That was the funnest period of MMA so far for me. UFC was putting on some great events, all their big draws (Brock, GSP, and Andy) were all still active and fighting fairly often. Strikeforce was building their divisions well and putting on really stacked cards, then the tournament popped up and shit got extremely exciting. They were even producing a lot of solid prospect through their Challengers shows (Cormier, Rockhold, Woodley, Rousey, etc). Also, FEDOR! WEC was putting on excellent cards with tons of great fighters. I honestly don't remember ever being disappointed by a WEC card. Dream was Japanese and fantastic. They had freakshow fights, tournaments, some good fighters, and awesome NYE evens It was great having 4 different organizations putting on shows, 4 excellent organizations who all had great things to offer fight fans. I use to think that it would b great if all the fighters from those orgs were in the same place but tbh it's less exciting now that they are. I miss these days a lot. The Pride/UFC era was a blast too, but I feel like the UFC/WEC/SF/Dream era had more to offer.
Definitely one of the most underrated eras in MMA, 2008-2011 was a really fun time to be following the sport. Looking back, it's kinda weird to see all the talent so spread out between promotions. The UFC golden age was in full swing, the WEC giving the lighter weight classes exposure, Sengoku and Dream being the last stand of Japanese MMA, Strikeforce putting on fun fights, IFL and EliteXC dying out and new companies like Bellator were born.
But now we truly have the best fighting the best. All we're missing in the UFC is: Pitbull Freire, Justin Gaethje, Ben Askren, Mamed Khalidov, and the Hardcore Kid.
My favorite period too. I just can't get emotionally attached to fighters now. When you have 100 fighters in ufc lw division, you just can't know them all. You can't compare their skills. If i don't know their strengths and weaknesses, i just can't get excited for a fight.
Totally feel the same way. Wasn't too long ago that I knew every single fighter in the UFC, and if the UFC signed anyone new I rushed to look at their record and watch their fights. Now there are just so many damn fighters, which is cool, but at the same time it is really hard to get emotionally invested.
That was the period when I seriously got into MMA so it's one of my favorite eras as well (along Pride vs. UFC era). Having multiple major orgs with great talent is a great way to bring up elite fighters.
pretty much UFC's "Attitude" era. The peak of the sport. I can't see it returning with UFC's monoply and control.
Agree. Hell that era gave birth to my username. I miss the different approaches and vibes of each company. I also miss those freaky 8 hour long Japanese New Years cards. I'd ditch parties with friends to stay up all night and watch...loved it. Very underrated era of MMA. RIP-Variety.
i completley agree with this the ufc says they have the best fight the best but we get main events like machida vs dolloway or ppv fights like tht horrible marquart fight real superbowl of mma
because the beloved Pride never had squash matches, right? Machida recently fought Weidman and is fighting Rockhold next. Crushing Dolloway with an awesome body kick in-between is perfectly fine with me. Those highlight reel moments are what gets fans excited. Y'know how much of Wanderlei's popularity comes from crushing cans?
Best mma night for me was switching back and forth between a strikeforce card and WEC. Good night of fights that was.
I miss fight nights with Strikeforce and Wec, they always had awesome cards their own charm that I don't feel anymore.
Yeah, can't forget SRC. I miss big time JMMA more than anything else from that era. Strikeforce was amazing, don't get me wrong but Viator sort of fills that void. Shooto, DEEP and Pancrase are still pumping out solid cards but you can rarely watch them live, plus no English commentary. Old HDNet was the shit, Live K-1, DREAM, SRC.. A great time to be an MMA fan.
