BoxRec

Is UFC (MMA) overtaking boxing or has it already happened? UFC does more PPV events on average has more attendance & on average UFC fighters make more money than boxers. Yes the 4 or 5 boxing superstars make millions per fight but below that even World Champions Rigondeaux,McDonnell,Golovkin & many more are struggling to make a living. Even average MMA guys fighting on undercards are making more than top billing boxers. local MMA events ( unknown guys) do better numbers than small hall shows. Can boxing turn this round & if so how?. or am I just wrong.

gazzman87 wrote:Is UFC (MMA) overtaking boxing or has it already happened? UFC does more PPV events on average has more attendance & on average UFC fighters make more money than boxers. Yes the 4 or 5 boxing superstars make millions per fight but below that even World Champions Rigondeaux,McDonnell,Golovkin & many more are struggling to make a living. Even average MMA guys fighting on undercards are making more than top billing boxers. local MMA events ( unknown guys) do better numbers than small hall shows. Can boxing turn this round & if so how?. or am I just wrong.

Only because it is one group of people running it so they split the money evenly. Mayweather earns more than all the UFC champions combined and it'll never be as big in the UK because they bring piss poor shows here.

In total last year the UFC had 32 events. Over the next 36 hours alone there are 32 boxing events scheduled to take place world wide.

Over the space of a year the amount of people globally who attend a live boxing event, buy a PPV boxing show or watch boxing on free to air TV will massively dwarf the figures of UFC.

It does seem to be popular amongst the young -better marketing and availability would seem to be the obvious reasons.

I've no idea I'm not a follower of the sport at all and I'be not run into anyone who's waxed lyrical about it. Maybe a younger trend.

Who is the highest paid boxer/MMA fighter in the world? FMJ

MMA is on the rise, but will have drops in popularity like all sports.

chad wrote:In total last year the UFC had 32 events. Over the next 36 hours alone there are 32 boxing events scheduled to take place world wide.

Over the space of a year the amount of people globally who attend a live boxing event, buy a PPV boxing show or watch boxing on free to air TV will massively dwarf the figures of UFC.

The last two statements aren't true as UFC has surpassed total PPV of boxing shows for years and 2 MMA organisations are now on US National Television.

The rest is sound.

Poncey wrote:

chad wrote:In total last year the UFC had 32 events. Over the next 36 hours alone there are 32 boxing events scheduled to take place world wide.

Over the space of a year the amount of people globally who attend a live boxing event, buy a PPV boxing show or watch boxing on free to air TV will massively dwarf the figures of UFC.

The last two statements aren't true as UFC has surpassed total PPV of boxing shows for years and 2 MMA organisations are now on US National Television.

The rest is sound.

Are you basing that on boxing PPV sales in America? Remember pay per view boxing is world wide, not just an American market. In the UK we recently had Carl Froch Vs. Mikkel Kessler on SKY Box Office, in Canada Chad Dawson Vs. Adonis Stevenson on Indigo, in Australia Danny Green Vs. Shane Cameron on Main Event, in Poland Krzysztof Wlodarczyk Vs. Rakhim Chakhkiev on PolSat, in Denmark Mikkel Kessler Vs. Brian Magee on Viasat etc... Do you know, 100% for sure, that UFC does better PPV numbers worldwide than boxing does annually?

Viewing figures for the debut of Zou Shiming peaked at 14 million in China on free to air channel CCTV-5. The world wide viewing figures are not known but will be impressive.

I stand by my statement.

As far as the general public is concerned, boxing is a sport where people can't really relate to anymore. The press is always on the big multi million dollar fighters, pay per views even more expensive than mma ppv's, and no real exciting fights on television. Thank Jesus that NBC decided to bring it back on a one-card-per-month basis because that is getting boxing somewhat back in the door as far as mainstream America is concerned. MMA is clearly designed as a blue collar sport that relates to every working man and woman; it looks like a street fight, though it isnt, and the stars dont get paid nowhere as much as the elite boxing champions, and there's only one title and the top men have to face their mandatories or they are stripped, fined, and banished from the company. People respect that, love that and root for that. Boxing simply doesn't have that.

In the 1980s and prior, you got to see guys be built from the ground up on national television. In alot of ways you can make the argument it is because of HBO and promoters that while the money got richer for all parties involved, it started to make a divide in mainstream boxing. The english for the most part have it right, with alot of fights being televised on SKY and sticking to their roots as a nation, for boxing was rediscovered and rebuilt in the Isles. That's why you see are seeing a resurgance of English/Irish fighters now because even though they are 5,000 miles away we have more access to THEM than we do our own damn fighters here in America. Jesus bless.

the ufc is one organisation within the sport of mma,if golden boy or top rank had all the top boxers in the world we wouldnt call the sport of boxing golden boy or top rank would we? ufc sells out every show because they have the best fighters in the sport under their brand. is it mma bigger than boxing? no. is ufc bigger than boxing,no but its more exciting because of the bonuses they are given fight of the night knock out of the night and submission of the night,boxing should introduce a fight of the night bonus and k.o of the night. the difference between these two great sports is if a boxing show is on the arena doesnt start to get full till close to the supporting fightin but ufc the arena is packed from fight one or two.

yep it all comes down to availability on tv boxing is losing that and in the end it will kill the sport.

