With another decade coming to an end, a lot has changed in the UFC since 2010. Different champions, more weight classes, a company takeover and many more changes. We take a look at some of the pivotal moments over the past ten years in the UFC. Understandably we can’t cover everything that has happened over the past ten years, so we look at just some of the most important moments.
UFC Champions at the Start of the Decade and Additional Weight Classes
Putting into perspective how much has changed in the past 10 years, at the turn of the decade there were no women’s weight classes in the UFC. Skip forward to today, there are now four. The men’s flyweight, bantamweight and featherweight divisions also didn’t exist.
Champions at the beginning of 2010
Lightweight – BJ Penn
Welterweight – Georges St Pierre
Middleweight – Anderson Silva
Light heavyweight – Lyoto Machida
Heavyweight – Brock Lesnar
The UFC now has an additional seven weight classes, including four for women since the turn of the decade. There is still a long way to go, with the potential of new weight classes imminent. Who knows, by the end of the next decade, we could realise a further seven weight classes.
Takeover and Expansion
In 2016, Zuffa was sold to William Morris Endeavor (WME) for a fee upwards of $4 billion. President Dana White is still a major part of the company, however, the Fertitta brothers have moved on. Since the takeover, the brand new UFC Performance Institute has been built in Las Vegas, with a number of further institutes planned in the future. On top of that, the promotion has expanded into new territories and broke their attendance records a number of times in recent years.
Television Deal
In 2011, the UFC signed a deal with Fox for a seven-year broadcast partnership. Following a fairly successful partnership, the UFC signed an alternative television deal with ESPN, beginning in January 2019.
This decade has also seen the online platform, UFC Fight Pass come to light. UFC Fight Pass allows customers to view exclusive fights, fights from history and exclusive content. This content includes Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, The Thrill & Agony as well as Glory Kickboxing and a number of Jiu-Jitsu events.
The expansion of the TV deal and the creation of Fight pass has done a terrific job of allowing fans to watch more UFC content.
Introduction of the Biggest Star in the History of the Sport
This past decade also saw the introduction of the biggest star in MMA history. Ath the beginning of the decade, a 3-1 Irishman was known on the regional scene, but no one could have imagined the pull he would go on to have.
Conor McGregor burst onto the UFC in 2013, entering the promotion as a two-weight Cage Warriors world champion. Debuting in Sweden against Marcus Brimage, who can forget that post-fight speech.
McGregor went on an impressive seven-fight win streak to start his UFC tenure. This included four main event slots. Arguably most impressive is that he constantly called his shot. Mystic Mac managed to predict what round he would finish his fights in and more often than not he was correct.
Becoming the biggest star in the game, McGregor is one of the best trash talkers the sport has ever seen. With bitter rivalries, an exciting style and an encaptivating personality, ‘The Notorious’ is always a draw.
We also saw the circus that was Conor McGregor vs Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match. Although he came up short, both boxing and MMA media covered it and it was a massive event.
The suit says fuck you pic.twitter.com/y5pargzIsC
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) July 12, 2017
Set to return in January against Donald Cerrone, we hope to see him at his sparkling best. Although he’s been inactive as of late, he is still one of the biggest names in the sport. Despite all his antics outside the octagon, we all want him to get back to doing what he does best.
The Next Decade
What can we expect from the next 10 years?
The sport will inevitably expand, bringing more fans to the sport. We will also hopefully see more weight classes, making it safer for fighters.
One thing that is for sure, however, in this unpredictable sport, we are sure to be entertained.
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