UFC:Exciting Fights/Fighters

I've just read an article & some of the comments on mmaweekly.com with regards to the cutting of 16 UFC fighters with John Fitch being the highest ranked fighter in the list, apparently he was ranked 9 at WW. Fitch it seems divides opinion, he has as many fans as he has those that find him boring & justified his cutting, in his last 4 fights he is 1-2-1, nobody outside of the UFC knows the whole story of why he was cut.

Now this brings me round to what many people are saying, Dana White included, that fights & fighters must be exciting, better to go out on your shield than to eek out a points win & in theory move up the rankings & eventually to a title fight. Also it seems some fighters are being rewarded title fights coming off losses due to them having an exciting style, being good earners for the UFC or their mouth, or even a combination of the aforementioned. Is this fair or right? Should a fighter just go for broke & risk losing rather than use their repetoir of skills, showing good defence, making an opponents efforts redundant, counter striking?

Recently Bisping himself & his fans were calling for him to get a shot at Silva, but instead he was put in against Belfort a man coming off a loss to Jones & ko'd in a round to Silva. Sonnen ko'd in the 2nd against Silva now in line for a shot at Jones. In the comments in the aforementioned article many think this line of thinking is wrong & there should be an overhaul of the UFC's ranking & payment structure, coupled with the fact you can be cut with 3 losses in a short time.

true fans will always appreciate the skill, tactics/strategy and technique of the sport and indeed the art of MMA. However, the UFC is a franchise, a brand and an entertainment company. To be cynical all professional sport organisations are in some respects or another entertainment companies because their purpose is to sell tickets and entertain people. MMA as a professional sport lives and dies on its ticket/PPV sales. If there's not enough money to be made, you can't hire fighters and if there are no fights then there are no fans. It's a kind of cycle. Also like team sports, fans have their favourites and promoters like the UFC tap into that in order to cash in on PPVs.

For me I'm an analytical kind of person, so when I watch MMA I like to see a fighter come with a solid game plan and executing a strategy as well as the explosive TKOs. I'm also more a fan of submission grappling being a Jujutsuka than striking so I enjoy watching to see how fighters respond on the ground. Not everyone though enjoys the grappling/submission side of MMA and prefer a more pure striking contest.

For me MMA is what you make it, it is a thinking man's sport as well as being violent. For some fighters aggression trumps technique and vice versa. Though its a shame not all fans appreciate all sides of the sport, the UFC will always go with the money and if that means firing "boring" fighters who fans wouldn't pay to see then that's the way the sport will go. Dana desparately wants the UFC to be a mainstream franchise and the only way to get mainstream exposure and maintain mainstream success is to appeal to the broadest possible fanbase.

This saddens the purist in me but I also understand the reasoning behind it and accept it. However, what I would say is that when you look at the champions and the P4P list all of them marry skill & technique with exciting finishes or fights. No one can deny Silva is entertaining or Jones and yet they are by far and away the best fighters in the UFC.

Regarding guys like Sonnen and Belfort, although Belfort lost to Jones he did reveal a kink in Jone's armour, he exploited an opportunity and nearly got the submission, Jones himself admitted he was waiting for his arm to break. Had Jones not managed to readjust his body and his arm snapped, Belfort would be the new LHW champion. Sonnen on the other hand really doesn't have any defence, in his rematch with Silva he crashed and burned. Sonnen has got where he is now by trash talking and having an excellent wrestling base. His striking is rudimentary compared to the best strikers and he's contemptuous of BJJ despite having some success with submissions. My nightmare would be if Jones had a really bad day at the office and Sonnen freakishly was able to beat him somehow. I really hope Jones puts Sonnen in his place just like Silva did.

talkingpoint wrote:true fans will always appreciate the skill, tactics/strategy and technique of the sport and indeed the art of MMA. However, the UFC is a franchise, a brand and an entertainment company. To be cynical all professional sport organisations are in some respects or another entertainment companies because their purpose is to sell tickets and entertain people. MMA as a professional sport lives and dies on its ticket/PPV sales. If there's not enough money to be made, you can't hire fighters and if there are no fights then there are no fans. It's a kind of cycle. Also like team sports, fans have their favourites and promoters like the UFC tap into that in order to cash in on PPVs.

