http://www.mmarising.com/news/2009/12/06/criticism-continues-to-mount-for-the-ufc/

Following another lackluster and disappointing event, the Ultimate Fighting Championship and its president, Dana White, have once again come under heavy scrutiny among fans online, as a recent trend of negative sentiment and controversy continues to surround the promotion.

With a largely disastrous bout between Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson and Houston “The Assassin” Alexander from last night’s TUF 10 Finale receiving the brunt of the criticism, an announcement regarding the eleventh season of the reality show also has fans frustrated.

Citing overwhelming demand from UFC fans, White announced that former UFC Light Heavyweight Champions Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell and “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz would serve as opposing coaches for next year’s airing of TUF 11.

The announcement was met with a noticeable smattering of boos and near-complete indifference from the live Las Vegas crowd, but has since been a hot topic among fans online, who have almost exclusively panned the bout as a waste of time.

White, who seemed visibly unsure of himself as he made the announcement, had to be reminded of the weight class that the TUF 11 contestants would be competing at and appeared to be taken aback by the negative response from the crowd.

The announcement appeared to make little sense, with Liddell having lost four of his last five fights and Ortiz winless in his four most recent trips to the Octagon.

What was perhaps more troubling was White’s assertions that it was fan demand that led to the Liddell-Ortiz pairing – which will presumably lead to a third fight between the two in mid-2010 – when backlash in the past 18 hours suggests otherwise.

It is not the first time that White has recently made claims that have been exaggerated or completely untrue, but his recent tendency to stretch the truth on frequent occasion has upset even his biggest supporters.

Fans, who feel that they are being lied to and treated as fools, have expressed anger or frustration with many of White’s comments, not the least of which being his frequent attacks on WAMMA Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko, who competes for the rival Strikeforce promotion.

While White has done great things for the sport in the past, his brash personality is beginning to catch up with him and dozens of recent comments have mocked White when he has been forced to hastily scramble to replace main events due to injury.

Karma does seem to have a way of rearing its head and some feel that White is merely facing the consequences for spending significant amounts of time insulting the competition while his own promotion struggles.

Mixed martial arts fans tend to become overdramatic when expressing their displeasure with events in the sport, which has led to dozens if not hundreds of recent forum posts suggesting that the UFC is fixing fights or that MMA is imminently dying.

While the idea of fight fixing is incredibly unlikely, the very insinuation that the sport is being tampered with, as some have claimed after the bizarre Slice vs Alexander bout last night, is extremely bad for the sport’s credibility.

It did not help matters that a ****e TV-backed promo for Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling, featuring the well-known Terry “Hulk Hogan” Bollea, was showcased between fights.

This only added fuel to the fire of arguments from critics who feel that the sport is becoming too closely related to professional wrestling.

However, the primary source of discontent appears to centre around the perceived oversaturation of recent events, as both the UFC and Strikeforce have significantly increased the frequency of their cards.

With both promotions planning to run 20 or more shows in 2010, each would be wise to look closely at the past five months of MMA history to see the adverse effect that ill-timed injuries and “quantity over quality” cards can have.

While each UFC event since the historic UFC 100 card in July has featured at least two exciting and compelling matchups, including last night’s TUF 10 Finale, there is a growing argument that the UFC peaked at the UFC 100 event and has been on a downward slide since.

As with the issue of perceived fight tampering, whether or not the promotion is, in fact, on a downward slide is less relevant than the fact that such a stance is being taken in the first place.

UFC 100 was designed to further springboard the promotion into the mainstream of sports, and it did just that in many ways, but a poor economy, numerous injuries to top stars and a lack of compelling and meaningful fights – especially main events – has prevented the success from continuing.

Not to be neglected is the ongoing and very real issue of scoring and officiating problems, which has plagued a number of recent fights, including a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout between Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 104.

However, in the wake of the tremendous backlash and outcry of support for Rua, who was arguably robbed of a rightful title victory (MMARising.com scored the bout 49-46 for Rua), some fans turned their attention and frustrations in the wrong direction.

