Is anyone losing interest in UFC?
- Thread starter Corpsepyre
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Statue of Limitation
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When it's done well (not WWE lately) fake wrestling is more entertaining than real fighting for some people. All you've got to do is suspend your disbelief and watch it for what it is (a fictional TV show) and you'll get a similar buzz to watching real fighting.
It helps that shows like Like Underground are a proper pro wrestling show, which in the confines of fiction masquerades as a fighting league, where as WWE swings heavily towards some type of Saturday Night Live type of format.
Lucha Underground is a telenovella with over stylized and over produced wrestling to further the storylines. It's not even a real wrestling show. It has a permanent piss filter and loves using crane shots to show the bussed in fans that don't pay to get in and are told what to chant.
Pristine_Condition
Member
Yes. After Weidman got hurt, pushing Rousey/Zingano into the main event of 184, PPV bitrate predictions were lowered, with experts saying 300k domestic would be a good number. (Coincidently, 300k is when Rousey's contracted PPV bonus kicks into the $1M range.) The event ended up doing ~600k PPV domestic buys, blowing away expectations, especially since the card was so originally booked to be so top-loaded with the top two fights, the main one of which was of course missing. So basically Rousey carried the whole event to an excellent number.
Mainstream fight fans will pay to see a singular athlete exhibiting dominance. Even if it means short fights. Mike Tyson made almost a billion dollars in that period when he was blasting people in mere minutes.
BigJonsson
Member
Pro wrestling is where the real action is, bros.
that's the E3 2015 GIF
Fox Mulder
Member
I got into mma in 2005 or so but fell out the last few years. The ufc is just too diluted and hard to keep up.
Pristine_Condition
Member
You are pulling this some of this out of your ass. The wrestling isn't "over-produced." It's lucha. You will even see botched spots. They edit the camera angles on the matches, but that's about it, and that has been going on since World Class Championship Wrestling innovated the televised presentation of wrestling in the early 80s. They don't re-do spots and edit "clean" spots in either, which is something that has been done countless times on WWE Smackdown. Yes, they don't charge for tickets (but this is like 100% of all televised "filmed in front a live studio audience" shows in Hollywood, which is the world where these guys come from) but the tickets are actually a hard get. Unless you have an in, you'll be on a waiting list for months to get tickets. And while they are very strict with the non-disclosure agreement, since they film weeks of shows in advance, and with use of cell phones/cameras (strictly prohibited/immediate ejection if caught during a taping) they don't actually police (other than profanity because it's TV) or cue what the fans chant.
Herbspiceguy
Member
Yup, makes me miss the days of Strikeforce, WEC and (less related) K-1 GP's.
LU literally has applause signs like the Tonight Show. It isn't a wrestling show. It's a TV show with wrestling as a back drop.
funkystudent
Member
As others have said. UFC is just really lacking in big personalties these days. You dont really have the big name matches like they had back in the day when they had 4 or 5 huge names.
Now its just month after month of generic MMA dude fighting another generic MMA dude
People trying to gimmick up their fighting organisation is the best
Its always so dumb.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GixDXD44_yA
Now its just month after month of generic MMA dude fighting another generic MMA dude
People trying to gimmick up their fighting organisation is the best
Its always so dumb.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GixDXD44_yA
ItAintEasyBeinCheesy
it's 4th of July in my asshole
How many of the guys built their rep in UFC?, most of it was Pride, K-1, WWE etc.
Ovek
7Member7
Its biggest problem is that MMA has become its own martial art, everyone fights the same and everyone trains the same and its mostly boring to watch because of it.
The second is a severe lack of any strong personalities in the sport, everyone looks the same even down to the god awful tattoos all UFC the fighters seem to have nowadays.
That and the last few UFC events I've watched the precard has been better than the main...
The second is a severe lack of any strong personalities in the sport, everyone looks the same even down to the god awful tattoos all UFC the fighters seem to have nowadays.
That and the last few UFC events I've watched the precard has been better than the main...
TestMonkey
Member
I've been rooting for Jones since I saw him spinning elbow O'Brien in UFC 100 but besides him all my favorite fighters have retired. Will watch Chan Sung Jung when he comes back from military service in a year or so.
Its partially the lack of charismatic stars, yes
But its also this thing of how formulaic everything is. Im not asking for LADDER matches, but most fights just look the same. Guys seemed to be training similar styles.
