Can and will mma become a more popular sport than boxing?

[TboneNYC]

Can MMA become the go to sport and surpass boxing in fanbase?

[P4P]

No. There PPvs are going down a lot also it MAYBE more popular in the US but around the world its not even in close. I don't think its more popular in the US

[Irelandsthebest]

No it cannot, but they can become nearly as popular but were talking a long time before that happens worldwide as its gonna take a very long time before MMA has someone sell like Oscar in the US or the Klits in Europe.

[scubasteveRFC]

i like most combat sports but think MMA is followed more by the WWF wrestling types.

I rarely see a fight thats enjoyable, usually just 5 minutes of rolling about on the floor. the another 5 then another 5.

then title fights are bloody 25 minutes of rolling about on the floor

saying taht the last 15 seconds of mir vs carson heavyweight fight from ufc111 was good, the first 2 and a half minutes of the round were just one guy pusing the other against a cage, then all of a sudden he started throwing uppercuts then exploded on the guy. that was ok but i thought why not do that all along

would much rather watch boxing or even K1 kickboxing

[Starched Him]

do you see how much revenue boxing brings? it took a loooong time to get it there.
its gonna take mma a loooong time to reach boxings status

[LP_1985]

look at like this. when kids are growing up they want to fight not roll round on the floor holding another kid in a lock for 3 mins

[Atlanta]

Will it? Perhaps, But I wouldn't bet on it being the ideal image Dana White has created the UFC as.

[TboneNYC]

IMO boxing has been around for way to long and has grown a huge fanbase with many loyal fans to be overthrown by MMA.

Boxing has way to much tradition.Like me who my dad showed some of the greatest fighters when i was just a little kid.And his dad did the same for him ect.And i realy never stopped loving the sport since.

[(PimpThaSystem)]

It already is, at least in the USA. The only fighters people know nowadays are Pac and May. What happens when they retire? Who else is gonna get the PPV numbers? I don't think you guys understand how UFC is affecting the current generation. Kids aren't boxing anymore. The UFC craze is sweeping them up.

[J.R.]

It already is, at least in the USA. The only fighters people know nowadays are Pac and May. What happens when they retire? Who else is gonna get the PPV numbers? I don't think you guys understand how UFC is affecting the current generation. Kids aren't boxing anymore. The UFC craze is sweeping them up.
Well, people can't exactly name any top MMA fighters either. I bet there are more people out there who could name May and Pac than ones who could name any quality MMA fighters.

[PIPO23]

It's a fast growing sports, I'd say yes.

[Exactabox]

it got a great boost in 2007 thanks to the dazzling style of Floyd Mayweather.
Boxing can take back the spotlight if Shane Mosley fights Manny.

[P4P]

It already is, at least in the USA. The only fighters people know nowadays are Pac and May. What happens when they retire? Who else is gonna get the PPV numbers? I don't think you guys understand how UFC is affecting the current generation. Kids aren't boxing anymore. The UFC craze is sweeping them up.
It depends where you live, I know plenty of people growing up that want to box its much easier to get into boxing if you live in poverty where as if your middle class or can afford mma gyms its the other way around

[Slacker]

I could fill a bus with MMA fans I know, both men and women. But, aside from the guys at the gym, I'm the only die hard boxing fan I know.

Having said that, I think MMA fighters are less disciplined and that a prime elite MMA fighter, Anderson Silva for example, couldn't stand up with a elite pro boxer like say.... Haye or Ademek...or even someone like Glen Johnson.

My coach (40 yrs in the sport) agrees, and he has worked with guys like Eddie Futch, Riddick Bowe, Aaron Pryor and Rich Franklin. I'll take his word for it.

[sp550i]

boxing = chess
mma = checkers

[mirfieldmexican]

no because you have no chance of gettin ufc or strikeforce or any other mma brand to work together, fedor will never get a fight wit brock at least when it matters most imo. gbp and top rank were prepared to sit down and at least try and get pac vs floyd made. ufc wont do any buisness with a third party and they are going through a recycle period at the moment imo its gettin a bit shit

[J.R.]

boxing = chess
mma = checkers
Boxing = cumming inside a beautiful woman's vagina

MMA = wacking off into a tissue

[puertorricane]

it already has.. it's more popular right now with a bigger fan base.. but boxing is still a bigger sport with more money and recognition.. what we need is a boxer willing to put MMA in it place... people really think that MMA is legit but to me it isnt.. is just a bunch of amateru mother fuckers rolling around in the floor street fighting.. a boxer needs to fight a MMA fighter with MMA rules and kick his ass and show that they're just amateurs.. and take away the legitimization they think they have

:hat

[RSBonos]

Boxing still has 10x the talent pool and 10x the amount of shows around the world.

[nezy37]

yeah, but I don't care. They where advertising a card for PPV and it had three big fights on it. I don't follow the sport closely and I recognized at least 4 of the six fighters names. Boxing needs to do that with its cards or people will get pissed and not buy. See Pac Clottey as an example of a shitty card.

