MMA is bigger globally than it ever has been.
OP sounds like one of those people who thinks MMA was big when Tito fought Shamrock and Chuck even though those events likely barely cracked 200 and 300k PPV buys respectively.
MMA is different now but bigger than ever.
UFC, Bellator, ONE, PFL, RIZIN, KSW and ACA put out 150+ shows a year.
Cards that have that “supercard” feel have died down but the sport is being watched.
They put out cards with #10 versus #14 as the headliners
PPV’s should be at least 2 title fights & a #1 contender fight
Free to TV should be at least a 1 title fight and/or a #1 contender fight (as in, #2 versus #4 or #1 versus #3, etc)
Then all the main card fighters should at least have some name recognition
We are not getting that lately.
That’s a good point. Those sports including Boxing haven’t really shown us much new either. You just have to be a fan or find something to root for. Helps when it is a City or Country to boost support and interest. I think another thing to consider is some like the UFC have been more focused on International growth vs Domestic growth. If the sports started here they already have this market so no need to cater to it as much as they used to.
The ufc had a string of events where they consistently sold over 400K PPVs in the late 2000’s. They struggle to do that with some cards even today.
They were not earning the income then that they are now. Now ESPN pays UFC a set amount regardless of what a PPV does. ESPN+ is a huge part of deal now.
Well, yeah, the UFC had a deal with ESPN that stated they needed to give ESPN a certain number of PPVs and fight nights per year/month that would have forced the UFC to pay ESPN for any events they didn’t deliver on. The UFC is is only fortunate that their fight nights and PPVs still thrived despite the shit Apex cards they’ve held for the last two years. I mean, sure the money was guaranteed, but the crowdless events that these lockdowns forced could have hurt the UFC even more than they already did from a fan’s perspective (I’ve hated these crowdless events from the beginning).
They’re lucky it didn’t and that all the other sports shutting down pushed those sports fans towards watching UFC events instead.
Just look at one example of how big UFC is now, Chase Hooper is nobody in his division and his DWCS fight on youtube alone has 7.5 million views. Can’t imagine what it did on Fight Pass. O’Malley’s DWCS fight has 6.6 million views. Those guys were nothing when those fights happened and DWCS is not even that old. The sport has a HUGE footprint in sports and sports media.
Its different than prior eras, yes, but there is a lot to consider besides US PPV buys.
“Nobody watches MMA anymore”
Look at Jiri’s homecoming
I miss PRIDE GP’s as much as the next guy and I miss being twenty five too but ignoring someone like Hooper can get 7M views for a Fight Pass fight that is put on youtube and making a thread saying “nobody watches MMA” is silly.
fuck that dude!! the lockdown events got me back into MMA.
I was like you cunts, I lost interest because I had been watching two half naked dudes fight in a metal cage for over half my life, it became stale. once the lockdown hit and the UFC was the only sport available I rededicated myself. I didnt know pretty much ANY of the newer fighters since I had been away for 4-5 years. now I follow a handful of fighters I enjoy watching regardless of where they are on the rankings and there is a UFC every saturday night. Im loving the UFC these days. you guys are just old and cranky.
Watered down. Terrible matchmaking after around 2013.
Their brand used to be make every card a must watch event. Now it’s “how many cards can we jam into a year”.
Ryan is a fucken monster. He should be the goat. My friend told me to watch tuf and said Ryan was the best black belt he rolls with, different levels
Prices of Live Shows can be inhibiting
OP sounds like one of those people who thinks MMA was big when Tito fought Shamrock and Chuck even though those events likely barely cracked 200 and 300k PPV buys respectively.
Yeah its a perception thing really. Those guys might have FELT bigger because the roster was tiny and there was only a handful of divisions and cards which made it much easier for someone to familiarise themselves with all the fighters.
In reality though, Conor is the biggest star in MMA history. And look at Ngannou just recently getting interviewed in the ring in front of 90k people in the UK after a major HW boxing match, and potentially fighting Fury. Can you imagine Tim Sylvia being able to do that? Colby at the White house etc etc.
People were already complaining about the same shit way before 2019 though lol.
Name a division other than LW and BW that are worth a shit.
UFC HW Division: Exists
I miss the era of superstar dominant champs like Anderson, GSP, Jones, BJ/Frankie, DJ, etc
Seeing under armour GSP adverts in a random store in my neck of the world was surreal
Now its just Jack of all trades jacking off