What is your opinion on the recent matchmaking?

[Prazeres]

They really captured the spirit of Pride matchmaking, tho they still have a way to go until they can replicate the brilliance of booking such as Sakuraba vs Wanderlei 4

 

[Jawth]

I really dont get it at all with Lopes unless Murphy is injured.

I get passing Evloev for the "excitement" factor but Murphy has a long streak capped with a brutal KO.

I assume Gaethje vs. Paddy is as simple as the need for a male title fight, no one else being available and wanting to get another fight lut of Justin to keep him from quitting.

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

switch ESPN+ to Paramount, and here. WE. GO.

it's just going to be more of the same. uneventful matchmaking, maybe 2-3 cards a year that resemble the past glory of stacked greatness, and the rest just a bunch of filler to highlight people that don't even belong.

i predict more dagestani types, them branching out to more of the world.

every now and then we'll get a poatan / jiri type.

and a bunch of people posting their precious bets in the PBP thread of mediocre fighters.

basically, the past 5 years on repeat.

UFC has dieded and so did MMA.

 

[SuperAlly]

Fucking dreadful, I like Lopes but he skipped over a guy who beat him twice now lol

Justin/Paddy is fucking rewarding squatters with a belt while Arman actually earned his spot

The rank squatter bs died in like 2023

 

[SuperAlly]

They are trying to produce big numbers for the start of the Paramount deal.

These matchups aren’t very appealing to the average MMA fan, but they do target foreign markets that the UFC needs.

Volkanovski vs. Lopes will appeal to the Mexico and Oceania market.

Pimblett vs. Gaethje will appeal to the UK market.

The UFC probably previously had plans for Aspinall and JDM to be their big draws for those markets, but since neither of them could win their title fights they are scrambling to find other fights to generate viewership in those regions.

If you look at the current lineup of champions, the fact that they are from so many different countries isn’t a coincidence. The UFC is pushing fighters from different areas to maximize their numbers.

None of them will watch on Paramount though

 

[SuperAlly]

Or its a better argument if he or the UFC didn't make clear choices for his benefit.

Volk once is fine. Volk a second time was ludicrious. There were other options at the time and any ranked LW was better than a FW he clearly beat.

Moicano was a last second replacement. But the UFC or Islam chose him over Dariush. Islam likely beats either. But Dariush has been a top 10 LW for years, top 5 even. Moicano has barely squeaked into the top 10.

This kind of picking and choosing for the champion errodes his Legacy. The inclusion of Islam is very much justified. Don't forget that he is calling for a fight with Usman which is an absolute joke. The fact they have the same manager adds exponentially to the fact Islam vs Usman is

Agree re Usman

Rest of your post is bollocks

 

[swarrrm]

I was really hoping for Lesnar vs Fedor this time

 

[Killhippies]

Just will watch less like I have been for this year.

This is just the chickens coming home to roost for refusing to build stars naturally. They are struggling to find big numbers so are now cannibalizing harder than ever, couple that with the low pay and you will see the slow bleed continue with less dominant talent and more nonsensical matchmaking.

It's gotten to a point where Poatan(and to a lesser extent Islam) is the UFC's only 'sort of a star but not really', downgrading from having at least one big name in the roster. Few more years and casuals will not even know a single active UFC fighter.

 

[DoctorStoppage]

The UFC’s management is about as bad as it possibly can be, and they’re saved by being the only show in town that provides an extremely desirable product. They really don’t deserve any of the success they’ve achieved in recent years, basically 2016-18 onwards.

 

[JBJ was here]

They are trying to produce big numbers for the start of the Paramount deal.

These matchups aren’t very appealing to the average MMA fan, but they do target foreign markets that the UFC needs.

Paramount has the U.S. broadcast rights for the UFC, not international rights generally. Booking fights to appeal to international audiences does precisely dick squat for a big Paramount launch.

 

[fjodor]

My interest ist at an all time low. But that's ok, I have more time now to please all the ladies that desire me.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

My interest ist at an all time low. But that's ok, I have more time now to please all the ladies that desire me.

 

[DreyDay]

Why Interim LW? What did I miss?

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

Why Interim LW? What did I miss?

Ilia said he's not fighting until at least April. Rumors swirling about his private life stemming from the divorce, and custody of their children

 

[DreyDay]

Ilia said he's not fighting until at least April. Rumors swirling about his private life stemming from the divorce, and custody of their children

So what? My wife also left me on a weekend and I had to bend over to my boss on Monday again

 

[TrueBias]

Are you guys really enraged by this or are you pretending to be enraged by this?

Im ok with and almost desperate for it cuz these last champion fights have been awful.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

So what? My wife also left me on a weekend and I had to bend over to my boss on Monday again

And now i bend over to your wife

Are you guys really enraged by this or are you pretending to be enraged by this?

Im ok with and almost desperate for it cuz these last champion fights have been awful.

I mean, I'm an MMA fan, so..

 

[Russie]

It has changed for sure. I'm hoping it doesn't get close to the matchmaking mess in boxing.

Dana has always said there is a lot of shit in play when it comes to matchmaking. It could be even more now with things on Paramount. More than we know right now. This White House thing will have it's effect on cards the first half of the year. Some fights are going to be booked in a way that will charter the path for a fighter to the WH card. I can imagine conversations like let's hold that fight for the WH or or hold it for the CBS broadcast.

 

[markg171]

Arman is clear as day the #1 contender at LW. He weighed in as an official backup for the last title fight, beat Hooker since no one else at LW would fight him and stated he is 100% ready and willing to fight in Jan. So of course they book Gathje vs Paddy for an interim. Buys Ilia a year and if Arman doesn't fight in the meantime morons will cry Arman is inactive so he can't have a title shot.

They booked Paddy vs Justin for the title because Justin threatened to retire if he was passed up. So the matchup had to be Justin/Paddy or Justin/Arman if they wanted to squeeze 1 last year out of Justin. It really should've obviously been Arman/Paddy, but I guess Arman is seemingly still blacklisted. Probably shouldn't have just head butted Hooker and instead simply gone out and demolished him. So we're instead left with Paddy/Justin even if it's the worst case scenario.

The UFC obviously figured the tradeoff was worth it to try and squeeze 1 more year out of Justin. If he wins in January then he unifies with Ilia at the White House card. Which is their best case scenario for narratives given that gives them an actual American fighting for the title and against a European champion to boot so close enough to the Independence Day significance.

Kinda surprised actually that the UFC is risking that British Paddy wins and is instead the one fighting on the White House card. I know it's supposed to be the biggest card they can but it's an odd look to have British fighters on America's 250th anniversary from Britain.

 

[markg171]

You know they've just utterly jumped the shark from the fact that Paddy/Justin is HEADLINING the card. The matchmaking is one thing, but it's also an interim title fight. Interims don't headline over undisputed title fights, which there is one on the card of Harrison/Nunes. Harrison/Nunes is supposed to headline over Paddy/Justin according to the UFC's bout order rules. So they've thrown that out too.

Those two things combined show that pretty clearly the UFC just cares about the entertainment value, and how many viewers they think they can get to Paramount.