Since When Did UFC Get So Big?

Yeah, the boxing marketing crew would have to create more promos like the HBO De La Hoya vs Mayweather campaign. Then, the actual matches have to live up to the hype, including the undercards. MMA just picked up the momentum and is growing like a snowball.:boxing:

MMA getting more attention has the potential to actually help Boxing. Sooner or later the powers that be in the realm of Boxing are going to have to look at what's going on. I'd venture to say there are specific reasons for this Sport's growth and some of them have to do with the dismal state of Boxing. It's the nature of the beast. Boxing will have to adapt b/c I don't see a reversal of the UFC's marketing campaigns and the overall quality of the product. We can bitch and moan about which is better but as far as the PRODUCT goes, MMA is a better sell at this point.

#1 - There isn't the politics in MMA that you see in boxing. #2 - MMA fights are much more exciting and unpredictable. #3 - MMA fights are less expensive to watch than some major boxing events. Flashback: Before MMA became popular, many boxing pundits were discounting it as a fad, now many of those same boxing pundits are jumping on the MMA bandwagon. The top boxing head honchos need to get a clue. JMHO:boxing:

UFC is three hours of quality fights, at least, in MMA terms. Talent-wise of the fighters, and the implications of the fights, and their levels are all pretty hight to begin with. A boxing PPV can be even more expensive for most fights worthwhile, and your basically buying just one fight (MAYBE 2-3), but the rest of the card usually isn't near the quality of the main-event. where as in mma the whole card is like a main-event of sorts.

look at a completly nother aspect of it UFC as of now only has 5 divisions.. so its much easier to make the bigger fights ... less divisions= more talent per division

Boxing does need to start having more free fights. It's the best way to get new fans. Back when it was on Saturdays on ABC Wide World of Sports and Championship fights (Tyson, Holyfield, Whittaker,etc) were on HBO instead of PPV, boxing was alot more popular.

the only thing that mma/ufc has on boxing is more fights on their cards that are televised , better marketing, and it's all over free tv or basic tv. boxing has so much greed and isnt controlled by one major entity that it stifles any real progression, while ufc/mma shit has more and more momentum each passing year. boxing has high priced ppv's with 3-4 fights on them, and then they it's a crap shoot if the fight turn out any good, and if not them boxing as a whole suffers mainly due to the hype leading up the the main event. where as if the ufc/mma fights have 6-8 fights on their ppv and on their free tv cards and if the fights suck you really dont hear much criticism other then from hard core fans and die hard boxing fans who can't stand mma.

Did I ever argue over this? I don't have a psychic ball so I rather wait and see. What I was questionning was your ''MMA will die because it has no dominant champion'' argument. Get it? No, because I never made that argument. I said, they have peaked.. Some things that gain popularity, after they peak, go into a recession. Example.. Wrestling.. Boxing.. so on and so forth. I'd ASSUME the same thing will happen with MMA. That's all I was saying. Don't be mad at me for stating my opinion on an opinion-oriented boxing forum. Furthermore.. I really dislike when people try to put words in my mouth. I don't hate MMA.. I really don't. Let's just get that straight. (Not threatening you, or trying to sound tough online, it's just disrespectful)

My point is.. like I said, if you read.. I don't think MMA will ever be AS BIG as boxing has or can be. Hence the references.. Get it? Did I ever argue over this? I don't have a psychic ball so I rather wait and see. What I was questionning was your ''MMA will die because it has no dominant champion'' argument. Get it?

I am a huge fan of both and I can give my assessment. I think UFC is gaining in popularity because of 3 factors. 1. They are giving shots to people that legitimately deserve them. Only in MMA could a guy like Gonzaga get a shot at a world title because he won a true number one contenders match. Would Floyd fight a Gonzaga type fighter? No, top level boxers can pick and choose who they want to fight leaving some of the best fights on the table. 2. UFC control over talent. With so many promoters/titles/sanctions/networks it makes it very difficult to make the best fights happen. It took an act of God to pull of Lewis/Tyson....dont even think about pairing up a contracted HBO fighter with a contracted Showtime fighter nowadays...In the UFC its so much easier to have the top guys face off and the rankings are legitimate. 3. Acessibility If you dont have HBO or Showtime or the dough to shell out for like 30 PPV's a year you miss alot. As was this case this past weekend we got Jackson/Henderson. After that we get TUF and and another Fight Night Live. And these aren't BS fights either they are a legitimate contenders. I was hesititant at first but the more I watch UFC the more I get hooked. And knowing I was gonna have to pay 30 bucks to watch Marquez/Juarez....but I can see Jackson/Hendo, Bisping/Hammil, Cro Cop, Florian/Thomas for free makes me more inclined to buy A UFC PPV later because im getting hooked on it from FREE TV.

