That's subjective of course.
I don't actually think it is. I'd rather watch two fighters standing up than on the deck. I also appreciate a longer fight which feels like it can go either way over a fairly short, sharp finish which seems commonplace in MMA.
I also think that MMA has largely evolved to a point whereby there aren't that many people who are unaware of it. It's not a brand new sport and a lot of people have had some exposure of it and don't really care about it. There was a time when this could be dismissed as ignorance but not any more.