While UFC President Dana White does an excellent job of attracting negative attention with unprofessional conduct and constant (and often immature) attacks on promotional competitors, he has nothing to do with the appointment of referees or judges.

For that, the ire of the sport’s fans must be directed to athletic commissions, which, especially in the case of the embattled California State Athletic Commission, have been called into question in the past.

Despite Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer’s comments that downplay the ongoing problem with uneducated judges and inefficient referees, the evidence is plain as day on the screen as fans tune into their favourite MMA events.

Last night’s bout between rising light heavyweight star Jon “Bones” Jones and Matt “The Hammer” Hamill, wherein Jones was disqualified for illegal elbow strikes that did not appear to be the reason for Hamill’s inability to continue, further highlighted the need for rule changes.

For the first time, instant replay was used to determine the outcome of the bout, and much-maligned referee Steve Mazzagatti did make the only call that he could under the circumstances, but he was merely following a ruling the doesn’t make sense.

In the end, part of the reason why progress is often stifled is because discussions among fans online often dissolve into arguments between “casual fans” who may be new to the sport and long-time supporters of MMA.

Rather than working together to continue to grow the sport, the two (often vastly differing) fanbases tend to clash, which results in endless discussions of hypothetical fight scenarios and unnecessary insults towards the fighters who are stepping into the ring or cage for our entertainment.

When fans are becoming so frustrated with the direction of the UFC that they are turning to other promotions instead, or, even worse, turning to other sports (such as boxing) altogether, there are clearly problems in MMA that do need to be addressed.

Until promotions begin to truly listen to their fans rather than showcasing fights or events solely for their own personal interests, and until athletic commissions begin to accept the serious nature of the problems with the scoring/officiating system that is currently in place, we are merely making it easier for MMA’s detractors to try to tear down the sport.

As most fans would attest, mixed martial arts is the greatest sport in the world and it is about time that supporters of MMA have their voices heard before the ongoing controversy ruins what the last five years have accomplished.

Sadly I couldn't agree more with this write up.

Dana and the UFC must not realize that there is an economic crisis and people don't have money to blow 3 times a month on ****ty PPV cards.

They need to cut it back down to 10 events per year rather than 20. They don't have the resources.

Sadly I couldn't agree more with this write up.

Dana and the UFC must not realize that there is an economic crisis and people don't have money to blow 3 times a month on ****ty PPV cards.

They need to cut it back down to 10 events per year rather than 20. They don't have the resources.


I agree with that story as well. I say do 8 ppvs and 6 UFN's a year. That should be plenty...

In the past, the big fights we all wanted to see, just came together
Looks like White is forcing it now. Over confidence has had many a casualty.

The UFC just took a major blow. Dana needs to do something to stop the bleeding. And hell no, I don't want to see Iceman Fight Tito again.
I for one can't stand Tito. He's all talk.

yeah making Chuck and Tito the coaches for Season 11 seemed like the "Ultimate" desperate move to make

and im actually glad a fuss is being made because I've been following the UFC since season 3 of the Ultimate Fighter (when Ortiz/Shamrock were coaches)

since 100 I've felt a slow decline in the match making regarding the UFC

but it just looks like White is grasping at straws making this 3rd Ortiz/Liddell bout

he's criticized boxing in the past for having no stars, but how is Dana White any better by recycling a Tito and Chuck match up

Sadly I couldn't agree more with this write up.

Dana and the UFC must not realize that there is an economic crisis and people don't have money to blow 3 times a month on ****ty PPV cards.

They need to cut it back down to 10 events per year rather than 20. They don't have the resources.

agreed, and especially if injuries occur those PPV's turn out worse. 106 was set to be the pretty big main event of Lesnar vs Carwin, but that went out the window

said already but I too feel events should be cut back .... as the UFC does have a nice roster but they need to take advantage of it

rather then try to pump out 2-3 fight cards in a month.

in all fairness you can't fault the UFC about fighters getting injured, and they've tried to make best with what they can

ex. the 106 main event switched from Lesnar-Carwin, and the 103 main event was originally slated to be Franklin-Henderson 2

but still if they cut back just a bit with the fights, not only would the quality of the fights increase, but I'd bet the demand for the UFC would increase

**don't bet on it happening though as the UFC already has 2 events on tabs for Jan and February .. hopefully no injures because those fight cards look pretty solid.

