OpinionUFC 229 fallout: MMA is more like WWE lately. Is this a good thing, or the start of the sport’s downfall?
Is the industry-leading MMA body guilty of sabotaging its own image?
It’s no secret the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s biggest pay per view draw was in 2016 (1.6 million buys according to Tapology) when Conor McGregor won a decision over Nate Diaz. Since then it’s looked like the UFC has started a slow, ugly downfall back into obscurity, clawing aimlessly to stay relevant, fighting for legitimacy and looking more like a poorly written, badly acted WWE Monday Night Raw script.
While McGregor has turned out to be a bankable star financially (his title fights are four of the top five pay per view draws of all-time) he is most definitely a polarising image and typifies the UFC’s current conundrum.
Ask anyone their opinion about McGregor, and you’ll get one of two answers, a vehement defence of his character, or a slew of negative remarks about his over-the-top boisterous antics. This is the new UFC, and it’s not like the old UFC.
A few years ago, White had two pitch-perfect poster boys to help catapult the sport into the mainstream culture. Georges St Pierre, a soft-spoken French-Canadian, led the men’s cards with his ‘aw shucks’ clean-cut image. On the women’s side it was Ronda Rousey, a reliable, bankable brand and an excellent role model.