2012 was a terrible year for UFC with bellator getting more popular what's to say it won't get as big as ufc then you will see the first big divide in mma and you'll have 2 "world champions" and you will get a scenario similar to boxing where the best dont often fight the best as they are signed to different organisations. Ufc popularity peaked in the UK circa 2009 it's popularity over here has fallen away a fair bit plus apart from bisping there aren't really any big names from over here maybe perry

Just a few things .... Boxing is so fragmented with multiple Belts ,Commisions etc and this really hasent helped with boxing over the last few decades , and i think this i were UFC comes into its own .... it can put the fights the fans want to see and the with relative ease ...and each show seemes stacked with relative fights - best in the division against each other- rising star taking a cross road fight against a former champion etc ... plus its marketing and layerd tv deal work well and reach the relative crowds ... Im no a fan of UFC to be honest... as the sport goes im still to be convinced about it

I think theUFC is still really in its infancy, and while the company is awash with money,the same cant be said about the fighters. Now i think there really is still to be a "Floyd" type character who will become bigger than the sport ...and could make more money on there own they might lead to a split in the roster ...

looking at Boxing in General and MMA in General in the UK , there seems to be a lot more "smaller" MMA promoters springing up who seem to be doing a few shows then pack it in ...but there seem to be some who are regular MMA shows like Cage Warriors/On Top/Bamma etc and these seem to be well attended and moving from strength to strength in there own respective ... but i dont think there is many shows as there is in the uk, and outside the UFC's annual (or bi-annual) shows in the UK very few of them go on at the big arenas that we have seen Boxing do ...

Worldwide i think boxing and UFC have different territories were it does better i would say boxing does better in Europe/Far East/Africa but the likes of north America it shares it and is more focused on the individaul fighter .

It will never overtake Boxing.

It's audience, going by the idiots at Sherdog and the commenters on YouTube, seems to be the Call of Duty online community, just a bunch of loud and angry fickle teenage boys who'll never know the warmth of a woman's touch.

They love fighters when they win, and hate them when they lose.

And that's probably the main reason why the sport doesn't have that one megastar that everyone pays to see, there's no Ali or Tyson, because when you lose they want nothing to do with you.

It's PPV numbers are also declining, even with the UFC's Champions headlining cards every month.

As enjoyable as it is, it's a fad.

People always ask this for someone that is a fan of both, they are at their peak now Jon Jones, Anderson Silva and GSP all fighting, but all have hinted or are close to retirement add Ronda Rousey into that too. Their biggest and most well known assets will not be around in 3 years. Not forgetting they have already done Velasquez v JDS how many times?

Could you imagine how big boxing would be, globally, if it was run as well as UFC? It could be the biggest individual sport in the world.

Boxing can seem like a hard sell at times. Imagine trying to convince someone who knows little about the sport that they should attend this weekend's most significant UK card:

So, who's fighting then?

Well, there's a British title match, which is maybe 75-25 in favour of the champ, if you were feeling particularly generous. The challenger has lost 5 of his last 6 fights, but he did get a win over a guy who has won 4 out of just over 30 fights in his last contest.

Erm ok, what else?

There should have been another British title fight, but that appears to have dropped off the card with no explanation anywhere.

Right, but if one fighter drops out, who's the other guy fighting for the title?

No one, there's no standby.

Blimey, not sure about this..

Hold on mate, don't forget that one of this country's most exciting heavyweight prospects is on the card. Against Georgia's fourth best heavy. There's also a few kids making their debuts...

Against who?

No idea, it just says TBA.

Brilliant, you've convinced me, who do I pay £30-£50 to?

[I don't know what the prices are for the Haskins-Booth bill btw, just a guess]

magnus wrote:Boxing can seem like a hard sell at times. Imagine trying to convince someone who knows little about the sport that they should attend this weekend's most significant UK card:

So, who's fighting then?

Well, there's a British title match, which is maybe 75-25 in favour of the champ, if you were feeling particularly generous. The challenger has lost 5 of his last 6 fights, but he did get a win over a guy who has won 4 out of just over 30 fights in his last contest.

Erm ok, what else?

There should have been another British title fight, but that appears to have dropped off the card with no explanation anywhere.

Right, but if one fighter drops out, who's the other guy fighting for the title?

No one, there's no standby.

Blimey, not sure about this..

Hold on mate, don't forget that one of this country's most exciting heavyweight prospects is on the card. Against Georgia's fourth best heavy. There's also a few kids making their debuts...

Against who?

No idea, it just says TBA.

Brilliant, you've convinced me, who do I pay £30-£50 to?

[I don't know what the prices are for the Haskins-Booth bill btw, just a guess]

Try selling the UFC card from tonight if you can, atleast people would know Hughie is Tyson Fury's cousin.

I wouldn't know how to start, as I no know next to nothing about UFC.

For the record, I love boxing, it's my favourite sport by a fricking mile, but I'm not blind to it's faults.

The standard of most cards is simply not good enough, it's not about who you've heard of, it's about competitive fights that justify asking for £30-£50 a pop.