"With both promotions planning to run 20 or more shows in 2010, each would be wise to look closely at the past five months of MMA history to see the adverse effect that ill-timed injuries and “quantity over quality” cards can have."

pretty much what I said above, if the UFC spaced out their events, by maybe even a month or 2 sure it might cut down on quantity of fights, but I believe the quality would go up.

I agree with that story as well. I say do 8 ppvs and 6 UFN's a year. That should be plenty...

they'll make more money on a few awesome fights than a dozen ****ty ones. dana and the fertitti brothers must be getting too greedy

No disrespect to some out there but if you buy into that write up then you don't understand combat sports.

Look, everyone would love to see Gatti vs Ward every single time out, it's just not realistic. There are some fights that are boring, there are some fights that won't live up tot he hype. It's ok......

It's the nature of the fight game, whether it be boxing or mma, it happens.

The only think you can do as a promoter is put together the best fight out there and hope for the best sometimes.

UFC has grown immensely and will continue to grow. Just like everything else though, the growth has to slow down at some point. It's ok, as long as they continue to put together the fights that people want to see and that new talent come through their doors every year. Neither is a problem and I just think people need to complain about something.

I agree with the write-up. Dana and the UFC are overestimating the appetite for their product and they've misread the economic climate.

Putting Liddell and Tito together shows that they are desperate to improve their figures because there is simply no other reason for that fight to happen.

No disrespect to some out there but if you buy into that write up then you don't understand combat sports.

Look, everyone would love to see Gatti vs Ward every single time out, it's just not realistic. There are some fights that are boring, there are some fights that won't live up tot he hype. It's ok......

It's the nature of the fight game, whether it be boxing or mma, it happens.

The only think you can do as a promoter is put together the best fight out there and hope for the best sometimes.

UFC has grown immensely and will continue to grow. Just like everything else though, the growth has to slow down at some point. It's ok, as long as they continue to put together the fights that people want to see and that new talent come through their doors every year. Neither is a problem and I just think people need to complain about something.

1. What do you mean "buy into that write up" IMO there are truths to it ... by no means is it 100% accurate and it is an opinion but the comments about Chuck/Tito as well as the UFC increasing the frequency of fights are valid.

unless your a complete UFC fanboy, I don't see how you can say people are buying into this write up as inaccurate

it isn't word for word true, but questioning Dana making a third fight of Ortiz vs Liddell is a pretty legit criticism in fact I'll point out why some of these criticisms of the UFC post 100 are very valid

2. You can't speak for everyone. I wouldn't love to see Gatti vs Ward every time .. that would be boring after a while. but you are right that every big bout can't reach the hype or be exciting, it's the way the fight game works as a boxing/MMA fan this is something I've accepted

3. sure that's the idea to try and match up the best out their and hope the fight comes through

now regarding this "complaining about nothing" .. I said I was going to bring up the UFC events after UFC 100 to prove a point and here they are ..

keep the following criteria in mind, particularly what I underlined/bolded

“look closely at the past five months of MMA history to see the adverse effect that ill-timed injuries and “quantity over quality” cards can have.

“numerous injuries to top stars and a lack of compelling and meaningful fights”

at UFC 101 in Philly the main event was a Lightweight title fight of Kenny Florian vs BJ Penn. It turned out to be pretty one sided as the rounds progressed but in all fairness Florian went on a 6 fight win streak to earn the title shot, so it was a well deserved opportunity

As for the co-main event of 101 which was Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin, I feel isn’t a very compelling or meaningful fight at all. You put the lovable underdog vs one of the best fighters in the world. While slightly interesting on paper, you could argue that the fight isn't so meaningful.
Forrest is pretty much cannon fodder with Silva moving up to LHW again

now on to UFC 102. The main event was Noguiera vs Randy Couture. You have two of the best Heavyweights of all time fighting, a pretty compelling fight on that basis alone as both are trying to get back into the title picture, so why not a fight vs one another?

fits both criteria in being compelling and meaningful.

where 102 dropped the ball was with the co-main event of Keith Jardine vs Thiago Silva. as going into this fight Jardine is 2-3 with a knockout loss to Wanderlei at 84 and a UD loss to Rampage at 96.

