Could the UFC take over boxing (not how you think)?

[expe]

Ah ha. And how does the UFC approach of paying its fighters peanuts (relatively) reconcile with the requirement to ensure that Mayweather remains the highest earning athlete on the planet?

Boxing still gets more eyes than MMA and would get more buys, more buys equals more money, what's your point?

Because fighters wouldn't be happy with getting peanuts while the UFC made millions in profit off their backs.

[SNG]

Boxing fans are far too self conscious about MMA, there's more than enough room for both in the market.

[SNG]

Boxing's biggest starts Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko are all coming to the end of their long and distinguished careers. So forget about them for a moment and think two-three years down the line.

I'm starting to think that I'd like to see the UFC open a boxing arm and set themselves up as the top dogs of global boxing, the place where most, if not all, boxers set their sights on getting a contract. If not the UFC a company that looks, acts, and works like the UFC.

What are your thoughts on this (please don't go off on one about wrestling being gay etc... we've heard it all before), in terms of the way they operate, the way they promote, the way they will cut fighters who aren't exciting, the way their weight divisions are structured, etc..?

The way the UFC is run would be almost ideal for boxing. A universal commission has always been the way forward for the sport, but as long as the various title bodies are making their money things will never change.

[earsjohn]

Ah ha. And how does the UFC approach of paying its fighters peanuts (relatively) reconcile with the requirement to ensure that Mayweather remains the highest earning athlete on the planet?

Boxing still gets more eyes than MMA and would get more buys, more buys equals more money, what's your point?

The UFC model simply doesn't allow a fighter such as Floyd to be paid c$80m for a single fight. Without that ability the model dies on its arse.

[magnus]

[/quote]
When will people understand that the Silver title is not a world title? Neither are interim champions. The silver title is more or less the equivalent of the intercontinental titles the other governing bodies have.

Boxing has never really had one world title. There was the European version, the British version, NYSAC, NBA and numerous other titles claiming to be 'world titles'.[/quote]

The WBC already had an equivalent of the "intercontinental titles the other governing bodies have" - the "international" belt, which is still here.

They also have the WBC Baltic/Youth/Diamond titles etc etc.

Just because the "world title" has been fractured so long, doesn't make it any more palatable that each ABC organisation creates so many champions. It's not unusual now for three fighters to call themselves a WBA world champion in the same division (Super/Regular/Interim).

For newcomers to the sport, boxing must seem a baffling world...

[Jack B]

What I am saying is that the UFC currently has TV deals in 145 countries, is aired in 19 languages, and is the largest live PPV event provider in the world. It is owned by two billionaires, the Abu Dhabi government, and one of the most charismatic promoters on the planet. If they decided they wanted to tack on a boxing arm to their existing business they could and they might.

Fighters signed to the UFC fight other fighters signed to the UFC. This stops a lot of messing about and enables the company to be able to assure their TV partners that they will put on high quality, well-matched shows that can be scheduled far in advance - even if the actual fighters on the card are not confirmed until closer to the date. TV companies like this because they a. know the event will happen (almost without exception) and b. They know it won't be loaded with Home fighter versus Bum because all the fighters are Home Fighters.

The UFC does not renew the contracts of fighters perceived as boring.

The chances of Fighter A ducking Fighter B for years on end is all but ruled out.

The UFC are great at >>promoting<< their talent and their product.

They have their own World Titles and because their product is so strong the belt holders are respected. There are still plenty of other MMA promotions with their own straps but they are generally deemed to be less prestigious.

If the UFC brought in to start with:

10 Heavyweights
10 Light Heavyweights
10 Middleweights
10 Welterweights
10 Lightweights
10 Featherweights
10 Bantamweights
10 Flyweights

...and Dana did his thing, I'm fairly confident they could become the dominant force in boxing, even if the guys they started out with were not the 10 best boxers in the world in each of those divisions.

No chance this happens. You're missing the whole point of WHY UFC is dominant. The reason UFC has grown so quickly is that they exploited (brilliantly) a gap in the market. This gap does not exist in the sport of boxing. The market is already established and fragmented.

UFC is a brilliant concept/brand, but you're overestimating the importance of promotional companies. The reason they are big, ultimately, is because they have all the fighters.

