Apex cards

[Poirierfan]

UFC 297 was in an arena and it was pretty garbage compared to most apex cards.

That's the exception, 90% of the time it's the other way around.

 

[Neck&Neck]

Apex! what is it good for
absolutely nothing !
say it again now

 

[LiQuiD42]

The last 2 cards have been total stinkers. There is barely a crowd, that seems to have an effect on just about everything, including the energy of the fighters. I don’t know maybe it’s just me it’s not like guys haven’t won by KO or awesome submission. It just feels like I am watching guys practicing at times instead of going for it. These Muay Thai guys have ruined me in ONE FC…

 

[Poirierfan]

The last 2 cards have been total stinkers. There is barely a crowd, that seems to have an effect on just about everything, including the energy of the fighters. I don’t know maybe it’s just me it’s not like guys haven’t won by KO or awesome submission. It just feels like I am watching guys practicing at times instead of going for it. These Muay Thai guys have ruined me in ONE FC…

One Championship is ruining everything. Lol

 

[Poirierfan]

UFC can’t afford to host anywhere else. They are paying the fighters too much

Good point, the fighters are getting filter rich while the UFC is just trying to stay a float. I respect Dana and the UFC for their generosity.

 

[ipowerslapmywife]

Good point, the fighters are getting filter rich while the UFC is just trying to stay a float. I respect Dana and the UFC for their generosity.

They need to lower fighter pay to save the ufc. Better fights if their hungry too

 

[Substance Abuse]

I couldn't care less where the fights happen, but the UFC should use smaller Vegas venues like the Hard Rock more often.

 

[Eric Silva 2.0]

UFC can’t afford to host anywhere else. They are paying the fighters too much

Early favorite for post of the year.

 

[Eric Silva 2.0]

You're right, we are being cheated even though it's a free product, and that's because the goof himself promised this would never happen. His exact words were "we'll never become boxing", in reference to top heavy fight cards. But as long as we have these shilling, Oliver Twist ass shersheep holding their little slop bowls out for "mor",nothing is going to change.

Tl;dr: look at this neck beard complaining about free shit

To be fair calling some of these cards "top heavy" might be stretching it. Some of them including last night haven't been heavy anywhere.

 

[Herwald]

It's a spectator sport, so I want the crowd, but I'm kinda used to it by now and those APEX cards make PPVs seem more eventful.

Still want the crowd, but whatever.

 

[JoeRowe]

I'd more forgiving if EVERY PPV looked like 298. The 288/289/293/297s need to be on par with the 290/291/296s for these FNs to serve a purpose. Most ppvs are awesome but most isn't enough when the in-between cards are like this.

If it wasn't for betting I don't think I'd watch anything Apex oriented. Took me a few years before I even checked out DWCS because of the atmosphere.

 

[xhaydenx]

I guess the question is, would you rather have a card a month/every other month but filled with more named fighters and PPV level setting or a bunch of subpar DWCS fighters and have almost all weekends with events.

I believe it's how you go into the event. I go in there with the mindset that they are going to be a bunch of mid/low tier fighters and most fights are not going to be that good. I do notice myself saying "I don't know these fighters" for most of these cards. However, if a good knockout/fight happens in the card, while hanging with some Sherbros and laughing at some images/memes, I'm ok with that.

Before COVID there were still cards most weekends.

I don't have a problem with the actual fighter they put on the Apex cards. It's very rare that I don't know who they are.

The problem with the Apex cards is that they have no life to them, and that seems to affect the fighters as well. There's lots of matchups that I feel like would be bangers if there was a proper crowd there to cheer them on. Instead, the fighter's have pretty much just their coaches there, and a lot of the fights end up being little more than sparring matches as a result.

It's like the fighters don't take these cards seriously at all. It's totally different to the DWCS cards because in that these guys know they need to perform if they want a contract, so they get after it hard. The DWCS cards last year were way better than the normal Apex cards.

The last two Apex cards have been awful.

 

[Fjord]

Guess it's all part of the UFC's plan to maintain a monopoly on the sport. The more fights they have, the more fighters they keep under contract and the less fighters are able to go and fight for other promotions.

The apex fight night cards are ok from time to time I guess. I didn't watch all of the fights last night but there were 3 fairly good fights. Tavares is always a recognizable name, the huge Ige KO and then the Hermansson fight.

There's got to be a way for the up and coming fighters to keep on fighting too.