I can understand Jardine fighting Silva, but even with the close loss to Rampage, I don't feel the fight warrants it's co-main event status.

now for 103. the main event was changed from Henderson-Franklin 2 to Belfort-Franklin a good move. But with Franklin-Belfort fighting at a catchweight of 195, how compelling/meaningful is the main event?

UFC 104 had a good main event of Machida-Shogun .. it just didn't play out the most exciting, and the judging issue was already brought up by the article. the co-main event of Rothwell vs Velazquez was one sided, but fun while it lasted.

Good write up. UFC has been on a little bit of a decline since UFC 101. UFC 100 and 101 I believe did 1.7m and 1.1m buys and hasn't had anything close since. Some of it isn't their fault and some is. You've had (Not in order)

- GSP (Big UFC draw) wiping out the division after beating Alvez in dominate fashion. Not only did he injure himself and has to be out for awhile his next opponent is Dan Hardy. GSP did to the welterweight division what Ando did to the middleweight division.

- Brock Lesnar (UFC's biggest draw) is sick with mono and out for 6mo leaving behind what was already a lackluster division in limbo.

-UFC failed to sign Fedor and missed out on what could have been the mma version of Pacquiao vs Mayweather.

-Dan Henderson walked out on the UFC which just made it look bad in general

-Rampage also walked out. Regardless of who was at fault it just hurt UFC. Everyone was looking forward to the Evans showdown and it was VERY disappointing to find out it wasn't going to happen.

-The fights on TUF 10 were hard to watch. Especially the ones where these guys gassed after 30 seconds. I know they're new but casual fans don't care. They don't want to see two overweight guys gasping for air rather than fighting.

-Shogun and Machida had a fight where the majority of people thought Shogun was robbed.

-Strikeforce has been putting on decent cards to compete with UFC. Not only have they had to compete with Strikeforce (that seems to be getting more talent by the day), they had to compete with what's been a great year for boxing.

-There's been too many meaningless events. The catchweight fights with Rich Franklin. Now a TUF with Tito and Chuck??

Dana's smart and I'm sure they will bounce back hard but the last few months have been anything but exciting.

"There's been too many meaningless events. The catchweight fights with Rich Franklin. Now a TUF with Tito and Chuck??"

exactly good point man. stuff like the above for example ^

I mean cuauhtemoc1496: you can either cover your ears and act like those are worthless complaints

or recognize that other people are making legit gripes about Franlkin fighting at a catchweight

and Liddell vs Ortiz yet again.

I understand that some of the problems are out of their control .. such as injuries + dominant fighters

but the UFC still has done the occasional poor matchmaking

Thus begins the slow decline of the UFC.

ever so slowly.

even my own friends who are strictly UFC/MMA fans have been pretty disappointed in the last 2 months of shows we've seen

Dana is just a huge hyprocrite. What he is doing right now is 10x worse than what any boxing promoter does. Its pathetic he has the nerve to criticize boxing for its business practices when hes putting on absolute **** cards on a monthly basis.

Tito-Liddell is an absolute joke and Dana should be absolutely ashamed of himself.

I used to like MMA, watched it since 1998 but now the UFC has gotten boring as hell and theres no Pride Fc I dont even watch it now. sometimes I read the results but thats it
kimbo slice? lol classy
Boxing has made a comeback, I enjoy watching boxing more now

heres some other problems I think the UFC has:
Commentators - they suck, really bad
Lighting - looks like the WWE did back in 2000
Matchmaking - why is Brock the HW champ? I know he beat Randy but why did he get a chance? and yeah Tito/Chuck III when are we gonna get a Shamrock/Tito rematch?
socially retarded fighters doing interviews - have you seen Rampage talk before? the dude is a classless idiot, same as Lesner
and ofcourse Dana White - Noone likes this guy

Unfortunately MMA fans tend to be bitter and rather defensive when anyone but their own comment on their sport.