The fans (boxing or MMA) want to watch the best fights. Ultimately, they couldn't care less who promotes it.

Like all sports, it is talent driven. The organisers/promoters are only as good as the talent they have. Because UFC has all the talent, they make all the money. If they went into boxing, they wouldn't have all the talent, and therefore wouldn't be as successful.

That's why, as I stated earlier, the only way you could get a revolution in boxing where everybody fought under the same banner would be if it was fighter-led.

[lefty]

What I am saying is that the UFC currently has TV deals in 145 countries, is aired in 19 languages, and is the largest live PPV event provider in the world. It is owned by two billionaires, the Abu Dhabi government, and one of the most charismatic promoters on the planet. If they decided they wanted to tack on a boxing arm to their existing business they could and they might.

Fighters signed to the UFC fight other fighters signed to the UFC. This stops a lot of messing about and enables the company to be able to assure their TV partners that they will put on high quality, well-matched shows that can be scheduled far in advance - even if the actual fighters on the card are not confirmed until closer to the date. TV companies like this because they a. know the event will happen (almost without exception) and b. They know it won't be loaded with Home fighter versus Bum because all the fighters are Home Fighters.

The UFC does not renew the contracts of fighters perceived as boring.

The chances of Fighter A ducking Fighter B for years on end is all but ruled out.

The UFC are great at >>promoting<< their talent and their product.

They have their own World Titles and because their product is so strong the belt holders are respected. There are still plenty of other MMA promotions with their own straps but they are generally deemed to be less prestigious.

If the UFC brought in to start with:

10 Heavyweights
10 Light Heavyweights
10 Middleweights
10 Welterweights
10 Lightweights
10 Featherweights
10 Bantamweights
10 Flyweights

...and Dana did his thing, I'm fairly confident they could become the dominant force in boxing, even if the guys they started out with were not the 10 best boxers in the world in each of those divisions.

No chance this happens. You're missing the whole point of WHY UFC is dominant. The reason UFC has grown so quickly is that they exploited (brilliantly) a gap in the market. This gap does not exist in the sport of boxing. The market is already established and fragmented.

UFC is a brilliant concept/brand, but you're overestimating the importance of promotional companies. The reason they are big, ultimately, is because they have all the fighters.

The fans (boxing or MMA) want to watch the best fights. Ultimately, they couldn't care less who promotes it.

Like all sports, it is talent driven. The organisers/promoters are only as good as the talent they have. Because UFC has all the talent, they make all the money. If they went into boxing, they wouldn't have all the talent, and therefore wouldn't be as successful.

That's why, as I stated earlier, the only way you could get a revolution in boxing where everybody fought under the same banner would be if it was fighter-led.

That's part of Aden's point though. If the UFC got involved you would have the best fighting the best. That's another big part of the UFC's success.

[JimStone]

Ah ha. And how does the UFC approach of paying its fighters peanuts (relatively) reconcile with the requirement to ensure that Mayweather remains the highest earning athlete on the planet?

Boxing still gets more eyes than MMA and would get more buys, more buys equals more money, what's your point?

Because fighters wouldn't be happy with getting peanuts while the UFC made millions in profit off their backs.

That's a false argument.

Firstly, it's a myth that the UFC pays its fighters peanuts. Secondly, the UFC only started to turn a profit in 2007. It invested a lot of money to lay the foundation for what is now a profitable and continually expanding business. A growing business operating in a new niche market (which MMA was, and still is really) can't and shouldn't pay its people more than it can afford to. The UFC pays what it pays and guys are queuing up to get a piece of it.

If they went into boxing the same rules would apply. They'd pay what they could afford to pay and fighters would either take it or they wouldn't. Because big boxing events e.g. Mayweather versus X still get more eyes and buys than UFC MMA events, it's safe to say that there'd be more money in the pot in their boxing events versus their MMA events and because, in my view, they promote their people so well and their model is as it is, I'd argue the money their boxers would earn would increase on average versus what they are paid now.

[hurlock]

Be funny to see how the money team do!! Can't see floyd wanting his fighters having the independence he's had!!!

[lefty]

Ah ha. And how does the UFC approach of paying its fighters peanuts (relatively) reconcile with the requirement to ensure that Mayweather remains the highest earning athlete on the planet?