For me I'm an analytical kind of person, so when I watch MMA I like to see a fighter come with a solid game plan and executing a strategy as well as the explosive TKOs. I'm also more a fan of submission grappling being a Jujutsuka than striking so I enjoy watching to see how fighters respond on the ground. Not everyone though enjoys the grappling/submission side of MMA and prefer a more pure striking contest.

For me MMA is what you make it, it is a thinking man's sport as well as being violent. For some fighters aggression trumps technique and vice versa. Though its a shame not all fans appreciate all sides of the sport, the UFC will always go with the money and if that means firing "boring" fighters who fans wouldn't pay to see then that's the way the sport will go. Dana desparately wants the UFC to be a mainstream franchise and the only way to get mainstream exposure and maintain mainstream success is to appeal to the broadest possible fanbase.

This saddens the purist in me but I also understand the reasoning behind it and accept it. However, what I would say is that when you look at the champions and the P4P list all of them marry skill & technique with exciting finishes or fights. No one can deny Silva is entertaining or Jones and yet they are by far and away the best fighters in the UFC.

Regarding guys like Sonnen and Belfort, although Belfort lost to Jones he did reveal a kink in Jone's armour, he exploited an opportunity and nearly got the submission, Jones himself admitted he was waiting for his arm to break. Had Jones not managed to readjust his body and his arm snapped, Belfort would be the new LHW champion. Sonnen on the other hand really doesn't have any defence, in his rematch with Silva he crashed and burned. Sonnen has got where he is now by trash talking and having an excellent wrestling base. His striking is rudimentary compared to the best strikers and he's contemptuous of BJJ despite having some success with submissions. My nightmare would be if Jones had a really bad day at the office and Sonnen freakishly was able to beat him somehow. I really hope Jones puts Sonnen in his place just like Silva did.

I agree with your points but I do wonder how much bigger the mma audience can become. As you say boring fighters in boring fights will not gain more fans & will in fact turn some fans away. But the nature of the sport I feel doesn't really appeal to the general public. Outside of people who train in combat sports & martial arts I think the potential fan base in any one country is relatively small. I seem to remember Dana's comments when they did TUF Live that maybe the choice of night may have been wrong & that their target audience were 18-30 males, Friday nights at 10pm was that the best time or are they out etc. Mma although on the rise is like boxing a minority sport, the media do very little to encourage it.

http://www.mmaweekly.com/jon-fitch-tops-list-of-16-ufc-fighters-released

http://www.mmaweekly.com/dana-white-explains-jon-fitch-firing-the-blood-has-not-all-been-spilled-yet-ufc-157-video

The two articles that inspired (?) me. A rather heated Dana in the second, he does bring up a point about a top 10 guy on the decline & also brings up the point about money & how much Fitch costs.

the UFC demographic is primarily 18-30 year old males. In that respect it is a niche market, but nevertheless Dana wants the UFC to become a household name of the sporting world along side the NFL and the NBA. There is a ceiling to the fanbase because not everyone likes combat sports and despite the fact that it is a relatively safe sport, some of the more violent fights will put people off. I am sure Dana knows this but as president of the UFC he wants to solidify the successes he has made and ensure the UFC is around for a very long time. Marketing, media exposure, sponsorship deals and merchandise are very important to remaining culturally relevant and continuing to replenish the next generation of 18-30 year old fanbase.

sohotnot wrote:

http://www.mmaweekly.com/dana-white-explains-jon-fitch-firing-the-blood-has-not-all-been-spilled-yet-ufc-157-video

