Spencer's Soapbox: Stop Complaining About UFC Fight Cards
After legions of MMA fans and media were all-in on Sunday's boxing spectacle between Jake Paul and Tyron Woodley, complaints about the quality of UFC events and pay-per-view lineups needs to stop
A whole lot of folks shelled out $60 to watch YouTube star and polarizing pop culture figure Jake Paul score a split decision win over former UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley in an eight-round boxing match that topped an event rounded out by fighters many likely never heard of before this week or barely paid attention to in the past, and likely won’t follow going forward.
They paid $60 to go to the circus on a Sunday night from the comforts of their own homes, and save for a small collection of boxing loyalists that were truly interested in seeing the great Amanda Serrano, they came for the main event between the 3-0 disruptor Paul and the 39-year-old MMA fighter Woodley whose last victory came nearly three years ago, and what they got was a mediocre boxing match between two inexperienced boxers followed by a whole lot of nonsense.
Many of those same people that tuned into Sunday’s fight strenuously object to the majority of UFC pay-per-view offerings, complaining about the quality of the cards or the fabricated stakes tacked onto a fight in order to increase casual interest.
Quality events like last month’s pay-per-view at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas are tagged as inadequate given the $65 price tag, despite multiple matchups featuring highly skilled, ranked combatants in meaningful fights, while others are slammed because they don’t include one of the very select number of true superstars with massive commercial appeal currently active on the UFC roster, and that’s to say nothing of the near-weekly Fight Night events that often get dismissed instantly as being not worth the time and effort it would take to learn a little something about the participants that aren’t household names.
It’s not that it’s confusing to me or hard to figure out — people like to be in on the big events and are drawn to magnetic characters like Paul, who has become an unlikely star in combat sports over the last couple years by understanding that his brand is strong enough to pull in large audiences, which then forces people to pay attention.
And from a business standpoint on the content front, figures like Paul are always going to generate more traffic than actual elite talents with a significantly small fan base and less drawing power, like Alexander Volkanovski or Amanda Nunes, so I get why all of these MMA sites have gone all-in on these spectacles over the last year when they have limited space for anyone other than the most newsworthy names in mixed martial arts most of the time.
I just want people to own it.
I just want people to admit they’re more interested in the spectacle than the sport; that they want to see the scattered names that they know and care about and very little else, rather than constantly deriding the quality of events when they’re not interested or the buzz isn’t great enough to compel them to pay closer attention, especially after being transfixed by Sunday’s carnival show.
It was a chore to get people interested in Woodley’s final few UFC assignments, even though he was fighting compelling opponents looking to strengthen their position in the title chase at his expense, but stick him in there five months removed from his fourth consecutive loss in the Octagon against a loudmouth with limited experience, but a penchant for pulling eyeballs, and suddenly scores of folks can’t wait to open their wallets and pay to see what Woodley can do in the ring.
And listen: everyone is entitled to feel however they want about whatever they want and voice those opinions as freely as they please, so all of this is really the written equivalent of “Old Man Shouts at Cloud,” but for me, personally, it’s fucking tiring having people that cover this sport and claim to be ravenous supporters and consumers of this sport constantly diminishing events, dismissing competitors, and telling people that seek their counsel on these things not to bother with upcoming events.
But this they have time for; this they’ll pay to see.
I don’t want to see any more “this card isn’t worth the asking price” or moaning about the lack of names when y’all tuned in to this nonsense.
Say you’re not interested.
Say the fights aren’t compelling enough for you; that you don’t care enough about the skilled, talented men and women stepping into the Octagon on any particular Saturday night to invest your time and energy and, once a month, hard-earned money to watch them compete, but don’t say there’s not enough talent on the card or nothing at stake because you all just got real invested in watching Jake Paul boxing Tyron Woodley in bout with no actual stakes and a very limited amount of actual boxing skill on display.
I know I’m an asshole, but at least I’m an honest, consistent asshole.
At least I’m here every week, writing about fighters up and down the lineup, identifying why nearly every fight matters and the reasons people should be paying attention, rather than constantly ignoring large portions of each fight card, only caring about a select number of fighters and fights, and focusing on reasons not to watch, only to make a point of tuning into Sunday’s meaningless carnival show.
You know where I stand, how I feel about events, how much I genuinely care about telling the stories of these athletes, trying to get people interested in whatever is on deck, and advocating for more than just the biggest, shiniest fight cards, and you know that is never going to change.
But as always, I’m the asshole and I’m the outlier, out here caring as much about UFC newcomers, neophytes, and non-contenders as I do the champions and superstars, while so many others can’t be bothered unless there are a bunch of big names on the card or a whole lot of buzz around an event.