Does everyone agree that the biggest problem MMA has is the same problem that has made a joke out of boxing, too many organizations,too many different champions.
I agree its a problem at first but its not THAT bad. I only recently started watching MMA, UFC 97 to be exact. I really enjoyed it and decided i want to get my hands on as many events as i could to have a decent enough background on what i'm watching (Got my hands on atleast 50hrs worth of MMA ). It was really confusing at first due to all the different organizations so i went and asked my friends who encouraged me to watch UFC 97 in the first place. I realized that every one of them had his favorites, so i decided i'd watch as many as i could and i'd stick to what i liked. Now that i'm hooked im trying my best to follow all WEC/UFC/Affliciton/Strikeforce events and i plan to get around to watching Dream 9 before mid july and if i like it i'll add that to the list, and i don't mind having to keep track of all the different organizations, BUT it would be alot more fun if we could see a champion from organization X going against a champion from organization Y.
IMO, MMA getting sanctioned has helped tremendously. It's a lot easier to follow, as any organization that hopes to operate on a national level has to play by the same rules - makes things much easier to follow. For instance - when Pride existed, it wasn't under any regulation. So you had the Middleweight title at 205 as opposed to 185 in the US (and Light-Heavyweight at 205), which was incredibly confusing to friends that I was trying to get to watch some Pride back when it was on FSN. To me, the biggest problem is time. As more people get into it, its profile will grow.
Iv'e been watching mma since '92 and to me the biggest problem is that there are people who think that the UFC IS mma. What white and co have done for the sport has been incredibly good ,but they have come a wall where white has to let go. The UFC is an organization that acts as a promoter ,but who has belts to distribute to fighters who win in their cage. I think they have a massive conflict of interest that is retarding the growth and preventing it from acquiring the level of acceptance of boxing.
no, what dana white is doing is making mma legitimate to fans and to sportscasters who still see it as a free for all brawl, the fact they've made john mccain take back his comment on it being human cockfighting was/is a big deal, the fact that people are still out there writing bad about it (just like soccer) was/is a big deal having more promotions gives more opportunities for fighters, yes, but ufc has made theirs THE promotion, boxing? i have no idea which promotion is the best one, wbc, ibc, anything bc? doesn't mean much to me, if you say ufc, wec, strikeforce, people know who you're talking about
The wbc ,ibf and wba are not promoters , Don King ,Bob arum and dan goosen are promoters ,that's why i think it's a conflict in regard to the UFC. I mean if anyone actually believes Dana white can take Chuck Liddell and his family to a nascar event ,get him sponsorship deals and such and still decide who fights for the title fairly they are delusional. I don't buy it , White has favourites and fighters get title shots based on marketability and relationship rather than talent. If Liddell and other loosing fighters want o challenge for the belt ,shouldn't they have to beat another tough fighter for that chance? That's how it works in boxing ,you don't get an easy ride to the title especially off of a loosing streak. That why i think white has to either cut his close ties to fighters while they are still active and be more professional than business like if he cares for the development of the sport.
^ Personally i think they got a good balance. Besides if a fighter is talented he will most likely end up being marketable after a few good wins. Sure it won't be as much as Chuck, but marketable. There's no point in having two people fight if they're not marketable since that means no one will want to watch it.