With the UFC staging nearly 50 events per year, some are going to end up better than others, but there’s been a growing sentiment lately that the promotion has struggled to build compelling cards.
Whether it’s Fight Night cards at the Meta APEX or events featuring an overwhelming number of newcomers, many signed off of Dana White’s Contender Series, criticism of the matchmaking has gotten louder, especially since the UFC kicked off its new broadcast deal with Paramount in January.
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But TKO Group Holdings President and COO Mark Shapiro doesn’t see a problem with the quality of cards being promoted by the UFC.
“Bottom line is we don’t buy it,” Shapiro said on a TKO financial call on Wednesday. “Let’s just start with this premise: The product is great at the UFC. The brand has never been stronger. Our reach has never been greater. So the foundational elements of UFC are in concrete. Anyone that came to our last numbered fight in Miami, which was UFC 327, was flat-out blown away. Or anyone that went to our last Fight Night, which happened to be last week in Perth, Australia. A sellout or even watched it, witnessed an extraordinary sport.
“We are always building in the UFC. We’re in the building phase at all times. We find the best up-and-coming talent around the world and we match them continually in the best fights.”
Shapiro argues the UFC is constantly finding new stars and adding more and more talent to the overall roster, which in turn creates bigger and better events.
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“There’s a huge movement right now with all these young fighters coming up in the ranks,” Shapiros said. “Many of them are taking over slots in the top 10 from guys that have been names in the rankings for years. Strong personalities that are busting right now.
“Joshua Van, Brazilian Carlos Prates, undefeated Michael Morales, the next generation. Or look at the White House card, which we put out there is a strong card, we’ve actually added a [fight] to it. UFC Freedom 250, which is stacked top to bottom and we’re using that opportunity to feature one our most promising stars in Ilia Topuria.”
Shapiro said the company has absolute faith in UFC CEO Dana White and his team to continue signing new fighters and building the best cards possible week to week and month to month.
“Dana White and his team have been doing this for 25 years,” Shapiro said. “Look, the real truth of it is, we don’t get to determine who wins. It doesn’t work like that. You take these great personalities, who hail from every corner of the world, with exciting fighting styles and if they win, you’ve caught lightning in a bottle. That’s what we do. That what Dana White does.
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“There’s no better matchmakers in any sport than we have with Dana’s team of Hunter Campbell, Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard.”
While it’s almost impossible to deny the UFC hasn’t featured as many high-profile superstars over the past couple of years compared to a peak time when Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey were routinely selling out arenas and generating huge pay-per-view buys, Shapiro believes that’s no different than other major sports in the U.S.
He had to look no further than the NBA where the professional basketball league has enjoyed huge growth at times and then suffered lower ticket sales and ratings on television. Shapiro believes that’s just the nature of professional athletics and the UFC deals with those issues the same as any other league out there.
“I would remind you finally with any sport, there’s just natural ebbs and flows,” Shapiro said. “It’s all very cyclical. Again kind of harking back to the ESPN days, the NBA was on fire with Michael Jordan and then he left and there was a bit of a dip. Then all of a sudden it was [Shaquille O’Neal] and Kobe [Bryant] and as long as Shaq and Kobe were in the NBA Finals, the NBA was in good shape. But the year they weren’t there or they were playing the Nets or the San Antonio Spurs were there, there was a falloff.
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“They needed more stars and everybody talked about it and yearned and cried and commented. There was no social back then but there was still a lot of noise. Now, they’re uber rich when it comes to sports personalities and teams that are playing well, as evidenced by the homegrown New York Knicks here.”
