Issue 188

February 2020

As a new decade dawns, what lies in store for MMA?

Peering into a crystal ball ten years ago, as we entered a new decade in the sport, I wrote in this column that by 2020, we might see new developments in MMA and things like the “Zuffadome” – a dedicated arena on the Las Vegas strip which would house UFC events every month, TUF Finales, major events – super heavyweight champions from Outer Mongolia 7ft 2ins tall and so on. There have been changes, notably in the corporate nature of the sport, and the interest, now far and wide, of broadcasters in live fight sport entertainment.  

Rather than a “Zuffadome” in Las Vegas, we have the UFC's burgeoning Performance Institute(s), which are sure to play a development role in major territories. China has one, as well as Nevada, and it would be no surprise to see the creation of more in Europe, Brazil, Africa, and into the Middle East over the next ten years.   

In the next decade, as we play mystic with MMA, will we see Lorenzo Fertitta return, buying the company back for, say, $500 million and bringing his Midas Touch to the UFC empire that the casino owner and businessman built over two decades into a global sports entertainment juggernaut? It would be no surprise. Really, it would not. 

There will certainly be major digital advances, and even now, mobile tethering and streaming of fights means watching them from almost anywhere, anytime, has become the norm. But there are plenty of other potential innovations on the horizon. Given the power of live sport, and fight sports being in vogue with digital streaming services and broadcasters, I suspect that in the next decade, MMA will have been included and announced at the Olympic Games, possibly for 2032, but awarded in Paris, France, host in 2024. 

It would likely be a modified form of the sport. Marc Ratner, the UFC's head of regulatory affairs, has always told me that it would be a major, major milestone in the sport. As one of the chief campaigners for acceptance and regulation in New York State, Ratner knows his onions and I utterly agree. If it happens, it will be a landmark moment. 

Weight divisions are set to change, too, if you think about the logic. From open weight, to three weights (lightweight, welterweight, heavyweight), we now have the gamut from flyweight to heavyweight in men's MMA. But you can foresee heavyweight and super heavyweight divisions emerging, as well as a rise in dominant athletes directly out of Africa, and potentially from China. Hunger of the athletes and opportunity as well as sheer numbers, will dictate that champions from these territories will emerge. 

The 2010s probably belonged more to the Eastern European fighter emergence, a diaspora which is still spreading to the West, just as the 2000s were really the decade of the Brazilian fighters in the sport. 

One suspects that there will be a rapid expansion of women's divisions, too, perhaps up as far as middleweight, given the huge surge in gender equality, and the wave of women entering the sport. 

Moreover, I would venture to suggest that we will no longer see fighters still carving out this rough trade close to the age of 40. Given the advances in medical science and what we are learning about physical and mental trauma, careers are likely to become shorter (and fights stopped sooner) most likely as concussion monitor chips are put on fighters, which I would imagine will be one of the other developing facets of the safety aspect of our sport. Here's to the decade just past, a great one, and let's raise a glass to the ten years stretched out in front of us...