If you enjoy boxing more than MMA, why?

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

yes they do fight each other. In ufc, bellator, and other federations. There aren't 7 or 8 belts per weight classes. Fighters don't get to cherry pick their opponents. There are examples of fights that happen. Bellator is always having tournaments. The only thing we don't see is Bellatr against UFC fighters unless they sign contracts. For every 1 fight in UFC you claim isn't happening, I have 5 in boxing. Personally I like boxing more, but boxing is at its worst state right now. It was bad enough geting fights made in the 80s and 90s and once the WBO became a major title around 2004, it was downhill from there. And now we've got interim unificatoin matches.. YOu agree with all of this bs? 8 titles per weight class, 17 weight classes, fighters ducking...

No they don’t. You’ve completely missed the point. Fighters get massively protected as well. You do realise the UFC rankings aren’t legitimate right? They telling you this is the best vs best doesn’t make it true.

I’m not justifying the BS in boxing whatsoever but it’s just as bad if not worse in MMA.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

Yeah Conor shouldnt be in the top 10 anymore. I think one thing that helps him is the losses post-Floyd circus are only to two elite opponents, so we cant necessarily tell how he would do a step down from Khabib and Dustin level. Realistically he should be fighting somebody like Bobby Green or Fiziev at this point but they keep giving him the top guys in the hope that one time he might not lose.

As for Fedor, HW was in a weird transitional phase at that time, it was weak. He was still considered the top HW circa 08 but in hindsight he was already in decline. I think he would have beaten Randy pretty easily but Brock would have been a tough fight, Mir too. And by the end of 2010 all of those guys, Fedor included, were not viewed as title threat level HWs anymore.

I think Conor looks shot man, I think they’ll find him somebody with a name who’s badly shot like they did with Cerrone (maybe they’ll use Ferguson)
and then they’ll be try and get him in the cage with Oliveira as it’s a stylistically favourable matchup. However, I think it’s easy work for Charles. Conor only has about 5 minutes in him these days.

Yeah it was around the time UFC were beginning to monopolise the industry. Worst thing to ever happen in MMA IMO. I think Fedor f***s Brock up tbh. I’m a massive Brock fan, once in a lifetime athlete, to win NCAA Div 1, become an ATG in Pro Wrestling, UFC HW Champ and even make an NFL practice squad is unbelievable. However, unless Brock secures an early takedown Fedor would really f*** him up with the striking, leg kicks etc. I got Fedor inside 2 in that matchup.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

Yeah, but who is getting the next title shot? Jiri, who has a win over Nemkov.....

Not saying the UFCs own rankings are entirely fair and accurate, or that there arent good fighters outside of the UFC. McKee would probably be a legitimate threat to Volk, Adriano Moraes if he fought at 125 would be a threat to Figgy and Moreno, at a stretch maybe aging Mousasi could give Adesanya an interesting fight. Overall the UFC is clearly by far the strongest "league" though since Pride died. You have to go back like a decade to Strikeforces HW scene to find a division that 'could be seriously argued is better than its UFC equivalent, and the UFC eventually absorbed it into theirs anyway.

This is my biggest issue with MMA. UFC is undoubtedly the strongest but they’re completely closed off to other promotions. At least in boxing we actually get cross-promotional matchups like Fury-Wilder and Crawford-Porter last year. UFC have essentially copied the WWE model in pro wrestling. It’s been very successful but it’s not good for the sport.

If you flip it and look at it in boxing terms. PBC is probably the strongest league in terms of talent depth. Imagine they just created their own belt and refused to work with anybody else that would be terrible for the sport.

[TMLT87]

unless Brock secures an early takedown Fedor would really f*** him up with the striking, leg kicks etc. I got Fedor inside 2 in that matchup.

If it stays standing Brock is getting turtled up fairly quickly. But I think he'd manage to get Fedor down, whether he could keep him down and also not get subbed on the ground is debatable.

