What do you think the current state of MMA is right now?

[Trace pyott]

It’s doing ok. To me the early days were the best because I was young and martial arts styles still had this mystical aura about them and it was cool to see which style would win. Now everyone is so well rounded they all pretty much fight the same.

They need to cut half the fighters and let the smaller orgs be the “minor leagues “ and once someone is really really good and proven themselves, then and only then give them a shot at the ufc. Ppv s should have 5 fights with each fighter having around 20 fights with a really good winning percentage. Something like 18-2 before they get into the ufc. Make all the fights meaningful and have every card stacked.

 

[Slaikkaaja]

I don't know.. A former kickboxing champ has won 2 belts in 7 fights in the UFC (11 mma fights total). But also Ngannou "won" against Tyson Fury in his boxing debut.. Don't really know what to think.

 

[JustforBROCK]

Dumb. The 'highest level of mma' is about as far from an actual sporting or sporting competition that you can get. We've seen be same guys fight 234566 times in the past two weeks. Some cool stuff does happen but it's pretty weak.

 

[Rachel Da Bear]

It's the gilded age.

Everything looks good because the UFC and rule makers did to wrestling what the NFL did to defense: made it irrelevant.

Yeah we have flashy strikers and double champs, but don't act like the majority of wrestlers have been screwed by the UFC for being "boring."

 

[facefucair]

im tired of water'd down cards and wmma.i only watch good ufc events now

 

[IndyCovaHart]

People love calling "The Golden Age" the shit they watched when it was new and fresh to them,and get mad because,like pretty much everything,your enthusiasm naturally will wane somewhat over the years,and blame the sport instead of understanding this is the way of the world.

We saw a killer card tonight,there will be others. I'm fine with that. I dont have a label for it.

Agreed.

This does make it difficult to measure quality objectively.

But it applies both ways, to the veteran viewer as well as to the virgin. Lol

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

Voted: It's doing ok, nothing exceptional though.

 

[TJ Dillashank]

2012 I think was the golden era

 

[AZ103]

It's the gilded age.

Everything looks good because the UFC and rule makers did to wrestling what the NFL did to defense: made it irrelevant.

Yeah we have flashy strikers and double champs, but don't act like the majority of wrestlers have been screwed by the UFC for being "boring."

And the pettiness of not fixing the gloves forever. And the tacky walmart style commercials and ads DURING fights but no sponsors for fighters so they look like a product. It ain't the golden age. I like the gilded age.

 

[Yellowcrab]

Fighters are better overall in most divisions, outside of the LHW division.

 

[HoelHomero]

It's pretty bad honestly. Most UFC prelims are very watered down. They don't sign the best, they sign who they think is marketable and have quotas they have to reach for fighters out of specific countries.
Abu Dhabi card prelims for example are full with guys that fight once every 2 years on an abu dhabi card and completely irrelevant fights. wtf am i watching

 

[Tweak896]

Honestly think its just giving up old guard and creating new names. But we're at the point where its a complete refresh.

 

[Benji Snap]

The athletes are doing just fine.
But corporate greed is ruining the sport for good.
I just saw one of the most intense staredowns in MMA history and through all of that I had to listen to Bruce Buffer gibberishly reading an advert for the new Call of Duty game.
Made me sick.

The corporate greed is non-legitimising the titles too, and it's become like WWE for who gets to fight for titles. Like Jones vs Stipe is such a joke.

If the UFC was a legitimate sport Jones wouldn't be given a HW title just for beating one fighter in Gane after not fighting for 3 years. If it was a legit sport Jones would fight the interim champ Aspinal instead of a guy who retired 3 years ago, has been working as a fireman since, and whose last fight he got KO'd in. And Jones will become a two time HW champ for this.

 

[BFoe]

Voted: It's doing ok, nothing exceptional though.

Same. The sport has seen wayyyy darker times than now. There are a lot of good fights and fighters out there. But merit is what combat sports are and should be based on, and the UFC is killing that. Sloppy booking, hotshot booking, endless rematches because their matchmakers are short-sighted or lazy, inventing interim titles nonstop… it’s really starting to hurt he sport.

edit: ridiculous PPV prices and ESPN+ subscription needed to watch is also bullshit.

 

[Barteh]

The level of MMA is pretty high up there. The level of promotion and match making is at an all time low.

So overall it's doing okay.

 

[pātrēärkē]

It's ok. There aren't as many big stars anymore but plenty of good fighters and entertaining fights. It's to be expected though with all the elite athletes moving to Powerslap

 

[BowserJr]

I feel the golden age was before like when pride was still around and till a bit after.

But honestly mma is getting really interesting again so many skilled fighters. We could enter into another age of something special.

Agreed between 2006-2013

The first half of that fighters were very skilled. Top 3 in most divisions would still be top 3 or 5 today fights were actual fights more often rather than matches.

The 2nd half of that time frame saw less real fights but more of the top 10 or top 15 being very skilled as opposed to just the top 3. Every division was stacked so many matches were tough to pick. The top 10 then would be top 10 now in almost every division.

The level of skill seems to ha e regressed right now in many divisions. The 2 reasons the guys from the past are no longer on top is due to father time and fight mileage

 

[Portland8242]

Dana/UFC greed is currently getting in the way of what should be a generational HW fight between Aspinall and Ngannou, or Ngannou vs Jones, Or Aspinall vs Jones.

 

[OldFashion]

Dana/UFC greed is currently getting in the way of what should be a generational HW fight between Aspinall and Ngannou, or Ngannou vs Jones, Or Aspinall vs Jones.

Ngannou sold 50k ppv's against Fury. I don't like Dana but he's right when he says that Ngannou was the reason the fight didn't happen. At that time Ngannou simply wasn't worth what he was asking for.

 

[Taric]

The UFC specifically was at it's peak between 2007-2016, after PRIDE, WEC, and Strikeforce became defunct and their rosters were absorbed.

The UFC has always been at it's best after it absorbs a major rival organization and we see cross org match-ups we've been salivating over.

MMA pre-2000 was hot garbage, 2000-2006 was hit or miss, and 2017+ has also been hit or miss.