Instead of Killing Boxing, the UFC Plans to Use It As a Lifeline

[Motorcity Cobra]

Lost me at "He's a man of his word."

Dana lies constantly... it's the one consistent thing about him.

I cut bits and pieces out because the article is so long. You gotta read it in its entirety

[.!WAR MIKEY!.]

MMA is dead, who cares about that sport.

Only rejects ever get into it.

[2fast2strong]

MMA is dead, who cares about that sport.

Only rejects ever get into it.

Yeah well I can understand people not liking mma but I’m a division 1 wrestler and have always been a boxing fan because of my dad so naturally I like mma.

And yeah I have 7 amateur mma fights and 5 USA Boxing amateur fights (I would have more amateur boxing fights but it seem now that every time I go to a tournament there is no one my size there to fight)

I don’t think that mma is dead but there are no stars fighting at the moment but one will rise to make a name for himself and the viewers will be back.

But like the article says it’s hard to establish a star when the best all fight the best

[Boxing42]

Yea its almost unfair to compare boxing to MMA with boxing's long modern era history & MMA just becoming an organized thing in the 90's really. That fact its competing with boxing & other sports at all is telling.

Give MMA another 20-30 years. I bet the amateur MMA system becomes a thing just like amateur boxing. Right now you rarely see a guy with 10 or more amateur fights. Think the most I ever saw was a guy with 20 amateur MMA fights. Meanwhile there are guys with 100+ amateur boxing bouts in every division, all over the world. And there is no real steamlined system or world or national championships that have caught on yet. It takes time.

I agree that mma and boxing are hard to compare BUT there's been a TON of grappling talent in mma because grapplers never really had an outlet to make money and once the money started coming in the washed up boxers and kickboxers came in. And now all kinds of martial artists go into mma and also people who have never done martial arts

[iamboxing]

“The UFC tend to kill their idols,” Emhoff says. “By having the best facing the best constantly, they are wearing out all of their top fighters.”

Jones screwed himself, nothing to do with him facing the best and Silva reigned for ages before losing. In any case, once a top UFC star loses they come back because a loss isn't a big thing in MMA like boxing. Look at Hughes etc..

Nothing to do with the best facing the best too early. Leave the format alone and please don't introduce "marinating" BS into UFC, that's the only appeal of the UFC - top dogs facing each other at every UFC event.

[Eff Pandas]

I agree that mma and boxing are hard to compare BUT there's been a TON of grappling talent in mma because grapplers never really had an outlet to make money and once the money started coming in the washed up boxers and kickboxers came in. And now all kinds of martial artists go into mma and also people who have never done martial arts

I'd say things are still getting worked out in pro MMA too. Think of boxing back in those bareknuckle days. Thats where modern MMA is at in its trajectory one could argue.

You'd have swordsmen & blacksmiths boxing back in those bareknuckle days cuz there was no path into pro boxing, you just decided to box & now your a pro. Its not quite like that in pro MMA cuz coming along a century later has its benefits, but its not like the NFL or MLB either with a clear road from training to an amateur career to a pro career to getting into a elite level league like the UFC or Bellator.

I'll be curious to what MMA looks like a couple decades from now. I'd bet it'll look more like the NFL or MLB structurally or if the Muhammad Ali Act or a similar bill gets passed & enacted it'll look more like pro boxing & guys will have 100+ amateur MMA bouts before turning pro & there will be less specialists & more pure MMA trained athletes.

[N/A]

MMA is dead, who cares about that sport.

Definitely not dead. A lot of people care.

But it's a broken model and they are starting to panic.

Haymon saw the writing on the wall that if you're relying on PPV, doomsday is coming. That's why he was willing to spend so much to try to create leverage to increase TV budgets. That's why he's focused on creating an army of smaller stars instead of focusing on trying to create the small handful of mega stars PPV requires.

UFC is in a situation where there business relies upon people buying an expensive PPV every single month and there's just no way to make that work long term.

That doesn't mean it's dead though. MMA has a lot of fans. MMA generates a lot of money. The long term prospects are iffy though.

['b']

I think MMA is only going to continue to get bigger. Every time a new star emerges, they pick up a massive amount of casuals - sure they leave once the star has left, but some of those casuals become hardcore fans. The UFC is in a depression, not a decline.

[Prince Madison]

Ufc was the new kid on the block with some marketable stars but the one thing it will always struggle with is the product. No-one wants to see people rolling around on the floor, maybe it's interesting to watch if your a bjj expert but not for everyone else. You know where you are with punches being thrown. I find it weird how much the fans love the female fighters Too, to me that's not normal cheering on girls to smash each other's faces in.

['b']

Ufc was the new kid on the block with some marketable stars but the one thing it will always struggle with is the product. No-one wants to see people rolling around on the floor, maybe it's interesting to watch if your a bjj expert but not for everyone else. You know where you are with punches being thrown. I find it weird how much the fans love the female fighters Too, to me that's not normal cheering on girls to smash each other's faces in.

Look at MMA sites like 'bloodyelbow' and you'll see why. Bunch of slack-jawed f4ggots around there.