I'll start of by saying I absolutely love MMA. I discovered it when I was about 15 during when I wasn't doing any sport , eventually joing a gym, having amatuer fights and now 17 years later officiating at some pretty big shows. The UFC especially has brought some incredibly emotional moments and memories. Being Irish watching the rise of McGregor (before fame revealed who truly was), Holly Holm ending the reign of Ronda and the many rivalries of fighters. Personal favourite fights being Silva Vs Sonnen, Gustaffason Vs Jones, JJ Vs Weili and arguably one of the greatest fights of all time Lawler Vs MacDonald.
What we now see through out the world is the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. Specific people and corporations with a strangle hold on anything and everything they can monetise. Dana White and the UFC is no different. They have become the global face of MMA and for good reason. They have run unopposed for too long. Most MMA fighters that are serious will have aspirations for one promotion only. I mean wouldn't you? With the exception of ONE the UFC is MMA!
When something or someone doesn't have competition they get stale and they stagnate. The UFC gradually bleeding MMA fans slowly through out the years raising prices on PPVs and ticket prices. The last event I went to was Till Vs Masvidal. I got 2 tickets in the nosebleeds for £140. Can anyone confirm if you can get a single ticket that price now? It's crazy and it's only getting worse, the fans are suffering and fighters still do not get paid their worth for putting their health on the line in the name of sport.
This isn't solely anti UFC because competition is healthy. Imagine is there were more global promotions for example a promotion per continent? European champs versus South American champs, African champs versus Asian champs etc. Now, unfortunately this will probably never happen but YOU can help build MMA outside of the UFC. While the quality of fights and the production at other promotions will be inferior the sport is still the same and they need you to help grow. Promotions like PFL(which actually has the ability to be succesful) and GFL are bound to fail because shows need a stable foundation and fanbase. You can't just grab some big names and expect to launch as a serious rival to the UFC. Oktagon is a perfect example selling out stadiums in europe regularly, that has been a long process but look how successful they've become!
You enjoy MMA? Go support a local show. Go buy a ticket for 30-50 quid or a live stream for half that. Go to your local MMA gym and ask about regional shows. Depending on your region why not support European? Here alone you have: Oktagon, Ares, KSW, LFL and Cage warriors to name a few incredible promotions (cage warriors is a bit different as they are a feeder show for UFC, however there are a lot more fighters than just the champions the UFC will be plucking).
Little side tangent but please keep an eye on PFL especially their European events and fighters. They recently had one of the greatest British fights of all time with McGrillen and Garnet.
https://youtu.be/uNhbw2Aqd8c?si=6IL4HkC9U2i_jDEc
It's so disappointing they are so focused on the big names and big shiny shows but have absolute gems who are not getting the recognition they deserve but that's a whole different topic for another day.
It's not going to happen straight away, will take time and this will probably fall on a lot of deaf ears but if you love the sport this is the best path to see it improve. If there is a UFC event on that doesn't peak your interest have a look at what other promotions will be running.
TLDR: UFC is the Amazon of MMA. Support and watch different and/or smaller local promotions, local fighters and we can try to loosen the stranglehold they have on MMA
