Why UFC dont do tournaments like in Bellator?

[Fahcough]

more are starting to realize that macho creed just leaves them broken, suffering from CTE, and broke

Guys are looking at it for what it is now, prize fighting. Trying to secure the most wealth they can since their career can be over after any given fight

They aren't here to be smart business partners. They're here to break their bodies down for our entertainment. They pay in blood, we return invest with cash

 

[Franklin U.]

The most they do is have nights where you see Conor/Porier with Hooker and chandler as the co main

Tbh those are fun nights

I mentioned this in another thrd- I'd restructure( weight) the mens classes from 8 down to 7 ( which is still plenty) and less would seem like more .Divisions automatically become deeper and alot of fighters will choose natural weight classes over cuts( weight) that would be more extreme.... but thats me.Also - scrap the womens 125 division.

 

[IloveTHIS]

It isnt that. Its just that the prize has to be worth it. Imagine they made a GP that the prize was 100 million. Ok then you will get people wanting to fight 8 times in one hour.

MMA is not at the point where you could have the best fighters battle it out for 100 k anymore

it used to be,but not anymore.

so....you agree with what I wrote. we are saying the same thing.

 

[JakePaul]

Been there done that . On to newer things

 

[Raymundo Alvarado Guevara]

Short answer:
Because UFC don't want

 

[GrantB13]

They can't control matchups. Old school one night tournaments would be sweet but having a while tournament take a damn year doesn't have much appeal and there's a huge timeframe for things to fall out

 

[blaseblah]

The UFC prefers to poach their stars rather than take a risk creating one themselves.

That makes no sense, Bellator's LHW tournament is filled with former UFC fighters.

 

[kflo]

The UFC prefers to poach their stars rather than take a risk creating one themselves.

how would they go about "creating stars" themselves? build one in the PI?

 

[BFoe]

How is the the LHW Grand Prix holding up the division? The champ Vadim Nemkov is in the tournament. If he keeps winning he'll fight 3 times with the belt on the line each time.


First round is 3/4 done and the only match that fell apart was Yoel's

It varies tournament to tournament, as to whether it holds up a division or how. Yoel is a great example of what I was talking about though. That was a great fight that fell apart due to medical issues and now can’t be rebooked. If Rumble loses, we can maybe do it but the fight may have lost some luster. There could be other contenders starting to emerge at LHW that we’d like to see fight certain guys—but we can’t see those fights for a year or whatever because the guys I would like to see the contender fight are tied up in a tournament.

The bottom line though for me is this: why are we doing this? Personally I don’t give a shit if a fighter wins a million dollars or not. I don’t care if they win the right to sip 50 Cent’s champagne out of a hooker’s ass crack or whatever. Tournaments should have a purpose.
There were very specific reasons why the HW Grand Prix worked. Because it worked, Coker is “chasing the dragon” trying to capture that again with stagnant-ass FW and WW tournaments that take for damn ever and that we don’t need.

 

[BFoe]

how would they go about "creating stars" themselves? build one in the PI?

It’s never a guarantee, but you do it through marketing and booking. Signing good prospects, booking them well, finding ways to market them, etc. Some of this depends on the fighter’s personality and continuing to win, and some is booking and promotion.

 

[kflo]

It’s never a guarantee, but you do it through marketing and booking. Signing good prospects, booking them well, finding ways to market them, etc. Some of this depends on the fighter’s personality and continuing to win, and some is booking and promotion.

Which is what they do, no?

 

[Sweater of AV]

Dana doesn't have the balls.

 

[Sticko]

It varies tournament to tournament, as to whether it holds up a division or how. Yoel is a great example of what I was talking about though. That was a great fight that fell apart due to medical issues and now can’t be rebooked. If Rumble loses, we can maybe do it but the fight may have lost some luster. There could be other contenders starting to emerge at LHW that we’d like to see fight certain guys—but we can’t see those fights for a year or whatever because the guys I would like to see the contender fight are tied up in a tournament.

The bottom line though for me is this: why are we doing this? Personally I don’t give a shit if a fighter wins a million dollars or not. I don’t care if they win the right to sip 50 Cent’s champagne out of a hooker’s ass crack or whatever. Tournaments should have a purpose.
There were very specific reasons why the HW Grand Prix worked. Because it worked, Coker is “chasing the dragon” trying to capture that again with stagnant-ass FW and WW tournaments that take for damn ever and that we don’t need.

Well there's no telling if Yoel can be rebooked at all, tournament or no tournament, because we didn't know if he'll get medically cleared to fight again. Unfortunate but not anybody's fault.

