Atlas: Make Boxing like the UFC

[Onekrazyrican]

Here is a link to an article about what he said

https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2019/3/12/1 ... e-mma-news

I have been a hardcore boxing fan and a casual MMA fan for years and for a long time I have been thinking the same thing. I know its not possible to make the whole sport work as a single promotion but the way its run has a lot to do with its success.

With the current boxing model the ultimate goal is to have a p4p all time great run or people could care less about your fights. That is very difficult to do when you cant control the outcome of a fight. So what do we have? They actually control the outcome but it gets done in such a blatant way that its turning viewers away.

With a UFC model. Losses are not that hurtful. You have a guy like Cody Garbandt whos lost 3 in a row by KO and still cant be labeled as a washed up gate keeper because the context of those loses is as important as the result.

There are so many things from the MMA world that would make boxing so much better. Id like to know what other hardcore fans think about it. I wish at least one promoter went with it and started his own league or something.

[ezhmael]

They could just put 1 champion per weight division. That way there's a consensus no.1 guy in that division that everyone wants to fight.

[Impractical Poster]

I wish it were like the UFC. But I don't see how it's possible with so many promotions and governing bodies. Unless all the top boxes and champions went with one promoter and organization, it cannot happen.

I feel that what has happened to boxing will eventually happen with MMA at some point and to some degree. The UFC used to be far and away the best MMA promotion/organization in the sport. And while it still is the best, Bellator and One FC are rising. Some of the top fighters and prospects are not with the UFC. And from what I've been hearing, these 2 organizations are paying their top fighters more than the UFC.

[Onekrazyrican]

That would be difficult but MMA doesnt even have that and its doing ok. Think of the UFC, Bellator and ONE as if it was WBC, IBF and WBA. There are way too many fighters we would be missing if there was only one champ.

But imagine if every boxing organization was as strict as a MMA promotion. Rankings would actually mean something. Imagine we could see a fighter work his way up the rankings with actual fights instead of being awarded regional belts to have showcased sparring sessions against clearly over matched journeymen. In MMA the rank is displayed next to the fighters name and it actually means something. When a #15 beats a #8 in boxing it means nothing. Not the same in MMA it gives you a reason to care about a fight when there is some gain about the outcome. It does not have to be a belt. I mean its not that difficult to make regular boxing enticing again. Promoters put way too much effort in "mega star" caliber boxing and its killing its base.

[DrDuke]

UFC is truly ultimate for MMA. It's the main league of the sport. In boxing there are sanctioning bodies, who are more likely to deal with each other, and networks, who deal harder with each other. It's completely different situation.

It's not about WBA and WBC compared to UFC and Bellator respectively, it's about taking UFC as league #1, Bellator as league #2 and etc in MMA, while WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO as league #1, IBO, IBC, WBF as league #2 and etc in boxing.

In MMA the organisations are both sanctioning bodies and networks for themselves. In boxing those are two different dimensions.

[KiwiRider]

I wish it were like the UFC. But I don't see how it's possible with so many promotions and governing bodies. Unless all the top boxes and champions went with one promoter and organization, it cannot happen.

I feel that what has happened to boxing will eventually happen with MMA at some point and to some degree. The UFC used to be far and away the best MMA promotion/organization in the sport. And while it still is the best, Bellator and One FC are rising. Some of the top fighters and prospects are not with the UFC. And from what I've been hearing, these 2 organizations are paying their top fighters more than the UFC.

I agree, MMA isn't too fractured yet, two years time it will be almost like boxing, it just.needs.to catch up.

[HomicideHenry]

In the 50s & 60s it was argued THEN there should be a boxing czar to oversee the entire sport--- unfortunately it's become such a convoluted mess that in theory you can have 40+ world champions per division.

[Impractical Poster]

I wish it were like the UFC. But I don't see how it's possible with so many promotions and governing bodies. Unless all the top boxes and champions went with one promoter and organization, it cannot happen.

I feel that what has happened to boxing will eventually happen with MMA at some point and to some degree. The UFC used to be far and away the best MMA promotion/organization in the sport. And while it still is the best, Bellator and One FC are rising. Some of the top fighters and prospects are not with the UFC. And from what I've been hearing, these 2 organizations are paying their top fighters more than the UFC.

I agree, MMA isn't too fractured yet, two years time it will be almost like boxing, it just.needs.to catch up.

Not that soon. I'm thinking a little over 10 years time. Unless the UFC can pull another stunt like they did buying out Strikeforce.

[Onetimeonly]

Mma is better because the best have to fight the best to get paid. Boxers purses are so overinflated to the marketplace that it's an irrevocable problem in the States.

[madball1982]

Problem is though, is that the UFC is becoming more like boxing as the days go on, sure it's still the premier organisation and more times than not their champion is the best across the promotions, but....the "money fight" mentality is really prevalent now.
Second is that we are no longer seeing just the top two fighters fighting for a belt, like we did when it was smaller. It's all about the money/popularity, so there is definitely more top contenders not fighting each other now.

[keirw]

The difference is that MMA was still a fledgling sport when the UFC rose to prominence making their near monopoly much easier to achieve than it would be in boxing.

It would take someone like PBC or Tope rank to invest hundreds of millions to buy up all other promotional companies or for some, or possibly all, of the sanctioning bodies to merge.

This would lead to law suits left right and centre due to potential breaches in fair competition laws.