The thing with Fedor is, he was probably the most skilled HW ever, but he also had crazy explosive strength/power to help apply those skills, along with great durability. Once the chin and athleticism started declining he lost a lot of his effectiveness. It was sad to see because the aura he had while he was unbeaten was special,

This is my biggest issue with MMA. UFC is undoubtedly the strongest but they’re completely closed off to other promotions. At least in boxing we actually get cross-promotional matchups like Fury-Wilder and Crawford-Porter last year. UFC have essentially copied the WWE model in pro wrestling. It’s been very successful but it’s not good for the sport.

If you flip it and look at it in boxing terms. PBC is probably the strongest league in terms of talent depth. Imagine they just created their own belt and refused to work with anybody else that would be terrible for the sport.

Yeah but PBCs lead over its competitors is miniscule compared to the UFCs, they dont have most of the current top p4p guys and have less than 150 fighters total. The UFC has around 600 currently, not including the women, and thats in a sport with a much smaller talent pool than boxing.

I have mixed feelings on the UFC monopoly tbh. Pride was the peak of MMA for me in terms of presentation and hype, I loved Strikeforce and WEC too, but would MMA be this big now without the UFC driving it forwards? I really dont know. I think having a "brand" that kind of acts like the NFL/NBA/WWE etc of its sport probably helps, it makes it much more accessible and easily packaged for the casual audience, its also obviously helped with them getting that EA video game deal which again gives it more exposure. Boxing is much harder for a casual to properly get into because its so fragmented and there isnt really a clear hierarchy of promotions and belt holders.

No they don’t. You’ve completely missed the point. Fighters get massively protected as well. You do realise the UFC rankings aren’t legitimate right? They telling you this is the best vs best doesn’t make it true.

I’m not justifying the BS in boxing whatsoever but it’s just as bad if not worse in MMA.

Lol come on mate...

Going by current Sherdog (ie independent) rankings and Ring magazine rankings, if you compare the eight no1 ranked MMA fighters to the no1 ranked boxers in the eight heaviest weight classes (because I cba to do every division obviously) -

Ngannou has fought the 2nd (twice), 3rd, 5th, 6th (twice) and 9th ranked guys at his weight
Glover has fought 2,3 10 and is booked to fight 4.
Adesanya - 2 (twice), 4, 5 (twice), 6
Usman - 2 (twice), 3, 4
Oliveira - 2, 6, 8, booked to fight 3
Volkanovski - 3 (twice), 4, 8
Sterling - 2 (twice), 4
Figuereido - 2 (three times), 5, 6

vs

Fury - 4 (three times), is booked to fight 5
Briedis - 2, 5
Beterbiev - 8, booked to fight 3
Canelo (at 168) - 3, 4
GGG - 5, 9
Jermell C - 2 (rematch booked), 5, 8
Crawford - nobody that Ring has in the top 10 at the moment
Taylor - 2, 3, 5

I get that its not an exact science as people come and go from the rankings so its pretty in the moment, and this doesnt take into account that some guys could have good wins in other weight classes, but that all applies to MMA too. Overall I think theres a pretty clear pattern, and it supports most peoples perceptions.

[b Murphington]

I just think boxing looks better to the eye. I’ll watch a UFC/MMA card when others are watching, but I don’t know anything about the fighters. Names, divisions, stories behind them, rankings, etc.

The striking in UFC/MMA doesn’t look as good, mainly because it’s a different style and they need to guard against other things. Plus, I have no appreciation for the ground game because it looks so foreign to me. Plus, I think that’s when the match is at its most boring. Then sometimes they spend the entire rd on the ground.

The finishes in MMA/UFC are nice and brutal though.

I’ll give UFC props though. They make quality match ups and put on a good show. Dana White runs it well.

Boxings always been number 1 to me though.

What irks me the most is how disrespectful a lot of UFC/MMA fans are when it comes to boxing. They see it as a “lesser than” sport and believe UFC/MMA to be much superior. Couldn’t be further from the truth and the argument can be made that boxing is harder to compete in and requires greater skill.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

If it stays standing Brock is getting turtled up fairly quickly. But I think he'd manage to get Fedor down, whether he could keep him down and also not get subbed on the ground is debatable.

