David Abbou
Jul 10, 2017 · 1 min read

Great point Jeremy — Perhaps back then those type of star- and money-driven matchups seemed less dominant because the UFC still had dominant champs who were able to take on all contenders from one end of the hype/marketability spectrum (your Chael Sonnens) to the other (Your Thales Leites’)— and succeed (Anderson Silva, GSP). Since their fall, parity has set in in most divisions, making it difficult to build up any champ, and the ones that are (Demetrious Johnson) are harder for the UFC to turn into draws. These forces, coupled with the sale and the UFC’s ambitions of expanding in popularity worldwide has made jumping the line to title shots very common. Question is, is the UFC overestimating the net gain of operating this way and at this rate vs. the potential loss of losing loyal fans who want to see some semblance of fair and competitive match ups?