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I think it's just the insecurity. Ignorant people will not allow for UFC to grow big without ridiculing it, not realizing that their comparisons between an MMA fighter and a boxer makes no difference to people who truly understand the science and art of both respective combative sports.
You cannot compare a boxer who specializes in boxing and compare him to an MMA fighter who specializes in a specific martial art just because there's boxing (and striking) involved in MMA (although MMA fighters now train to specialize in multiple martial arts). Boxing involves the sweet science of boxing. MMA involves boxing (striking) and more.
I always go back and forth between whether an MMA fight nowadays is more exciting or whether I would rather watch a boxing fight leaning slightly towards boxing. Yet if I were to really choose only one I would choose boxing. But I give the utmost respect to MMA. The UFC which is the main face of MMA in the U.S. and even worldwide for that matter has come a long way and have literally grown from nothing. Back in the 90's and even up until the early 2000's, not much people heard of the UFC. They now have sell out crowds, are bringing in huge amounts of money a year, and shattering PPV records and yearly records every event they hold.
The sport (and the UFC specifically) has just grown too big. Why you ask? Well for one thing it's new compared to boxing's history and is drawing in more fans each time they hold an event. But a huge factor is the value of both their fighters and their belts. Because the UFC has less fighters and only one belt per division (ranging from Lightweight to Heavyweight), there is much more value given to the belt because of the fact that there's only one belt holder per division. In boxing, there is the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO titles making their four potential belt holder for each division and that takes away value from the actual champion's belts. Also, there are much less freedom for the fighter (whether it's a pro or con) which means that the UFC has much more control over the matches they produce. With less fighters, there are more fights between the highest ranked opponents giving fans more of what they want to see. Rarely do you hear an MMA fighter strictly choose the money over everything else when considering his options of fighting another opponent. Not to say that they don't, it's just the fighters are more willing to fight the top opponents and almost any opponent that gets put in front of them even if it means that they will receive less money. Basically the fighters aren't as protected...
Not only that but a UFC fighter on average fights much more than a boxer especially if they are a title holder. But some fans just don't give enough respect for the sport and the reason isn't solely because UFC is rising and boxing is slowly declining (although ignorant people will not admit this) but the critics who are boxing fans cannot stand that MMA incorporates boxing into their sport not realizing that the sport does not focus strictly on striking like Muay Thai but rather all sorts including top ground game martial arts like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. MMA also involved Karate, Wrestling (a very popular style in MMA), Kick-boxing, Muay Thai, Sambo and much more. Nevertheless in the UFC, the three main martial arts include Muay Thai, Jiu-Jitsu and Wrestling including several different subsets of these three martial arts.
So really, there's a brief description on how boxing and MMA differ. As I've said I enjoy watching MMA including the technicality of the sport and have been watching for quite some time before most casual fans have held an interest in it but even though it's very difficult to pick which one I'd rather watch, I'd probably lean towards boxing more simply because to the real fans, it's a sport that will never die out. But the critics have to honestly stop acting immature and comparing the two mega sports. Both have similarities yet their differences outweigh them and both have something great to offer their fans...
You cannot compare a boxer who specializes in boxing and compare him to an MMA fighter who specializes in a specific martial art just because there's boxing (and striking) involved in MMA (although MMA fighters now train to specialize in multiple martial arts). Boxing involves the sweet science of boxing. MMA involves boxing (striking) and more.
I always go back and forth between whether an MMA fight nowadays is more exciting or whether I would rather watch a boxing fight leaning slightly towards boxing. Yet if I were to really choose only one I would choose boxing. But I give the utmost respect to MMA. The UFC which is the main face of MMA in the U.S. and even worldwide for that matter has come a long way and have literally grown from nothing. Back in the 90's and even up until the early 2000's, not much people heard of the UFC. They now have sell out crowds, are bringing in huge amounts of money a year, and shattering PPV records and yearly records every event they hold.
The sport (and the UFC specifically) has just grown too big. Why you ask? Well for one thing it's new compared to boxing's history and is drawing in more fans each time they hold an event. But a huge factor is the value of both their fighters and their belts. Because the UFC has less fighters and only one belt per division (ranging from Lightweight to Heavyweight), there is much more value given to the belt because of the fact that there's only one belt holder per division. In boxing, there is the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO titles making their four potential belt holder for each division and that takes away value from the actual champion's belts. Also, there are much less freedom for the fighter (whether it's a pro or con) which means that the UFC has much more control over the matches they produce. With less fighters, there are more fights between the highest ranked opponents giving fans more of what they want to see. Rarely do you hear an MMA fighter strictly choose the money over everything else when considering his options of fighting another opponent. Not to say that they don't, it's just the fighters are more willing to fight the top opponents and almost any opponent that gets put in front of them even if it means that they will receive less money. Basically the fighters aren't as protected...
Not only that but a UFC fighter on average fights much more than a boxer especially if they are a title holder. But some fans just don't give enough respect for the sport and the reason isn't solely because UFC is rising and boxing is slowly declining (although ignorant people will not admit this) but the critics who are boxing fans cannot stand that MMA incorporates boxing into their sport not realizing that the sport does not focus strictly on striking like Muay Thai but rather all sorts including top ground game martial arts like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. MMA also involved Karate, Wrestling (a very popular style in MMA), Kick-boxing, Muay Thai, Sambo and much more. Nevertheless in the UFC, the three main martial arts include Muay Thai, Jiu-Jitsu and Wrestling including several different subsets of these three martial arts.
So really, there's a brief description on how boxing and MMA differ. As I've said I enjoy watching MMA including the technicality of the sport and have been watching for quite some time before most casual fans have held an interest in it but even though it's very difficult to pick which one I'd rather watch, I'd probably lean towards boxing more simply because to the real fans, it's a sport that will never die out. But the critics have to honestly stop acting immature and comparing the two mega sports. Both have similarities yet their differences outweigh them and both have something great to offer their fans...
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