“The UFC, As Real As It Gets!” That has been the UFC’s slogan since inception. But now, at least one man is saying the world’s largest MMA promotion can no longer hang their hat on that.
The UFC has been struggling as of late, in the T.V. ratings world, and pay-per-view buys market.
The fighters they do have that are fan favorites, don’t fight. And new stars are having a hard time breaking out, because these days, fights are turned down left and right.
Kamaru Usman tells Ariel Helwani his personal feelings on the matter.
Check it:
“This is the biggest reason why: The fight game has changed in a sense where it is not what it used to be. I don’t know who you can blame, there are a few guess [sic] of people who you can put that on. The fight game has changed to where it’s no longer the toughest is fighting the toughest to be the best on the planet.”
“Now there are all these different components that go into it. Fighters no longer manage themselves, they have a whole team behind them. A fighter has a manager, an agent, a Hollywood agent, they got this and that. And on top of that, they’ve got their whole team of coaches. Also, the company that we’re under now, it’s not the old UFC ‘As Real As It Gets’ hardcore. It’s an entertainment company now. So, everybody now is trying to find the favorable matchup; ‘I want that big name, or this big fight, I want this standup guy here, I don’t want want to deal with a hard-nosed wrestler that I can’t take down, or someone I can’t out-strike.’ So all these guys are trying to pick favorable matcups.”
“All these guys are just trying to pick and choose the favorable matchups, favorable fights and they are just sitting. Now it’s just entertainment and everyone wants to be in the entertainment business. Everybody wants to be a star without taking those tough fights.”