After 1 UFC ppv i could not watch MMA for a while, whereas other sports i watch nightly, NBA playoffs now for example or 4 matches of football (soccer) a weekend. I seldomly walk away from basketball or football and feel angry, i do with UFC, alot, whether its poor judging, PEDs, or guys just not knowing how to sell their fights. (and yes i bet most athletes are on something, in all sports). Or maybe i am just not that big of a fan
But its also this thing of how formulaic everything is. Im not asking for LADDER matches, but most fights just look the same. Guys seemed to be training similar styles.
After 1 UFC ppv i could not watch MMA for a while, whereas other sports i watch nightly, NBA playoffs now for example or 4 matches of football (soccer) a weekend. I seldomly walk away from basketball or football and feel angry, i do with UFC, alot, whether its poor judging, PEDs, or guys just not knowing how to sell their fights. (and yes i bet most athletes are on something, in all sports). Or maybe i am just not that big of a fan
I stopped watching the 20 fight nights per month and only watch the main shows, but I barely watch and can't wait for them to be over, don't even watch all the pre-fight stuff, just the fight itself.
Don't care about anybody anymore, all fun fighters are gone, too many events. It just sucks now.
Don't care about anybody anymore, all fun fighters are gone, too many events. It just sucks now.
People don't care if the division is garbage, they have never cared about the level of competition. Not in MMA, not in boxing. You don't sell a fight, you sell an event, you sell a persona.
Gherid__lacksGPS
Banned
Pretty much this.
I was like 11 or so when i saw the first ufc ppv and it launched my fandom of mma. It actually opened my eyes to the fact that there are other people and cultures on this planet other than Murica'. But the cards are just garbage now. We used to get huge super fights or double title fights each card with exciting fights from top to bottom. Even during the gsp / hughes era there was still solid cards, fewer fighters pulled out, more fighters seemed to go for broke, etc. I think the issue is a combination of over saturation and many fighters protecting their limited viability. I do think the talent pool has really grown and that in itself has caused a bit of a stalemate when considering the later.
I'll always been an mma fan, hell I went to a local casino show just a few weeks ago. But I really do miss mma before it went semi mainstream.
Always-honest
Banned
Yeah that's an exciting guy.
CaptainofIndustry
Member
Lost interest about 5 years ago.
DoktorEvil
Banned
As a casual fan, the recent news about the UFC struggling is amazing, considering they absorbed all of the other competitive MMA leagues.
Conor MacGregor is the biggest name recently that has gotten me excited for a UFC PPV.
Before that it was Weidman v Silva. Before that silva v sonnen.
I got really into the UFC because of Chael Sonnen's shit talk.
Dominant guys like Jon Jones found success early, but I find him to be a little dull to watch.
Conor MacGregor is the biggest name recently that has gotten me excited for a UFC PPV.
Before that it was Weidman v Silva. Before that silva v sonnen.
I got really into the UFC because of Chael Sonnen's shit talk.
Dominant guys like Jon Jones found success early, but I find him to be a little dull to watch.
Frank Serpico
Banned
CM Punk will get a lot of PPV buys this year
Tawney Bomb
Member
I used to watch constantly and get together with friends when it was once a month, but one it started getting to be every other week I started losing interest.
AstroZombie
Banned
Human cockfighting peaked in 08 or 09. Decline is 6 or 7 years in the making brah.
Mister Wilhelm
Member
MMA fan for almost two decades here.
It's not all the UFC's fault. Let me explain.
The UFC is indeed doing a horrible job of harvesting new stars and marketing them properly. On top of that, they are putting on far too many events that even their bloated talent pool cannot fill. There are several cards a year that come and go with barely a single star on them.
The problem this creates is hardcore MMA fans used to want to see an entire card. They knew every fighter's name from the undercard to the main event and almost all the matchups were intriguing, at least on paper. Today, even I don't know half the guys and as a result, don't care.
Their global strategy is working, though. MMA is growing in many markets to more than make up for any losses at home. So while they don't have the same draw in the US, their Fight Pass and TV deals abroad are killing it.
This is good for them but bad for the hardcore fans in general.
And when it comes to TUF - the show is stale and terrible and they have not found a great solution. What is troubling is that when they do find something that produces a quality show, they seem to abandon that idea in favor of another gimmick or trying the same thing over and over, just with a different weight class.
Now for what isn't their fault - fighters just don't fight like they used to in general. This can be blamed on many different factors, but I think it ultimately comes down to three things:
1.) Money. The fighters are making more than ever and the guys at the top are especially in a position to fight "not to lose".
2.) Skill gaps. Though you have extremely dominant champions like Jon Jones and Rousey, everyone under them has a smaller skill gap than ever. Due to this, fights are much more competitive and you see less finishes overall.
