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[RearNakedStroke]

Let’s be honest here, as of late, we’ve been force fed a slew of UFC hosted events. Being highly addicted to the sport in general, I’m not personally opposed to all the action, but one must wonder, has the abundance of events stolen away from the mystique of the fight game? Once upon a time fans were forced to wait months in between events. At the time, it seemed to be quite disheartening having to wait months to catch a good fight, but in hindsight, the scheduling enabled the promotion to create stars.

Remember the days when fans clamored for a Chuck Liddell fight? It was almost painful to wait months to see the man take to the cage, and that manufactured a level of anticipation that is all but non-existent in today’s mixed martial arts landscape. Cards seemingly roll in with the breeze these days, and it’s made for a challenge in creating truly massive draws. Fighters like Jon jones, Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre, Nick Diaz and Junior dos Santos still garner heavy anticipation; we can’t wait to see these men compete. However, when you’re running a promotion that boasts hundreds of fighters on their roster, a small handful of truly marquee faces isn’t exactly profound.

The problem, in my personal opinion, is the UFC’s sudden and strange inability to create bona fide household names. There are spectacular fighters signed with the promotion, but they’re never gifted the promotional push to elevate their status from “good fighter”, to legit “superstar” status worthy of raking in major ticket sales and big Pay-Per-View buys.

Fighters like Dominick Cruz, Fabricio Werdum, Dan Henderson, Rashad Evans, Lyoto Machida, Michael Bisping, Chris Weidman, Martin Kampmann, Jake Ellenberger, Gray Maynard, Anthony Pettis, Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes, Diego Nunes and Renan Barao (to name just a few) are supremely talented individuals who aren’t being marketed as legit superstars, when in fact, they should, without a doubt be. These are remarkably skilled individuals who should command undivided attention. Yet, they’re not; ask a casual fan to name a few mixed martial artists, and it’s highly unlikely that these names will surface in conversation. It’s a travesty in my mind, as these guys are deserving of the highest level of respect from fans.

It’s not happening, and I’ve got a few theories as to why.

MMA News - Five Reasons For Concern Of UFC Over Saturation

[Sniggles]

Watered down cards = the term from people who watch for names instead of the sport.

[HillbillyDeluxe]

MMA is MMA. I dont care who the promoter is. I watch for both the sporting and entertainment aspect of it. If you want to just see a few "name" fighters fight, well then just watch them and dont call yourself a fan of this great sport.

If you only like UFC and piss all over Bellator/Strikeforce/ONE FC/Titan/Shark Fights/IFL/etc etc etc then DO NOT call yourself a fan of MMA, because you are not one.

I honestly can say I just recently acquired HDnet with my TV provider and I am loving ALL of the fights they have been re-airing. I couldn't care less if it was DISNEY Fighting Championship, as long as they are world class athletes who put everything out on the line for the sport and the fans!

[RearNakedStroke]

Originally Posted by Sniggles

Watered down cards = the term from people who watch for names instead of the sport.

This is true. But names sell ppvs. And the UFC is starting to push out some really weak ppvs .

[tucker50]

There is no doubt that there are too many UFC events nowadays. I started regularly watching PPVs back around UFC 60, when Royce fought Hughes. I don't think I missed a single PPV, Fight Night, or anything until well after UFC 100. Even when I was too young to see the fights at the bar or afford the PPV, I would search the town for a pool hall or restaurant showing the fights.
Now, with all the free cards on Fuel, FX, and Fox, I get my fix without having to drop a dime, and I just pick and choose which PPVs I feel like dropping my $50 on. Add in the free Bellator cards and SF on super channel (6$/month) and there's more than enough.

As for the UFC not developing the superstars like they should, I would argue that none of them have done enough to get the promotional push to turn them into superstars. Henderson has, but he gave up that chance when he jumped shipped to SF and if he goes 0-3 in UFC title fights then he wasn't gonna be a household name anyway. Most of the other guys you listed need to either put together a few years of dominance or finish some fights (Cruz and Maynard). Just because the guys you listed are among the best in the world today, alot of them weren't a year or 2 ago, and that's not enough time to build a superstar. Either way though, I still think that the best the UFC could hope for is maybe 5 real big time PPV draws. Even the NFL only has a handful of guys who are real household names and news makers (Brady, Manning, Megatron, Tebow, Lewis etc).

[dbader08]

Originally Posted by Sniggles

Watered down cards = the term from people who watch for names instead of the sport.

Or the term for people who generally enjoy watching highly talented fighters over mediocre ones.

The other 3 main card fights on UFC 147 other than the main event and the co main event were laughable. If I want to watch that kind of talent I can just watch Titan FC and then catch the Wandy/Rich and Fabricio/Russow fights the next day online.

[goodtimes]

JDS and Jones have turned into big draws this year, Aldo is huge in Brazil. I think the UFC is doing fine in the star creation department. Liddell was kind of a unique guy, it's not often a that a champ goes out trying to KO his opponent in the 1st round, every time he goes out. It led to a sharp decline, but fans loved it.

I also don't agree with the idea that there are too many cards. The guys who are arguing most about this are the guys who can no longer afford to buy every card. Well, don't buy every card then. Buy the ones you want. Personally, I love the idea of being able to watch an MMA event almost every week.

[Sniggles]

Originally Posted by dbader08

Or the term for people who generally enjoy watching highly talented fighters over mediocre ones.

The other 3 main card fights on UFC 147 other than the main event and the co main event were laughable. If I want to watch that kind of talent I can just watch Titan FC and then catch the Wandy/Rich and Fabricio/Russow fights the next day online.

I rest my case.

[predator0187]

Think about other sports like MLB with 100+ games a year...

Think about this every time you think about over saturation, every "big name" fighter started somewhere, so every time you only want to watch superstars your missing the up and coming superstars.

None of the big boys started on top, and some of the best fights have been smaller names trying to make a name for themselves.

The more fights the better...

Pred...

[FCK]

I mostly agree with your points personally.

The cost, the channels, the names, the schedules, and even the TUF series all irritate me about the UFC.

I would happily pay a yearly subscription that was worth say, a select amount of events that I could pick or choose throughout the year. Considering the cards are likely to change with injuries like this year has proven, you could then opt to buy another event at a discounted rate. It's an extra £30 a month I think on top of my Sky subscription to watch UFC. To even have PPV TV would cost £20 in the first place, so at £50 a month.... That is just a horrible amount over a year to stick with a sport that can disappoint so easily at no fault of anyone's, or somebodies.