"Dana's too greedy to give them up" - Fans react after MMA insider calls for an end on "soulless" UFC Apex fights

Fans reacted to Ariel Helwani's recent comments on the characteristics of UFC Apex cards. The UFC started hosting the events at the Apex facility in Las Vegas, at the time when the Covid-19 pandemic led to widespread restrictions on travel and social gatherings. While the restrictions no longer exist, the promotion has continued to host Fight Night events at the venue.

However, there has been a considerable fan backlash in recent times as many fans perceive the UFC Apex events as "boring". After the conclusion of UFC Vegas 104 on March 15, a post on the UFC's official X account addressed the criticism, but in a sarcastic manner.

Check out the post below:

In a recent video on his YouTube channel, Helwani called for the discontinuation of the Apex cards and responded to the UFC's sarcastic post, stating:

"No one ever sh*ts on the fights or the fighters. When we talk about the events feeling soulless, feeling empty, lacking buzz, lacking excitement, all these things and more, we're talking about the event itself. We're talking about the venue, we're talking about the production, we're talking about how it comes across on television. And, to ignore that or to deflect, is ingenuous because they know exactly what we're talking about."

Check out Ariel Helwani's comments below (1:26):

One fan commented:

"Dana too greedy to give them up. It's more money in his billionaire pockets."

Another fan wrote:

"I agree. I think the Apex is killing the sport, TBH."

Check out more fan reactions below:

Fan reactions

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Ariel Helwani points out more issues with UFC Apex cards

In the aforementioned video, Ariel Helwani noted that he feels many great performances and fights that take place on the UFC Apex cards tend to get forgotten.

While comparing Ignacio Bahamondes' UFC Vegas 90 knockout win over Christos Giagos and Mauricio Ruffy's UFC 313 knockout win over King Green, which were executed with similar techniques, Helwani said that Bahamondes' knockout win was forgotten relatively quickly, adding:

"You lose the virality, you lose the crowd pop, you lose the reaction, you lose the reaction afterwards... You lose the interaction with the crowd, whether it's Bryan Battle in Paris or someone being treated like a hero." [3:25]

He added:

"I love to hear Joe Martinez, who's fantastic, go, 'Everybody make some noise if you are ready,' and there's no one there. Or Bisping, when he goes, 'Everybody give it up for so-and-so,' and there's no one there. Who are we kidding? Enough is enough!" [3:38]

While the UFC does not seem to be planning to discontinue the Apex cards in the near future, TKO Group CEO Mark Shapiro previously cited low production cost structures as one of the positive aspects of these events.