UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley and MMA analyst MMAGuru sat down to recap UFC 327 and preview the upcoming UFC 328. During the conversation, both men took aim at what they see as the promotion’s growing problem: too many cards with too little star power.
The discussion began with O’Malley acknowledging that fan sentiment toward the UFC often swings back and forth.
“I feel like it’s always going to be a thing where people be like, ‘Oh, UFC is boring. UFC’s fun,'” he said, arguing that the current stretch of events has still delivered solid entertainment.
Guru was less convinced. “UFC’s d*ad,” he said flatly, before immediately clarifying his stance. “I know what you mean though. There’s a lot of cards and they’re keeping you busy. There’s never going to be a week where they leave you hanging too much anymore. But I think maybe one too many cards. You’d rather have more stacked cards than random matches.”
O’Malley signaled agreement with that criticism. “I could see that,” he said. “More stacked cards than random matches.”
Guru then pointed to the level of competition appearing on recent cards as evidence of the issue. “We’re still seeing Tuivasa on the cards,” he said. “I just feel like we’re seeing a lot more people on the cards now where it’s like, oh, we’ve got cards, we have to put people on the cards. Whereas before, you had to be kind of good to get into the UFC.”
Guru then reinforced that point by highlighting how frequently events are being staged at the UFC Apex. “Sometimes we’re seeing these guys with records where it’s like, they’re just kind of filling up the numbers because we’ve got 50 million Apex cards a year,” he said.
When it came to solutions, Guru offered a straightforward fix. “I think they could get rid of about four cards a year,” he said. “I’m not asking for much. And then just disperse.”
Their frustration also extended to high-profile matches that never materialized. While discussing the planned White House card, O’Malley noted that Ilia Topuria was originally scheduled to face Islam Makhachev before Khamzat Chimaev stepped in. “Ilia versus Islam would have been the absolute best main event to have on that card,” O’Malley said.
Guru built on that hypothetical matchup. “Imagine that with Pereira and Gane,” he said, referencing a potential appearance from Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane.
Additionally, he summed up their frustration. “The stars have not been aligning in the UFC recently,” he said. “Dude, we’re not getting what we want.”
The co-main event announcement for UFC 328 triggered another reaction from Guru. When Norma Dumont versus Joselyne Edwards was revealed as the co-main event, he delivered a sarcastic jab at the promotion’s booking strategy. “Yeah, welcome to the UFC in 2026, buddy,” he said. “Nothing but the best.”
