The long UFC drought continues, so in the absence of some specific events to talk about, let’s discuss whatever is on y’all’s minds.
Make MMA Fun Again
Will MMA be more fun three years from now?
Well, “fun” is obviously a
subjective term, but going off a very general definition of it, I think the most likely answer is no. Because honestly, why would it be?
I’m not here to rail on the UFC; at this point, I’ve tilted at that particular windmill enough. But its dominance over the MMA space has absolutely led to a decline in the quality of the sport for hardcore MMA fans. UFC CEO Dana White is fond of saying that once fighters get rich, there’s nothing left to fight for, and they drop off. Well, the UFC has won MMA. And likewise, they simply aren’t trying that hard anymore.
And frankly, I get it. Why would they? The UFC is a massively successful business that has an established floor, and not a huge ceiling. As much as White likes to say that everyone loves fights, the truth is that most people don’t want to watch fights all the time. So, if the UFC tried harder, would they increase business somewhat and make hardcore fans happier? Yes. But is the juice worth the squeeze? Probably not.
In fact, the UFC is actually incentivized to make the sport less fun. Conor McGregor is the biggest star in the history of this sport and a catalyzing figure in the history of MMA. McGregor lifted the UFC to a broad, mainstream appeal it was only sniffing at, and could have been the harbinger of a new era of fighter-empowered MMA. Instead, he was the opposite. McGregor got bigger than the brand; the UFC learned a lesson: that’s bad for business, long-term. There are many reasons the UFC has a dearth of stars lately, but a big one is that the promotion is much more concerned with building the brand than any fighter.
I know people don’t like to hear this, but the answer, as with all things, comes down to money. The UFC continues to hold events in the APEX — a terrible viewer experience — because it is cost-effective to do so. They no longer travel all over, because now they go where people pay them to show up. For the past several years, the promotion has willingly let talented fighters walk away because they can replace that labor with Contender Series contracts. All these things hurt the overall quality of the sport and instead replace it with quantity. Is McDonald’s going to suddenly serve wagyu hamburgers? No. Churn and burn, baby.
And none of that addresses the single biggest impediment to the improvement of MMA: fighter pay. This is another topic that people hate, and I empathize with that, but here’s the bottom line: the best athletes in the world do not compete in MMA because they can make more elsewhere. The barrier to entry for MMA is already high, as most people don’t want to get punched in the head, but to do so for a modest salary is especially unappealing. By and large, MMA gets the athletes who couldn’t make it in other sports. And with NIL in college sports, the pipeline of collegiate wrestlers is shrinking, because why would an All-American want to go from making a few hundred grand in college to a $10,000 and $10,000 contract to start in MMA, with no guarantee of improvement?
The bottom line is that the UFC owns MMA. The reason we have, historically, been opposed to monopolies is that they’re bad for the consumer in the long term. Well, we’re reaping what we’ve sown thus far, and while the UFC still has good fights and puts on a consistent product that gets the job done, it would be nice to have a steak instead of ground beef every weekend.
Champions in 2026
What is the UFC’s answer in 2026 to all the lame duck(disputed) champions on the roster?
Umm, none? Why would the UFC care about their titles becoming less and less meaningful? They’re the ones making them that way!
By my count, right now, four of the 11 UFC titles are at least a little papery. Francis Ngannou left with the heavyweight belt, and Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall never fought, so that belt is not as solid as undisputed titles generally are. Ilia Topuria did not beat the No. 1 lightweight in the world (or even the No. 2, if we’re counting Islam Makhachev), so that’s not exactly ironclad. Alexander Volkanovski lost to Topuria, obviously, and then beat the No. 5 guy to reclaim the vacant title, not great. And, of course, Zhang Weili vacated the strawweight belt, leaving Mackenzie Dern Queen of the leftovers, for now. And, you could also question Makhachev’s welterweight belt if he defends against Kamaru Usman first, given how shambolic that matchup is. But who made all that happen? The UFC!
Despite Dana White’s insistence that the UFC is where the best fight the best, the promotion doesn’t actually care about that. Yes, big picture, it’s true, because the promotion has all the best fighters on the roster. But the UFC books fights however they feel, and merit is not a high priority. I see no reason why that will change moving forward, because why should it? People aren’t tuning out, the bottom line is not affected, and the fighters aren’t revolting and demanding a union. Shy of any of that, there’s no reason for the UFC to change things up. It’s doing quite well already.
Heavyweight Title Reigns
Hi Jed, most impressive UFC heavyweight title reign outside of Stipe Miocic?
Randy Couture, Tim Sylvia, Brock Lesnar and Cain have defended it twice.
To be clear, none of them are impressive, but I’ll give you two answers.
If we’re talking about “impressive” meaning “best,” then the default answer is Cain Velasquez. He beat the brakes off of two good fighters, and is still probably the “best” MMA heavyweight, if we’re just talking peak of their powers.
If we’re looking at “impressive” to mean “awe-inspiring,” it’s got to be Randy, because beating Tim Sylvia at age 97, and then defending, is one of those incredible achievements we don’t really think about anymore, despite being astounding.
But also, a special shoutout to Brock Lesnar, who held the title in his fourth MMA fight and defended twice. I don’t care who you are, to achieve the highest level of the sport so effortlessly is damn impressive.
CTE in MMA
Covering all eras, which MMA fighters are going to suffer the worst from the effects of CTE, and why? I love fighters that come to bang like Nate Landwehr but the more we learn about CTE, the more guilty I feel about the inevitable bad cases we are going to see.
Man, we just had a barrel of happy questions this week, huh?
Look, MMA is a combat sport, and that means CTE is a very real part of the future for many, many fighters. I do think, overall, that MMA is safer than boxing because there is less brain trauma, but there’s still plenty of that to go around. Just ask Gary Goodridge. This is one of the reasons I wish MMA paid better and offered long-term healthcare, because our enjoyment is coming at a direct cost to the well-being of these fighters, and I’m with you on feeling guilty about it.
All that being said, I’m hopeful that, over the long term, things will get better in this regard. Yes, CTE will always be a risk, but pre-modern MMA fighters competed in such vastly different circumstances, and with such different knowledge about what they’re risking. It’s not the same these days. Elite fighters like Max Holloway are talking about taking time off after KOs to let their brains recover, and most gyms have gotten away from the old Chute Boxe style of just doing weekly full-on fist fights. Things are getting better.
So, to answer the question, the fighters most affected will probably be the pioneers of the sport, who suffered the most brain trauma. But there will, of course, be modern fighters who suffer as well. That’s one of the things with CTE: you still don’t know who will get it, and there’s recent research to suggest that head trauma is just one of the factors in how CTE develops.
But yeah, the price these fighters pay to entertain us is steep, and we’d all do well to remember that.
Thanks for reading, and thank you to everyone who sent in questions. Do you have any burning questions about things at least somewhat related to combat sports? Then you’re in luck, because you can send them to me. Every Sunday (sometimes I forget and it happens on Monday), I’ll put out a call for questions on The Feed. Doesn’t matter if they’re topical or insane; just drop your questions there, and I’ll answer the best ones. Thanks again, and see y’all next week.