[Enlightened-One]

The UFC will eventually become like boxing. We’ll never see boxing follow the same sporting and business model currently used by the UFC.

Whenever a business achieves great financial success by pioneering a new venture, it inspires rival companies to seek to exploit the same customer base and also compete in the same market place by introducing a competing product.

We’ve already seen this happen with the UFC in the US, resulting in the creation of Bellator. There are now lots of MMA companies operating in various regions around the world.

Most of these are new ventures and some will undoubtedly fail in the short-term, whereas a select few of them are likely to achieve long-term success and grow.

This is when we’ll inevitably see the sport of MMA suffering from the same cross-promotional cross-network troubles that boxing currently suffers from.

Ultimately, professional combat sports is all about money. Those fighters that generate the most revenue will work with the promoters and TV networks that provide them with the biggest paydays and will always be pushed to the front of the proverbial queue for opportunities to engage in championship bouts.

Any extraordinarily talented fighter that lacks charisma and doesn’t work with a competent manager or promoter, will never achieve great success. This applies to boxing and MMA, since they're operated as profit making businesses.

[gilgamesh]

The UFC will eventually become like boxing. We’ll never see boxing follow the same sporting and business model currently used by the UFC.

Whenever a business achieves great financial success by pioneering a new venture, it inspires rival companies to seek to exploit the same customer base and also compete in the same market place by introducing a competing product.

We’ve already seen this happen with the UFC in the US, resulting in the creation of Bellator. There are now lots of MMA companies operating in various regions around the world.

Most of these are new ventures and some will undoubtedly fail in the short-term, whereas a select few of them are likely to achieve long-term success and grow.

This is when we’ll inevitably see the sport of MMA suffering from the same cross-promotional cross-network troubles that boxing currently suffers from.

Ultimately, professional combat sports is all about money. Those fighters that generate the most revenue will work with the promoters and TV networks that provide them with the biggest paydays and will always be pushed to the front of the proverbial queue for opportunities to engage in championship bouts.

Any extraordinarily talented fighter that lacks charisma and doesn’t work with a competent manager or promoter, will never achieve great success. This applies to boxing and MMA, since they're operated as profit making businesses.

I'd say never say never, but it would take a monopolization of the sport like you see in MMA. It would take a promoter essentially paying multi-millions to buy out other major promoters, and their fighters contracts to do it. It's not completely impossible that a promoter one day might have the money to do something like that, but it won't be anytime soon. You'd have to be stupid rich to pull that off.

[Onetimeonly]

One credit that has to be given to the UFC{aside from lesnar} they play no favorites in drug testing.

[oogiebe]

I wish there was a single governing body above reproach that would force the best to fight each other. I accept easy fights so long as that fighter's entire body of work earns it. The watering down of the product is the biggest issue that births more issues. Taking the UFC model would be great, but I fear we're past that point. Great thread!

[leejonesjnr]

The statement makes no real sense.
UFC is not a sport, it is a promotional company putting on MMA shows and awarding their own in house champions.
People are already complaining that PBC boxers generally only face one another, do we think that PBC Championships are a step forward? Nope.

[Onekrazyrican]

The statement makes no real sense.
UFC is not a sport, it is a promotional company putting on MMA shows and awarding their own in house champions.
People are already complaining that PBC boxers generally only face one another, do we think that PBC Championships are a step forward? Nope.

In a way PBC kinda gets it. They might be missing out on the mega names (which can be counted with one hand at this point) but they are coming up with entertaining matchups within their stable. Take Peterson vs Lipinets for example. I confess that normally I wouldnt be interested in this matchup as I know they will have no significant impact on the current scene.

That said, they made a great job at selling that fight with the PBC Countdown. Now I have a reason to watch the fight and Im not too sure about the outcome. Its been a while since I felt this uncertain about a bunch of matchups and I had even forgotten how good it felt. PBC used their PPV platform to get their fighters out there. The whole show was interesting. This is how you build a stable for the future instead of just pushing two big names to cash out in a future mega fight like Arum and DLH have been doing for years.

If there is enough demand cross promotional matchups are possible. If HBO and Showtime got together in the past I dont see how it cant be done with ESPN, FOX and DAZN when needed.

[jujigatame]

The problem is that the UFC is not even really being run like the UFC anymore. Over the last few years we've seen the proliferation of interim titles and they've allowed a lot of excellent fighters to drop off the roster. Not to mention the shameful way they've treated the flyweight division.

[Onekrazyrican]

The problem is that the UFC is not even really being run like the UFC anymore. Over the last few years we've seen the proliferation of interim titles and they've allowed a lot of excellent fighters to drop off the roster. Not to mention the shameful way they've treated the flyweight division.

True and it has helped show how having just one champ like in the old days is not really that great. Too many talented fighters in the UFC roster and only one belt means we dont get to watch a lot of them perform. Its ok if some of them move to Bellator and other organizations. I guess if the boxing organizations were more structured and enforcing the rankings actually meant something it would look a lot better.

[jujigatame]

Well I would disagree there. One belt is always preferable. Just because someone isn't fighting for a title doesn't mean they're not fighting at all. The UFC generally does a good job of matching their contenders tough.

A big problem boxing has is guys (like Miller) trying to protect their undefeated record by fighting nobodies until they win the title shot sweepstakes. In the UFC it's much more difficult to do this.