Any long time fans feel like the UFC has lost its magic?

[MindGamingMantis]

It has a lot to do with Reebok and Venom gear. It made the sport too clean looking. WWE had a similar problem for years. Now its aprons have been replaced. Reminds me of the cage.

The fighters can't come out the way they want to. That's the one major thing I like about boxing.

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

I've been watching since 1993, I remember renting the UFC's in VHS with a buddy of mine when we were kids.

It's definitely lost its magic. It's way too watered down, the "stars" rarely seem to want to fight, too much poorly acted wwe type "beefs" to "promote" fights.

They need to bring back a few things like an open category, skid those fighters that duck and try to pick and choose their fights.

They definitely need to revamp the whole ppv thing, have them more special and keep the belt holders busy.

THIS. the fighters used to fight whenever, whereever, for pennies, even before their fucking fights (wand vs krazy horse). there was much more honor, pride hehe, integrity, all of that shit before likes/followers meant a damn thing.

on top of all that shit, they/UFC fucked up the ruleset. how is it 2024 and they still have not incorporated strikes to a downed opponent? that is the single best rule set in all of MMA, hands down. made for way better fights, strategies, makes it way more realistic.

and the final point, bring back the open weight tournament, one night. that is what got MMA to the dance. there are 100% fighters that would do it. it's the most honorable, real assessment of actual fight skills, fuck a P4P bullshit ranking created by fat ass neckbeards who have never done anything physical in their entire lives besides open up incognito tabs on firefox. the open weight one night tournament needs to be done. again.

 

[linvillegorge]

Back in the day I almost never missed a UFC card and usually watched from beginning to end. These days I miss probably at least half of cards and on most of the rest I'm only watching part of the card. UFC 300 will be the first card I watch beginning to end in a long time.

 

[HolmeZy55]

Yeah, I think I'm just aging out of it. I barely watch outside of big PPVs now. I don't even bother with fight nights and I don't really feel like I'm missing out.

Same.

Most cards I just simply don't give a fuck about and skip completely without a second thought, really only tuning in for specific fights now which interest me.

 

[Nabs]

I totally feel you.

I used to watch EVERY single card. PPVs, FNs, whether there were big names on it, or not. Now, I barely do.

For me, it's not that I've lost excitement for the sport. It's just a combination of the roster being bloated with mediocre fighters and the small number of stars/super talented fighters.

When I do watch, I still watch the entire thing from early prelims to PPV, but at the same time, I don't mind if I miss an event. A couple of yrs ago, I damn near would be depressed if I had to miss an event. Today, it's no biggie. 2 big events I missed recently were Islam-Alex 2 and Izzy-Strickland. Barely cared and was fine checking the results online the next day.

I still love the sport and enjoy training, but I just don't have the same urge to catch every events live.

 

[Pharenheit]

They basically let anyone from the contender series in. The show itself is entertaining, however letting borderline amateur fighters in has its drawbacks

 

[Fluffernutter]

Yes

 

[DoctorStoppage]

Just anecdotal but it feels like a bunch of people I know who got interested in mma during the pandemic have now lost interest

 

[HerpDerp]

I found that the UFC roster was getting way too bloated even before the ESPN deal and the weekly cards era, but now it's mostly unbearable.

I'm struggling with simply recognizing a majority of the names on cards these days, and even when I do recognize some of them, I won't have an idea of their specialties as fighters, won't remember who and when they fought last and how they did, and hell, probably wouldn't even recognize them if I saw them.

Then they keep matching these guys up with other similar unknown guys for what often feels like their first 5 fights in the UFC, and I still won't have an idea who any of them are even after they're that many fights into their UFC careers already.

Back when the UFC had a roster of around 1/3~ of what it is today, it was so much easier to become invested in any given fighter, simply because even if I didn't know of them specifically, all I had to do was take a quick glance at their records, see who they beat and who they lost to, and immediately have somewhat of an understanding of their level as fighters in addition to having something of a storyline to follow as it develops.

 

[StonedLemur]

The UFC has had multiple different eras and being nostalgic about the "old days" is normal, but there was always a certain magic throughout all of those years. Even when it went fully mainstream with Conor and millions of new fans came flooding in, it still kept that feeling. I just don't feel it anymore.

