UFC vs Boxing

Fighting and violence is something that has existed in the blood of man ever since he first step foot on this planet. The desire to fight whether it was part of survival or competition, has been prevalent ever since the realm of recorded history first saw the light of day. In fact, the first ever Olympic Games featured fighting as one of the three original competitions. Boxing is a sport that has dominated the fascination of human beings ever since its inception oh so many years ago. The sport pits two fighters against each other, and generally ends with a knockout, or sees a winner based on whoever won the most rounds. Championship fights consisted of fifteen rounds in the past, although due to the utter violence of the sport, officials have chopped them down to twelve rounds.

Betting on boxing has been one of the most popular activities to partake in when it comes to the world of gambling. Records show that from the 19th century people were betting on boxing matches as means of recreation and organized gambling. For the past 100 years there has been a phrase going around the boxing world, “boxing is dead.” What used to be the most popular sport in the world is now looked at as sport that is on the fringes of collapse, and there are several reasons attributing to this. The powers that be, the individuals who run boxing, they have allowed the most popular fighters in the world to become their own decision makers. Once the ego of a popular boxer reaches a certain level, he dictates who he will fight, when he will fight, and even if he will fight.

A classic example of this principal is seen through the two best boxers in the entire world, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. For nearly six years it was extremely clear that these two were the best fighters in the entire world, however rather than give the fans the fight they want to see, both fighters came up with a laundry list of various excuses, and never fought. The lack of big fights in boxing, coupled with the fact that people throughout history have only cared about traditional Heavyweight fights, and the fact that there hasn’t been an American Heavyweight champion in almost three decades, has led to the decline of boxing.

Enter the UFC and their promotion of the new sport of Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA as it is more commonly referred to. MMA is quickly soaring towards becoming one of the top four or five most popular sports in the entire world, and the UFC is at the forefront. Right around the year 2005, the UFC absolutely exploded and people began ordering the pay-per-views, and gobbling up the merchandise like there was no tomorrow. The violence of the sport, coupled with the UFC’s President, Dana White, who gives fans the fights they want to see when they want to see them, has led to the massive popularity spike. In places like Las Vegas, UFC betting is currently one of the biggest money makers for sports books. UFC betting on any particular fight weekend is consistently seen as the biggest money producer for the sports books of Las Vegas.