There’s a growing consensus among UFC fans: the fights are getting boring. And now, they think they’ve found the culprit. While the technicalities used by fighters remain the same, the low ratio of finishes in comparison to decisions is what concerns the fans. But what could be the reason for that decline in highlight-reel knockout moments or submissions? As it seems, the reason lies with the logistics.

“Moving full-time to the smaller cage could be an easy fix to forcing exchanges,” MMA commentator Jacob Lines stated on X. “Some would argue this would favor wrestlers too much, but in the cards this year, even with the most decisions on the Apex Card: Apex card averaged 2.23 takedowns a fight, Strickland card averaged 2.28 takedowns a fight, UFC 324 averaged 1.55 takedowns a fight, UFC 325 averaged 2.23 takedowns a fight.

“Matchmaking carries the most weight in making fights entertaining, but it feels like the smaller cage can turn water into wine when it comes to chaos and exciting fights.”

According to the commentator who runs the popular MMA commentary channel ‘We Want Picks’, the root cause of the problem lies with the size of the octagon and not the matchmaking alone. For those unaware, the leading MMA promotion has a different-sized octagons when it comes to Apex fights and numbered events. The Meta Apex facility is located in Las Vegas and typically has an octagon of 25-foot diameter.

Meanwhile, when it comes to fights outside of that venue, the UFC goes for an Octagon with a 30-foot diameter. So, the argument here is that the bigger the playing area for fighters, the more it allows them to avoid exchanges. As a result, there are lower finish rates for numbered events as compared to Apex fights.

Take UFC Vegas 114, headlined by Josh Emmett and Kevin Vallejos, as an example. The entire card consisted of six finishes. Meanwhile, when UFC 325 took place, only four fights ended decisively. Not only that, but if we talk about average takedowns, there is also a difference in that. So, it seems the size of the octagon may have an impact on the action. But do the fans feel the same?

Fans react to debate over cage size and matchmaking

A majority of the netizens believe that cage size does have an impact on the actions between two fighters. And for that, many dropped a variety of solutions to tackle this matter. “Set up the small cage in different cities around the globe. Broadcast prelims from the different locations on select/specific days of the week. Main card on Saturday at whatever location,” a fan suggested.

Meanwhile, another fan noted how UFC has all the resources required to pull off such a change. “The UFC brass are just phoning it in at this point. They should make this change immediately. They have all the cash in the world and could make this change tomorrow,” the user commented. UFC is arguably the leading MMA promotion in today’s time, with major partnerships.

So, yes, logically it won’t be something that the Dana White-led promotion will be unable to do. But then again, a few also feel that UFC brass are least bothered by any such potential solutions for the lackluster fight issue. “Cage size won’t make the match makers care more about the product,” a fan wrote.

Amid that, another netizen noted how the Apex facility actually witnesses more highlight-reel worthy fights through Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS). “The series of the craziest finishes in a row happened in the Contender Series in the last 1-2 years. Insane highlight reels every mid of the week,” the user commented.

To back that, Season 9 of DWCS was the last season of the show, with week 10 being the last card. Featuring a total of six bouts, five ended in finishes. Apart from that, instead of making major logistical changes, a few suggested that UFC implement stricter rules. “An easier solution is to reintroduce the fighters to the Unified rules… Penalize stalling as the rules say. That’s all it takes,” a fan wrote.

And lastly, another fan noted that despite the logistical push to make the sizes of the UFC octagon similar to the Apex facility, it won’t actually work. “Nah, the smaller cage just makes it more cramped, doesn’t automatically make fights better,” the netizen wrote.

Here, the opinions do seem subjective as fans dropped various solutions to counter the decision-heavy UFC fights. From the promotion’s side, they did introduce a revised bonus system with a reward upgrade from $50k to $100k. Not only that, even fighters securing finishes are now being rewarded with a $25k bonus.

Despite this change, the UFC is yet to satisfy fans through buzzing contests. So, could following the netizens’ suggestion be an option for the leading MMA promotion? Only time will tell.