UFC Fighters await anxiously for their next fight

When Jon Fitch was dropped from the UFC roster, many believed that the decision was unjust based on his high ranking within the welterweight division. Despite the controversy, many of the cuts made by the UFC have gone unchallenged by both the fans and media.

The rapid growth of MMA across all continents has created fierce competition amongst up and coming fighters for a spot within the UFC.  There are only so many events that the UFC can hold each year and it appears that supply is quickly outstripping demand.

Chris Leben who is booked to fight Andrew Craig at UFC 162 on July 4th, recently spoke with Inside MMA and stated “with all these guys they’ve got right now it’s not like the old days when I can just get a fight whenever I want”. With the added weight classes, including the new women’s 135 pound division, it appears that many fighters are waiting anxiously for Joe Silva to call.

The UFC currently have over 450 fighters under contract. In 2012, the UFC held 32 events booking approximately 830 fighters in total.  If there was an even distribution of fights allocated amongst the 450 contracted fighters, it would equate to approximately 2 fights per calendar year for each fighter, assuming layoffs and injuries.

As fans, we now have the luxury of more UFC events than ever before, but are our fighters becoming too disposable? Let us know your thoughts.

 by Jeremy Wise