Boxing still gets more eyes than MMA and would get more buys, more buys equals more money, what's your point?

Because fighters wouldn't be happy with getting peanuts while the UFC made millions in profit off their backs.

That's a false argument.

Firstly, it's a myth that the UFC pays its fighters peanuts. Secondly, the UFC only started to turn a profit in 2007. It invested a lot of money to lay the foundation for what is now a profitable and continually expanding business. A growing business operating in a new niche market (which MMA was, and still is really) can't and shouldn't pay its people more than it can afford to. The UFC pays what it pays and guys are queuing up to get a piece of it.

If they went into boxing the same rules would apply. They'd pay what they could afford to pay and fighters would either take it or they wouldn't. Because big boxing events e.g. Mayweather versus X still get more eyes and buys than UFC MMA events, it's safe to say that there'd be more money in the pot in their boxing events versus their MMA events and because, in my view, they promote their people so well and their model is as it is, I'd argue the money their boxers would earn would increase on average versus what they are paid now.[/quote]

A big difference between the UFC and boxing promoters aswell is that the UFC spends ALOT on marketing their product. That's another reason why they dont pay the really outrageous salaries. The top guys in the UFC are still multi-millionaires though, like you say. It's a fallacy to believe that these guys are making nothing.

[JimStone]

What I am saying is that the UFC currently has TV deals in 145 countries, is aired in 19 languages, and is the largest live PPV event provider in the world. It is owned by two billionaires, the Abu Dhabi government, and one of the most charismatic promoters on the planet. If they decided they wanted to tack on a boxing arm to their existing business they could and they might.

Fighters signed to the UFC fight other fighters signed to the UFC. This stops a lot of messing about and enables the company to be able to assure their TV partners that they will put on high quality, well-matched shows that can be scheduled far in advance - even if the actual fighters on the card are not confirmed until closer to the date. TV companies like this because they a. know the event will happen (almost without exception) and b. They know it won't be loaded with Home fighter versus Bum because all the fighters are Home Fighters.

The UFC does not renew the contracts of fighters perceived as boring.

The chances of Fighter A ducking Fighter B for years on end is all but ruled out.

The UFC are great at >>promoting<< their talent and their product.

They have their own World Titles and because their product is so strong the belt holders are respected. There are still plenty of other MMA promotions with their own straps but they are generally deemed to be less prestigious.

If the UFC brought in to start with:

10 Heavyweights
10 Light Heavyweights
10 Middleweights
10 Welterweights
10 Lightweights
10 Featherweights
10 Bantamweights
10 Flyweights

...and Dana did his thing, I'm fairly confident they could become the dominant force in boxing, even if the guys they started out with were not the 10 best boxers in the world in each of those divisions.

No chance this happens. You're missing the whole point of WHY UFC is dominant. The reason UFC has grown so quickly is that they exploited (brilliantly) a gap in the market. This gap does not exist in the sport of boxing. The market is already established and fragmented.

UFC is a brilliant concept/brand, but you're overestimating the importance of promotional companies. The reason they are big, ultimately, is because they have all the fighters.

The fans (boxing or MMA) want to watch the best fights. Ultimately, they couldn't care less who promotes it.

Like all sports, it is talent driven. The organisers/promoters are only as good as the talent they have. Because UFC has all the talent, they make all the money. If they went into boxing, they wouldn't have all the talent, and therefore wouldn't be as successful.

That's why, as I stated earlier, the only way you could get a revolution in boxing where everybody fought under the same banner would be if it was fighter-led.

You don't know if they have all the talent or they don't. You think they have all the talent - and so do most people - and that by and large is my point. The promoter is the most important part of the equation.

[expe]

When will people understand that the Silver title is not a world title? Neither are interim champions. The silver title is more or less the equivalent of the intercontinental titles the other governing bodies have.

Boxing has never really had one world title. There was the European version, the British version, NYSAC, NBA and numerous other titles claiming to be 'world titles'.[/quote]

The WBC already had an equivalent of the "intercontinental titles the other governing bodies have" - the "international" belt, which is still here.

They also have the WBC Baltic/Youth/Diamond titles etc etc.

Just because the "world title" has been fractured so long, doesn't make it any more palatable that each ABC organisation creates so many champions. It's not unusual now for three fighters to call themselves a WBA world champion in the same division (Super/Regular/Interim).

