It’s not outside the realm of possibility that the UFC, sometime in the near future, ceases to be the top promotion in MMA. All the signs are there, new owners, fighters speaking out, and a couple of legal proceedings which could yield disastrous results.
Currently, the idea that any smaller promotion could overtake UFC to be the dominant MMA player seems ridiculous, but is it? Pride seemed so big that it could never die, but it did. Could the same thing happen to the UFC?
As much as MMA fans might not want to admit it, there is reason to believe the UFC may not even be in existence in as little as 5 years. In fact, if just 1 or 2 things go wrong for WME-IMG the promotion could be dead in even less time.
This article takes a look at some of the reasons UFC is circling the drain. Here are 5 reasons the UFC could end up just as dead as Pride.
6. Loss of Credibility
The UFC has lost a lot of sporting credibility in the last year. If the UFC’s value is that they are the promotion with the top fighters in the world, the new ownership group has done little to protect this.
The middleweight title will seemingly go years without having been defended against a top contender. Interim title belts are handed out with little reason. A women’s 145lbs title fight was contested between two people who are not Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos. If the titles don’t have any credibility, then the best fighters are going to leave and go where they do.
Just today as a matter of fact, Luke Rockhold called on the rest of the middleweight division to basically go on strike.
“If they’re not putting an interim title on the line, or if they’re not making Bisping fight a contender, I’m not fighting anybody,” Rockhold said on the MMA Hour, ““And so should the rest of the division, too. What’s the point? Without me, Mousasi, Yoel, and Whittaker? I think everyone should just stand their ground, and say f—k you. Put a title on the line or else, f—k, you don’t even have a division.”
