Anton Tabuena:
Global Expansion. It is very easy for long time fans of the sport to forget that MMA is still at its infancy.
We're still scratching the surface on where this sport can go, and you can see that with about half the world still unaware of its existence. It doesn't need to be Dana White's "bigger than soccer" claim, but as more and more promotions keep breaking into new markets, everything will start evolving.
The talent level will be better and deeper, the pay scale and overall market for the sport will improve, and perhaps the most intriguing possibility is that the sport and the fighting styles will evolve as well.
People always gush over Cung Le and his San Shou, Lyoto Machida with his Karate, or maybe Jose Aldo's Muay Thai. That's great and all, but imagine if the sport gains mainstream acceptance all over, where guys with truly high level Sanda, Muay Thai, or even Karate skills come to the sport with a well rounded game.
That could revolutionize the sport's "formula" for the perfect styles much like how MMA has evolved away from the time in which Sprawl-n-Brawl looked unstoppable. Of course, all these are still a long ways away, but seeing the sport slowly grow and expand globally is truly a joy to watch, and it makes me look forward to seeing what's in store for the future of Mixed Martial Arts.