For newcomers to the sport, boxing must seem a baffling world...[/quote]
The WBC have 3, Silver, International and International Silver. The IBF, WBA and WBO all have International and Inter-continental titles, all 4 have other regional titles available. The only ridiculous situation is the WBA with the Super and Regular champions, Interim champions are just mandatory challengers with a belt that will be upgraded to the full title if the champion vacates or is stripped.

[Jack B]

What I am saying is that the UFC currently has TV deals in 145 countries, is aired in 19 languages, and is the largest live PPV event provider in the world. It is owned by two billionaires, the Abu Dhabi government, and one of the most charismatic promoters on the planet. If they decided they wanted to tack on a boxing arm to their existing business they could and they might.

Fighters signed to the UFC fight other fighters signed to the UFC. This stops a lot of messing about and enables the company to be able to assure their TV partners that they will put on high quality, well-matched shows that can be scheduled far in advance - even if the actual fighters on the card are not confirmed until closer to the date. TV companies like this because they a. know the event will happen (almost without exception) and b. They know it won't be loaded with Home fighter versus Bum because all the fighters are Home Fighters.

The UFC does not renew the contracts of fighters perceived as boring.

The chances of Fighter A ducking Fighter B for years on end is all but ruled out.

The UFC are great at >>promoting<< their talent and their product.

They have their own World Titles and because their product is so strong the belt holders are respected. There are still plenty of other MMA promotions with their own straps but they are generally deemed to be less prestigious.

If the UFC brought in to start with:

10 Heavyweights
10 Light Heavyweights
10 Middleweights
10 Welterweights
10 Lightweights
10 Featherweights
10 Bantamweights
10 Flyweights

...and Dana did his thing, I'm fairly confident they could become the dominant force in boxing, even if the guys they started out with were not the 10 best boxers in the world in each of those divisions.

No chance this happens. You're missing the whole point of WHY UFC is dominant. The reason UFC has grown so quickly is that they exploited (brilliantly) a gap in the market. This gap does not exist in the sport of boxing. The market is already established and fragmented.

UFC is a brilliant concept/brand, but you're overestimating the importance of promotional companies. The reason they are big, ultimately, is because they have all the fighters.

The fans (boxing or MMA) want to watch the best fights. Ultimately, they couldn't care less who promotes it.

Like all sports, it is talent driven. The organisers/promoters are only as good as the talent they have. Because UFC has all the talent, they make all the money. If they went into boxing, they wouldn't have all the talent, and therefore wouldn't be as successful.

That's why, as I stated earlier, the only way you could get a revolution in boxing where everybody fought under the same banner would be if it was fighter-led.

That's part of Aden's point though. If the UFC got involved you would have the best fighting the best. That's another big part of the UFC's success.

If you got UFC involved you would have the best fighting the best? In boxing? Nonsense. Fighters wouldn't just leave wherever they were and join UFC. It wouldn't work like that. It works in MMA because it was a NEW MARKET and they have become the dominant player.

[Jack B]

What I am saying is that the UFC currently has TV deals in 145 countries, is aired in 19 languages, and is the largest live PPV event provider in the world. It is owned by two billionaires, the Abu Dhabi government, and one of the most charismatic promoters on the planet. If they decided they wanted to tack on a boxing arm to their existing business they could and they might.

Fighters signed to the UFC fight other fighters signed to the UFC. This stops a lot of messing about and enables the company to be able to assure their TV partners that they will put on high quality, well-matched shows that can be scheduled far in advance - even if the actual fighters on the card are not confirmed until closer to the date. TV companies like this because they a. know the event will happen (almost without exception) and b. They know it won't be loaded with Home fighter versus Bum because all the fighters are Home Fighters.

The UFC does not renew the contracts of fighters perceived as boring.

The chances of Fighter A ducking Fighter B for years on end is all but ruled out.

The UFC are great at >>promoting<< their talent and their product.

They have their own World Titles and because their product is so strong the belt holders are respected. There are still plenty of other MMA promotions with their own straps but they are generally deemed to be less prestigious.

