In the past several years, the UFC has begun to enjoy the popularity, and TV ratings, of mainstream sports. Really, it wasn’t that long ago that fans and analysts alike dismissed the sport of mixed martial arts as a fad, predicting that it would never catch on in a big way. These folks couldn’t have been more wrong, but one serious hurdle for UFC popularity is about to be realized in 2014: Can the sport continue to thrive at its recent level with some of its all-time greats walking away?
Just to do a quick recap, Georges St. Pierre announced in December that he was taking an indefinite leave of absence from UFC, and would be giving up his welterweight title in doing so. Meanwhile, Anderson Silva suffered a horrible leg break in his loss at UFC 168, and he will be stepping away from the sport as well (though there are a few signs he’s intrigued by a few potential boxing matches).
The dirty little question now facing UFC, then, is simple: can the sport achieve a million-selling PPV event in 2014? Or will numbers inevitably go down without headliners like GSP and Silva competing?
Yahoo Sport took a look at the issue with a very detailed perspective, and came up with an outlook that is somehow simultaneously dire and optimistic. On the one hand, the article points out—perhaps obviously, but nonetheless necessarily—that this isn’t UFC’s first big-name crossroads. MMA pioneers Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, and Tito Ortiz had to pass the torch once as well. When this seemed to spell potential doom for the sport, fighters like GSP and Anderson Silva were essentially nobodies. Translation: the next great fighters could well be lurking in the shadows, ready to seize the opportunity and take the reins of UFC.
On the other hand, if those fighters truly are lurking in the shadows, they’re lurking quite deeply. There just doesn’t seem to be an obvious choice of someone who has the pedigree and popularity to step in and support a massive pay-per-view event. For the record, here are what look like the biggest fights on the horizon (complete with betting odds):
- UFC 170 – This is actually a pretty strong looking event, with the Ronda Rousey-Sara McCann bantamweight title fight headlining. According to the current odds listed at Betfair, Rousey is a strong favorite with 1/4 backing, but McCann isn’t too huge an underdog (7/2) and should make it a good fight. Not to mention, Rashad Evans and Daniel Cormier’s fight should serve as a strong warm up.
- UFC 172 – Probably the biggest fight in at least the first half of 2014, UFC 172 will feature Jon “Bones” Jones defending his light heavyweight title against Glover Teixeira. The odds are not yet released, but this should be a closely contested and very entertaining bout.
Now, are any of the fights or events just listed good enough for a million-selling pay-per-view? Almost certainly not. And frankly, there doesn’t seem to be a fight on the horizon that is good enough. But what should keep things interesting for fans is that the opportunity is there for some of these fighters to emerge as the sort of stars who could, eventually, headline such events.
