Which sport will have a better 2018, Boxing or MMA?

Draper

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It's safe to say that boxing absolutely annihilated MMA in 2017, but I feel that MMA has a chance to make it close in 2018's bid for #1 combat sport. Both have some pretty good fights lined up and potentially taking place this year:

BOXING
Confirmed fights so far:
Errol Spence vs Lamont Peterson
Deontay Wilder vs Luis Ortiz
Danny Garcia vs Brandon Rios
Anthony Joshua vs Joseph Parker -- extremely likely, purse split already agreed upon.
Chris Eubank Jr. vs George Groves


Potential fights:
Deontay Wilder vs Anthony Joshua --- Undisputed HW championship
Canelo vs GGG 2 --- Highly likely
Errol Spence vs Terence Crawford
Terence Crawford vs Jeff Horn
Keith Thurman vs Jessie Vargas
Keith Thurman vs Shawn Porter 2
Danny Jacobs vs Billy Joe Saunders
GGG vs Jermall Charlo if he beats Canelo --- mandated by WBC. Canelo likely to drop the belt if he beats GGG.
Amir Khan vs Adrien Broner
Vasyl Lomachenko vs Mikey Garcia
Tyson Fury vs some bum
Tyson Fury vs winner of AJ/Wilder

MMA
Confirmed fights so far:
Francis Ngannou vs Stipe Miocic
Daniel Cormier vs Volkan Oezdemir
Robert Whittaker vs Luke Rockhold
Max Holloway vs Frankie Edgar

Potential fights:
Khabib vs Tony Ferguson
Conor McGregor vs Khabib/Tony winner
Conor McGregor vs Nate Diaz 3
Woodley vs Covington/RDA
TJ Dillashaw vs Demetrious Johnson
GSP vs someone
Cyborg vs Nunes

Verdict: Boxing will probably have a better 2018 than MMA.

I don't consider trashy MMA organizations like Bellator as capable of producing elite/big fights, so I opted out of mentioning their rosters entirely. I think boxing has a much better outlook than MMA for 2018 but the margin isn't going to be as embarrassingly wide as it was in 2017.
 
I reckon this is the year for ultimate surrender to take over the mantle as most interesting combat sport.
 
We'll see how it plays out. MMA needs a good year in 2018. There's a reason Dana is using Floyd's name as leverage to renew their FOX deal.
 
Many of the faces of MMA are dicking around trying to compete in boxing and refusing to fight legitimate contenders, while long established champs like MM are being paid terrible and being treated like crap. That should tell you enough.

Honestly, if there is a year where MMA outside the UFC or even Bellator (WSOF, One Championship, Pancrase, Fight Nights Global, Deep, Road FC, KSW, Titan FC, Rizin FF) makes a resurgence, it's 2018, because WME has thrown all legitimacy out the window. Fights like Woodley/Diaz should never even be discussed, and champions should defend their belts. The UFC's new approach towards interim belts is WBAesque in its lack of regard for accomplishment Joe.
 
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The Tony-Khabib-Conor triangle will decide how good a year ufc is having. If they play their cards it can be a huge.
 
It looks pretty good for boxing. Certainly 2017 was a massive year for boxing. If 2018 can approach that then we're in for a treat. Can't say I'm as excited by the MMA bouts and potentials.
 
It looks pretty good for boxing. Certainly 2017 was a massive year for boxing. If 2018 can approach that then we're in for a treat. Can't say I'm as excited by the MMA bouts and potentials.

The biggest fight in 2017 had a ufc fighter in it!! It wasn’t boxing, it was more of a circus!!
 
It looks pretty good for boxing. Certainly 2017 was a massive year for boxing. If 2018 can approach that then we're in for a treat. Can't say I'm as excited by the MMA bouts and potentials.

