Why is MMA More Popular Than Boxing | Shocking Facts

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Where It All Began
• MMA vs Boxing Popularity USA
• Boxing vs MMA Popularity Worldwide
• Mayweather vs McGregor PPV Numbers
• In Conclusion

Introduction

Over the past twenty-seven years or so, the sport of mixed martial arts. Mainly under the direction of The Ultimate Fighting Championships has seen a massive explosion in its popularity. So people are asking if it’s much younger, why is MMA more popular than boxing?

While MMA has seen a massive explosion in popularity. Boxing still holds the biggest pay-per-view records. But boxing stalled for many years, while MMA continues to grow so things may continue to evolve going forward.

And there can be little doubt that over the past ten to fifteen years, under the leadership of The Ultimate Fighting Championships. Mixed martial arts has seen massive growth in terms of awareness all around the globe.

Where It All Began

Now while the original home of boxing is Great Britain. There can be little doubting the home of MMA in the United States. Boxing in its purest form has been around for thousands of years. While gloved boxing only came into existence in the late 1800s.

Many of the individual disciplines within mixed martial arts have been around for centuries. But the sport of mixed martial arts as we know it today only officially started back in 1993. While its creators Rorion Gracie and Arthur Davie essentially took the brutal sport of Vale Tudo from Brazil. And tried to repackage and sanitise it for a mainstream audience in the form of the UFC.

So MMA, as we know it now, has only had to give or take twenty-seven years to make an impact. And globally we do see how this has now happened with gyms that specifically train in the sport, popping up all over the world. And along with that a whole slew of new promotions, many of which have unfortunately already come and gone, while others still continue to roll on.

Truth be known, boxing has maintained its position as the number one combat sport in terms of popularity. And as we can see from the graph below. There have been just a few points since 2004 where mixed martial arts was either equal to or surpassed boxing in terms of searches on the web.

And those dates were June 2008, June and July 2009 and June – July 2010. MMA only passed boxing in terms of its popularity briefly in August 2009. Before once again falling below never to recover right up until the current date.

MMA vs Boxing Popularity USA

So while the sport of mixed martial arts has no doubt grown. And along with that created some huge stars including Ronda Rousey, Georges St Pierre, and Anderson Silva. And of course one of the biggest crossover stars sports has known is Conor McGregor.

Most of these stars outside of Conor McGregor or perhaps Ronda Rousey wouldn’t be known to non-mixed martial arts fans. While these athletes may be superstars to fans of the sport, in terms of global awareness of non-MMA fans is relatively limited.

Boxing vs MMA Popularity Worldwide

And while boxing has lagged from the late 1990s up until recently. It has still managed to hold on to much of its core fanbase. And along the way created some of the biggest names and some of the highest-paid athletes in the world. Including names like Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

On top of that, in recent years boxing has seen a resurgence in popularity amongst fans of both sports. With more fighters willing to consider a crossover fight. And some making it a reality like the massive event that was Mayweather vs McGregor.

With its many stars including Canelo Alvarez, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Vasyl Lomachenko, and Gennady Golovkin to name a few. Along with lots of other huge names that only hardcore boxing fans would be aware of. Right now, the future is looking considerably brighter for the sweet science.

And it doesn’t end there as when it comes to the all-important pay-per-view revenues. Boxing has consistently outshined MMA in almost all departments. But, there is always a but. The UFC which is a real pillar of the sport is still growing and all be it slowly, catching up to boxing.

With their main star, Conor McGregor’s first career PPV buys all being bigger than that of boxing’s Moneyman Floyd Mayweather.

Mayweather vs McGregor PPV Numbers

And with a slew of rising talent in the sport on which to build their future. The UFC and the sport of MMA overall are inching forward to a new lineup of stars to make their big breakthrough.

Another thing we have to remember is that boxing stars like Tyson Fury only really became known worldwide after he dethroned the long-reigning heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko in 2015. But his subsequent well-documented fight with mental health delayed his inevitable rise to stardom.

Floyd Mayweather	Conor McGregor
Arturo Gatti – 340,000 (PPV Buys)	Chad Mendes – 825,000 (PPV Buys)
Zab Judah – 375,000 (PPV Buys)	Jose Aldo – 1,200,000 (PPV Buys)
Carlos Boldomir – 325,000 (PPV Buys)	Nate Diaz – 1,600,000 (PPV Buys)
Oscar De La Hoya – 2,400,000 (PPV Buys)	Nate Diaz – 1,625,000 (PPV Buys)

Making a resurgence back on to the scene in 2018, before dethroning the WBC champion Deontay Wilder in their second fight in 2020. And heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua was in the same boat. After beating a returning Klitschko to take the world boxing scene by storm in 2017.

And boxing is still paying its stars significantly more than the UFC. Canelo Alvarez secured an 11-fight 350 million dollar fight deal with DAZN streaming service as recently as 2018. So a lot has happened since Mayweather and McGregor had their massive crossover fight and there is no doubt much more to come.

In Conclusion

And this really shouldn’t be, but it is a competition. As both sports are built on ultra competitiveness and aggression. Both camps are always looking for bragging rights and both have had that opportunity at given points along the timeline.

It’s going to be a fascinating few years as new stars rise and old stars fade into the background. We cannot keep holding out for Floyd to decide if he will or won’t step back into the ring. Or whether a certain Mr McGregor will or won’t retire. All good things eventually come to an end.

But for the boxing vs MMA debate, we will have to wait and see how this all plays out in the longer term. Because the sport of mixed martial arts is so new, it’s got tonnes of room to grow. And whether or not it will overtake boxing somewhere down the line, we will just have to wait and see.

Image courtesy of sportskeeda.com