Personally I like the tournament because it adds a little more structure and context to the matchmaking and a little more certainty where you know if these two guys win, they're going to fight each other next, you don't have to wait and see if they actually agree to the fight.

And it was just kind of interesting that Bellator had 6 different big-name former UFC guys at LHW so let's see which one of them is the best, alongside the Bellator LHW champion and a random prospect from Turkmenistan.

 

[Benoitthegr8]

Good topic. So here’s my deal with tournaments, and I know a lot of ppl disagree with me:
Tournaments are great when they are used sparingly, and have a purpose.
Bellator’s HW Grand Prix was cool because we hadn’t seen a tourney in awhile. And they badly needed to crown a new HW champ, so it made sense.
-There was no reason to have a FW Grand Prix, WW Grand Prix, or even LHW Grand Prix. That type of shit holds up the division, drags on forever, and fighters always get injured or fall out of the tourney or whatever.

UFC missed a great fucking opportunity to do this with the LW title. When Khabib vacated, they should’ve had a tournament. Could’ve been a small 4-man tournament with say, Chandler-Oliveira and Poirier-McGregor. Or an 8 man: Poirier, McGregor, Chandler, Oliveira, Ferguson, Gaethje, RDA and Makachev or whomever (I know Islam is like #11, I threw him in for fun).

All the controversies about whether Chandler deserves a shot, whether Conor should be hot-shotted into title fights, Poirier preferring to fight Conor rather than for the belt, etc., could’ve been dealt with by booking a really cool tournament.

Agreed, this was a huge missed opportunity to the increase buzz around the new champ with the casuals, especially around whomever they end up crowning the new LW Champ. It could’ve been the guy who earned the belt by fighting through the bracket of 155 killers, while adding legitimacy to the title. As it is now you have two relatively unknown commodities to the casuals, obviously the hardcore fans know, but the point is there isn’t much attention leading up to the event, the casuals I know basically think that the title is just a 2nd Place marker behind Khabib. Oh well luckily they got 1/2 the equation correct in giving Chucky the TS, I’m still not sure If I agree with Chandler getting the TS, but it’s kinda a default no brainer since Poirier turned off the opportunity and Gaethje is coming off an L. Although RDA instead of Chandler would’ve been a fun fight, but IMO Ralphie doesn’t really deserve it.

 

[skylolow]

UFC wants to hold the cards and be able to pivot easily when need to. They do more or less run tournaments in the background by the matchmakers. Tournaments are great when they bring match ups you normally won't see. Like mixing two weight classes or open weight. Now that is interesting to watch and see how it unfolds.

Bellator's does it because tournaments is like Coker's favorite thing ever. But the reality is who do you think these guys would be fighting this year if they weren't in the tournament, the answer is each other and if it isn't that is just bad matchmaking on Bellator's part. The tournament makes Coker's life easier more or less.

 

[BFoe]

Which is what they do, no?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. The UFC is better about this than Bellator—I talked about this in a Bellator thread not long ago. Bellator does goofy shit. Like sign Rampage Jacksonfor several fights but only have him fight guys like Fedor, Wanderlei, Chael... they could’ve used him to build some stars. But they seem content to book legends fights, or pass on guys if they aren’t interested in one-off legends fights. I mean, I get not wanting to sign an old Overeem to 6 fights. But why not sign him for 3, and then book Tyrell Fortune to fight him? Just last night, I watched Ferreira TKO Werdum in PFL. I didn’t know who the hell Ferreira was before last night—but I do now. There are different ways to promote and book, to try and create stars. Ultimately it’s up to the fighter to perform, but the promoters and matchmakers do play key roles.

Well there's no telling if Yoel can be rebooked at all, tournament or no tournament, because we didn't know if he'll get medically cleared to fight again. Unfortunate but not anybody's fault.

Personally I like the tournament because it adds a little more structure and context to the matchmaking and a little more certainty where you know if these two guys win, they're going to fight each other next, you don't have to wait and see if they actually agree to the fight.

And it was just kind of interesting that Bellator had 6 different big-name former UFC guys at LHW so let's see which one of them is the best, alongside the Bellator LHW champion and a random prospect from Turkmenistan.

Yeah I agree with that part. I don’t mind the LHW Grand Prix so much, although the whole Grand Prix thing has been kind of overkill in Bellator lately. The FW and WW ones seemed totally pointless to me.

 

[suffersystem]

Tbh the ratings would go through the roof. Everyone loves that kind of "eliminator" thing. Playoffs in the NBA, champions league/libertadores in soccer, Roland Garros/US/AU Open in tennis etc. People just love this bracket one vs one tournaments, so i really don't get why they don't do it.

Does Bellator know this? Because maybe no one told them their ratings are supposed to be through the roof........