Ufc

Why Does BBC Sports Personality Of The Year Always Overlook MMA?

Leon Edwards completed one of the greatest sporting achievements of all time this year. But the BBC disagree
16:00, 21 Dec 2022

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year nominees were announced yesterday and, as always, there was considerable discourse about those chosen. Golfer Matt Fitzpatrick won the US Open but was not part of the shortlist. Nor was there a place for Natasha Jonas, despite the boxer beating three separate world champions for their titles in 2022. 

But one omission stood out above all others. UFC Welterweight Champion Leon Edwards was absent, despite pulling off one of the greatest upset victories in the history of MMA. ‘Rocky’ lived up to his name by pulling off a shock, comeback knockout with under a minute to go in his fight with Kamaru Usman.

As if becoming only the second British UFC champion wasn’t enough, Edwards beat the pound-for-pound best fighter on the planet to do it. By any measure, this was one of the most monumental achievements across any sport this year. But the BBC obviously disagree.

At this point, the snub does not even feel personal to Edwards. The BBC has never featured an MMA fighter on their final shortlist for Sports Personality of the Year. Michael Bisping had the most incredible year in 2016. He started it by beating Anderson Silva, perhaps the greatest middleweight the UFC has ever produced. ‘The Count’ then became the first Brit to win a UFC title, beating Luke Rockhold. To close out the year he beat the great Dan Henderson in defence of his title. Yet there was no place for him amongst the nominees, even on an increased 16-person shortlist.

The BBC does tend to favour the traditional. The year Bisping lost out saw two Equestrian nominees and two swimmers, sports with a fraction of the audience MMA enjoys. It was an Olympic year however, which perhaps skews the numbers. But this year, Edwards has lost out when Curling and gymnastics are represented. The former did involve a Winter Olympics, but that event has a fraction of the footprint its summer equivalent enjoys.

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It speaks to a broader loss of touch the BBC has experienced with its audience. Darts fills arenas up and down the country, while pulling in great viewing figures on television. Yet, Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor only has one runner-up gong to show for a career in which he won 16 world championships. Peter Wright, the reigning world champion, is absent from the shortlist this time.

Edwards is not even the only high-achieving MMA athlete to miss out this year. Brendan Loughnane scooped the Professional Fighters League featherweight title this year, and a $1 million prize in the process. But he was not even considered for the award. 

Could the answer lay in the fact that, like with the PDC darts, the BBC does not cover UFC or PFL? The BBC’s sole MMA output is Bellator, which is a decent standard but does not carry the world-class reputation the UFC enjoys as industry leader. Simply put, the best fighters don’t fight in Bellator. This could explain the BBC’s reluctance to honour those fighters, even when they change the course of history as Edwards has.

Perhaps this is immaterial. After all, Lioness superstar Beth Mead is currently 1/10 to scoop the main award. The other names are practically furniture at this point. But the continued omission of candidates from the “wrong” sports sends an unsavoury message. Sports Personality of the Year is supposed to be inspirational. Instead it is an annual reminder that no matter what you do in the Octagon or at the oche, you’ll get nudged out for someone who plays a “BBC sport”. It’s sad to see an award with the word “personality” in its name become so homogenised and predictable.

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