The thing with Fedor is, he was probably the most skilled HW ever, but he also had crazy explosive strength/power to help apply those skills, along with great durability. Once the chin and athleticism started declining he lost a lot of his effectiveness. It was sad to see because the aura he had while he was unbeaten was special,



Yeah but PBCs lead over its competitors is miniscule compared to the UFCs, they dont have most of the current top p4p guys and have less than 150 fighters total. The UFC has around 600 currently, not including the women, and thats in a sport with a much smaller talent pool than boxing.

I have mixed feelings on the UFC monopoly tbh. Pride was the peak of MMA for me in terms of presentation and hype, I loved Strikeforce and WEC too, but would MMA be this big now without the UFC driving it forwards? I really dont know. I think having a "brand" that kind of acts like the NFL/NBA/WWE etc of its sport probably helps, it makes it much more accessible and easily packaged for the casual audience, its also obviously helped with them getting that EA video game deal which again gives it more exposure. Boxing is much harder for a casual to properly get into because its so fragmented and there isnt really a clear hierarchy of promotions and belt holders.



Lol come on mate...

Going by current Sherdog (ie independent) rankings and Ring magazine rankings, if you compare the eight no1 ranked MMA fighters to the no1 ranked boxers in the eight heaviest weight classes (because I cba to do every division obviously) -

Ngannou has fought the 2nd (twice), 3rd, 5th, 6th (twice) and 9th ranked guys at his weight
Glover has fought 2,3 10 and is booked to fight 4.
Adesanya - 2 (twice), 4, 5 (twice), 6
Usman - 2 (twice), 3, 4
Oliveira - 2, 6, 8, booked to fight 3
Volkanovski - 3 (twice), 4, 8
Sterling - 2 (twice), 4
Figuereido - 2 (three times), 5, 6

vs

Fury - 4 (three times), is booked to fight 5
Briedis - 2, 5
Beterbiev - 8, booked to fight 3
Canelo (at 168) - 3, 4
GGG - 5, 9
Jermell C - 2 (rematch booked), 5, 8
Crawford - nobody that Ring has in the top 10 at the moment
Taylor - 2, 3, 5

I get that its not an exact science as people come and go from the rankings so its pretty in the moment, and this doesnt take into account that some guys could have good wins in other weight classes, but that all applies to MMA too. Overall I think theres a pretty clear pattern, and it supports most peoples perceptions.

When we had Pride, Strikeforce, WEC etc putting shows on that was the peak of MMA for me. They forced UFC to make better fights too and prevented them from shelving guys like they do nowadays.

Are you going off current rankings or when they thought them though? MMA rankings are far more recyclable as there’s far less depth.

Take Crawford for example, he hasn’t fought anybody currently in the top 10, but a lot of the guys he beat were ranked top 10 when he beat them. Like you, I’ll use Ring as the source, he’s beat Burns #4, Beltran #2, Dulorme #10, Postol #1, Indongo #5, Horn #8, Kavaliauskas #10, Porter #4.

I think both sports have similar problems in regards to matchmaking, I’m not saying one is firmly better than the other in regards to the very best fights happening because they don’t happen often enough in either, but at least in boxing we can get cross promotional matchups. It was years too late but eventually we got May-Pac, we never got Fedor-Brock. We’ll probably eventually get Crawford-Spence, will we ever get Usman-Amosov, probably not.

MMA’s model needs to be made more fluid. The UFC model isn’t good for the sport IMO. It’s certainly not good for the fighters too.

[IronDanHamza]

I used to despise MMA, thought it was absolutely pathetic.

Around 2012 ish, I started watching it from time to time, just the big fight.

Today, I'd consider myself a fan. I watch most cards, albeit only really the PPV events live. But I'm a big fan.

Of course Boxing will always be #1, Boxing I have watched and loved for decades.

I feel look production wise, the UFC has Boxing beat by a long shot this day and age.

[TMLT87]

What irks me the most is how disrespectful a lot of UFC/MMA fans are when it comes to boxing. They see it as a “lesser than” sport and believe UFC/MMA to be much superior.

I think that kind of attitude has eased off a lot though. Back when it was the cool new fad type thing you would get a lot of Tapout shirt little brother syndrome douchebaggery but it mostly faded away as the fanbase expanded and diversified more and it stopped being so much of a cult thing. Sherdog has a decent boxing forum of its own and when I see boxing mentioned on MMA forums in general these days nobody really talks ****.

