I watch only the UFC really. I got into it through TUF 3 over 11 years ago. I never miss an event, I order every PPV. I make My cousins and friends and my girlfriend come over and we watch the fights.
haven’t watched Bellator, ONE, Rizin. I watch the highlights on YouTube or the play by play.
I watched Strikeforce when it was around
but really only the UFC. I spend all my time on sherdog.
I’m a white belt in Jiu Jitsu and an okay Wrestler.
Am I a casual fan? If not, who is a casual? People who Conor brought over?
IMHO The line has blurred over the years.
Before, when MMA was just a niche sport, and everyone knew everyone in any given card, anyone who just started watching were "a casual".
Then UFC popularity skyrocketed, and every time there was a crossover, the fans who just joined became the new casuals. That was true with Brock fans, then Ronda and Conor fans.
But in the old days, it merely served to identify fans, so you'd know that someone might not follow your examples (when you'd mention some obscure win by a journeymen).
Then it became an elitism. Something like "I know, you don't because you are a casual".
And then, when Conor came, the casual came with such an obnoxious attitude that even casuals were distancing themselves from these guys...
So now it's a little bit of a mess. Conor fanboys are not so obnoxious (unless he comes back and wins), but it is very rare to see old timers being as hardcore as they were in the old days.
IMHO I don't care who you are and how hardcore you are. As long as you have a good attitude, I'm fine with it.
Those who demand you to agree with them are the ones I have an issue with, doesn't matter if they are new, old fans or if they just heard about MMA.
The disrespect should not exist in a sport where the fucking basis of it is the fact most guys fight their hearts off, but at the end of the fight, almost always they go and shake their opponent's hands.
