MMA is most popularly consumed combat sport in locally. Regular people can recite current and former champs. People have the ability to lament the direction current of the sport or express excitement of upcoming events and fighters. Unfortunately (we will see the flip side of this in our Watching Boxing post) for most viewers MMA is synonymous with UFC but this is not the case. The wide world of MMA has different competition structures and even rules. This post is to help understand the tiers of MMA Promotions and how to watch them. Here we go...
Top Dawgs - UFC
If someone talks about a rival organization to the UFC they can be saying one of three possible things: they are delusional, they are incredibly optimistic, or talking in specifics. UFC competed under the Unified Rules of MMA and is available to watch via PPV, TSN, or their app Fightpass (fights are posted a day late due to TV licensing in Canada.
Premier MMA - aspirations beyond the regional scene.
PFL & Bellator - Two brands owned by one parent company. PFL is a tournament based MMA organization and Bellator (former #2 org in the world) is a traditional MMA promotion. We will see what they choose to do in the future. Watch on DAZN (PFL) and FightNW (Bellator).
Rizin - Japanese promotion, the heir apparent to defunct organizations Pride FC (obiligatory Pride Never Die!) and DREAM. Watch on FiteTV or Abema.
Oktagon - Growing organization based in Germany. Live audience is growing in the tens of thousands and they are currently more restrictive of champions leaving to the UFC. Watch on DAZN.
One Championship - a Muay Thai organization masquerading as an MMA promotion. however they have the capital and media prowess to pretend they are a significant player internationally. Watch via youtube, Amazon and PPV.
Regional - Using pro-wrestling parlance, the territories. The heartbeat of MMA. Organization focused on developing local talent. Building fights to take the next step to a larger international promotion. Many of the leagues exist a feeder to the UFC and thus are available on Fightpass.
LFA - longtime running US promotion.
Cage Warriors - best of the UK
Invicta - All Women's league
Shooto - Japanese promotion, formerly a huge developmental step for the growth of MMA. Currently it is a traditional MMA organization.
Brave FC - Middle East based, large fighter roster out of the Caucuses.
KSW - Massive league in central and eastern Europe. Previously it was breaking through to a premier MMA organization.
Canada - we get our own section to see our family, friends, and community to compete. All of these organizations would fall under the umbrella regional.
Battlefield Fighting Championships (BFL) - BC's biggest MMA promotion
Fight League Atlantic (FLA) - Maritimes based promotion
Samourai - Quebec based org
Burlington Fighting Championship (BTC) - Ontario promotion
Unified MMA - Alberta based promotion
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