Why Do Some Hardcore Fans Feel Obligated To Support UFC Competitor's?

I think people should support whoever they want. After all it is America and it is a free country. Freedom of choice is something that we all have. Any local show I have ever been to has been great. They are normally filled with up and comers that show a lot of heart in trying to make it to that next level. Hell, even the few fights that happen in the crowd are entertaining as well.
With that being said, I dont know why any hardcore fan would be anti-UFC, since they are the brand that has gotten the sport to the level that is at today. I think some bad feelings toward the UFC may be from the fact that they bought out other promotions, mainly Pride, and just integrated the fighters from these other organizations into the WEC (a name they did keep around) or the UFC. No matter how many great fights and events the UFC puts on, there will always be those that see them as the big bully that puts other promotions out of business.
Weather Affliction does survive, it doesn’t matter to me either way. Does the survival of MMA depend on Affliction satying in business? No. They do have some major talent, but then one can argue that there wouldn’t even be an Affliction without their ludicrous pay outs, and at the same time when you run out of money to pay the fighters or the bills, then you’re done. Just ask Jared or Gary Shaw, the esteemed former heads of Elite XC.
The major problem with some of these competitors is they shoot too high at first. They think they can rise to the same level as the UFC right of the bat and want to turn $10 or $15 million into $50 million overnight, and as a result just end up going in the red for that much.

The reason some hardcore fans choose to support promotions other than the UFC is because the UFC acts like they are the only promotion on the planet with world class talent and that could not be more untrue.

Even now, with UFC as the top promotion in the world, they are still missing a large number of highly ranked competitors. You never hear this other promotions spouting off that they are the only one with top competitors.

Hardcore fans know more than anyone else that there is an MMA world beyond UFC. UFC’s goal is to convince unsuspecting mainstream fans that UFC is the only promotion worth watching. This couldnt be more untrue, with a HUGE percentage of the worlds best 155, 185 and Heavyweight fighters competing outside the UFC. The hardcore fans want everyone to know what they know..that there is MMA worth watching outside the UFC…contrary what UFC is trying to brainwash everyone with.

Now when I say UFC, I mainly mean Dana White. Read or listen to some of the nonsense he spouts about guys like Fedor and Josh Barnett. Its pathetic. He says that Fedor doesnt fight top competition, after he beat Tim Sylvia and is scheduled to fight Arlovski. And he now claims that anyone can “knock down” Sylvia, even though White claimed that Sylvia was an elite heavyweight when he was in UFC.

Hardcore fans want to counter Dana White’s bullshit by supporting non-UFC promotions. Understand now?

@sam

Well, that’s called good business…while MMA is a sport, it’s not like NBA, NFL, MLB, etc. where it’s the only game in town…they have to make it as if their promotion is the best and only thing out there, that’s what all other promotions do.

They also can tout their fighters as the best in the world because they have a talent pool deep enough to pretty much say that. Minus maybe the heavyweight division, which isn’t nearly as bad as it once was, UFC has a good bulk of the top ranked guys and while I feel you on 155 not being nearly as stacked as they make it out to be, they do have the best 155 pounder, so they can kinda get away with it. And not sure about your 185 assessment of a huge percentage of the top ranked fighters not being in the UFC. In fact, if you go by WAMMA over half the top 10 is made up of UFC talent. I mean Dana does come off as a hot head sometimes when he speaks about other fighters outside of the organization, so I do think he gives the UFC a bad name some of the times.

So are you a fan of MMA or are you a fan of “good business”?

When I am a fan of a sport, especially an individual sport, I am a fan of the sport, not of a company that “does good business.”

If you want to blindly follow a promotion because they do a good job of promoting themselves, then enjoy. I’ll be watching ALL of the worldclass competition, regardless of promotion.

Sam,

I really appreciate you taking time to leave your thoughts.

In regards to the ‘non-sense’ that Dana White spews. You must understand that that’s a promoter talking pretty much. If fans(hard core fans at that) can’t understand that and that this thing is a business then that’s pretty pathetic as well. I agree that White says some off the wall shit quite a bit, but one must understand that it’s his job as promoter/part owner of a business.

In terms of a HUGE % of the best fighters competing outside of the UFC. I agree there’s quite a few LW fighters), 4 HW’s(3 of which are former UFC fighters), and the only two middleweights are Mousasi/Santiago(who just became relevant with Santiago going 1-2 in his UFC stint), and Lindland who hasn’t really done much lately. So the number isn’t THAT big, and of course White has gone on record stating he wants the best fighters and is pursuing them. It isn’t like he hasn’t tried to sign Fedor. He’s commented that he wants Jake Shields and Robbie Lawler. Good discussion thus far.

My only question to you sam, is why should they not promote themselves as the best? I don’t think that’s a reason to be anti-UFC. I’m a fan of MMA and when I get the opportunity I try to watch any and everything that’s readily available from all promotions.

And it’s not always the UFC/Dana White’s fault for not having some top talent on their roster.

I think what has made the UFC separate itself from the other organizations so much is due to the failed co-promotion with Pride back in the day. They sent over Chuck and I think Ricco Rodriguez to fight in Pride but was never returned the favor.

Anyways, I’m rambling…lol…but one thing came to mind, would you stop watching or be anti-NBA since they say they have the best players in the world, which in itself could be debatable? It’s all business and you shouldn’t fault the UFC for that, it’s obviously working while most other organizations are struggling.

