Mixed martial arts is the fastest growing sport right now, and with its continued growth as a sport comes the continued growth of fans. Fans of MMA are passionate and rally behind individual athletes very often, to the point where they almost feel part of the fighter’s camp.
This is due to the exposure we are getting from the head companies who represent the sport.
Zuffa, comprised of UFC and Strikeforce, is the biggest promotion on the planet. Bellator and others stick out as well. These companies are putting the sport into the homes of everyone worldwide and giving them much more than people imagined a decade ago.
With the growth the MMA companies have gained, MMA events are being put on very often. This is, of course, a plus.
There are some that would argue that there is “too much of a good thing,” but the majority seem to clamor for even more.
The question used to be, “Is there a fight this week?” This has and continues to change and adapt to, “Who is fighting this week?”
The frequency of events, whether they are PPV or free fights, has increased significantly over the past few years. 2011 brought upon many fights and new chapters of MMA, and certainly left many people’s wallets a little lighter.
2012 is on the right course to outdo itself in regards to the number of events put on.
So far, January 2012 has had/will have a fight every weekend of the month. February is slated to be event-less only one week of the month. This packed schedule has been provided by the UFC and Strikeforce alone.
Fans are spoiled, but this article is not painting it in a bad light. On the contrary, this is a simple fact that is just something to enjoy.
As MMA fans, who wouldn’t want a fight every weekend? Yes, having a PPV event every weekend might hurt for some, but there are always bars and restaurants to catch the fights for free as well.
What has happened, to much delight, is that most weekends are booked for Saturday night. On weeks like February 5th through the 11th, though, it almost seems like we go through withdrawal. As fans, we have become accustomed to this high-frequency fight night schedule that is being put on, to the point where one week off seems like forever.
This is a good thing, though. When people are used to a fight/event each week, there is little need to worry about promoting awareness of the fight taking place. Companies still need to promote WHO is fighting and WHY it is worth everyone’s money, but it is at a point where people can assume there is a fight on Saturday night and would be right most of the time.
The companies spoil the fans in terms of PR events, social media interaction and so on, but at the end of the day, we all want to see some good fights.
The downside to this spoiling is that some people can develop high expectations for every fight card. While a card like UFC on Fox 2 at the end of the month doesn’t seem PPV-worthy now, it could have years ago.
Higher standards of a money-worthy PPV event are slowly being adopted by some, but now with the Fox deal, a UFC event can be “not a PPV candidate,” but a valuable gem when free and on a major network like Fox.
We have already had a couple examples in the past where a title was put on the line, or a strong card in general was put on free television.
Naturally, we would like for any PPV event to have a championship fight on it, but sometimes this can’t be the case. In this sense, we can be spoiled to the point where we expect more than possible.
2012 will be yet another year of big changes, big title fights (especially with the new division) and be full of weekends with friends on Saturday nights.
Are we spoiled as MMA fans? Absolutely, and most wouldn’t want it any other way.
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