MMA THREAD - Happy Holidays, 1/11 UFC FN Dern vs Ribas, no one asked for this rematch.

[whtascene]

That was a nasty broken nose.

 

[spiderjericho]

Perry/Luque was a bloody affair. Mike got his nose reconfigured...

The main event was the worst title fight I’ve ever watched. Carmouche had no business being there. She was content dancing, feinting. She never pressed and did anything of significance. Her coaches suck too.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

The women's 125 division is hilariously bad and the 135 division lacks much intrigue. There's not much going on outside of the 115 division... Nunes vs Cyborg II was never really that appealing and neither are the other possibilities of Nunes vs Germaine or Nunes vs Valentina

 

[spiderjericho]

I get why they made it. But man. It’s a shallow division. I couldn’t even tell you who would challenge Valentina next.

Amanda can fight GDR at 135.

115 has a few options.

They definitely need to ax the 145 division.

And 125 across both genders is a mess.

 

[shogun]

They just like more divisions because it means more belts and interim belts.

 

[spiderjericho]

They need more stars not belts lol.

No one cares who half the champions are. It’s the truth.

We look at the late 2000 hey day. Everyone knew who Randy Couture, Silva, Chuck Lidell, Brock, GSP, BJ Penn were. They were doing 400K+ buy rates.

Ask Joe Blow off the streets if he cares bout 115-145 women’s title fights or who the champions are.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

The thing is, the UFC has continued to grow and grow and rack up partnerships, first with Fox and Reebok and now with ESPN. They aren't feeling the need nor pressure to do anything differently except keep expanding and watering everything down

I have come to accept the trajectory they are on and just keep hoping that we still get good fights. For the most part we still do, there's just a lot of fluff crap in between and fake belts etc.

 

[blackcease]

I’m curious about what their numbers are looking like. I know I’ve barely been watching this year, and my friends who used to never miss an event too are pretty similar. I’m almost turning into a casual in some ways.

I wonder if the new fans they’re getting from the new partnerships are offsetting the folks who are watching less now because of the decrease in quality cards

 

[spiderjericho]

The thing is, the UFC has continued to grow and grow and rack up partnerships, first with Fox and Reebok and now with ESPN. They aren't feeling the need nor pressure to do anything differently except keep expanding and watering everything down

I have come to accept the trajectory they are on and just keep hoping that we still get good fights. For the most part we still do, there's just a lot of fluff crap in between and fake belts etc.

I think it’s a case of two things. They were doing huge business 2015-2016 thanks to having two of the most popular MMA stars of all time. 1 Million + PPV buys. Which led to the amazing sale.

But Conor and Ronda were literally lightning in a bottle. And their careers were short.

Zuffa didn’t try to invest in the stars of tomorrow. Which is why their cards (even before ESPN) were not doing big numbers.

The second thing is content is king right now. Disney/ESPN are trying to capitalize on streaming services (and ultimately they own Fox now anyway) so having UFC under their umbrella is necessary. DaZone, HBO, Showtime, ESPN, etc are all competitors in this segment.

We’re trying to say they’re successful. Yes because of the deal. Not because of their business. Their cards do low buy rate. We have no clue what Reebok is doing from having a partnership. I’d actually say Boxing is making a resurgence based on what...stars like Wilder, Fury, Canello, GGG, etc. UFC has the talent but they still think the old business model of the brand and a card experience are greater than the people who enable that. Chicken or the egg.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Yeah Dana and the bros def sold wolf tickets thanks to a handful of fighters. That is a for sure

And to Dana's ever green fortune, the streaming business has picked up at the perfect moment and Disney money aint ever running out

He stays winning and for probably doing less. He has no real incentive or pressure to do any of the organic stuff. The money is coming up front I believe so the numbers aren't even as impactful in a way

 

[shogun]

Wish they had real competition that would force them to improve. bellator has viacom money but I really don’t care what they do anymore. one fc seems to be headed in the right direction.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

If any of the competition became a serious threat Zuffa would probably end up buying them, especially now that they have Disney

Bellator has a bunch of young talent that could easily be in the ufc but bellator is as inept at marketing them as anyone

The other orgs don’t have the talent to ever be viewed in the same building as the ufc

 

[keko jones]

Only female MMA fighter that I dont mind watching are as follow ..

Amanda
Rose
Joanna
And maybe Valentina

Besides that ... everything else is like whatever man ....

 

[streetballer23]

I like watching Grasso, Germaine de Randame, Claudia Gadelha, and of course Rachel Ostevich

 

[keko jones]

I like watching Grasso, Germaine de Randame, Claudia Gadelha, and of course Rachel Ostevich

They cool, but is not something that I'm tuning in to watch. More like if I catch it I catch it

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

One of Jon Jones beefs and old training partner of DC

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Nate speaks

https://www.mmafighting.com/2019/8/...-by-ufc-claims-dustin-poirier-bailed-on-fight

 

[Barbados Slim]

Henry Cejudo is so annoying.
He's a accomplished more in combat sports than any but he's not the most dominate UFC champ and he's walking around like he is.

 

[jayt1202]

Can't wait for the Diaz-Pettis scrap on Sat. He does bring up some good points in the interview.

 

[Deleted member 37467]

Henry Cejudo is so annoying.

Man said he wants to fight Valentina for the intergender championship,

 

[shogun]

Dude got jokes. valentina would be put to sleep.

 

[xbiker47]

glad to see Nate back and speaking

 

[Deleted member 37467]

Dude got jokes. valentina would be put to sleep.

100x out of 100.

Which reminds me...

When Ronda was steamrolling everyone a few years ago, I'm pretty sure Rogan's dumbass said she could beat 50% of the men @ bantamweight.

 

[spiderjericho]

Only female MMA fighter that I dont mind watching are as follow ..

Amanda
Rose
Joanna
And maybe Valentina

Besides that ... everything else is like whatever man ....

I was listening to the MMA Beyond Podcast (w Ray Longo and Steve Maraboli).

They discussed the women’s fight. Honestly, Amanda is the only one challenging ALL comers (Cyborg, Ronda, Valentina X2, Raquel Pennington, Holy Holm, Meisha Tate, etc). After fighting GDR, she just needs to run it back with Cat Zingano and she can retire.

Valentina, arguably, won her last fight with Amanda (depending on how you look at it). And she has Joanna’s number. But...that last fight didn’t do her any favors. And she’s beating on women smaller than her or who aren’t competitive.

Rose is legit but 115 talent isn’t as deep as 135. I used to think otherwise but my opinion has shifted.

JJ is legit. But obviously Rose and Valentina have her number.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]