Is UFC losing its appeal?

Question

I have been watching UFC for nearly a decade now. I used to get all hyped up for the fights, but for the past 10 or so shows, for the most part I have lost interest in the majority of the fights. I mean right now Silva is about to fight Cote and GSP just fought Fitch... Neither of those fights excites me whatsoever.

I used to get defensive when new orgs would pop up (m1, elitexc, etc) that claimed to be the next "big thing". But part of me now actually hopes that another organization takes over as the top dog, perhaps Affliction since they have financial backing.

Most of my friends who would order the PPV's now either watch them later on Dailymotion or they just watch a live online stream for free (thank you TVUPlayer).

So my question is, is UFC losing its appeal to fans that have been watching for more than a few years?

Answer 1

For me personally, it's still entertaining. The thing that i'm starting not to like is TUF. I think the fighters that were on last season were the least skilled group that they have ever had. And they were a bunch of idiots to boot. The UFC isn't about fighting styles now. All the fighters have the same skill-sets. Now it's about who the superior athlete is, who's better trained, and who's personality stands out. In those respects, it's starting to get like (I hate to say this) pro wrestling. Which is why someone like Brock Lesnar is going to be a big success, and a main draw for pay per views.

Answer 2

Well I never really had a chance to watch UFC until it had finally been aired on broadcast TV the past 2 years. Until then I never had the money or knew where to watch the bouts. I find it exciting now but I would rather watch the Pide events if they were still around. The UFC matches seem too rushed and there are many contenders that I've never heard or like the ones you stated- I find no real interest in GSP but you have to remember that guys like M. Hughes and C. Liddell have to eventually move over and let other stars have their time ( MY OPINION)

Answer 3

im starting to feel the same way u do i think the ufc is just saturating ppv with all these shows they dont give you enough time to get excited about the next big fight.  i think they should show the majority of fights on tv and then have the best fight everyone wants to see on ppv maybe 1 every other month  

Answer 4

Affliction® > UFC®

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Answer 5

Dana White is riding this pony for all that it is worth. Too many championship pay per view events take all the appeal away.

When boxing was big, a champion could hold the belt for years. In UFC nowadays, a few months is a long time.

Answer 6

As a advid jujitsu student I can only hope so.  UFC is like watching a school yard fight .... one kid throws another to the ground and beats him up with his boxing stance and colliegic wrestling skills .... eeww impressive.... NOT!!!

Answer 7

Not for me, I still enjoy watching it.  If you are getting tired of the UFC, chances are you are really getting tired of MMA in general.  Go to a martial arts school and roll on the mats with a grappler to get a first hand feel for what these guys do and you may come back with a new appreciation for these fighters.

Answer 8

I'm not sure its losing its appeal so much as it is starting to saturate the market. Over the past year or two they have been having events on almost a monthly basis and sometimes events only two weeks apart. There is nothing wrong with lots of events, but what has been happening is that the top cards have been split to cover more shows.

This works out great for smaller names, because there are more opportunities to fight, but for fans paying 44.95 we only see one main event or two "co-main events" that are weaker, when years ago all of those fights would have been in one night.

Also, with the mainstreaming of the sport the MMA intelligence of the average fan has degraded as 'posers' are now becoming a part of the sport. I cant stand when people refer to MMA as UFC...  

Answer 9

You may just be burned out on it.  So maybe.

Answer 10

I think is is losing some appeal to the viewers who have been watching a while - UFC is doing a few things quite poorly:  

They under pay and under-appreciate their fighters (think Couture or Ortiz, or Huerta - all former "golden boys of the UFC" who have spoken out against it lately).

They are dropping some big names in order to let the up-and-comers fight - look at the last Affliction card - Sylvia, Arlovski, Barnett, Rizzo - some really good fighters that should still be in the UFC in my opinion.  Instead UFC has Heath Herring vs Brock Lesner as the HEADLINE???  wtf?!

The UFC still has a pretty stacked deck (especially if you count WEC fighters for LW division) but it seems like a lot of the fights are formulaic and fighters are all losing their identity - lately everyone is a solid wrestler with striking or a solid striker with BJJ skills.  You don't see any of the crazy matchups you used to - Judo vs Karate, etc.  

90% of the top UFC guys train with either Miletich, the Pit, Sityodong (DelaGrotte), Greg Jackson, 10th Planet/Legends, Brazil Top, Team Punishment, American Top, or Extreme Couture.  The few exciting guys left DON'T train in those 10 gyms.

I end up preferring the undercard shows because those guys are trying to win instead of trying not to lose.  Look at Chris Leben - he used to be insane to watch, but his style has become much more "technical / boring".  The same has happened with a lot of top fighters in the UFC.  So the fights I still get pumped over are guys like Spencer Fisher, Karo Parysian, etc.  They may not be the contenders but they have some identity with their fight style so it's more entertaining than the single leg / ground and pound / lame submission attempt match after match.

I still watch the fights, but honestly I don't get as excited as I used to unless a really crazy undercard fight is taking place, or a good underdog vs tough guy fight (Rampage vs Griffin was fun).

Answer 11

im only 15 and ive been a fan for a 2 years i think the problem is that they are losing stars like tito ortiz,randy couture, andrei arlovski people like that and they dont build by like getting fedor in there

Answer 12

Not to me it's not. There are changes I would like to see made and I think we have too many fighter fighting not to lose instead of fighting to win. Having fought competitively for 20 years that gets under my skin to no end and causes me to lose respect for fighters that do that. If you are going to fight in competition you have to remember that part of it is entertainment and watching 2 guys fight not to lose is not much fun. I also wish they would pull them away from the fence so we could see some real grappling and not just 1 guy holding the other guy in a prone spot. I know they call it tactics and cage control, I call it being worried about truly grappling. Okay enough of what I don't like in MMA in general not just the UFC.

Maybe you and your buddies are getting a little burned out or maybe you have watched some of your favorites going down and just don't get as fired up over that.

Me personally I am a complete fight addict!!! I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 or so events either on tape or DVD and still get fired up for each one and still watch them all several times to break down the action. The guys I usually watch the fights with are all still just as fired up to watch now as we were back with the first UFC's, different strokes for different folks as they say.