This topic is destroyed with three words: Floyd versus Canelo

I like MMA a lot, but I love boxing. I think most fight fans in this country are boxing over MMA. However In some countries it is very different, especially Brazil and Canada as they have bundles of MMA talent.

It makes a difference that if you are UFC champ, you are widely regarded as the best on the planet. Where as with boxing's numerous belts, us fans are often left unsure.

Plus MMA is on a high and still rising with stars like Silva, GSP, Jones and Aldo as well as personalities such as Sonnen and Bisping. Boxing however is always compared to it's "glory days" whenever that may be.

We are a fighting nation, it would only take a couple of top notch British MMA fighters other than Bisping for it to really blow up in this country. Dana White has massive plans for the UK and is coming back 3 times already early 2014.

But on the whole, boxing goes too deep into our history to just be overtaken by the new kid on the block. As a fan of both, I'm excited for the future of both sports in this country, especially boxing.

MMA has plateaued everywhere bar the US, Canada and Brazil. It never got going in India and is declining here - UFC runs less shows in the UK and the lower-level groups are fading. The sport is doing well in the US, with UFC maintaining their position (GSP-Hendricks next week will be huge) and Bellator making strides, though the UFC monopoly which has wiped out Pride and Strikeforce may not be good for business long-term as competition stimulates innovation and value; imagine boxing had one unopposed promotional company.

Conversely, while boxing may not make as much on ppv in the US, it's a far bigger and more global sport. Markets like the UK, Mexico, Germany and Japan are thriving in terms of participation levels and live gates, while boxing is performing well in emerging areas like China and Russia also;MMA is not growing, it's maintaining at best. Boxing has a huge amount of professional promoters worldwide, plus the amateur sport and WSB - APB soon also.

Boxing can learn from MMA in terms of marketing and sponsorship, creating an 'event' atmosphere (this is already happening) and, most importantly, making matches fans are desperate to see/willing to pay to see.

But as a sport MMA is less accessible (especially on the ground), is perceived to be more unrefined and brutal (even if yhis is untrue) and has less strength in depth per weight class. Boxing has history and its Olympic status plus it's simply a far more accepted, popular attraction across the globe.

Alba wrote:Just a few things .... Boxing is so fragmented with multiple Belts ,Commisions etc and this really hasent helped with boxing over the last few decades , and i think this i were UFC comes into its own .... it can put the fights the fans want to see and the with relative ease ...and each show seemes stacked with relative fights - best in the division against each other- rising star taking a cross road fight against a former champion etc ... plus its marketing and layerd tv deal work well and reach the relative crowds ... Im no a fan of UFC to be honest... as the sport goes im still to be convinced about it

I think theUFC is still really in its infancy, and while the company is awash with money,the same cant be said about the fighters. Now i think there really is still to be a "Floyd" type character who will become bigger than the sport ...and could make more money on there own they might lead to a split in the roster ...

looking at Boxing in General and MMA in General in the UK , there seems to be a lot more "smaller" MMA promoters springing up who seem to be doing a few shows then pack it in ...but there seem to be some who are regular MMA shows like Cage Warriors/On Top/Bamma etc and these seem to be well attended and moving from strength to strength in there own respective ... but i dont think there is many shows as there is in the uk, and outside the UFC's annual (or bi-annual) shows in the UK very few of them go on at the big arenas that we have seen Boxing do ...

Worldwide i think boxing and UFC have different territories were it does better i would say boxing does better in Europe/Far East/Africa but the likes of north America it shares it and is more focused on the individaul fighter .

Cage Warriors have a bit of backing behind them from some Arab sheikh's I believe, hence the reason they've been able to hold a lot of their cards over in the Middle East.
BAMMA also have a bit of backing behind them what with the Channel 5 deal.
On Top have kind of ground to a halt after their last scheduled show being thwarted by the Glasgow City Council.

I would say the hindrance with the growth and development of the sport in MMA is the fact there is no alternative. The public see the UFC as UFC and not the UFC as an MMA promotion. Zuffa were able to buy out their main competitor in Strikeforce with relative ease and amalgamate the twos respective rosters and although Bellator do offer a viable competitor to the UFC in their own right, the fighters on those shows are just waiting for a call from Joe Silva or Dana.

brian13 wrote:This topic is destroyed with three words: Floyd versus Canelo

You're missing the point. Yeah boxing has 3 or 4 superstars but some of these cards are complete mismatches where UFC events are more competitive.

UFC a tiny roster of fighters compared to boxing as a whole - and a handful of shows.

UFC does many things well that boxing does badly, but it's in a unique position where it got involved in a sport which had very little marketing or advertising, and created a brand almost overnight.

Right now it has little competition, and so it can guarantee that all the biggest names will fight one another on a regular basis - however, it won't have it all to itself for ever, and once that happens, we will see the same problem boxing has, with multiple champions from different wings of MMA.

Boxing promoters are already beginning to borrow from the way UFC has marketed itself, the 24/7 series being a good example.

Boxing overall as a sport generates probably 10-20 times if not more what UFC generates, for the simple reason that there are probably 100 major shows every single weekend around the globe.