As everyone knows this forum reads more like tvbythenumbers.com than an MMA forum nowadays but there is something that is getting lost in all the back and forth.
Quick Summary:
- Pro UFC posters point to low Bellator ratings and say the org is doomed because they can't beat Bar Rescue rerun numbers (I love Bar Resuce btw)
The Common Retort: Bellator is just starting out and these are great numbers for a small org.
- Pro Bellator posters point to historically low UFC numbers on FoxSports1 and say that UFC is in pieces.
The Common Retort: The UFC has the best numbers on a brand new channel.
Now for what is lost: The UFC is an established brand getting a ton of PR and Marketing from Fox yet they don't have a particularly big core audience that cares enough to follow them to different channels. If interest was high UFC fans would follow them to FS1 just the way they followed them to PPV from TUF on Spike.
Bellator is on an established MMA channel in SPIKE, yet they have a lot of trouble getting to 1mill for any broadcast no matter what the quality of the card is.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
It means that the US audience is fatigued on a stale, wrestle-box product that has no mega stars that excite and call viewers to action.
MMA is contracting like George Costanza's pee-pee in the pool water and this has made the UFC desperate to grow internationally (when they should be optimizing their product - which they will never do).
You said it all man... You said it all. 
ttt
It still calls you to action because your still writing and posting about it!
fightharder - It still calls you to action because your still writing and posting about it!
That's the wrong kind of action...........
To stick with the bar rescue theme: getting up and leaving the bar is a call to action too...
I guess no one wants to discuss the honest truth...
Haulport - I guess no one wants to discuss the honest truth...Nope. When we make threads like this they get ignored.
RyannVonDoom -Haulport - I guess no one wants to discuss the honest truth...Nope. When we make threads like this they get ignored.
This place is painful. I don't know why I come here anymore. Should just stick with EY's place...
Haulport -I wont go back there due to idoharm being there. Done.RyannVonDoom -Haulport - I guess no one wants to discuss the honest truth...Nope. When we make threads like this they get ignored.
This place is painful. I don't know why I come here anymore. Should just stick with EY's place...
RyannVonDoom -Haulport -I wont go back there due to idoharm being there. Done.RyannVonDoom -Haulport - I guess no one wants to discuss the honest truth...Nope. When we make threads like this they get ignored.
This place is painful. I don't know why I come here anymore. Should just stick with EY's place...
Oh come now. If you applied that logic to THIS place then you would delete the bookmark for the UG from your browser and pray for a stroke to erase the memory of the domain name...
Kepler - I agree... The wrestle-box is so true, getting pretty bored of it also, watched a fight in Bellator recently where no elbows allowed and it created enough room for the guy on bottom to do something and it led to many sub attempts/sweeps.
I miss the fluidity of grappling, it seems so robotic now. I really feel like the meaning of MMA has been lost and that is constant growth and testing. The rule set we have in place now was important in the initial growing phase to get MMA seen as at all legit and after numerous testing it turns that a 10 point must scoring system just isn't functional and judges need to be educated.
I feel like martial arts will always be a niche and I hope it stays that way, can already see it losing a lot of its principles under the pressure and threat of capitalism and would hate to see it decline any further. Great topic!
I doubt it will ever be as big as any of the major sports in the US but I think Martial Arts and even the Asian flavor of many martial arts is very big in the US. MMA is no where near that threshold imo and the themes and style used to promote MMA currently is EXTREMELY limited and actually drives a lot of casual people away.
So the Ufc expands globally to keep going but what does Bellator do to stay in business? Surely they cannot survive if their original programming pulls fewer viewers than the usual SPIKE program re-run which is cheaper and apparently more popular. Will what they do to draw viewers help the UFC too? That is the larger picture.
James III - Haulport, excellent thread you speak the truth and I agree with you 100%
VTFU
Despite my rather shamefull and embarassing join date I've been into MMA for alot longer and I really dislike what has happened to modern MMA. There needs to be drastic changes otherwise I fear for the future of this sport.
It's already mostly dead to me. I am bored silly by today's MMA.
: (
Kepler -Haulport -Kepler - I agree... The wrestle-box is so true, getting pretty bored of it also, watched a fight in Bellator recently where no elbows allowed and it created enough room for the guy on bottom to do something and it led to many sub attempts/sweeps.
I miss the fluidity of grappling, it seems so robotic now. I really feel like the meaning of MMA has been lost and that is constant growth and testing. The rule set we have in place now was important in the initial growing phase to get MMA seen as at all legit and after numerous testing it turns that a 10 point must scoring system just isn't functional and judges need to be educated.
I feel like martial arts will always be a niche and I hope it stays that way, can already see it losing a lot of its principles under the pressure and threat of capitalism and would hate to see it decline any further. Great topic!
I doubt it will ever be as big as any of the major sports in the US but I think Martial Arts and even the Asian flavor of many martial arts is very big in the US. MMA is no where near that threshold imo and the themes and style used to promote MMA currently is EXTREMELY limited and actually drives a lot of casual people away.
Indeed the demographic is largely young males and it definitely has a WWE feel to the production. Would be awesome for them to slow it down and make it more about self-improvement, respect and testing ones skills against another.
I don't know about USA but here in the UK it is pretty small most people know of cage fighting but would have no idea about the martial arts side of things.
Actually I think that if it really felt more like WWE they'd get better ratings. Total Divas does like a 1.4 rating or something which beats Ronda and Meisha on TUF.
So MMA hot girls lose out miserably to WWE hot girls...
I do agree that if it was all about the martial arts and done well (not just aping HBO boxing behind the scenes shows like UFC Primetime or whatever it is called does) then they'd jump significantly in the ratings.
theingcrowd - So the Ufc expands globally to keep going but what does Bellator do to stay in business? Surely they cannot survive if their original programming pulls fewer viewers than the usual SPIKE program re-run which is cheaper and apparently more popular. Will what they do to draw viewers help the UFC too? That is the larger picture.
It depends for Bellator. What are Viacom's expectations? TNA/Impact wrestling gets a 0.95 I think and if they can creep up to that number then may cruise for years (probably lower overhead for Ballator than Impact right now too).
If Fox doesn't renew with Zuffa it is conceivable that the Fertittas sell to Viacom years down the line imo.
It's the fans that are ruining this sport. I love MMA but never talk about it casually and am embarrassed to say that I like the sport because of the type of people who are associated with it