When we had Pride, Strikeforce, WEC etc putting shows on that was the peak of MMA for me. They forced UFC to make better fights too and prevented them from shelving guys like they do nowadays.

The main negative with modern UFC for me stems from the oversaturation and commercialisation. The sweet spot was 20-25 cards a year imo. They've been at 40+ for years now and the cards have more fights on them too. They do still have big cards fairly regularly but theres usually 2-3 filler cards in between, whereas back in the day pretty much every card felt special.

WMMA being pushed so hard is very much a corporate suits involvement thing as well. Not that its all bad by any means, but WMMA is not so deep that they need to reserve spots for it on every card and push random womens fights onto main cards including PPVs all the time where it often looks totally out of place.

Bellator is kind of a weird one, it just doesnt feel the same as Strikeforce did and I cant really put my finger on why. They do put out good stuff at times though but overall its a real mixed bag.

Rizin sadly is no substitute for Pride, but its not bad.

I think some of the Russian promotions are pretty good talent wise.

[buddyr]

No they don’t. You’ve completely missed the point. Fighters get massively protected as well. You do realise the UFC rankings aren’t legitimate right? They telling you this is the best vs best doesn’t make it true.

I’m not justifying the BS in boxing whatsoever but it’s just as bad if not worse in MMA.

ok, what fights in the UFC have you wanted to see among the best in the division that didn't happen? name 5? There are currently 17 weight classes in boxing and 135 along with 147 alone can account for no less than 15 fights off the top of my head that hasn't happened in the past 4 years that should have. Bellator constantly has tournaments every year. You don't have 7 undefeated fighters in the top 10 of any UFC or Bellator weight class. That's never happened and never will happen. Put your fandom and love aside for your favorite boxers and stop defending their BS. Now since Mayer won on saturday, Baumgardner just gave an interview talking about she's the A-side as it seems she takes 5-10 picks every week of those worthless WBC/IBO belts. How can you defend this nonsense? 7 goddamn belts per weight class and everyone argues over ppv numbers and who got the most instagram followres to get out of fights..

[buddyr]

Ngannou has fought the 2nd (twice), 3rd, 5th, 6th (twice) and 9th ranked guys at his weight
Glover has fought 2,3 10 and is booked to fight 4.
Adesanya - 2 (twice), 4, 5 (twice), 6
Usman - 2 (twice), 3, 4
Oliveira - 2, 6, 8, booked to fight 3
Volkanovski - 3 (twice), 4, 8
Sterling - 2 (twice), 4
Figuereido - 2 (three times), 5, 6

vs

Fury - 4 (three times), is booked to fight 5
Briedis - 2, 5
Beterbiev - 8, booked to fight 3
Canelo (at 168) - 3, 4
GGG - 5, 9
Jermell C - 2 (rematch booked), 5, 8
Crawford - nobody that Ring has in the top 10 at the moment
Taylor - 2, 3, 5

I get that its not an exact science as people come and go from the rankings so its pretty in the moment, and this doesnt take into account that some guys could have good wins in other weight classes, but that all applies to MMA too. Overall I think theres a pretty clear pattern, and it supports most peoples perceptions.

Add in that there are SEVEN undefeated fighters at 147 in boxing. SEVEN!!! That obviously means that the top 10 aren't fighting each other. Obviously!!! UFC constatnly has top 10 matchups facing each other. People here think I hate boxing because I'm critical of it. I've been watching boxing since the early 80s on NBC and ABC. I started elementary school after Ali retired. He was larger than life. So i will never love MMA more than boxing, I just don't like how everyone in boxing tries to protect their undefeated record. The weight class that we get the most top fights made is junior bw. Those guys are always fighting each other. And as soon as Rodriguez or Martinez fight one of the big 3 that's left in the division(I don't think Cuadras is a factor anymore, but he was once a member of the Big 4), their undefeated records will be gone as well. So I love boxing, but I hate the politics of it. I have no idea why boxing fans are against seeing the top fights. Their favorite fighters do everything to get out of big fights and they support it!! Why??? Why would anyone support that?