I do believe that MMA is a dying sport and it's peak already three years old.Many within the MMA community were so loud and confident in the rise of their sport and the decline of boxing,but within the last year there has been great shift.While boxing has limited it's ppv outlets,the UFC has continued theirs with an increased number of events been added through the year.


The future is bright for the sport of boxing and the future of MMA certainly looks bleak with the supposed best fighter in the world ducking top competition,a freak show internet star who was met with nothing but criticism from the man who now happily promotes him,and now two washed up stars who are no longer relevant in the sport receiving more exposure than they deserve being the feature attraction of a show which is supposed to showcase the fighters competing for a contract.


This really is a a bite on the backside for the fans of MMA.

Thus begins the slow decline of the UFC.

Not really. It's not going to die, nor is boxing. The UFC brass is just needs to realize that quantity doesn't equal quality.

Also because of injuries piling up at such a fast rate, things "seem" really ****tier than they really are.

I mean lets look at this

Brock is out with a hole in his intestine
Carwin is out or was out with a broken nose
Nogueria has staph
GSP was out for a while with the groin injury
Anderson Silva is out with Elbow Surgery
Machida is out with hand surgery
Condit just pulled out with an injury
Swick was out with a neck injury
Sherk is out with a shoulder injury
Wanderlei has been out with facial reconstructive surgery
Rampage is making a movie...

I'm pretty sure I'm missing some more as well.

So there really isn't really too much reason to say the UFC or MMA is declining. I mean that's 4 out of 5 champions that are gone and a few contenders.

I used to like MMA, watched it since 1998 but now the UFC has gotten boring as hell and theres no Pride Fc I dont even watch it now. sometimes I read the results but thats it
kimbo slice? lol classy
Boxing has made a comeback, I enjoy watching boxing more now

heres some other problems I think the UFC has:
Commentators - they suck, really bad
Lighting - looks like the WWE did back in 2000
Matchmaking - why is Brock the HW champ? I know he beat Randy but why did he get a chance? and yeah Tito/Chuck III when are we gonna get a Shamrock/Tito rematch?
socially retarded fighters doing interviews - have you seen Rampage talk before? the dude is a classless idiot, same as Lesner
and ofcourse Dana White - Noone likes this guy

Yep.

Have you noticed that during almost every highlight reel for almost every fighter before their respective match, you hear the line, "in UFC history!", lol.

And that almost every ko/submission has an exclamation put on it with a "WOW!" from Joe Rogan.

I went off the rails a few years ago and started watching MMA exclusively, but have since been turned off as the UFC hype machine continues to sell us bull****.

Not really. It's not going to die, nor is boxing.

That comparison is a complete non-starter. Boxing is a sport whereas the UFC is a promotional company. There is no reason that the UFC couldn't go belly up, just like any company. Boxing or MMA are not going to die. There is no reason that a company, such as the UFC can't, however.

Just saying.

Rampage is making a movie...



a ****ty movie at that "Death Warrior" its even got a ****ty name, besides that i dont even think hes in the movie for more then 20 mins.......

a ****ty movie at that "Death Warrior" its even got a ****ty name, besides that i dont even think hes in the movie for more then 20 mins.......


No, He is playing B.A. Baracas in the A-Team movie...

a ****ty movie at that "Death Warrior" its even got a ****ty name, besides that i dont even think hes in the movie for more then 20 mins.......

and an A-Team remake.

UFC is on decline.... it has come to the point that actually I'm more interested in the Cung Le return @ Strikeforce than UFC :D

Not really. It's not going to die, nor is boxing. The UFC brass is just needs to realize that quantity doesn't equal quality.


Also because of injuries piling up at such a fast rate, things "seem" really ****tier than they really are.

