Fight Nights justifiably get a bad rap for being underwhelming, but UFC Vegas 104 just became an exception to the rule. With 9 stoppages on the card, the UFC delivered an action-packed event that silenced some critics. But while the excitement was undeniable, MMA Guru wasn’t about to let Dana White and the UFC off the hook so easily.
Guru pointed out that smaller promotions consistently put on thrilling fights, but the difference is that UFC fans expect something bigger. With the premier MMA organization in the world, the standard should simply be higher.
However, that does seem to have been the case for quite some time now. The UFC has faced growing criticism from fans regarding the perceived decline in the quality of Fight Night events. A notable instance occurred with UFC Vegas 98, where fans expressed dissatisfaction over the lack of star power and compelling matchups.
This sentiment isn’t isolated; discussions on platforms like Reddit frequently feature fans lamenting the absence of big-name fighters and high-stakes bouts in any card that isn’t sold on PPVs by the promotion. After all, no one is excited about a card headlined by unranked fighters.
And nights like tonight are few and far between. Weirdly, the UFC doesn’t see it that day. In fact, after the event was over, the official Twitter account of the promotion posted a meme mocking the narrative about these cards being boring.
Responding to this, MMA Guru hit back at the promotion, echoing the sentiments of the fans. “Nobody ever says the cards are boring when they aren’t. We say that they aren’t stacked with any big fights. You do this every time.”, the Youtuber said, blaming the UFC for being purposefully obtuse.
Citing examples of smaller promotions, he added, LFA cards are fun to watch, same with Cage Warriors, this is the UFC, give us more than one ranked fight a card and bring back crowds you freaks.”
Nobody ever says the cards are boring when they aren’t
We say that they aren’t stacked with any big fights
You do this every time
LFA cards are fun to watch, same with Cage Warriors, this is the UFC, give us more than one ranked fight a card and bring back crowds you freaks https://t.co/T5euPDj8Qq
— THE MMA GURU (@THATBOYMMAGURU) March 16, 2025
Another huge point of contention in this debate has been the prevalence of Fight Nights at The Apex, in the absence of proper crowds. The Apex was supposed to be a temporary accommodation when the world was shut down due to COVID-19. But that was almost 5 years ago.
Earlier last week, one of TKO group’s (UFC’s parent company) VPs, Mark Shapiro, had claimed that since fans couldn’t tell the difference between the noise of the crowd and an empty Apex, a sign that the promotion was prioritizing Apex over big stadium events in the future.
Shapiro caught a lot of stick for this stance, but in the meantime, there have been some voices claiming that UFC’s official streaming partners, ESPN, are also to be blamed for his haphazard mess.
ESPN is a double-edged sword for the UFC
The UFC’s partnership with ESPN, initiated in 2019, has, on the one hand, granted the promotion a massive platform and financial boost, but on the other, it seems to have led to a dip in the quality of some fight cards.
This shift can be attributed to the guaranteed revenue from ESPN, which has been argued to have worked against the UFC’s incentive to stack every card.
In addition to this, as a part of their deal, the UFC has to put up a certain number of events every year. The promotion has since been focused on quantity over quality to respect their commitments to ESPN.
And now, it seems that this callousness has begun affecting the company’s business with respect to PPVs as well. According to multiple reports, both UFC and ESPN have been feeling sour over the state of affairs.
While Dana White’s promotion has been miffed over the botched streaming of UFC 313, a massive PPV for the company, ESPN has been raging over the continued lack of PPV sales.
It should be noted that the situation with PPV buys is so serious that the ‘PPV points’ system of pay, often argued as a substitute for their miserly guaranteed purses, has become obsolete for many fighters.
The ESPN-UFC deal is coming to an end sometime this year, and it is due to these reasons that reports indicate the White-led promotion will be looking to follow their sister company WWE’s footsteps and strike a deal with streaming giant, Netflix.
