I started to notice it about 6-8 months ago. My friends were no longer really discussing UFC events or even any of the champions. We used to really look forward to the pay-per-view events and would always either find a pirate stream of the event at watch it at one our our houses or we would go to a bar or pub that was playing it. Now we never actually go to see the events and more recently, we don't really even discuss any of the events or fighters in any capacity other than just in passing.
I have looked online to see that a great deal of the allure has been lost for a lot of other people as well... it isn't just us. This used to be one of our favorite topics so how did it go from being in the top spot to not being something we so much as discuss?
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I have a few theories on why this could be the case for a lot of people and before anyone gets their panties in a bunch no, I am not saying that UFC isn't popular, it is still very very popular and makes tons of money. I just feel as though for long-term fans such as myself that it's just not as good as it used to be.
There's too many events
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Some tend to forget but there was a time when there was only 1 real event per month in the UFC and a couple of free Fight Nights were thrown in there on ESPN or whoever else they were partnered with as well.
This meant that every single card was absolutely stacked and you were looking forward to every fight that was on those cards for the most part. Even the Fight Night events would normally have one hell of a headliner and a couple of undercards that were worth tuning in for. These days though, there are so many events (50 per year or so) that it's kind of tough for me to stay excited about them.
Even the pay-per-view events, which are only going to exist for one more month, are normally something where I look at the card and I don't even know who a lot of the people are on the card and well, I know why that is. While there are a staggering 675 UFC fighters under contract, only a handful of them are what we would consider stars or a big draw. Therefore, the UFC top brass has to use them sparingly and spread them out across the year. Most pay-per-view events need to have at least 1 title fight in order to get the people involved and chomping at the bit to see it and this can only happen if you spread things out. There are a lot of titles out there sure, but that doesn't mean that people are equally excited.
Because people aren't all that interested in flyweight bouts or sadly, almost any of the women's bouts, something had to be done.
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We saw the introduction of fake belts that don't have a weight category that normally would involve a couple of quite popular fighters who can never realistically be expected to win a championship. Nate Diaz, Jorge Masvidal, Max Holloway, Justin Gaethje, and Dustin Poirier are all wonderful fighters but only 1 (maybe 2) of these guys were ever really headed towards a title reign. So since we can't headline without a belt for these guys, let's just make up a belt!
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I will readily admit that these fights are some of the best that the UFC has had at all in the past 5 years and I have enjoyed all of them. That being said it is a made up championship with zero ranking system and basically it is just a popularity contest. This was made entirely for the sake of filling a couple of dates per year on the calendar and marketability, not because it is a real championship. Even the fighters themselves have said they don't really give a damn about the championship because while the belt stands for "Baddest Mo Fo" the person who is wearing it clearly actually isn't that, because none of them have been the champion of their weight division while they were fighting for the BMF belt.
In addition to the obligatory 50 events per year as per the UFC contract with ESPN and now Paramount, there are also a slew of other UFC shows that I never watch and I don't anyone that does such as the Contender Series. We used to watch the reality show The Ultimate Fighter but that dropped in popularity so much that I am not even sure if it is still a thing.
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While I am sure this is a big opportunity for all of these gentlemen, I can honestly say that I have never heard of any of them.
As much as I feel that UFC is doing too many events you can bet your bottom dollar that staring in 2026 when Paramount takes over the contract that there are definitely not going to be fewer events taking place. If anything we can expect there to be some sort of push for more of them.
I can only presume that this makes more money for UFC but the effect this over-saturation has had on me and other long-term fans is that we are staring to tune out. I haven't even looked at a Fight Night other than the results the day after in over a year and there are several PPV events that I forgot they were even happening. This used to be something that me and my friends would discuss weeks ahead of time and plan our Saturdays around it - now nobody even mentions going to one.
I think that this would end up being true for me if it was any other sport as well. There is a reason why I don't watch much baseball until the playoffs and that is because there are simply too many games, the same goes for the NBA.
Where is the point where enough becomes too much? For me, and for many others, UFC has already reached that point. What about you?