Brock is out with a hole in his intestine
Carwin is out or was out with a broken nose
Nogueria has staph
GSP was out for a while with the groin injury
Anderson Silva is out with Elbow Surgery
Machida is out with hand surgery
Condit just pulled out with an injury
Swick was out with a neck injury
Sherk is out with a shoulder injury
Wanderlei has been out with facial reconstructive surgery
Rampage is making a movie...

So there really isn't really too much reason to say the UFC or MMA is declining. I mean that's 4 out of 5 champions that are gone and a few contenders.

good points about the injuries

but in all fairness the original response you replied to, never said the UFC was going to die

just in a slight decline

nobody's saying that the events are repeatedly doing terrible sales or anything like that

and maybe it's made to look worse by all those injuries

but still it looks like the UFC is trying to make up for lost time with all the injuries to the big names by cramming in as many events as possible

I won't say the UFC is anywhere close to dead, but these past few months they have been losing some momentum, with fight cards not living up to expectations

hopefully tomorrow 107 can pull through

especially with

Penn-Sanchez
Florian-Guida AND
Mir-Kongo

Injuries are definitely playing a part.

UFC 106 was supposed to be a great card but Karo decided to be an idiot and Brock and Carwin got scrapped and we ended up with a ****ty main event.

UFC 108 literally has to be one of the worst NYE cards in while. I mean Evans vs. Silva as the main event for the NYE card? That's pretty lame. Had GSP or Anderson not been injured he'd probably be headlining this card

Tyson Griffin had to pull out with an injury on UFC 108 as did Gonzaga with Staph.

Things are just really bad right now with all these injuries and as a result we are getting rather bad cards.

Hopefully soon everything will smooth over.

Unfortunately MMA fans tend to be bitter and rather defensive when anyone but their own comment on their sport.

I do believe that MMA is a dying sport and it's peak already three years old.Many within the MMA community were so loud and confident in the rise of their sport and the decline of boxing,but within the last year there has been great shift.While boxing has limited it's ppv outlets,the UFC has continued theirs with an increased number of events been added through the year.


The future is bright for the sport of boxing and the future of MMA certainly looks bleak with the supposed best fighter in the world ducking top competition,a freak show internet star who was met with nothing but criticism from the man who now happily promotes him,and now two washed up stars who are no longer relevant in the sport receiving more exposure than they deserve being the feature attraction of a show which is supposed to showcase the fighters competing for a contract.


This really is a a bite on the backside for the fans of MMA.


I must of not have got the memo that you can't be a fan of both boxing and MMA. MMA as a sport is not dying. The UFC is a brand, not the whole sport. MMA survived years without PPV or Television and has only recently became a main attraction. As for boxing. It is getting better but the fact remains only 2 names in boxing put up any kind of numbers right now, Mayweather and Pacquiao...

Injuries are definitely playing a part.

Tyson Griffin had to pull out with an injury on UFC 108 as did Gonzaga with Staph.

Hopefully soon everything will smooth over.

injures are the biggest thing hurting the UFC right now

**when did Tyson Griffin pull out? if so, that's a bummer would have liked to see him fight Miller

i also thought the artical made a lot of good points and as the majority of people are saying 8 9 ppvs is going to be plenty, abolutly right it will make you look foward to some real good fights not just another junk card... All i know is that i hope tomorrow nights card better be ready for heavy criticism if it doesnt fullfill but on that note
BJ submission
KONGO KO
Florian vs Guida is just gonna be a good fight

I miss Pride...

There is no douting that UFC is going through a grim period as of late(Like virtually sports do at one point or another). And some of the fights aren't up to the standard of what they should be.

But 85% of this is down to sheer bad luck which cant be helped and the other 15% is some stupid ideas by the company.

There has never been a worst time for fighters pulling out or fighters being on the sidelines, but it can happen when you're training at such a world class level. Add onto the fact that some fighters have left due to contract disputes or what not and you have a very grim situation.

If everything would be going to plan for the UFC and all the fights that were supposed to be made happening would be, it would be booming now.