i only watch ufc once or twice a year. yesterday was that one time. the deaf luke skywalker got robbed. all i see is hamil whoopin that limey's ass and the limey gets the home cooking decision. the only highlight of the night that the limey had was defending a takedown. ooooooook. that was some corrupted shit. jackson vs henderson was sickening. i might watch more mma now. i might. i used to take judo for 9 years and i do know the nuances of the ground game. they just need to give the people 30-45 seconds on the ground to do something and if nothing happens, stand them up. rampage is country as fuck. he could be a star if white middle america wasnt so scared of him.

What does Louis/schmeling has to do with everything? Care to explain with quotes and intelligent arguments? My point is.. like I said, if you read.. I don't think MMA will ever be AS BIG as boxing has or can be. Hence the references.. Get it?

Has an MMA bout ever had an impact on the world like Louis/Schmeling? One or two? I doubt it... If MMA proves me wrong.. ten, twenty years from now, I'll take all this back. Until then.. YOU need the facts, not me. What does Louis/schmeling has to do with everything? Care to explain with quotes and intelligent arguments?

Like I say, you have the right to have your own opinion. But please, get some real fact and back them up. Your argument, was very biased and had no truth or proof behind it. Saying that you like MMA just because you watched it is not enough. I watch curling on Sunday but it doesn't make me a fan and I don't feel the need to diss the sport in order to bump my favourite sport. You make me feel like I'm a boxing hater now, which I'm not. But the nonsense comments against MMA is just unacceptable. - ''MMA are just bunch of animal hitting each other'' - ''MMA doesn't require skills'' - ''MMA will die because anyone can lose'' - ''MMA will die because they have no dominant stars'' (Your's) The fact is, MMA has been doing a lot better than Boxing lately. In my original post I stated the various boxing problem. I listed proven facts and faced reality, you on the other hand showed no credibility. I didn't say anything about boxing being more popular right now. That's true. I'm just saying, I don't see it having an effect on the world like boxing has. Boxing termanology has impacted the English lecicon.. Has MMA? I've yet to hear someone say.. "Man, the boss is really 'rear-naked' choking me." I hear.. "The Real McCoy" and "He's down for the count" all the time. Has an MMA bout ever had an impact on the world like Louis/Schmeling? One or two? I doubt it... If MMA proves me wrong.. ten, twenty years from now, I'll take all this back. Until then.. YOU need the facts, not me.

If I hated MMA so badly, how would I know all those guys, and know that they lost, and why woud I have watched the recent UFC they telecasted on SpikeTV? If your response is just going to be something that takes no insight and is just "Blah Blah Blah Hater" Don't respond... I like MMA and Boxing.. Boxing is just better to me. And PRIME for PRIME.. Boxing has and wil have more popularity in my personal opinion. Like I say, you have the right to have your own opinion. But please, get some real fact and back them up. Your argument, was very biased and had no truth or proof behind it. Saying that you like MMA just because you watched it is not enough. I watch curling on Sunday but it doesn't make me a fan and I don't feel the need to diss the sport in order to bump my favourite sport. You make me feel like I'm a boxing hater now, which I'm not. But the nonsense comments against MMA is just unacceptable. - ''MMA are just bunch of animal hitting each other'' - ''MMA doesn't require skills'' - ''MMA will die because anyone can lose'' - ''MMA will die because they have no dominant stars'' (Your's) The fact is, MMA has been doing a lot better than Boxing lately. In my original post I stated the various boxing problem. I listed proven facts and faced reality, you on the other hand showed no credibility.

