Are you a UFC fan or an MMA fan?

I meet so many people that seem to actually think that the UFC = MMA and that they have all the best fighters. I can't believe how many out there claim to be mma fans and have never heard of guys like:
Joachim Hansen
Takanori Gomi
Ricardo Arona
Igor Vovchachin
Mark Hunt
Shinya Aoki
etc.... etc....

Kinda sad really, that people buy into Dana White's BS that he constantly bombards the media with. I understand that the UFC is the most easily accessed org. in the USA, but with the internet these days, any major organization can be watched and followed.

So my question is, how many here are fans of the sport of MMA and how many are just fans of the UFC? Be honest please.

I understand your point - but it is a fact that they have a huge percentage of the best fighters. In your example just look at Gomis record against UFC fighters - more losses than wins. Dana White certainly comes accross as an arrogant "dude" but the guy knows how to keep people intertested in his company. The majority of fighters around the world strive to be in the UFC - you may argue - but that is a fact... I can understand your dislike for White - but there is no better organization or group of fighters than in the UfC.

Lifelongfan said:

I understand your point - but it is a fact that they have a huge percentage of the best fighters. In your example just look at Gomis record against UFC fighters - more losses than wins. Dana White certainly comes accross as an arrogant "dude" but the guy knows how to keep people intertested in his company. The majority of fighters around the world strive to be in the UFC - you may argue - but that is a fact... I can understand your dislike for White - but there is no better organization or group of fighters than in the UfC.

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I disagree that the majority of the fighters strive to be in the UFC over other orgs. You do know that the UFC pays their fighters crap compared to Dream, and Sengoku, right? Look at what Affliction pays their fighters! I know fighters that fought in the UFC personally that told me that they will never fight there again because the company treats the fighters like garbage. Dana cashes in, and when a fighter loses once or twice, drops them. Whatever, that is besides the point.

My point was that there are so many top 10 fighters in the world that many so called "mma fans" havent even heard of or taken the time to watch. As far as the UFC having the best talent, look at their HW division... It's pathetic.

As far as Gomi's losses, you do know what happened to Anderson Silva when he fought Ryo Chonan in Pride, right? Fighters move in and out of organizations all the time. Rampage Jackson and Wanderlei Silva for example have fought in Pride for a lot longer than in the UFC. Which is exactly what I wanted to say. "MMA fans" knew about Rampage and Wanderlei LONG before they came to the UFC.

Ok so you named one division in the UFC that isn't great, the heavyweight division. Their 205 light-heavyweight division has undoubtedly the best fighters in the world in Forrest, Rashad, Rampage, Wanderlei, Chuck, etc...Middleweight Anderson Silva who is considered pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. Welterweight GSP and Lightweight BJ Penn, Sherk, Tyson. UFC overall has the best talent in the world. If you make it to the top in UFC and get a title shot, you make a lot of money. That's why most fighters want to be in the UFC. I believe in Lesnar's last fight he made 450,000. The only bad thing about the UFC is that they pay the lower-card fights crap. In UFC 91 one fighter only made 3,000.

I'll admit it. I'm a UFC fan.

The argument here is NOT whether or not the UFC has good talent. It was that there are many many top 10 fighters outside of the UFC that the some fans are not aware of.

My question is, do you consider yourself a fan of the sport meaning ALL organizations, or do you follow the UFC and not care about other orgs?

Sorry Ty, but disagree.

UFC is the pinnacle of MMA, and most of the fighters ive heard of strive to be there.

The people youve probably asked dont have records like Franklin, Couture, Forrest, Chuck, Anderson, etc, and they probably got upset because they couldnt cut it and now they resort to bad mouthing UFC.

Dana is alot like Vince McMahon, people bitch and complain about him and his methods, but, when its all said and done, where do wrestlers dream of going, and where do they end up? WWE....you never hear a wrestler say, "Ive dreamt of going to TNA since ive been 6 years old." No, you hear of WWE, and UFC is no different. People might not like Dana for whatever reason (I tend to like Dana however im not naive enough to say he hasnt done some things that are questionable, but) but the fact is that people end up in UFC

And Dana has very good payouts. Look at Brock. in his 3rd UFC fight he made close to 2 million with almost 1 million being from payout.