Here's a list of fighters currently injured or have just recently comeback or in the middle of recovery.

-Anderson Silva
-Georges St Pierre
-Brock Lesnar
-Shane Carwin
-Thiago Alves
-Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
-Mark Coleman
-Ricardo Almedia
-Patrick Cote
-Carlos Condit
-Tyson Griffin
-Gabriel Gonzaga
-Lyoto Machida
-Tim Credeur
-Kim Dong-Hyun
-Kurt Pellagrino
-Matt Hammil
-Todd Duffee
-Jeremy Stephens

I mean come on. Thats list is stacked and there a few more. When so many top fighters are out, and so many great fights are being pulled or scrapped, then fights are being made at short notice without much promotion or hype, how can the UFC not be grim?

Add on to this that Dan Henderson has just left, who was on a 3 fight winning streak and was coming of spectacular KO victory at UFC 100.

Then Quiton Jackson pulls out of his highly anticapted grudge match with Rashad Evans, when both are coaching on the Ultimate Fighter, and the rivarly is getting hotter every week.

And then fans are told the fight is off, due to Rampage wanting to be a actor. But yet we carry on to watch the pre tapped Ultimate Fighter, even when we know both arent facing off in Dec at UFC 107

That was a huge dissapointment for the fans and the UFC. Then UFC fail to sign the best MMA fighter of all time in Fedor Emelianenko. When a deal cannot be agreed.

Fans miss out on seeing possibly the biggest MMA fight of all time in Lesnar vs Fedor. Another huge blow.

Argubaly UFC's Biggest draw UFC Heayweight Champion Brock Lesnar is then put out with a serious illness, which is career threating and looks like he could be out for over a year. Superfight with Shane Carwin is then scrapped.

Here's a list of fights over the last few months that were due to take place, but never happened due to pull outs for one reason or another, and were eventually scrapped or postponed to a later date. This is just insane, have a look.....

-Brock Lesnar vs Shane Carwin
-Rashad Evans vs Rampage Jackson
-Vitor Belfort vs Anderson Silva
-Tito Ortiz vs Mark Coleman
-Thiago Alves vs Jon Fitch II
-Jon Fitch vs Ricardo Almeida
-Thiago Alves vs Paul Thiago
-Mike Swick vs Martin Kampmann
-Frankie Edgar vs Kurt Pelligrino
-Junior Dos Santos vs Gabriel Gonzaga
-Karo Parisyan vs Dustin Hazelett
-Paul Daley vs Carlos Condit
-Jim Miller vs Tyson Griffin
-Dan Hardy vs Kim Dong-Hyun
-Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
-Chase Gormley vs Ben Rothwell
-Sean Sherk vs Gleison Tibau

And there's more. Can you imagine if 95% of these fights would of went ahead when they should of, or if they did? UFC would be booming as much as ever. But when it rains it pours, and no saying is better for whats happening to UFC at the moment.

And to add on to the woes, we also have the recent lot of debatable decisions of Rua vs Machida and Vera vs Couture. In which most think the loser was robbed blind. Which is another blow for the company.....That the judging is being questioned constanly.

All this has added up, thus why were having the so called grim period we have today. But things will pick up eventually........

For now do we will just have to deal with it......:thumbsdow

I miss Pride...

Who doesn't?

No, He is playing B.A. Baracas in the A-Team movie...

didnt realize he was doing an a-team re-make as well. i maintain that death warrior was horrible though.

I must of not have got the memo that you can't be a fan of both boxing and MMA. MMA as a sport is not dying. The UFC is a brand, not the whole sport. MMA survived years without PPV or Television and has only recently became a main attraction. As for boxing. It is getting better but the fact remains only 2 names in boxing put up any kind of numbers right now, Mayweather and Pacquiao...


Without the UFC the sport of MMA is nothing.Do you think it can go back to what it was ten years ago? Do you really? It couldn't afford it.

Typical MMA fan still using the "how few stars there are in boxing" argument....WAKE UP! That's more stars than what MMA has.How many MMA fights can draw up to a million or over buyrates based on one fight? I will answer that for you...NONE! Not even the wwe champion could draw a million with Couture.



