True but with a bigger roster than can develop them from the ground up. People tend to like following a guy from the start of his career to reaching the pinacle.
Yes it has generated new organisations, but they seem to struggle without the backing of Casino owners. I think you are overestimating the popularity of MMA as a sport and it's ability to sustain such fledgling companies. The better they do, the better the sport does, and the UFC will in turn benefit Yes and I made this point in the first post of the thread. I dont think we are at the point in the UK, or indeed Europe to support our own brand, but someday Id like the option to go see a full blown stadium show that wasnt the UFC, and maybe have legitimate regional titles (either under on company or unified by co promotion) which will help with promotion. The public likes to know who is ''the man'', but with the regional nature of the shows it's difficult to judge. Ummm no, Ive been watching MMA for 7 years I can see how far it's come and realise it's a work in progress But Brazil has a LONG history of MMA dating back to Helio Gracies challenge matches where he was drawing 20 000 to see his match up against Kimura. Not to mention the amount of Brazilian MMA fighters already in the mix. It's kind of preaching to the converted in terms of establishing MMA as a sport there and is not helping the grass roots there, if anything Brazil is the grass roots for the UFC. It will help maybe with the UFC Brand, and it's great for some new comers to gain some exposure.[/quote] ok Im not resisting, I subscribe to ESPN for the UFC and I spent £250 for Cage side seats last year But if people dont like UFC and its the only show in town, they will leave MMA and not spend. That's great for the UFC, but bad for the sport The UFC has attracted good athletes sure, but Jones and GSP are the exception not the rule. It's naive to think that guys like these will be the norm in the future. The lower level guys will improve, and have done, exponentially in the time Ive been watching MMA Ive echo'd this statement in my first part of this post. But without healthy competition monopolies get sloppy, this can be detrimental to the sport as well, such as the Face of the company telling a paying customer ''then dont buy it online'' when faced politely with a legitimate concern
The point was...they were unknown in the US, but they were already big draws with big fight experience due to their performances in Japan. They had developed their skillset to be able to carry a big fight and PPV show :dead It's different than starting from scratch, with no other place to ply your trade other than the UFC
On the last point Stoo. My thing has always been that its important not to 'ban' rivals from emerging to ward off the sport being damaged by a complacent market leader. Just like what happened World Series Cricket or the American Football League, if the UFC did lose their way then someone should certainly step in and challenge their inherited market dominance. I don't think that will need to happen for the forseeable future...partly because even as the dominant market leader in MMA the UFC still has very real rivals in boxing and pro-wrestling.
Yes, agree totally. Haggis has got his UFC cheer leading outfit on and seems to think Im anti UFC and it's getting quite tiresome, glad someone see's my point here, even if they dont agree with all of it I am giggling at the attempted history lesson and how defensive he got over Brock when I hadnt even mentioned him though
Although you have repeatedly personally insulted me in this thread, nowhere have I done anything but address your arguments. :nono The UFC does not have a monopoly on the sport. It never has, and it never will. Thanks to the UFC's success, there are MMA gyms opening up all over the world. There are thousands of guys training in MMA with the hopes of breaking into the UFC. Ten years ago those guys weren't thinking about MMA as a worthwhile career option, because basically it wasn't. College wrestling stars in the US weren't thinking about using their skills to move into MMA. It was pro wrestling or nothing for them. Now there are shitloads of them preparing for the switch. The massive increase in mainsteam acceptance and exposure means that the talent pool is getting deeper by the month, as is the money on the table. The UFC can't keep everything to itself. This increased visibility and participation WILL lead to legitimate and successful regional promotions. Their headline bouts will be UFC washouts against local talents. If a guy can dominate a former UFC guy, he'll catch the attention of the scouts and be given his shot in the big league. From there it's up to him how far he goes. :hat
And I said Id like to see the UFC help them not buy them out and steal their talent or muscle in on regional territories as it would be good for the sport, then you went on a two belts rant or what ever. So you werent posting counter arguments you were making me repeat myself. Please dont respond with a 4 paragraph reply, you either understand or you dont
1) In which sport does one organization spend money to help and promote rival organizations? 2) The UFC help other organizations by raising the profile of MMA, bringing new fans to the sport and showing potential star athletes that being a successful mixed martial artist is a realistic and worthwhile career path in professional sports. 3) You keep saying that you want the top talent to be spread around several competing organizations. That is the LAST thing that MMA needs. That will drive fans away quicker than anything short of fixed fights. :hat
Grass roots promotions, there are no rivals now in the US or Europe. And in that sense it would be co-operation and not detrimental to the UFC's position as the top dog. Similar to the WEC They raise the profile of the UFC, smaller orgs are obsolete or bought out Ohh for **** sake...:roll:
Yep. Hence the long-running popularity of Forrest Griffin and to a lesser extent Chris Leben. Both guys who love to go to war, both guys who fans feel connected to because they remember seeing them and cheering for them when they were nobodies. It's always great when you see a young guy who you've never heard of appear tucked away towards the bottom of a card, he impresses you right out of the gate, you keep track of his progression and he becomes a contender and then a champion. :hat
You take such a short-sighted view of these things. It was only five or six years ago that the UFC itself became profitable. Before that it was losing millions, just like every other major MMA promotion, because the ground wasn't seeded properly for MMA. The sport was still struggling to move beyond its "human cockfighting" reputation and all-but-illegal status. Good regional promotions will appear as the sport continues to grow and gain more mainstream profile and acceptance. It's inevitable. Because now there is actually some money to be made and an audience of MMA fans to fill an arena. Roll your eyes all you want, but you keep saying that you want to see the top talent spread around multiple organizations. That simply means that instead of having one recognized champion, you want to see Jon Jones with the UFC belt and Machida with another organization's belt, both of them call themselves the world champion, and MMA fans spend the next 50 years arguing about which of them would have won if they had ever fought. I prefer that they fight each other and we find out who is the actual champion. :hat
A wan Dana and the Fertitas to die A wan some nice decent people to take over the UFC, people who care for the fighters and the fans and treat them right Its the best organization with the best fighters, but the guys in charge are greedy scumbags Danas mums interview was a goodie. What a piece of ****. It irks me to see vile pieces of **** like Shite and the ***gitas making so much money