What are the biggest challenges UFC is facing as an organization?
The Ultimate Fighting Championship a.k.a the UFC is the biggest promotion in the world of mixed martial arts right now. Since its inception in 1993, the UFC has gone on to become a name synonymous with MMA.
The promotion has now become a multi-billion dollar empire with no close competition to it. In 2016, Zuffa, parent company of UFC, was bought by William Morris Endeavor for a whopping $4 billion.
Dana White, who took the role of UFC president in 2001, played a crucial part in taking the promotion to unprecedented heights.
The UFC churned out stars like Ronda Rousey, Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz who have transcended the sport of MMA and are now known worldwide. McGregor has produced some of the biggest pay-per-view events in the company's history.
It was under White's strong leadership that the UFC managed to pull off fighting events in the United States on a regular basis. The company even managed to get an island in Abu Dhabi to host fights for the international audience.
This goes to show that the UFC is constantly growing at a rapid rate and does not intend to slow down anytime soon.
But all this success does not mean that there is no trouble in paradise. There are some serious problems that the promotion faces today, some of them having existed for a long time with no solid solution.
On that note, let's take a look at some of the major challenges faced by the UFC today.
UFC's pay dispute with the fighters
UFC superstar Conor McGregor recently managed to secure the number one spot on the list of highest paid athletes of 2021 by Forbes magazine.
But other fighters on the UFC roster are not getting nearly the same amount of money as 'The Notorious'. It is not only the new or less successful fighters who are complaining about the low pay offered by the UFC either.
UFC stars like Francis Ngannou, Paulo Costa, Jon Jones and Jorge Masvidal have also criticized the promotion for not paying their fighters enough money.
The fighter pay issue has persisted in the UFC for a long time but recently, the dissenting voices have been growing louder.
As of today, White has not given in to the majority of the fighters' demands. Thus, it seems like the money problem is not going to get solved in the near future.
Weight-cutting related health concerns
UFC fighters go through the process of weight-cutting in order to qualify for the fights of their weight division. Weight-cutting is gruelling and can take a heavy toll on the health of the fighters as some of them have to get extremely dehydrated in order to make the weight limit.
Also read: 5 instances of biggest weight misses in UFC history
Many UFC fighters like Deiveson Figueiredo, Daniel Cormier, Darren Till, Yoel Romero, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira have had horrible experiences while cutting weight for an upcoming fight.
Also read: 3 fighters who are outspoken critics of weight cutting in the UFC
UFC has made a rule under which a fighter who misses weight has to surrender a certain percentage of his fight purse to his opponent. This deterrent has not proved to be very successful.
Many statements have been made by MMA experts against weight-cutting but the UFC seems unlikely to change their minds about the brutal process.
Eye Pokes and Inadequate MMA gloves
Another challenge that has been plaguing the UFC for a long time is eye pokes in fights. The latest example of this came in the fight between Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad at UFC Vegas 21, which ended in a no-contest due to an inadvertent eye poke by Edwards.
After the fight, many UFC fighters took to social media to demand new gloves for themselves.
It is about time that UFC brings out a new design for fighting gloves that are safer for the fighters.
Illegal Streaming
The UFC suffers a revenue loss at pay-per-view events as many people watch the fights via illegal streaming links on the internet, instead of paying for them. UFC president Dana White has recently started cracking down on these illegal streamers. The UFC president claimed that he even caught one streamer red-handed.
But one is not enough as there are numerous other streamers around the world who watch fights illegally. It is very difficult to trace the source of these illegal streams on the internet as the people behind them are skilled in dodging the regulatory authorities at every turn.
Despite White's strong attempts, it will take a long time to completely eradicate the streaming problem.