Who doesn't?


I can't say that I do.Japanese Pro Wrestling companies have come and gone throughout the years and Pride was just another that bit the dust.

Without the UFC the sport of MMA is nothing.Do you think it can go back to what it was ten years ago? Do you really? It couldn't afford it.

I don't think it would be half bad. Then maybe we could see the fights we want to see in different promotions. Set up a ranking system and let fighters fight like in boxing.



Typical MMA fan still using the "how few stars there are in boxing" argument....WAKE UP! That's more stars than what MMA has.How many MMA fights can draw up to a million or over buyrates based on one fight? I will answer that for you...NONE! Not even the wwe champion could draw a million with Couture.

A million buy rates twice a year or 200,000 too 400,000 ten times a year. You do the math friend. I couldn't even tell you who the Heavyweight champion of boxing is right now without looking it up and I watch Boxing...




I can't say that I do.Japanese Pro Wrestling companies have come and gone throughout the years and Pride was just another that bit the dust.

Japanese love the whole godzilla thing. Seeing their favorite prowrestler take on freaks was purely entertainment for them. But as far as everything else, they where superior to the UFC. From the fighters, production, commentators, and even the rules. Pride was an awesome organzation who knew how to put on epic fights.....

I don't think it would be half bad. Then maybe we could see the fights we want to see in different promotions. Set up a ranking system and let fighters fight like in boxing.





A million buy rates twice a year or 200,000 too 400,000 ten times a year. You do the math friend. I couldn't even tell you who the Heavyweight champion of boxing is right now without looking it up and I watch Boxing...






Japanese love the whole godzilla thing. Seeing their favorite prowrestler take on freaks was purely entertainment for them. But as far as everything else, they where superior to the UFC. From the fighters, production, commentators, and even the rules. Pride was an awesome organzation who knew how to put on epic fights.....

it doesnt help that ufc keep lowballing younger fighters in order to keep the same guys in the title picture...if they really want to create new stars they need to stop feeding couture title shots and liddell #1 contender fights...jr dos santos deserves to at least get a chance to fight for contention...and vera deserved a fair shake against couture...i guarantee if chuck beats tito he will be next in line for the lhw belt...that sucks

the lower weight classes seem to give younger guys chances but thats only because silva gsp and bj are so dominant they are running through every one

A million buy rates twice a year or 200,000 too 400,000 ten times a year. You do the math friend. I couldn't even tell you who the Heavyweight champion of boxing is right now without looking it up and I watch Boxing...


What math? You can't compare the two.How many ppv's has boxing put out this year?(not counting internet ppv)

The UFC puts out monthly ppv's while boxing hasn't this year.

Japanese love the whole godzilla thing. Seeing their favorite prowrestler take on freaks was purely entertainment for them. But as far as everything else, they where superior to the UFC. From the fighters, production, commentators, and even the rules. Pride was an awesome organzation who knew how to put on epic fights.....


Having superior fights is debatable.I am sure that everybody thought that Nogueira was a superior fighter to a faded Ricco Rodriguez and we all saw what happened there.

Pride's commentators were never any good,Rutten is as overrated a personality as was a fighter and Quadros didn't know anything.

Yep.

Have you noticed that during almost every highlight reel for almost every fighter before their respective match, you hear the line, "in UFC history!", lol.

And that almost every ko/submission has an exclamation put on it with a "WOW!" from Joe Rogan.

I went off the rails a few years ago and started watching MMA exclusively, but have since been turned off as the UFC hype machine continues to sell us bull****.

yeah there so annoying ive changed the channel on UFC events many times and forgot to turn it back on
I also cant stand guys like Koscheck (sp?) will have someone out on there feet then they extend the fight buy another round or 2 by taking them down and humping there opponents leg until the ref says "thats enough fellas"

grow some balls and finish the fights you ***gy wrestlers

I went on a MMA site and asked what the best stand up war was and the videos people were putting up were about as exciting as a toughman contest





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