Other than canelo and ggg, it wasn’t very news worthy. Kovalev and SOG only sold like 250k ppv between both fights!! Boxing realy sucks!! Especially with out Mayweather,canelo...... ggg sells very little unless he’s fighting canelo.
 
There’s a reason that Dana white is getting into boxing and trying to land Anthony Joshua.
 
If Spence fights Crawford, Loma fights Garcia, and Joshua fights Wilder boxing will win garanteed. The best fights MMA might deliver are Conor vs Tony and TJ vs DJ.
 
Other than canelo and ggg, it wasn’t very news worthy. Kovalev and SOG only sold like 250k ppv between both fights!! Boxing realy sucks!! Especially with out Mayweather,canelo...... ggg sells very little unless he’s fighting canelo.

I think we're talking potentially great match ups and not PPV buys.
 
It wasn't boxing now?

You MMA dudes are just broken.

What would you call it,really? Everyone knew in advance that McGregor was gonna lose. It sold because it was a freak show with crazy amounts of advertising not because it was a legit fight. You know that boxing sucks nuts! I like coming over here to rustle some jimmies. I usually watch soccer or boxing when I’m having trouble sleeping. Jab, sshhh,jab,ssshhh, clinch,jab,ssshh.
 
What would you call it,really? Everyone knew in advance that McGregor was gonna lose. It sold because it was a freak show with crazy amounts of advertising not because it was a legit fight. You know that boxing sucks nuts! I like coming over here to rustle some jimmies. I usually watch soccer or boxing when I’m having trouble sleeping. Jab, sshhh,jab,ssshhh, clinch,jab,ssshh.

Only a brilliant mind could produce material of this quality. You've got us losing our minds, man.
 
I’d say boxing as the ufc is in a fckin state at the moment. No active LW champ, no active MW champ. The biggest nsme in the sport is scared to defend his belt. The best fighter in the the sport keeps juicing even though he has all of the physical advantages
 
Other than canelo and ggg, it wasn’t very news worthy. Kovalev and SOG only sold like 250k ppv between both fights!! Boxing realy sucks!! Especially with out Mayweather,canelo...... ggg sells very little unless he’s fighting canelo.
You didn't mention AJ vs Klitschko which was a huge fight. And I don't care how many sells SOG got the fact is we had two of the very best facing off against one another. For a true boxing fan that's a gift, we don't really care about McG vs. PBF. And to end the year we had Lomachenko vs. Rigondeaux. As a boxing fan I couldn't ask for more.
 
If Ngannou wins they will promote the hell out of him but is he the new Michael Grant?
Rockhold/Whittaker is an interesting fight for all the marbles.
Khabib will be a solid champ if he can stay fit.
Conor needs to relinquish and take superfights, he's transcended the sport. If he's serious about fighting Khabib in Russia respect for him will soar again.

Tbh I love both but MMA is way easier to pirate;)
 
Its always hard to compare these two...especially when you're really just comparing one promotion with another entire sport, and most people neither factor the smaller divisions of Boxing nor the non-UFC promotions of MMA when making this comparison.


Personally, I will say boxing will continue to have huge shakeups and new champs. We will see the return of a number of guys from Thurman to Amir Khan, breathing life back to the Welterweight division which has been dead for the last year. Horn vs Crawford is another one to watch.

You will see new contenders at Super Welterweight like Magomed Kurbanov, Julian Williams and Kanat Islam, after Sadam Ali already shocked the world with his impressive upset of Cotto who just retired. What happens to Ali next is certainly intriguing.

Then there's the Light Heavyweight division which is bubbling with excitement as all fighters attempt to unify, and Kovalev tries to reclaim his spot at the top. Artur Beterbiev and Bivol are two must watch fighters.

I expect the Super Flyweight division to lose most of its hype in the months following Superfly 2, with the attention now geared towards the Bantamweight division. Naoya Inoue moves up and seeks to unify, with Zolane Tete making huge noise in the UK and Ryan Burnett already holding 2 belts.
 
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