MMA in 2023 confirmed the status of a dangerous competitor to boxing

The past year has become very successful, perhaps even a breakthrough for the genre, which was born quite recently, acquiring the features of a full-fledged, top-end only in the current century. In mixed martial arts (MMA), big fights were held, bright stars were lit and grandiose contracts were concluded, which only emphasized the obvious: they are already a very real competitor to professional boxing.

Here are two of the most noisy, most resonant stories related to the main genres of martial arts that happened in 2023. And the most revealing ones.

Spring. Negotiations are in full swing to organize a fight for the status of the absolute world heavyweight boxing champion, which has not been fought for two decades. Everyone is waiting for this event. It seems absolutely logical and absolutely inevitable. In the end, all the belts are divided between two wonderful boxers – the British Tyson Fury and Ukrainian Alexander Usik. At stake is incredible fame, incredible money. And representatives of the rivals are already directly saying that the contract is about to be signed, that they have decided on the location and date of the match. And suddenly – message about the breakdown of negotiations for some reason that, apparently, is absolutely stupid compared to the scale of the event. And then – an exchange of caustic comments and outright insults and again months of waiting, until finally, at the end of the year, the news comes: they will, they will fight, but later – in February 2024. So be patient a little longer.

Autumn. UFC, the main promotion in mixed martial arts, is preparing for a major show in Abu Dhabi. In the central fights the champion in the category up to 70 kg fights Islam Makhachev and rushing to the title in the weight category up to 84 kg Khamzat Chimaev. And then, when the tournament is less than two weeks away, it turns out that their opponents are Charles Oliveira And Paulo Costa – received serious injuries. What would this mean in boxing? Of course, the cancellation of fights. At best, there will be inconspicuous understudies instead of Oliveira and Costa, dreaming only of how to quickly lie down on the floor without causing damage to their own health.

Both central matches took place in Abu Dhabi. Moreover, their lineup turned out even better than the original one, because real superstars agreed to fight with Makhachev and Chimaev, much cooler than those listed in the original program— Alexander Volkanovski and Kamaru Usman. They agreed, despite the fact that the lack of time for training looked fatal. Both lost, but also increased the show’s ratings. And for Russian Islam Makhachev, his second consecutive victory over Volkanovski brought him a special status – the best fighter, regardless of weight category.

Perhaps the contrast between these two stories, better than any sophisticated research of the audience, the peculiarities of the economy, explains why mixed martial arts, which appeared in the 1990s, and gained a more or less solid form only in the 2000s, today is a real competitor to professional boxing from all points of view — the sonority of events, demand from the public, magnetism of leaders. Why is it not in a form with a gigantic background, but in MMA, a young form, in 2023 giant contracts were concluded: one united the UFC with the WWE wrestling empire, creating a monster with a capitalization of over $20 billion, the other – two immediately following the flagship promotion, PFL and Bellator.

While boxing for decades boasted of conservatism and traditions, which include the hysterics of champions and their refusal of fights that the audience wants, mixed martial arts have elevated a rigid structure and strict regulations into a cult, which do not provide for any affectation and mannerisms. It’s just sport in its purest form, when you choose your opponents and fights, strictly speaking, not you yourself, but the system and its demands.

And one could say that MMA is moving on a direct course towards finally devouring boxing with its giblets, if not for the third most interesting story from 2023, which connected the two types. This is a fight between an outstanding heavyweight Francis Ngannou with the UFC and his escape from the promotion. Ngannou’s first performance after him was not a fight in the PFL, which, naturally, immediately signed a contract with him, but a boxing fight with Tyson Fury, lost with honor. But the main thing is not his result, but the confession of the fugitive that he did not earn the kind of money that he got for his only appearance in the ring, that is, $10 million, during his entire luxurious and long career in mixed martial arts, and that he will I’m glad to repeat the experiment. After this, predicting the imminent collapse of boxing in an unequal battle with a much more honest rival genre is somehow too risky. In sports, sometimes traditions, even those that do not correspond to ideas about effective business, provide a colossal margin of safety.

Alexey Dospehov