It peaked around 2006 - 2009. They don't even show it in bars anymore. Remember all those tapout shirts and stickers on cars? See those around anymore? They did have mcgregor as a legit star but even he had to come over to boxing. I think the saudis own a majority share on it now.
I don’t get why thread like this pop up all the time. They are two different sports. MMA fighters can use punch as part of their striking arsenal. That is it. That is the only thing that links the two sport together. Also only a small fan base watch both sports. One being more popular has nothing to do with the other and if the other one was to go completely under it doesn’t mean the fans will flock to the one left standing. It’s two different sport.
He didn't had. He had been damn popular in U.S and even europe and he get damn good purses even by boxing standards. Floryd Jr was damn well known, Conor too and they made damn cool fight with beautiful sales. The biggest difference between shitty pro boxing business and mma is even this fight: dudes shitted on the same Khabib as hype job and posted that he will be exposed as fraud, beated up and so on. In reality he had been outboxed and also had tapped vs Kahabib. Pro boxing sucks as hell if compare with all these: mma, KB and MT, it does sucks and with all: fans, cards, refs and so on. Pro boxing is not enough competitive and is damn cool only for biased fans. Pro boxing sucks if compare with MMA or MT.
I hope you are using the phrase 'sport' loosely. UFC as i see it have the best regularly fighting the best. Boxing alas so often does not have the best vs the best, boxing champions sitting on their titles, rematch clauses ad infinitum etc etc, the heavyweight scene you mention is a case in point.
Not really. Floyd is old, shot and small. Big guys with limited skill set like Valuev or Wilder always beat up smaller guys, who are much more technical. If it was GGG or Canelo they would break the youtuber in half even if they were 50. Also, Floyd has no power and he is fighting a guy twice his size. He is going to run and pot shot like Haye vs SNV.
Back then the UFC was doing 10-20 cards a year, almost all in America. The only champ in 2009 that wasnt from the US or Brazil was GSP, a Canadian. Even all of the title challengers were American or Brazillian. The Tapout/Affliction shirts etc was because MMA was a new exciting novelty and had a cult following that wanted to show everyone their sport, it was more tribalistic. The UFC is now 40+ cards a year. In 2019 alone they held more cards outside of the US than they did in the entirety of the 90s and 00s combined. They also have more than twice as many divisions as they did entering the 2010s. Their current champions include a Cameroonian, a Pole, a Kiwi, an Aussie and a Krygyzstani. Outside of those there has also been Chinese, Mexican, Aussie, and Russian fighters in title fights so far this year with an Italian set for a title shot next month. Thats clear, monumental growth, especially internationally. Also they've generated like 4+ million PPV buys so far this year and we arent even halfway through. Its on track to be one of their strongest years ever for PPV buys. 2020 was right up there too.
Boxing was almost dead for a year and now it's coming back a little. To raise boxing popularity they need to show more free fights on TV and make boxing video games.
By what standard did UFC ever surpass boxing? Also, the only way boxing will regain lost popularity is if the best fighters go to war one against the other on a regular basis and we know that ain't happenin'. So no.
Kind of an apples to oranges comparison because its one promotion (UFC) that has a relatively monopoly on its sport whereas boxing is very fragmented. But the UFC is by far the largest single combat sports promotion on the planet, has been for a while.
If Ryan Garcia fought Tank or Teofimo, it could put the sport over the top for a while (in the US)... That's the guy casual fans are gravitating towards for reasons unrelated to boxing. Garcia-Tank would shatter PPV records. Canelo is on top, but I don't see a megafight for him in the next 5 years or so... Beterbiev would be big for diehards but not box office big in the USA. Maybe Benavidez if Benavidez wrecks some quality opposition beforehand, but PBC seems to be "saving him" for the Canelo sweepstakes.
Was? MMA is as popular as ever. The matchmaking and fighter quality is at an all time high, and, despite its flaws, the UFC runs itself at a higher standard than boxing does as a whole. Boxing, currently, is fractured, overly political, and more about drama & manufactured records than actual integrity. MMA has many flaws but boxing is largely a joke these days in comparison.
ironic that you post this. today is the birthday of the late great hagler. when he was fighting, people knew who the various champions were. there are reasons for this. 1( less belts and weight classes. 2( the media, i.e reporters still actually cared about the sport and reported on it. 3( TOO many champion fights JUST in vegas or home turf. 4( corruption- there has ALWAYS been corruption in this sport. 1930s-1960s, the mafia had its claws on many fighters. today's corruption comes from people like sulaiman who just run it for the money.
These sports : mma, KB and MT are superior than boxing cos lesser predictable outcome and lesser chances to travel till Ottke/ clenelo type cards with biased forums posts and comments, cards etc noise there. Pro boxing sucks.
kickboxing isn't 1/10 as popular as boxing globally. muay thai exists in 1 country (thailand) and consists of small men kicking each others legs for 3 rounds. you are comparing YMCA pickup basketball to the NBA here.