If the UFC brought in to start with:

10 Heavyweights
10 Light Heavyweights
10 Middleweights
10 Welterweights
10 Lightweights
10 Featherweights
10 Bantamweights
10 Flyweights

...and Dana did his thing, I'm fairly confident they could become the dominant force in boxing, even if the guys they started out with were not the 10 best boxers in the world in each of those divisions.

No chance this happens. You're missing the whole point of WHY UFC is dominant. The reason UFC has grown so quickly is that they exploited (brilliantly) a gap in the market. This gap does not exist in the sport of boxing. The market is already established and fragmented.

UFC is a brilliant concept/brand, but you're overestimating the importance of promotional companies. The reason they are big, ultimately, is because they have all the fighters.

The fans (boxing or MMA) want to watch the best fights. Ultimately, they couldn't care less who promotes it.

Like all sports, it is talent driven. The organisers/promoters are only as good as the talent they have. Because UFC has all the talent, they make all the money. If they went into boxing, they wouldn't have all the talent, and therefore wouldn't be as successful.

That's why, as I stated earlier, the only way you could get a revolution in boxing where everybody fought under the same banner would be if it was fighter-led.

You don't know if they have all the talent or they don't. You think they have all the talent - and so do most people - and that by and large is my point. The promoter is the most important part of the equation.

Well, I know nothing about MMA, but I can predict with confidence that UFC have the best MMA talent. Because I am presuming that is where the best money is. And the talent will follow the money.

Sorry but I will always disagree that the promoter is the most important part. It's the fighter. Yes, the promoter can market and sell the fighters well, create a huge event etc. But ultimately it's the fighters that make the fights! Not the other way round.

[ImAwesome]

The UFC is more like WWE than it is Boxing. The fans turn up wearing UFC t shirts and holding up cardboard signs of their favourite fighters etc. Also that Ultimate Fighter show that they have, can you honestly say you would like a reality tv show where Floyd Mayweather & Canelo get drunk in a house and call each other names all day whilst a load of wannabe fighters also get drunk and call each other names, and don't forget the dramatic music and beats that they play over all of the conversations and action to make it more interesting.

Also the sport itself seems a little flawed at the moment with a lot of failed Wrestlers who were never going to get into the olympic squad taking up MMA and within 1 or 2 years of taking up the sport winning the UFC title e.g. Brock Lesnar, Jon Jones, Chris Weidman, Johny Hendricks etc. It's like if Boxing started getting loads of failed kickboxers coming over and winning world titles, the sport would die would it not?

[fasteddie]

the ufc is the premier league of mma abit like don king was in the 80's,warren in the 90's in britain. the problem would be that some top fighters would sign for other promoters and then thats were the problem would come,you would have say mayweather with ufc and then mannny with bob arum and the negotiations would break down all the time. id love to see a uf with a dana white in boxing it would sort most of the problems out in boxing,but then you would have the wbc wba ibf and wbo,plus the other alphabet belts who would throw a spanner in the works.

[fasteddie]

The UFC is more like WWE than it is Boxing. The fans turn up wearing UFC t shirts and holding up cardboard signs of their favourite fighters etc. Also that Ultimate Fighter show that they have, can you honestly say you would like a reality tv show where Floyd Mayweather & Canelo get drunk in a house and call each other names all day whilst a load of wannabe fighters also get drunk and call each other names, and don't forget the dramatic music and beats that they play over all of the conversations and action to make it more interesting.

Also the sport itself seems a little flawed at the moment with a lot of failed Wrestlers who were never going to get into the olympic squad taking up MMA and within 1 or 2 years of taking up the sport winning the UFC title e.g. Brock Lesnar, Jon Jones, Chris Weidman, Johny Hendricks etc. It's like if Boxing started getting loads of failed kickboxers coming over and winning world titles, the sport would die would it not?

ive watched hundreds of ufc shows and ive never seen anyone holding up cardboard with their fav fighters name on. people dont start fighting in the crowd at these events but do at boxing,people turn up and get drunk at boxing shows and start brawling so i dont get that statement about people being drunk at ufc events dude.

[mickey1975]

The UFC is more like WWE than it is Boxing. The fans turn up wearing UFC t shirts and holding up cardboard signs of their favourite fighters etc. Also that Ultimate Fighter show that they have, can you honestly say you would like a reality tv show where Floyd Mayweather & Canelo get drunk in a house and call each other names all day whilst a load of wannabe fighters also get drunk and call each other names, and don't forget the dramatic music and beats that they play over all of the conversations and action to make it more interesting.

