Original Photo: Aaron Meullion-Imagn Images / Aaron Meullion-Imagn Images
Published by: Valdemar Carnegie
Updated: 6:40 PM EST, April 23, 2025
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is known for matching top fighters in exciting battles, like Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira, Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski. These fights, packed with big names and real rivalries, show the UFC’s focus on tough competition, unlike boxing, where fighters often avoid each other. The UFC builds clear champions through high-stakes bouts. But now, fans are upset about low fighter pay, unfair matchups, and weird title shot choices, which feel a lot like problems boxing fans have complained about for years.
Why UFC’s Recent Decisions Are Drawing Comparisons to Boxing’s Flaws
Boxing has a bad reputation for taking too long to make big fights happen, often when fighters are past their best, like Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao in 2015, long after their prime. Fans think boxers like Mayweather and now Gervonta “Tank” Davis pick easy opponents to protect their records and stay popular. Some UFC champions, like Jon Jones and Islam Makhachev, are starting to do the same. Jones hasn’t fought Tom Aspinall, and Makhachev hasn’t agreed to face Ilia Topuria, making fans worry the UFC is copying boxing’s habit of delaying or avoiding exciting fights.
The UFC is also struggling with lower pay-per-view (PPV) sales because fans aren’t thrilled with recent fight cards. Reports say PPV buys are down, and some fighters aren’t getting bonuses due to weak sales. Too many events with boring main fights, like UFC 289, have turned fans off. The UFC’s big ESPN deal means they get paid even if PPVs flop, so some say they’re focusing on making more events instead of better ones. Without new stars to pull in casual fans and with PPV prices going up, the UFC is starting to lose its audience, just like boxing does when big fights don’t happen.
At a recent press conference, UFC President Dana White was asked about possibly dropping PPVs if the UFC switches networks after its ESPN deal ends. “I don’t know. It depends on what the network wants to do. Do they want to just put it on their air? Do they want to do pay-per-view? Put it behind a paywall? I don’t know. The window opens Tuesday, and we’ll start talking to other networks. We’ll get more into it then,” White said.
With fans getting frustrated, White’s comments hint the UFC might change how it shows fights. It’s unclear what’s next, but the UFC’s choices will decide if it can keep its reputation for awesome matchups or fall into the same traps that have annoyed boxing fans for years. Fans are watching to see if the UFC can fix things and stay a powerhouse.