Boxing losing the battle of evolution to UFC

Fox Sports ^ | 4-28-06 | Keith Terceira / BoxingScene.com

[SShultz460]

Boxing Losing marketshare to the UFC/MMA

[SShultz460]

UFC/MMA Ping!

[Neville72]

Good. UFC is quite entertaining.

[squidward]

I used to love watching boxing, but pay no attention to it anymore. UFC is great. Fighter safety is not as much a problem now as it used to be back in the early days when a kick to the head of a fighter down on the mat was allowed.

[BadAndy]

I predict that Royce Gracie is going to kick the crap out of Matt Hughes.

[squidward]

I used to love watching boxing, but pay no attention to it anymore. UFC is great. Fighter safety is not as much a problem now as it used to be back in the early days when a kick to the head of a fighter down on the mat was allowed.

[squidward]

whoops...double post. I guess my trigger finger was a bit itchy

[Wolfie]

Gracie will probably win, but there won't be any crap kicking going on. Just one b-o-r-i-n-g match once it goes to the ground.

[SShultz460]

I'm looking forward to the fight, however it will be a yawner. I'll take Hughes by Decision

[Mr. Mojo]

Can one watch a UFC event these days without forking out $30 - $40? I saw a few tourneys in the early 90s when Royce Gracie was the undisputed champ and the viewing was free, but haven't seen much MMA since. (No weight classes in those early days. .....and not many rules either).

Boxing would hold my interested better if it went back to 8 weight classes/divisions -- 8 champs, one champ per division. Nowadays with all the "junior" and "super" divisions there are at least double that amount, and with all the world governing bodies there are often more than 4 champs per weight class. Who can follow the sport when there are over 50 "champions?"

[libs_kma]

What killed boxing is pay per view. UFC seems to be making the same mistake.

I like to watch it (Boxing and UFC), but I learned a long time ago (Holmes/Leon Spinks), that $50.00 for 59 seconds isn't a very good deal.

Thats when I stopped being a fan.

[SShultz460]

Free UFC on Spike TV every Thursday night. Plus about every other Month they do Ultimate Fight Night Live.

For the PPVs, I go to a Bar with my friends and fork over $5 for a cover charge.

Also Fox Sports Net has PrideFC weekly and will be running the new International Fight League (IFL) in a few weeks.

[L98Fiero]

"Can one watch a UFC event these days without forking out $30 - $40?"

Spike TV.

[chris1]

I love UFC !!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mr. Mojo]

Thanks for the tips; I'll be checking it out.

[SShultz460]

I havent seen a UFC event where they showed fewer than 5 fights. If any of the fights Go fast they air the Undercard.

It's done well, Heck UFC 49 (probably one of the best ever) was like Ultimate Knockouts and still went 3 hours with probably one of the most brutal dominating fights I have ever seen (Couture/Belfort 3)

[chris1]

I can't even watch boxing anymore because it seems so limited, and lacks all the excitement of MMA.

[Northern Alliance]

30 seconds of UFC is usually more entertaining that 2 hours of boxing. Given a choice I would take the first every time.

[Ticonderoga34]

Boxing would hold my interested better if it went back to 8 weight classes/divisions -- 8 champs, one champ per division. Nowadays with all the "junior" and "super" divisions there are at least double that amount, and with all the world governing bodies there are often more than 4 champs per weight class. Who can follow the sport when there are over 50 "champions?"

I used to a big boxing fan but like you wrote, too many divisions and champions have ruin the sport for me. I still like to watch old fights on ESPN Classic though.

[SShultz460]

I actually tried to watch boxing again the other day. It was interesting to watch the difference in the level of striking, but I was bored because that's all it was.

Man, I look forward to those shoots and the exciting grappling where people are chaining subs, dropping elbows, reversing postions, etx.