Wow, I guess I’m not surprised when readers of this site misinterpret my comments, but now the actual “author” of the “article” seems to be incapable of reading comprehension.

Your question was: Why is it that you feel obligated to support any MMA promotion that considers itself a UFC competitor?

I answered the question.

You apparently think that I dont know that Dana White is a promoter and that it is his job to promote his brand. Did I say anywhere that I didn’t understand something? I dont “need to understand” something. I do understand. I gave you the correct answer to your question. Now everyone seems to be jumping on me like I was just talking shit, whereas I was actually just explaining the answer to the question that you posed, as obvious as it may have been.

That being said, according to latest sherdog rankings, 5 of the top 10 heavyweights are not in the UFC, including the top 3. 4 of the top 10 185 pound fighters are not in the UFC. 7 of the top 10 lightweights are not in the UFC.

What exactly were you disputing again?

Sam,

There was nothing to misinterpret. I could assume either you did or didn’t understand that it’s Dana’s job to promote the UFC as the best since you didn’t communicate it initially. Apparently you don’t understand it, since you listed it with your reasons for supporting organizations that are competitor’s to the UFC. I suppose I’m supposed to believe that this Affliction 2 card is the “MMA card of the century”? That is the same type of ‘nonsense’ that Dana White spews at times. I’m not here to argue with you dude. You gave your opinion to the question and I responded. Which is obviously what happens in a comment thread. BTW

In terms of rankings(which are merely opinion), I wasn’t disputing anything. Just pointing out the fact that the percentage of top fighters not in the UFC isn’t as big as you make it out to be.

So 50, 40 and 70% are not Huge percentages?? Hmmm, okay.

You are still completely missing the point.

“I suppose I’m supposed to believe that this Affliction 2 card is the "MMA card of the century"? That is the same type of ‘nonsense’ that Dana White spews at times.”

I was not merely complaining about Dana White, as you appear to believe. I was making the point, quite clearly I might add, that this is why hardcore fans feel obligated to support non-UFC promotions, “to counter Dana White’s bullshit.” (I quoted myself there). Now what that means (since i obviously need to spell it out for you) is that hardcore fans feel obligated to support other promotions as a means to educate people who believe dana white and think that UFC actually has all of the top fighters in all weight classes(not 30-60% in several classes, as is actually the case). This does NOT mean that I am buying the bullshit claims of other promotions (again, as you continually insinuate is my belief). If that is not clear enough for you, then I dont really know what i can do for you other than to recommend going back to school.

PS- “nonsense” is a word, “non-sense” is not a word. But then again, what should I expect from someone who writes for mma4real.com for a living and starts sherdog-esque UFC vs. the world threads as opposed to writing actual articles. Keep up the sub-par “work.”

In addition, all the “author” is adding to this thread is his defense of the UFC and Dana White, rather than making a salient point relating to Hardcore fan’s support of non-UFC promotions.

Not very diplomatic.

LOL! You mad? The UFC has 5 weight divisions. If we are using the top ten as a measuring stick. That equals 50 fighters. You said there were 16 top ten fighters not in the UFC. As a whole those percentages are no where near those in which you posted. Furthermore, over 25% of those 16 fighters are EX UFC fighters.

LOL@ you trying to correct someone. It’s mma4real.net not .com

Thanks for visiting!

“In addition, all the "author" is adding to this thread is his defense of the UFC and Dana White, rather than making a salient point relating to Hardcore fan’s support of non-UFC promotions.”

Defense? I just proved that the numbers are not as big as you would have others believe.

Try reading your my comments on your site before responding:

My quote: “This couldnt be more untrue, with a HUGE percentage of the worlds best 155, 185 and Heavyweight fighters competing outside the UFC”

Thats what I said, I said nothing about other divisions. So, nice correction. So you did not “prove that the numbers are not as big as you would have others believe.” Thats called putting words into my mouth…good journalism.

Your quote:
“I could assume either you did or didn’t understand that it’s Dana’s job to promote the UFC as the best since you didn’t communicate it initially. Apparently you don’t understand it, since you listed it with your reasons for supporting organizations that are competitor’s to the UFC.”

So since I answered YOUR question by explaining why hardcore fans choose to watch non-ufc events (not necessarily exclusively), you conclude that I do not undesrtand why Dana White makes exaggerated claims. Not a logical conclusion on your part. Figures why you are a two-bit, half-assed MMA writer for a shitty site.

I wont be returning to this piece of crap .NET website. Have a nice “career.” I have an actual job, and I’m just a fan. Hahhaha, loser.

Sam, are you really Jared Shaw or Tom Atencio?

LOL! Sam is mad! He knows he is going to come back just to see my response. Of course he isn’t going to mention the other divisions when all of the top ten fighters(save one or two) are in the UFC…idiot.

While agree that the UFC is the best MMA organization and I’m certainly not anti-UFC, I agree with a lot of what Sam is saying. I don’t like when the UFC promotes itself as the only relevant MMA organization, because 1) I don’t think they are, and 2) I don’t think it’s the right way to act, regardless of business tactics. I also think competition and VARIETY among promotions is a good thing, and with that in mind, I’m likely to give newer organizations a buy.

Eric,

Thanks for commenting.

My pleasure Kelvin. Will you be dishing it out for Affliction 2?

Probably go half with a buddy of mine. I really want to see the Fedor/AA fight.