when it's being engineered this way on purpose.

 

[RockyLockridge]

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)

 

[hbombbisping]

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)

This is true they have been failing to materialize the super fights.