Is the Dana White-led UFC slipping? Many fans are starting to think so. Across multiple divisions, the promotion seems to be caught in a storm of uncertainty. The heavyweight division is in limbo, waiting on Jon Jones. Light heavyweight’s biggest attraction recently lost his title. The middleweight scene is clouded with speculation, and even the lightweight division, once a goldmine of action, is mired in questions surrounding Islam Makhachev‘s next move. While welterweight offers glimpses of excitement, overall, the momentum feels lost. Amid this chaotic stretch, Ariel Helwani summed it up best: “MMA right now is in a recession.” After dominating headlines last year, is the sport now facing a downturn? Many believe that’s exactly what’s happening.

May is filled with action- from the marquee UFC 315 banger between Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena to the classic matchup between Gilbert Burns and Michael Morales at UFC Fight Night. The promotion is doing its best to book potential bangers, but none of these seem to have resonated with the fans. Well, the Canada event was already considered lackluster by many, and to make matters worse, one of the most anticipated clashes, between Benoît Saint-Denis and Joel Alvarez, was also canceled due to an injury to Alvarez.

In addition to that, the fans are quite angry as the promotion has yet to announce any headlining fight for the International Fight Week. Summing up this situation, Ariel Helwani has one thing to say, “MMA is in a really tough spot. There is no number two. I mean, Lord knows there’s no number three, certainly not here in North America.” Helwani’s comments came at a time when the UFC’s war room is already in a gloomy state due to falling UFC ratings.

Jon Jones is not willing to fight Tom Aspinall, at least for now. Alex Pereira is currently on a break, using the time to recharge and refocus ahead of his next, yet-to-be-scheduled bout. The potential middleweight title bout between Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev remains unconfirmed, with discussions ongoing and no official date set. Discussions about a fight between Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria are not progressing. All of the promotion’s top stars are either on a break or not willing to fight their biggest challenge, and this has become a gigantic problem for the UFC head.

On top of that, the UFC is now scouting for a billion-dollar-per-year broadcasting deal with ESPN, Amazon, or Netflix, as its exclusive negotiation window with ESPN has already lapsed. The UFC head honcho is in a tough position, and he will have to move things accordingly; otherwise, things might go downhill pretty quickly. Let us have a look at what the fans have to say.

Dana White gets attacked as May card fails to woo the MMA community

There was a time when the promotion searched for talent worldwide based on merit, but that no longer seems to be the case. Today, many fighters enter the UFC through smaller promotions under Dana White, but the overall level of MMA appears to be declining. Last year, Daniel Cormier made a statement, “At this point in the UFC, if you’re not coming in through the Contender’s Series, or Road to UFC, or taking fights on short notice, there really isn’t any way to come in.” and this appears to be true this year. Looking at this, a fan expressed, “I would rather have weekends without fight nights and get good cards then have an apex card every weekend with terrible fights.”

Another social media user called out the promotion for charging exorbinant fees for substandard fights, and ESPN should be at blame as well since they decide the price of their PPV’s, “315 is the worst PPV since 312 lmao it’s crazy that the ufc is charging 80 dollars for these glorified fight nights.”

Another fan emphasized, “It’s so sad when this statement is accurate yet there’s still 4 title fights in a month lol.”  There are actually two title fights this month: the battle for the bantamweight belt between Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena, and the women’s flyweight title fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Manon Fiorot.

Since UFC 311, the promotion has been pushing to book exciting matchups, but none of the UFC’s biggest stars seem willing to face their top contenders. As mentioned earlier, from the heavyweight to the lightweight division, there’s been nothing but a drought. Looking at this, a fan added, “This whole year so far has been a depression. Don’t get me wrong there’s been a few bright spots (jared/robocop) but holy s— the matchmaking and card building from the ufc has been the worst ever. Couple that with no big announcements to look forward too and we’re f—–.” 

Another fan stated, “55 days until UFC 317 and only 3 fights confirmed,” One of the primary reasons why the MMA community is angry at UFC and Dana White is the fact that they have yet to announce the UFC 317 headlining event. Ilia Topuria stated that he would fight on June 28th, but his opponent has yet to be decided, and the official announcement has yet to be made.

Last but not least, a social media user believes that UFC 315 might set the future of the promotion,“The state of the ufc is literally banking on Belal winning right now belal this is the most important moment of his entire life he has to beat Jdm to save the UFC.”

Dana White might want to book banger fights for the fans, but the fighters may have other plans for themselves. Given that, what are your thoughts on the sad state of the UFC? State your opinions in the comments below.