MMA is So Much More Than the UFC
Despite what many people think, the UFC is not MMA.
The UFC stands for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and MMA stands for Mixed Martial Arts. The UFC is just a sports league that follows MMA rules.
You would never call baseball the MLB because the MLB is not the only baseball league on earth. It may be the most popular in America, but people know that other countries play baseball.
There have been other MMA leagues in America, Bellator, Strikeforce, WEC, and many more regional promotions. These often died when the UFC purchased them, and the others because they struggled to attract talent the UFC had not already locked down in restrictive contracts.
Because of this, there is little competition in America, but America is not the world. One FC is the largest MMA and Muay Thai organization in Asia, with free events through Amazon Prime. They host MMA, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, and Boxing matches on the same card, and allow their fighters to switch between those as they want.
Rizin is the spiritual successor to Pride FC, the largest MMA organization in the world until its mob ties were revealed, leading to its shutdown. They remain the largest MMA organization in Japan, and they allow things like soccer kicks to grounded opponents, and fight in a boxing ring rather than a cage.
Europe has KSW, based out of Poland, along with several other leagues based out of Russia, Germany, the UK, and the Czech Republic.
The rules are largely the same, but the cages, the flair, and the style are all different between them. Many of these leagues have free fights you can stream, and all of them post their fight highlights across social media.
The UFC has been stagnant for over a decade, content with the fact that Americans associate them alone with MMA. But across the world some of the best fighters are fighting anywhere but the UFC. The sport is bigger than just one organization.