Why should a fighter get paid super intense money when he cant live up to the UFC standard? He shouldnt, and Dana knows it.

Dana doesnt have to do the Ultimate Fighter and give guys a chance and 250,000, plus a contract.

So for people who bitch about Dana and UFC, they probably couldnt cut it there to begin with so they got pissed off. And fans who do it cant see, or dont want to see everything they do.

However, i also agree UFC should honor the other companies and fighters in the world, as even the WWE recognizes wrestlers who never stepped foot in their ring, and UFC should also be held to higher standards for not doing so, as everyone looks to them to be top dog.

Again, my question has been completely distorted.

First off, there are quite a few top 10 fighters in almost all weight divisions that refuse to fight in the UFC due to their strict contracts. Joachim Hansen is the first that comes to mind. He is the champion in Dream right now and has defeated guys like JZ, Aoki, Gomi, etc. My point is, there are a lot of people that claim to be mma fans, but in reality they are just UFC fans and don't bother looking outside to other orgs.

This was not meant to be a UFC bashing thread. I am just trying to see how many people care about the sport as a whole and how many think the UFC is the alpha and omega of mma.

And as far as Brock goes, that is a very unfair example to gauge fighters salaries. He made his money because of his name and popularity from his WWE days. If he was a normal fighter without name recognition he would of had to go through the ranks and would have been paid much less. That is besides the point though.

I'm a UFC fan plain and simple

Ty Hope said:

Again, my question has been completely distorted.

First off, there are quite a few top 10 fighters in almost all weight divisions that refuse to fight in the UFC due to their strict contracts. Joachim Hansen is the first that comes to mind. He is the champion in Dream right now and has defeated guys like JZ, Aoki, Gomi, etc. My point is, there are a lot of people that claim to be mma fans, but in reality they are just UFC fans and don't bother looking outside to other orgs.

This was not meant to be a UFC bashing thread. I am just trying to see how many people care about the sport as a whole and how many think the UFC is the alpha and omega of mma.

And as far as Brock goes, that is a very unfair example to gauge fighters salaries. He made his money because of his name and popularity from his WWE days. If he was a normal fighter without name recognition he would of had to go through the ranks and would have been paid much less. That is besides the point though.

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I was just commenting on your previous comments in the thread.

I am both, however, because of my schedule and not having much free time to watch TV or internet broadcasts, I can really only watch UFC

I'm a Mixed Martial Arts fan, and that's why I am a fan of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

I watch any and all MMA that's on TV, whether it's anything under the Zuffa umbrella, or EliteXC to Affliction, King of the Cage, old PrideFC shows. Anything and all.

I love the UFC, but just because something's not UFC doesn't mean I don't like it. UFC may be the most accessible in the US, but it's not the only good thing out there.

I'm a fan of the sport. But I must only "claim" to be a fan because I've never heard of the fighters listed in the OP...nor can I name every fighter out there.

I couldn't care less what it is UFC, WEC etc...I'll watch it. Do I obsess over the fighters and know the exact records and follow their every move? lol Nope. But I do love watching a good fight. Nothing against those that are more passionate than I, but don't say people "claim" to be fans because they don't know about a certain fighter.

I'm an MMA fan above all, im a big Gomi fan. The reason a lot of people don't know the fighters you mentioned is because UFC has the MMA market cornered at the moment. And as Sam mentioned, the most accessible, so the majority of people relate MMA to strictly UFC. If companies like Strikeforce, or Dreams were on more local channels, then people's perspective of MMA would grow

One of the things I like best about HD tv is that I get to watch all the other leagues out there on HDNet. I think more than anything else the main factor in making the promotion worth watching is setting up good match ups. Some of the best fights I've seen were not the biggest name fighters. Just guys who were really well paired. Also, I love the tournament style promotions of K1 and the like.