UFC vs Boxing – Part II

This is part II in a series detailing why I think the UFC is a better sport right now than boxing. Part I, which you can read here talks about the mess that is the various ranking systems and title belts in boxing, and how the UFC has a single champion per weight class.

Reason #2 – Better Marketing

What has boxing done in recent years in an attempt to fix the dwindling interest from the public? I can't think of much. One of the major issues they could attempt to address would the issues I raised in UFC vs Boxing Part I and establish unified title holders for each weight class. Perhaps even widdle down the number of weight classes as well. Or make it a requirement that the title holder has to fight the #1 challenger. Or be more apt to deduct points for too much holding or not enough action. All of these are common complaints people hear when talking about how to restore boxing to its days of glory. But without a boxing commissioner to govern the sport, these changes are unlikely to happen.

When the UFC was first started, it was marketed as a no holds barred cage fight. Basically, the only 2 rules were no eye gouging and no fish hooking. This led to mounting criticism and political pressure to ban the sport. Finding arenas to hold events became a problem as it was outlawed in many states. The UFC needed to adapt in order to survive, and it did. The rules changed to made more socially acceptable. Referees will stop the fight quicker than they had in the past. The fight formats changed from a last-man-standing tournament to fighters fighting a single fight in an event in attempt to work their way up the ranking system for a shot at the title (just like boxing).

The UFC has run a successful series on Spike TV for up and coming fighters to win a major contract in the UFC (better and more entertaining than "The Challenger"). The championship fight in season 1 pitted Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonner – the winner getting a $100,000 contract with the UFC. These 2 guys slugged it out in one of the greatest fights I have ever witnessed. A battered Forrest Griffin was declared the winner by a small margin. What did Dana White, the president of the UFC, do? He awarded them both a contract. And why not? It would be a major draw for the UFC to have these two fight again sometime down the road, and they were both very popular with the fans. It's a win-win situation.

How about the Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz trilogy? Shamrock and Ortiz are very popular light-heavyweight fighters with a real dislike for one another. Ortiz man-handled the Hall-of-Fame inductee Shamrock in the first fight. Shamrock wanted another shot, and as the UFC always seems to give the fans the fights they want to see, he was granted his wish in a major pay-per-view event. Fight #2 was stop by the referee in the early minutes of round 1 with Ortiz again the victor. Many fans, myself included, thought the fight was stopped too early. How did the UFC handle this? They arranged for a third and final fight between Ortiz and Shamrock which was broadcast live on Spike TV - for free (Ortiz stopped Shamrock again early in the fight). Basically, they said since fight #2 was a disappointment, we are giving you fight #3 for free. Could you imaging boxing do that? I didn't think so.