I'm a huge MMA fan, but I agree what Italian dragon is saying. MMA has jsut recently hit the big screen however, so things could change. But as it stands now they haven't had any dominating figures other than possibly fedor, and he's only had about 13-15 fights. Mirko Cro cop was supposed to be the worlds most dangerous striker, and he just lost to Chieck Kongo, which I saw coming a mile away. I do think there is skill involved though, A lot more skill than old boxing fans will want to believe, but it hasn't shown up yet. There will be a 70's era for MMA to, just like boxing. 1st of all, MMA has much more dominating stars than Just Fedor. I heard similar things about Boxing when a friend of mine was telling me Boxing has nothing left but PFB. Completely wrong but It's as wrong as saying MMA only have Fedor. 2nd, Fedor has 28 fights not 13 or 15 like you stated. It's not like he's fought cans or had a couples of flukes. He fought the best available in PRIDE, now it's time for UFC. 3rd, Mirko ''was'' considered to most dangerous striker in MMA but rust can catch anyone. I'm very disapointed in Crocop also but being a Pride OWGP winner is a very big achievement. If we talk about skills. Of course an MMA fighter will probably not have the same striking abilities than a boxer. I don't even know why we are comparing them. What's for sure is that both MMA and Boxing requires alot of skills, courage and determination.

I'm a huge MMA fan, but I agree what Italian dragon is saying. MMA has jsut recently hit the big screen however, so things could change. But as it stands now they haven't had any dominating figures other than possibly fedor, and he's only had about 13-15 fights. Mirko Cro cop was supposed to be the worlds most dangerous striker, and he just lost to Chieck Kongo, which I saw coming a mile away. I do think there is skill involved though, A lot more skill than old boxing fans will want to believe, but it hasn't shown up yet. There will be a 70's era for MMA to, just like boxing.

MMA is a fad. They have no stars. There is no science to it, it's first punch first serve. It's all quick, short, shocks. It's the Jackass generation looking for the next fix. Like someone said, all their "stars" have recently been beaten, MMA can never have real superstars because it's anybodies ballgame. Let it be, it will pass. Do you realize how wrong you are? I can respect people preferring a sport to another, everyone are entitle to have their own opinion or taste but when I hear uneducated comments like this all I can do is *sigh* Please educate yourself...

LOL your clearly an MMA hater, stop acting. It's a shame boxing doesn't get as much attention as MMA these days. Many people has pointed some interesting problems (corruption, weigth class, models). To me the biggest problem is corruption, nothing more shitty than a fixed fight. The worst is that some are so obvious. About your argument that MMA will die because their stars will lose... How dumb is that as an argument? Muhammed Ali has 5 loss, did he killed the sport by losing? Posterboys getting beaten is not what kill a sport. What kill a sport is corruption! Posterboys losing is a proof that anything can happen in a fight and it's not corrupted, unlike boxing of these days. Just to correct your ignorance, alot of top fighters are still undefeated. I wouldn't name them but I would rather give you the opportunity to do your research before talking. Give credit where credit is due. MMA and UFC has been doing better business than Boxing promoter. My mother (62 y.o) who never liked Fighting sports start watching UFC lately, you know why? Because Randy Couture (44), came from retirement and gets the HW title. UFC and MMA, promotes him like a hero (Captain America) and it works. He speaks well, fights well and people can relate to him as Captain-America. Some people like my mom doesn't like the sport itself but the aura around it. You know the same aura when Ali defeated Foreman about 30 years ago if you were old enough at that time? MMA is having a huge success, either we ride the bus or just stay aside but there is no need to diss a sport just because we are uneducated about it. If I hated MMA so badly, how would I know all those guys, and know that they lost, and why woud I have watched the recent UFC they telecasted on SpikeTV? If your response is just going to be something that takes no insight and is just "Blah Blah Blah Hater" Don't respond... I like MMA and Boxing.. Boxing is just better to me. And PRIME for PRIME.. Boxing has and wil have more popularity in my personal opinion.

MMA is a fad. They have no stars. There is no science to it, it's first punch first serve. It's all quick, short, shocks. It's the Jackass generation looking for the next fix. Like someone said, all their "stars" have recently been beaten, MMA can never have real superstars because it's anybodies ballgame. Let it be, it will pass.