[M.I.G.]

Boxing is still the most popular sport worldwide but the US is showing a definite shift away from it and towards MMA. I fear that the rest of the world will follow within the next 20 years or so.

[NoHomeJerome]

don't their top fighters get like $300k a fight or some shit? plus there PPVs have been going down I think (and were no where near top boxing matches at their highest anyway)

[Piye]

mma is only big in the states on a world scale it's a niche sport.

[Pimp C]

Fuck no MMA sucks.

[M.I.G.]

Boxing has been around for much longer and most of its established fan base is older than MMA's. As those people age, boxing will continue to decline. Especially if it continues to be run by the money-hungry cocksuckers who promote the cards...

HBO is fucking it up too. The commentators don't even get into the fights anymore. It takes away from the action having to hear those guys compete to see who can sound the smartest. They need to focus on what's going on in the ring instead of spitting out their opinions so much. It distracts the viewers from the actual show.

[Juiceboxbiotch]

Nah, even the lower level PPV boxing cards are getting more buys than UFC right now. UFC peaked in 2008/2009. Now that all their big name fighters have fought eachother 3 or 4 times its just the same recycled shit. The Ultimate Fighter is still cool to watch because of the way they do the fights... other than that I'm not interested anymore.

As far as top fighters go, Mayweather and Pacquiao are at the top of their game, generating all this interest, even Mayweather and Mosley will do really well... but who are the UFCs top fighters? Silva? He's already cleared out his weight class, do you have any interest in seeing him fight the next best no-name guy? Tito Ortiz? Randy Couture? Liddell... Jackson... all these guys are shot to shit and they keep pitting them against eachother like for the fourth and fifth times like we'll be interested in the same crap over and over.

Give MMA another year or so and you'll see their interest continue to dwindle while Boxing's top guys keep maintaining.

[P4P]

it already has.. it's more popular right now with a bigger fan base.. but boxing is still a bigger sport with more money and recognition.. what we need is a boxer willing to put MMA in it place... people really think that MMA is legit but to me it isnt.. is just a bunch of amateru mother fuckers rolling around in the floor street fighting.. a boxer needs to fight a MMA fighter with MMA rules and kick his ass and show that they're just amateurs.. and take away the legitimization they think they have

:hat

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[nip102]

ufc might mma will not.the ufc has managed to get fans to follow the promotion not the fighters.Boxing fans follow the fighters

[ross]

Speaking for myself I don't get the same anticipation for any mma fight as i do for big boxing matches. If you really think about it the best mma high lights are always related to striking, whether it be a k.o. or just flat out badass exchanges.

[James23]

LOOOOL!

Always humorous to read what boxing fans have to say...like they even have a clue.

Hilarious.

[jimmie]

It can I dont know if it will though and honestly dont care much.

[snakey112]

so many bitter boxing fans/MMA haters in this thread

honestly who cares, they can both coexist as big sports

[Kevin_Wright]

The problem is you have people like joe rogan's dumb retarded cock-sucking ass, who bash boxing and glorify MMA. When you go on ESPN and talk shit about boxing, calling it boring and one dimensional. Then you're going to catch some flack. Sorry.

[snakey112]

The problem is you have people like joe rogan's dumb retarded cock-sucking ass, who bash boxing and glorify MMA. When you go on ESPN and talk shit about boxing, calling it boring and one dimensional. Then you're going to catch some flack. Sorry.
just like you get floyd mayweather and bob arum going on tv and talking shit about MMA too, it goes both ways.

[BewareofDawg]

Not While Floyd and Pacman are still around

[BewareofDawg]

ufc might mma will not.the ufc has managed to get fans to follow the promotion not the fighters.Boxing fans follow the fighters
:deal

[amhlilhaus]

the ufc's problem is kind of like what happened to wwe when they won the promotional war. there's no competition and the top guys are all in the same organization so they fight each other and then there's no where to go for the loser.

take rich franklin. he's a great fighter but he can't beat anderson silva so he was instantly relegated to gate keeper. another organization and he'd have been able to reestablish himself.

ufc's hottest division right now is heavyweight, it is going to be awesome the next couple of years to see who comes out on top.

[Boinko]

I hope it continues to rise in popularity and pushes the boxing world to create the best fights possible, knowing they may lose some of their fan base if they try and pass of bouts like Hopkins/Jones as major spectacles (and yes, I know MMA has done that as well with some fights, both are guilty).

If boxing makes fights people want to see, it's never going to have a problem with making money and keeping fans. Same with MMA.

Boxing isn't going to die, but it can't show contempt for it's fans like it sometimes has in the past.

[eltorrente]

It's an interesting question..

I hear a lot more people talk about Frank Mir, BJ Penn, Silva, etc than Bernard Hopkins or Mayweather. I work with about 80-90 people, and I hear a lot more MMA talk than boxing, that's for sure.

There's only one guy in the whole place that knows boxing like I do, but then again, both of us know MMA also.