Also the sport itself seems a little flawed at the moment with a lot of failed Wrestlers who were never going to get into the olympic squad taking up MMA and within 1 or 2 years of taking up the sport winning the UFC title e.g. Brock Lesnar, Jon Jones, Chris Weidman, Johny Hendricks etc. It's like if Boxing started getting loads of failed kickboxers coming over and winning world titles, the sport would die would it not?

ive watched hundreds of ufc shows and ive never seen anyone holding up cardboard with their fav fighters name on. people dont start fighting in the crowd at these events but do at boxing,people turn up and get drunk at boxing shows and start brawling so i dont get that statement about people being drunk at ufc events dude.

Isn't he saying they get drunk in the house on The Ultimate Fighter? I don't know as I don't watch it.

[Gaz_73]

The UFC is more like WWE than it is Boxing. The fans turn up wearing UFC t shirts and holding up cardboard signs of their favourite fighters etc. Also that Ultimate Fighter show that they have, can you honestly say you would like a reality tv show where Floyd Mayweather & Canelo get drunk in a house and call each other names all day whilst a load of wannabe fighters also get drunk and call each other names, and don't forget the dramatic music and beats that they play over all of the conversations and action to make it more interesting.

Also the sport itself seems a little flawed at the moment with a lot of failed Wrestlers who were never going to get into the olympic squad taking up MMA and within 1 or 2 years of taking up the sport winning the UFC title e.g. Brock Lesnar, Jon Jones, Chris Weidman, Johny Hendricks etc. It's like if Boxing started getting loads of failed kickboxers coming over and winning world titles, the sport would die would it not?

ive watched hundreds of ufc shows and ive never seen anyone holding up cardboard with their fav fighters name on. people dont start fighting in the crowd at these events but do at boxing,people turn up and get drunk at boxing shows and start brawling so i dont get that statement about people being drunk at ufc events dude.

Yes they do. I have been to about 10 UFC's and seen it kick off at more than half of them.

As stated before in this thread, the trend is for fighters to promote themselves, once they are big enough. there is no way I could see boxing's top stars making money for someone else, when they could be making it for themselves. No one was making money in No-Holds Barred fighting when the UFC started (or for several years after they started), so they were able to get a foothold in the sport. White and the Fertita bros's changing from NHB to MMA gave them a product thy could sell to companies.

[fasteddie]

The UFC is more like WWE than it is Boxing. The fans turn up wearing UFC t shirts and holding up cardboard signs of their favourite fighters etc. Also that Ultimate Fighter show that they have, can you honestly say you would like a reality tv show where Floyd Mayweather & Canelo get drunk in a house and call each other names all day whilst a load of wannabe fighters also get drunk and call each other names, and don't forget the dramatic music and beats that they play over all of the conversations and action to make it more interesting.

Also the sport itself seems a little flawed at the moment with a lot of failed Wrestlers who were never going to get into the olympic squad taking up MMA and within 1 or 2 years of taking up the sport winning the UFC title e.g. Brock Lesnar, Jon Jones, Chris Weidman, Johny Hendricks etc. It's like if Boxing started getting loads of failed kickboxers coming over and winning world titles, the sport would die would it not?

ive watched hundreds of ufc shows and ive never seen anyone holding up cardboard with their fav fighters name on. people dont start fighting in the crowd at these events but do at boxing,people turn up and get drunk at boxing shows and start brawling so i dont get that statement about people being drunk at ufc events dude.

Yes they do. I have been to about 10 UFC's and seen it kick off at more than half of them.

As stated before in this thread, the trend is for fighters to promote themselves, once they are big enough. there is no way I could see boxing's top stars making money for someone else, when they could be making it for themselves. No one was making money in No-Holds Barred fighting when the UFC started (or for several years after they started), so they were able to get a foothold in the sport. White and the Fertita bros's changing from NHB to MMA gave them a product thy could sell to companies.

ive never been to a ufc event but have been to boxing events and seen kick offs at these events,i have seen numerous boxing and ufc shows on tv and never seen any trouble in the ufc crowds but have seen them in boxing crowds,but just because i havent seen them doesnt mean they dont happen. yes the fertitta bro's were the ones that threw all the money into it and didnt have a tv deal for about 3 years,they have done well with it,as a fan i like the way they have the best sportsmen in mma and that means the best have to fight the best,there is no way boxing could do this as the sport is over a hundred years old and too many organisations,promoters and managers who leech off the fighter.