The UFC is obviously not dying, and that's not what I'm saying. I can't put my finger on what it is.

Anyone else feel the same?

Maybe its in you sir.
What I mean is you're just not interested anymore.
Maybe taking a break will help.

 

[PaddyO'malley]

Yo #wagwan TS you say you ain't vibin wid UFC fam don't blame you my guy ting dyin' last I heard fam New sport run by Dana tho fam check it out called #PowerSlap bigger den NFL NBA NHL swear down eh tho fam my yute Big Mac styll lookin to scoop some tix for April 12th mans said he'll go if you pay for his seat he down to drive too I tink lmk fam

 

[Trabaho]

You getting bored

 

[Fjord]

I think the fights are much better than they were 10 years ago and I enjoy watching a lot more than I used to. Lots of cards are really solid. And that’s with a fight happening almost every weekend as opposed to once every other week or once in three weeks.

 

[gonads20]

For me its a couple things
-Watered down bullshit fight nights.
-Fighters not being able to wear their own shorts. Tito's fire trunks, Chuck's ice shorts, rampage had the American Flag shorts.
-Refs are less likely to stand fighters up. Shit is boring
-WMMA is a sure way to change the momentum of a fire UFC card to boring.
- To many fighters in the late mid to late 2000s I knew every fighter on the card now its getting hard to keep track of them all.
-ESPN and price.

 

[Gamer2k4]

You've just had your fill, so it doesn't excite you the way it used to. Happens with everything.

If someone can find something they're passionate about that fills them with the same excitement 15 or 20 years later as it did on Day 1, that is incredibly rare and unique. For most people, interests change and they move on.

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

The UFC has had multiple different eras and being nostalgic about the "old days" is normal, but there was always a certain magic throughout all of those years. Even when it went fully mainstream with Conor and millions of new fans came flooding in, it still kept that feeling. I just don't feel it anymore.

The UFC is obviously not dying, and that's not what I'm saying. I can't put my finger on what it is.

Anyone else feel the same?

I think it is matchmaking and "star management". UFC does a poor job at bringing good young guys up. It holds on to aging fighters too long and rankings have lost meaning. I also think that the top 10 ranked talent is worse than it has been over the last 15 years. Some really really good hungry guys but they stay at the bottom and don t get marketed.

The UFC is a shell of what it used to be 10 years ago in terms of captivating me and no it has nothing to do with Conor.

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

Trouble is the UFC is being run on the cheap with little investment in bringing in exciting new talent.

The women’s 145 division is testament to that. Casuals will think “there’s no women out there” but you look at the PFL, Bellator over the past 3-4 years and that’s just not true. The UFC just don’t want to invest, scout out and bring in good fighters.

Stale rematches and bad matchmaking.

Undeserved title shots.

Stalling divisions for fights no one cares about, (Jones / Miocic, Grasso/Shevchenko).

Cards with no WMMA fights (means I don’t even bother watching)

Are you saying you don't bother watching when there is no WMMA on the card?

In my case that s an aspect I forgot. The push for WMMA has certainly watered down the UFC and contributed to make it decline.

 

[italiamusica]

I feel the opposite, I've almost gotten more into MMA over the last few years. Never miss a card, UFC or the other bigger ones, and I don't really care about who's on the card, I just want to see violence. I will agree though that it seems like the UFC isn't really trying that hard, especially with all the APEX cards, just trying to save as much money for their pockets as they can.

 

[melvinj0]

imo one thing that has really made is less fun is how hard UFC fishes for one big major draw instead of hyping up all of their elite level fighters. It seems like used to there were so many guys that were known to people who even casually watched MMA. But since the Rousey/Conor era the UFC realized how much one fighter can do for their company and are desperate to find a replacement rather then promote lots of guys so you have a wide variety of draws.

Also UFC is very overpopulated rn, there was a time where pretty much every fight on the main card if any UFC Ppv was guys most people who watched MMA knew. Now there’s lots of times where the first few fights on a main card are guys even I barely know much about.

 

[R.N.J.]

Definitely oversaturation but I can still get hyped for a card like UFC 300. My problem is that none of the people I used to watch it with care anymore. People get older, married etc but I have still remained pretty hardcore.