Farid Basharat confirms release, says UFC completely different from ‘what we all grew up loving’

Here’s everything he had to say:

The information is confirmed, I am no longer with the UFC.

I’ve had an extremely profitable time in the organisation. I’m proud and glad with what I’ve completed inside the Octagon. I depart with a stainless document. Holding the longest lively win streak in my weight division and the fourth longest in the complete UFC. I really feel I’m the best bantamweight in the world. I always turned up and fought regardless of accidents and weight deficits. And I always requested for the hardest opponent to get me nearer to the title.

But my departure clearly has nothing to do with my combating capabilities. Unfortunately the organisation just is not what it used to be. They’re heading in a completely different direction from what we all grew up loving. I need to make clear that since my last struggle I was never supplied a contract or an opponent, I waited but it never came. I’ve definitely never declined a struggle during my complete tenure.

I need to thank the UFC employees with whom I’ve developed a great relationship these previous few years. And most importantly thank you to the followers for all your support

I’m still younger, the best is yet to come inshaAllah

The most attention-grabbing tidbits are Basharat’s claims that the UFC “just isn’t what it used to be” and that the group is “heading in a different direction from what we all grew up loving.”

Advertisement

Usually, feedback like this learn as bitterness. But, in this occasion, it feels like Basharat might have put into phrases something many of us have felt over the previous few years.

The UFC product has modified a lot over the previous decade with amount taking 10-8 rounds over high quality on a week-in-week foundation. We’ve seen playing cards stacked with Contender Series grads and rookies from the minor leagues. And our large names are either transferring on elsewhere or sitting on the sidelines ready for the promotion to make a struggle value their while.

We’re also seeing a change in what’s taking place inside the cage. Finishes really feel like they are at an all-time high. Contender Series, which is the primary source of expertise for UFC occasions now, is constructed on the premise that “if you can knock a guy out we’ll give you a contract.” This means the roster is at present stacked with heavy-hitters with a kill-or-be-killed fashion of combating. Dominating wrestlers, like Basharat, and point-fighters, like Michael Page, are turning into endangered species around here.

It’s straightforward to see why the UFC would need just KOs on its product. Those are the ‘Holy Shit’ moments that Dana White needs. His vainness project Power Slap tells us just how much he loves a viral video. And the UFC now measures success by social media impressions (as per the press releases we’ve been getting from them this 12 months).

Advertisement

I’m not in the UFC’s warfare room, but I’m guessing someone getting starched generates more hits than a close struggle with takedowns, scrambles and technical exchanges on the toes.

Basharat will probably go to PFL now, where his brother went after he got cut from the UFC. I think we might see more successful fighters head that approach, too, if they can’t make viral videos the brass craves so much. The large query is, if the good fighters go elsewhere, will the followers observe? Or are we as hooked on Holy Shit moments as Dana White is?