Out of all 3. Wow
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2.9 actually
You could arguably say 3.5/4 decades with Shooto/Japan
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But twas it MMA or NHB? 
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PRIDE!
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there would be two month stretches with nothing. the roster was small.
the skill level has also increased across the board, pretty much everybody can sprawl and defend submissions. so the exceptional is lost in a sea of average making it less compelling in general.
it’s been watered down
too many fighters, too many fights. no anticipation.
thats why I feel like you do at least
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Best time to be on the UG.
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I think the 00s was kind of a nice middle ground where the overall level of skill/professionalism/athleticism had evolved to a respectable enough degree that you could genuinely call it a sport. But at the same time it still felt young, exciting and dangerous, because it hadnt been fully embraced by the mainstream yet.
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For me its getting older + oversaturation. Theres so many cards, so many divisions, so many fighters, so much going on and its so easy to access all of it that its harder to keep up with it and truly appreciate it, imo. Just look at this past weekend - UFC, Bellator, KSW (and Glory) all on pretty much at the same time and then Rizin not too long after that. Its overwhelming.
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VU cause that’s one of my favorite Kurt angle moments ever
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That’s because the cards are watered down and it’s just over saturated.
When there were fewer events they were much bigger and much more anticipation. People knew every fighter and the fights has bigger implications.
Most people love pizza but if you eat it everyday it just isn’t that special or good anymore.
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2005-2015 was better if we cheat a little
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i was just going to say that, i think that was the time period where we really saw the sport grow into something special. I feel like the skill level was becoming the reason for winning. It’s just my opinion though, I respect the OG MMA fans.
Watching MMA now is like turning on the TV and watching a random baseball, basketball or soccer game. Thousands of games a year. They can all look alike. Yep skill level is good, sometimes great.
Watching MMA when PRIDE produced big cards was like watching the Superbowl/Wrestlemania/the World Series/the majors in golf etc… you knew you were watching a big event, is was special. The Shockwave and Grand Prix cards were the best thing ever in the history of sports. Imagine what a PRIDE GP would look like with the UFC’s current BW or LW talent pools.
UFC still does a good job with some Fight Nights and a lot of PPV cards, like look at 267, 268, 269. Great cards, the most interesting thing to watch in the world of sports to me.
UFC PPVs are still the best three to six hours in all of sports. Sometimes Bellator, ONE, PFL have good fights too but its not something you want to watch for four or five hours straight.
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I believe the late 90s were the best without a doubt
Yeah, I remember specifically that 2011, was one of the best years. Had so many great/big fights.
SF HW Grand Prix
Nick Diaz vs Daley
Jon Jones v Shogun
Rockhold v Jacare
Fedor v Hendo
Brock Lesnar v Overeem
Hendo v Shogun 1
Machida v Couture
Wandy v Chris Leben
BJ Penn v Nick Diaz
Jon Jones v Machida
Mir vs Big Nog
Kongo v Pat Barry
Nate Diaz v Cerrone
Bisping v Mayhem
Wandy v Cung Le
Rousey v Tate
Alvarez v Chandler
Aldo was in his prime. Faber, Rampage Cruz, Lil Nog, Rashad were fighting.
2011 was great for MMA!
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Fuck that was a great year
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Thinking about it more, I wanna say 2002-2012 for me
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It was great, but 2005/2006 you could take 3 Pride cards and have almost as many great fights.
And Pride had 10 events each year. UFC also had 10 in 2005 & 18 in 2006.
All great years tho, hard to pick one over another .