I would talk to anyone I could about it except the fact
I work in a demograph which should cater to the average ufc fan
(Construction work with a lot of 20-35 year olds)
And I’m literally the only person that even knows what mma or ufc is
It’s still such a niche sport in the UK it blows my mind they would try this
Sure they sell out the o2 or the MEN etc
So what
Casual fan pricks will buy those tickets just to have a night out
But buy a PPV and get up at 3am? LOL
Nope
This whole thing is just pure greed and like I said in previous post a 1000 buys is 20 grand
That could pay for the marketing team all year and they are gunna love that because our voices aren’t loud enough
Yep, spot on! A lot of my friends like the UFC through me and are getting into it but there's a handful of people who don't "get" the UFC still or haven't got into it, they all think that Boxing is better which is fair enough (they're entitled to like what they like) but as much as I don't mind and quite like a bit of Boxing it's nothing compared to UFC. UFC constantly have good fights all the time where as Boxing you'll get one every 6 to 9 months or something, Boxing fights can often be boring (Josh Warrington the other night was full of boxing fans complaining how it was a boring fight), sure you get boring fights in UFC but you can guarantee, even when a low carded event is on you're gonna get some great fights and entertainment which happens more in UFC than it does in Boxing (which also goes the other way). Plus Boxing is just that, Boxing, the fights are just boxers going up against each other where as with the UFC there is not only so much competition and heart between the fighters it's full of different styles (including Boxing) that it makes the competition much bigger, better and varied.
UFC is so much better (in my opinion of course) and it frustrated me when Boxing fans who haven't even really watched UFC other than caught the odd fight in the background or something turn round and say "UFC is shit" or "It's all about Boxing" yet they don't know anyone other than Conor McGregor. They don't know the fighters, they don't know the divisions so they don't get how good it is when a fight say if Justin Gaethje vs Dustin Poirier was announced, or when Al Iaquinta, Tony Ferguson, Max Holloway, Anthony Smith, Ben Askren, Robbie Lawler (the list is endless) are announced in fights how it's much better than say Tyson Fury vs Tom Schwarz or Josh Warrington vs Kid Galahad, as good as those fighters are they never bring anything close to the fights UFC bring (Take Cub Swanson vs Doo Ho Choi for example) and this is what I feel they're missing out on but they just simply don't know it and they'll see the odd fight where say two guys (or girls) are hugging each other on the floor with some wrestling style for a few moments and completely dismiss it from then.
Point is, you're absolutely spot on in regards to how the sport is growing because a lot of people are just getting to know UFC here now and when they do (as a few of my friends have) they then start to really enjoy it, love it, get to know the fighters, the divisions and then you start hearing them say how UFC is better than Boxing in many ways, one being how they constantly bring us exciting fights then a few weeks later we have another exciting fight always to look forward to where as with Boxing you've to wait 6 or 8 months or something to get one good fight, it's just completely different and better
BUT that's not to say Boxing isn't good or enjoyable (it is!) though what I'm trying to say is a lot of people are playing catch up and just getting into the UFC at the moment, as casuals right now, until they get to know the sport, the fighters, the divisions, the competition and the events more which is where they then become huge fans of the sport and realise how good it really is as well as the fact there's more to it and always something to be excited for.
And I'm seeing these friends being disappointing in Boxing more, talking less about Boxing and being excited about, talking about and made up about various UFC fights happening whether that's from an announcement or after watching an event and they're talking about certain fights from that event and this is coming from friends who were (and are) huge fans of boxing but I can see this now when they start to get into UFC where they start to see and favour UFC that little bit more to the point where they're looking forward to UFC events more than the Boxing one's. I'm hearing them talk more about UFC than Boxing because they've got into it, got to know it through myself etc.. and we really look forward to UFC events all the time now, we barely even speak about Boxing give and take the odd one now and why, because they've been watching it, got into it and see what it's about and the fighters and competition it has.
I'd never diss Boxing because I do feel it's a great sport and we also get some good fighters with great heart in the Boxing world too but it's not anything close to UFC with that and a lot of fans simply don't know the UFC enough to be able to see this and will just dismiss it before even getting into it.
A lot of them who diss UFC as opposed to Boxing, if I ask them to name some fighters they never can other than Conor and possibly Khabib (that guy Conor fought they refer to) and that's about it.
Point is, what you mentioned there about them being on Box Office and with the people you work with is exactly the same for me with friends and my brothers friends too, my brothers friends mainly are the one's who say UFC is shit but they've never even really watched it other than brief clips and fights they've caught and even then they're not watching it properly, it's like in the background yet I know that the more they do that and the more they see it they are going to (and will) on a whole come round to it, get it, understand it, love it and enjoy it.
The sport is still growing here and this is why it's important to be showcased the way BT Sport were showcasing it cause none of them will even care about missing it in general let alone paying for it at stupid o'clock on a Box Office channel, it's just hurting the sport and the growth of the sport right now which is also very frustrating.
Along the lines of the fact BT Sport haven't even distributed their Box Office channel to a lot of platforms they have other loyal paying BT Sport subscribers through (who also subscribe specifically for UFC and is why they have those subscribers) which as I mentioned earlier is just selfish and a kick in the teeth to those fans by taking it away from them without caring if they can access it for the sake of pure greed.
But yeah, you're spot on and they really need to see this instead of being greedy which as of now, is all it is from BT Sports trying to push it to see how much they can make off us and to see if we cave (which hopefully we won't).
You nailed it with that!