The UFC in 2026 has seen a lot of underwhelming matchmaking and even more underwhelming events, and it feels like we’re starting to hit levels of fan dissatisfaction never seen before.
The bad vibes go further than just ‘the rabble’ on X (formerly Twitter) and forums. Even the loyal soldiers on the Anik and Florian Podcast are discussing the issue after Saturday’s painfully uneventful UFC London: Evloev vs. Murphy event. Play-by-play commentator Jon Anik had legendary coach Ray Longo on, and they clearly had no interest in digging into the U.K. stinker.
“Ten, twelve years ago, I never left my house on Saturday night,” Longo said. “If we had a wedding for somebody, everybody had their phone out watching the fights. It’s just not like that any more.”
“I think some of these cards have been a little weaker. I mean, it’s just not captivating … And those fights on the White House card, you can’t tell me anybody gives a s–t. Like, the way we come up with these matchups? God.”
“What’s happening now is you’re getting fighters that are pushing back,” Longo added later. “They’re not taking fights if they’re not getting paid what they think they should be getting paid. Then [UFC] just move on to somebody else, and that’s why we’re not getting the fights.”
Anik agreed with Longo and gave his own thoughts on the UFC product.
“I think a lot of people feel that way,” he said about waning interest. “And even when you think about this UFC podcast … we’re not talking about the [UFC London] co-main event. We’re not talking about Christian Leroy Duncan’s win over Roman Dolidze even though CLD maybe deserves a minute or two. Because it’s not largely compelling.”
“41 UFC live events times 13 fights. It’s 533 UFC fights a year, not to mention the Contender Series and everything else. It’s a lot to continuously ask to hit triples and home runs.”
“Sometimes there’s ebbs and flows and I can’t wait to just scream through my neck at UFC 327 in a few weeks,” he concluded. “I can have an honest conversation like this and tell you that I’m gonna put my promotional best foot forward in a couple weeks. We have a tremendous card, and we’re gonna blow it out and I can’t wait for that. But, yeah, it hasn’t been a great few weeks to be sure.”
UFC 327 does look pretty decent with Jiri Prochazka vs. Carlos Ulberg for the vacant light heavyweight title and Joshua Van defending the flyweight belt against Tatsuro Taira. The UFC has done a decent job of stacking the undercard with big names and reliable bangers. Will it be enough to get the UFC out of its end-of-winter funk? It certainly can’t be worse than the last two months.
