UFC 288 was headlined by banatamweight title fight between Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo, with Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad clashing in the co-headliner.
While the aforementioned names are not small draws by any means, they probably aren't exactly the biggest superstars in the sport. The main and co-main events ending in somewhat lukewarm decisions further took away from the charm of the card.
MacMally of MMAonPoint noted that smaller promotions like BKFC and ONE Championship are rapidly outshining the UFC's weekly cards with mega one-off events. He wrote:
"I’m not saying the UFC is finished by any means but it definitely feels like they’ve been going through the motions with most of their cards but having back to back weeks where BKFC and ONE showed they can draw a considerable amount of attention, it might wake them up and not feel so complacent at the top."
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Ultimate Fighting Championship matchmaker Mick Maynard lashed out at MacMally, suggesting that he watch Friends re-runs if weekly fights cards are too much. Maynard wrote in a since-deleted tweet:
"Omg...there are too many fights..what am I to do ??? Go watch friends re runs!!! What in the absolute f*ck?!"
The exec added:
"Literally….every week we don’t have a show people whine how much they miss us. What is wrong with y’all? 😂"
"Times are definitely changing" - UFC fans seemingly agree with MacMally
UFC 288 was preceded by three consecutive fight nights featuring some notable names like Max Holloway, Edson Barboza, Curtis Blaydes, Sergei Pavlovich and Song Yadong but lacking depth overall.
Meanwhile, BKFC recently put together a mega event headlined featuring UFC vets Mike Perry, Luke Rockhold, Eddie Alvarez, and Chad Mendes with a Conor McGregor special appearance adding to its grandeur.
On the other hand, ONE Championship recently organized a card featuring a trilogy clash between Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes and featuring stars like Rodtang and Mikey Musumeci.
A sizeable chunk of fans agree with MacMally's assessment of BKFC and ONE rapidly rising to challenge the Ultimate Fighting Championship's status as the number one MMA promotion.
Check out some comments below:
"it’s true there’s allot of very good rising fighters going to the other fighting leagues and some of these events are pretty badass to watch or go and see in person, times are definitely changing in the comp MMA 🤜👍"