AI slop makes me more bullish on combat sports. Here's why.

We’re living through a technological inflection point. Every week, it feels like AI gets better at something that used to belong exclusively to human experts: composing songs in Suno, generating art with Midjourney, producing films with Seedream or building playable worlds with Genie.

When it comes to content, AI raises the ceiling and lowers the floor. The worst content is getting better. The best content is getting cheaper.

While this progress is exhilarating, it also creates a new existential tension: if AI can do everything… what’s left for us?

From a basic economic standpoint: as AI commoditizes content creation, the supply of content will go way up, which in turn will drive down the equilibrium price, or, the value that we as audiences will derive from it.

As a result, I’m bearish on legacy film studios. I’m bearish on game studios. I’m bearish on any business whose moat is the high production value of their manufactured content. I believe that the floor of what AI can do at near-zero cost will surpass the ceiling of what humans can do with nine-figure budgets. And, I think this all happens within 5 years.

I don’t even think this view is particularly contrarian. Just look at the quality of the short films people are already creating (and sharing for free, by the way).

But here’s the important part: manufacturing artificial content isn’t our competitive advantage. It was never supposed to be.

What humans are good at, I believe, is authenticity.

As more and more of the content supply becomes artificial – optimized for engagement, tuned for virality, stripped of imperfection – humanly authentic content will rise in value.

The case for sports

There is something about the indomitable human spirit that makes us, us.

Across cultures and centuries, we tell the same story of the hero’s journey over and over again: struggle, sacrifice, transformation, triumph. The Pursuit of Happyness. David vs Goliath. Rocky. The Tortoise and the Hare. Marty Supreme.

Whether it’s through movies we watched growing up or stories that our ancestors passed down, we as humans love an “overcoming struggle” story.

There is nothing more humanly authentic than having irrationally big dreams and pursuing them relentlessly. We are wired to care when people attempt this. We are wired to aspire to this ourselves.

Sport captures that essence and creates a spectacle out of it, in real time. Watching the beauty and physicality of sport is one thing, but the real value of sports entertainment lies in the storylines and the athletes more than in the game itself.

At its best, watching sports is like looking into a mirror for the human condition.

Why combat sports?

In 2004, the Indiana Pacers were beating the Detroit Pistons when a hard foul turned into shoving, Ron Artest climbed into the stands, and players and spectators started swinging. The “Malice at the Palace” remains one of the most infamous moments in sports history.

That night revealed what sports really are. Sports are symbolic contests. They are structured proxies for determining superiority – mediated by a ball, a hoop, a referee, a rulebook. The structure keeps competition contained.

When the structure cracks, the abstraction disappears. The ball stops mattering. The points stop mattering. Behind the manufactured guardrails lies something more authentically human – competition without abstraction.

Combat sports aim to formalize the removal of that abstraction.

MMA is as close as you can get to true human competition. One-on-one, we determine who is better: me, or you. Yes, there are rules – 5 minute rounds, respecting the tap, no groin strikes, etc. But, you don’t really need to know the rules to understand the battle that’s happening.

AI can simulate fighting. You could generate Merab Dvalishvili vs. a kangaroo in full HD, complete with realistic Joe Rogan commentary. Or, you could watch humanoid robots fight (just wait til Unitree puts realistic skin textures on its G1 robots).

But, AI cannot replicate the humanity of a fight.

The UFC is in the business of distilling human competition to its essence: years of unseen work, relentless repetition and sacrifice, all for five rounds in the Octagon and one fleeting shot at greatness. One walks away with everything they’ve ever wanted; the other returns to the locker room alone, in defeat. And in that moment, stripped of every pretense, we get a glimpse of the full spectrum of what it means to be human: fear, courage, ego, pride, hope, despair.

The business of combat sports

According to TKO's 2025 Annual Report, the UFC has four main revenue sources: media rights (~60%), sponsorships (~21%), live events (~15%), and consumer products licensing (~3%). Together, these streams brought in $1.5bn in revenue for the company.

While each piece of the pie is expected to grow, the media rights market has already begun to price in what I'd call the post-AI effect. Beginning in 2026, the UFC moved to a new seven-year agreement with Paramount+ worth $1.1bn/yr, a dramatic step up from the $300m/yr deal it previously signed with ESPN in 2019. That's around a ~20% CAGR on UFC's domestic media rights value.

On the sponsorship front, the UFC sells more than just ad placements. It offers proximity to moments that audiences actually care about. When Paddy The Baddy walks out, when Conor KO’s Aldo, when Max Holloway points at the ground in front of Justin Gaethje with 10 seconds left on the clock – these moments create storylines that viewers can’t skip or scroll past.

These partnerships help brands build equity through meaning, and the UFC allows brands the opportunity to inherit a part of its story. By embedding themselves in a fighter's narrative arc, sponsors can shape (or reshape) public perception (see: UFC and Bud Light partnership post- Dylan Mulvaney backlash).

In a world where manufactured content is becoming devalued, companies must adapt to survive. Broadcasters need humanly authentic content to keep viewers engaged; sponsors need it to build brand equity.

In a post-AI world, humanly authentic content will command a post-AI premium.

That's why I'm bullish on combat sports.