3.) MMA has evolved. Because the 10 point system isn't going anywhere, fighters have learned to game it. When you combined the smaller skill gap with the need to win (lose a few fights in the UFC and your career is over or Bellator'd), fighters now more than ever are playing it safe.
There are many more reasons why my interest has lowered over the years, but it's mainly due to not being excited about cards anymore. People are shitting themselves over how good UFC 187 looks, for example, but this kind of card happened four times a year minimum in the past. Now we're lucky to get one mega-card a year.
It's not all the UFC's fault. Let me explain.
The UFC is indeed doing a horrible job of harvesting new stars and marketing them properly. On top of that, they are putting on far too many events that even their bloated talent pool cannot fill. There are several cards a year that come and go with barely a single star on them.
The problem this creates is hardcore MMA fans used to want to see an entire card. They knew every fighter's name from the undercard to the main event and almost all the matchups were intriguing, at least on paper. Today, even I don't know half the guys and as a result, don't care.
Their global strategy is working, though. MMA is growing in many markets to more than make up for any losses at home. So while they don't have the same draw in the US, their Fight Pass and TV deals abroad are killing it.
This is good for them but bad for the hardcore fans in general.
And when it comes to TUF - the show is stale and terrible and they have not found a great solution. What is troubling is that when they do find something that produces a quality show, they seem to abandon that idea in favor of another gimmick or trying the same thing over and over, just with a different weight class.
Now for what isn't their fault - fighters just don't fight like they used to in general. This can be blamed on many different factors, but I think it ultimately comes down to three things:
1.) Money. The fighters are making more than ever and the guys at the top are especially in a position to fight "not to lose".
2.) Skill gaps. Though you have extremely dominant champions like Jon Jones and Rousey, everyone under them has a smaller skill gap than ever. Due to this, fights are much more competitive and you see less finishes overall.
3.) MMA has evolved. Because the 10 point system isn't going anywhere, fighters have learned to game it. When you combined the smaller skill gap with the need to win (lose a few fights in the UFC and your career is over or Bellator'd), fighters now more than ever are playing it safe.
There are many more reasons why my interest has lowered over the years, but it's mainly due to not being excited about cards anymore. People are shitting themselves over how good UFC 187 looks, for example, but this kind of card happened four times a year minimum in the past. Now we're lucky to get one mega-card a year.
I feel like UFC lost a bit of its lustre over the last few years. It was more exciting when styles were more quickly being developed, because MMA has always been most appealing when it's style A vs. style B.
Now there's a very clear style which every fighter seems to use, and while it's certainly going to differ between fighters, it would seem like pedantic minutiae to a more casual observer, with only the dedicated fans being able to follow the nuances.
Now there's a very clear style which every fighter seems to use, and while it's certainly going to differ between fighters, it would seem like pedantic minutiae to a more casual observer, with only the dedicated fans being able to follow the nuances.
BIONIC-ARRRMMM!!
Member
The anticipation of whether or not Phil "Skinny Fatass" Brooks will die in the middle of the Octagon should revitalize interest in the UFC.
conor thinks hes infllable and itllbe interesting to see how hehandlesbeing beat by jose if that happens and i personally hink it will
Bionic speaks the truth. UFC needs to raise its carny game. Phil Brooks is a good start.
They might as well start having Rousey fight a new hobo every week then
I honestly believe that Glory will go bankrupt in 1 or 2 years. Their whole trimming down strategy (after that PPV bomba) means they have lost Sp*ng, Saki, and likely Ghita, among others. Nobody really gives a shit about Glory too, unfortunately.
Mangoverboard
Banned
I think UFC just has too much going on now. Too many anonymous fighters, too many fights that are easy to call. All the big personalities are gone or ageing and there very few to replace them
Pristine_Condition
Member
This isn't true either. At all. Just like your deal about "bused in fans" who are "told what to chant" isn't true.
Clearly, you've never been to a taping. But I guess lack of actual knowledge has never stopped people from saying shit on the internet.
I definitely haven't followed as closely the last couple of years, mostly due to my favorite fighters not being as active.
Anyone watching UFC 186 right now? I know a lot of people think it's a weak card, but all the fights on the main card have been great so far. Horiguchi is one of my favorite fighters. I'm so hyped for the main event.
Anyone watching UFC 186 right now? I know a lot of people think it's a weak card, but all the fights on the main card have been great so far. Horiguchi is one of my favorite fighters. I'm so hyped for the main event.
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