Would MMA be better off if Pride had survived instead of UFC?

Incredibly retarded question.

Yes. Of course.

Yes.

>>149939754 (OP)
No. Would be better if both existed for competition purposes. This would have forced both to put out better product long term as opposed to UFC gaining short term. Look how watered down UFC cards have been in recent years.

>>149939754 (OP)
unequivocally yes

>>149939754 (OP)
100% yes

>>149939754 (OP)
No, competition is bad.

yes. also it should have been Strikeforce instead of UFC that survived

>>149942442
partial truth nuke

The UFC is the Uber of sports. As a new sport they have the incredible advantage of being able to mold the structures of MMA to their benefit. They want fighters to be considered independent contractors? Done. They want half the roster to be no name guys who are absolutely replaceable in every way? DWCS. Costs are outsourced to the fighter.
Everything, quite literally everything in the UFC is made with margins in mind. Have you noticed the amount of ads in the cage has increased steadily? The Apex is a fucking great example, there's no reason to spend the money on traveling to Atlantic City or Austin, just hold the card in a near empty room because ESPN already paid you the deal. Could you imagine a fight night in fucking Utica happening today like it did in the past? Consider the removal of fighter sponsorships and the fucking insidious nature of DWCS and its effect on the roster, all of this is to make as much money as possible before regulations or fighter organization happens (it won't). If you had a functional monopoly in a new sport in which the athletes receive barely a double digit percentage of revenue you would also use that advantage to make as much money as possible.
The saddest part to me is that the Apex cards have killed the ability to see top level MMA outside of Las Vegas or 2-3 cities.

>>149951163
>also it should have been Strikeforce instead of UFC that survived
based

yes
mma has become trash under ufc