[fasteddie]

The UFC is more like WWE than it is Boxing. The fans turn up wearing UFC t shirts and holding up cardboard signs of their favourite fighters etc. Also that Ultimate Fighter show that they have, can you honestly say you would like a reality tv show where Floyd Mayweather & Canelo get drunk in a house and call each other names all day whilst a load of wannabe fighters also get drunk and call each other names, and don't forget the dramatic music and beats that they play over all of the conversations and action to make it more interesting.

Also the sport itself seems a little flawed at the moment with a lot of failed Wrestlers who were never going to get into the olympic squad taking up MMA and within 1 or 2 years of taking up the sport winning the UFC title e.g. Brock Lesnar, Jon Jones, Chris Weidman, Johny Hendricks etc. It's like if Boxing started getting loads of failed kickboxers coming over and winning world titles, the sport would die would it not?

ive watched hundreds of ufc shows and ive never seen anyone holding up cardboard with their fav fighters name on. people dont start fighting in the crowd at these events but do at boxing,people turn up and get drunk at boxing shows and start brawling so i dont get that statement about people being drunk at ufc events dude.

Isn't he saying they get drunk in the house on The Ultimate Fighter? I don't know as I don't watch it.

oops silly me your right mickey,i need to start reading all of these comments twice before replying lol

[Gaz_73]

One of the biggest issues I can see with following a UFC model, is that UFC is built on a PPV model and arguably, the transition to paid TV is one of the biggest reasons for boxing's decline. People like Eubank went from fighting on Terrestrial TV in front of 15 million, to fighting on Sky in front of a tenth of the audience (albeit for more money, probably). UFC is big and popular, but MMA isn't, in the grand scheme of things, hence the average person in the street doesn't know what MMA is, but is aware of "cage fighting".

[black panther]

For the record, the UFC DO pay the majority of their fighters peanuts. Mark Homnick's base purse for fighting for THE WORLD TITLE against one of the best MMA fighters p4p was..... Wait for it......
$3000.00.

I kid you not. Thankfully he got a massive "fight of the night" bonus but if he had been blasted in a round he would have received a measly 3 grand for the biggest fight of his life and something that took 10 years of fighting pro MMA to get to.

If you think the UFC could take over boxing, I think you lack an understanding of how MMA and the UFC works.

[JimStone]

One of the biggest issues I can see with following a UFC model, is that UFC is built on a PPV model and arguably, the transition to paid TV is one of the biggest reasons for boxing's decline. People like Eubank went from fighting on Terrestrial TV in front of 15 million, to fighting on Sky in front of a tenth of the audience (albeit for more money, probably). UFC is big and popular, but MMA isn't, in the grand scheme of things, hence the average person in the street doesn't know what MMA is, but is aware of "cage fighting".

All TV is paid TV. It's just some of it is voluntary and you get what you pay for, and some of it is mandatory and you get what you're given, like it or not. If the TV licence was scrapped and TV production companies had to live and die by the quality of their product, rather than being funded by a tax, you'd get quality boxing at the right price. Don't blame Sky, blame the government and the BBC.

[JimStone]

For the record, the UFC DO pay the majority of their fighters peanuts. Mark Homnick's base purse for fighting for THE WORLD TITLE against one of the best MMA fighters p4p was..... Wait for it......
$3000.00.

I kid you not. Thankfully he got a massive "fight of night" bonus but of he had been blasted in a round he would have received a measly 3 grand for the biggest fight of his life and something that took 10 years of fighting pro MMA to get to.

If you think the UFC could take over boxing, I think you lack an understanding of how MMA and the UFC works.

UFC fighters are paid what they're paid and guys are queuing up for the opportunity. Boxing currently remains a more popular sport to watch and so the base purses would be ratcheted up accordingly and I dare say that fight of the night bonuses would be higher too. At the very least, I'd love to see UFC have a go at boxing and seeing how they got on.