LOL I really like Dana, he's unapologetic about his business and management style and really passionate about MMA. This video made me laugh at just how much of a rant Dana went on

talkingpoint wrote:

sohotnot wrote:

http://www.mmaweekly.com/dana-white-explains-jon-fitch-firing-the-blood-has-not-all-been-spilled-yet-ufc-157-video

LOL I really like Dana, he's unapologetic about his business and management style and really passionate about MMA. This video made me laugh at just how much of a rant Dana went on

I like Dana, another of my UFC guilty pleasures! Another great rant, pity I couldn't find the full length one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPAg6BbiW20

Dana has a point about Fitch; if he does well in another MMA promotion then he'll more than likely get another UFC contract. I mean look at guys like Hendo and Werdum. That's the thing, the UFC should be like the Premier League of MMA, it should be three losses on the bounce and you're out. To maintain the highest standards, especially midcard and main events, the UFC's roster needs to include the sport's elite.

It could happen but to be honest I only see a big drop in wages for Fitch, probably what he will earn elsewhere, I don't see Dana really begging for Fitch to sign a new contract, in his own words Fitch is a top ten guy on his way down & he's unlikely to be ever in a position to fight for the title again.

Hendo is always in good fights, he doesn't really split opinion like Fitch, Werdum I didn't know had previously fought in the UFC. Before the UFC bought out Strikeforce the HW division was pretty week so no surprices on Werdums return.

Interesting to hear that the UFC has close to 500 fighters spread across 10 weight classes & that that is 100 fighters to many! They can't give every fighter enough fights per year! Yes I agree the UFC should be the premier league of mma & the 3 losses on the bounce should be your out exciting loser or not.

tbh I think some of those guys are contestants from TUF who shouldn't even be in the UFC as they failed to win the contest! To me if you're going to award the winner of TUF with a contract then that has to be the only person to earn one. Otherwise where is the prestige in being crowned the ultimate fighter if some of the other contestants win contracts as well? TUF gives the fighters an opportunity and some exposure. The semi finalists and losing finalist would probably get a contract with another promotion or if the UFC are going to keep Strikeforce then use that as a b-league to give TUF guys more experience and chance to earn their way into the UFC.

Yes its a bit of a joke really, I think in the TUF before last almost every fighter got a fight on the finale & then a contract with the UFC, last one only the winner as far as I'm aware. I'm sure the other contestants that fought well would get picked up by the other promotions, they've had a little exposure & are not unknown. Is Strikeforce still actually going, are there plans to close it?

not sure I thought they were keeping it at the moment rather than amalgamating it like they did Pride and WEC. But they might be merging it now as Henderson is facing the Strikeforce lightweight champion and Mir is fighting Cormier who is the heavyweight champion.

I hear that if Cormier beats Mir they're looking for him to drop to LHW & fight Jones! I reckon they should put him in against Nelson, battle of the fatties, BJJ vs wrestling & both have power!!

Dana (and Mir) also wanted Nelson to drop to LHW. Cormier isn't the tallest guy in the heavyweight division and so he probably would suit LHW more naturally. If Cormier beats Mir and then decides to cut the weight an automatic title fight with Jones would be good money for him but I doubt he would make the cut. One as he's the Strikeforce heavyweight champion and if he beats Mir, a top 5 heavyweight, then he may feel he deserves to face Cain for the UFC heavyweight title. Besides I think he would know Jones is too much for him. But you never know. As a Mir fan I want Mir to win and put his loss to JDS behind him.

i think if the ufc is realistic about wanting to create a more exciting brand then they need to look at the rules which are not so pro wrestlers, one take down and lie on top and that's the round won. i think the refs have made a effort to encourage stand ups but even then there so hit and miss with it

the problem the ufc has is, the top wrestlers in majority are american. american champs mean more money for the ufc and more interest. bit of a catch 22 situation between which is best

Too many fights are taken to the ground and they look for submissions. Thats not exciting. Everyone wants to see the fighters that are good at striking.

Conor McGregor for example, now he's is an exciting fighter.