I just wish they'd do something about the apex. Renovate it. Add at least 500-1000 seats. Make it into a bad ass kumite looking arena. There's so much that could be done.

As others mentioned, not free since it's on ESPN+ and that requires a subscription.

 

[Paolo Delutis]

I'm curious how you all feel about the UFC choosing to continue to shove Apex cards down our throats in place of quality fights in arenas? Personally, I'm done with these events if they continue to be subpar, I feel like the UFC is cheating us even though they're free to watch.

The fights actually put me to sleep twice yesterday, if that isn't a sign of what kind of a shit product it's become then I don't know what is (rant over).

Im indifferent...as a fan

As a Martial artists i kinda feel like it changes the sport abit and probably shouldn't be allowed...it should be the same cage size for all fights...i think some Apex fights probably play out differently in the normal cage size...

 

[Blanqa Blanqua]

I'm curious how you all feel about the UFC choosing to continue to shove Apex cards down our throats in place of quality fights in arenas? Personally, I'm done with these events if they continue to be subpar, I feel like the UFC is cheating us even though they're free to watch.

The fights actually put me to sleep twice yesterday, if that isn't a sign of what kind of a shit product it's become then I don't know what is (rant over).

I feel like the poll needs a multiple choice option. I'd probably check 2, 3 & 4.

It's like they need a secondary league at this point. Make it obvious / acknowledge that it ain't the big show. And also, yeah make the big show a big show again.

I feel like they need to stop trying to dictate who becomes a star too - via their promo and match ups etc. Let the winners shine and move up, and let the willing active fighters fight often and hard and reap the rewards. Let the primadonnas and no-shows fade into obscurity. Their obsession with control over this is just weird, and seems to fuck a lot of things up.

I switched over to something more entertaining. The constant stopping due to pokes and groin shots, and then no sound from crowd, just DC and Cruz doing their best to annoy anyone listening.

Yeah those two are awful, especially together.

As for the small crowd, yeah they aren't even as loud as they could / should be. Maybe they should ensure everyone is liquored up to get em a bit more vocal.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

They've been devoid of energy lately, I think it's run it's course.

 

[Danespina]

UFC has both wonderful cards and subpar cards. I’m good at identifying what type of week it is and enjoying it for what it is.

Up next.
- Great PPV (Yay)
- Very fun Mexico City event (Yay)
- Nearly cancelled Apex show (Boo)
- Tremendous PPV (Yay)

Crowd is prefered, but the matches are much more important.

 

[drbolony]

To be fair calling some of these cards "top heavy" might be stretching it. Some of them including last night haven't been heavy anywhere.

As you can see, I'm extremely generous.

 

[Johnnny]

The Apex and shitty cards go hand in hand. I don't like the Apex because it's a lot less exciting without fans, feels empty and bland.

The ESPN deal requires the UFC to put on a lot of events and pays the UFC a fixed price for it. The UFC, in turn, has decided to focus on cutting as many costs as possible, which means a lot of cards at the APEX and a roster full of fighters outside of the top 50 in their weight class, because such low level fighters are so grateful for the "opportunity" that they are willing to fight for peanuts, especially manlets and WMMA.

It's a very short-sighted strategy that hopefully ESPN will push back on, once they realize that very few people are watching these throwaway cards and their subscriber base begins to decrease.

The UFC has its head stuck so far up its ass on cost-cutting that it somehow didn't realize that an event in Vegas on the the day before the Superbowl was an absolutely massive revenue opportunity. The should have stacked that card, it would have brought in a huge gate with all the money in Vegas this weekend and gotten more eyeballs on the UFC to bring in new fans. They could have put ex-NFL player Austen Lane on the card. Eryk Anders and Zac Pauga would have made sense, too.

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

if they won't go back to smaller venues because its too much work, then they need to at least open up the APEX to a small, but very drunk crowd, and strip away all of the broadcast aesthetics. it looks way too "professional" in there with the lighting, color choices, set up, way too broadcast-y for bullshit ass fights. make it a hangar, make it bear bones, let's see the crowd again, lets get rid of all of the shit on the walls, and make it feel like low level MMA again. everything looks championship material, yet the fights are terrible. make the cage smaller too, there should be no decisions at this level. kill or be killed. make the cage a different color, something that differentiates it from the real thing, because the real thing, it is not. get rid of the same fucking intro / outro songs too. we need a metal-based soundtrack again. i don't want to hear john williams IV compose a score to fucking cage fighting. just make it more better already UFC.