The UFC 200 hangover hasnt fully lifted, and if youre a high roller in Vegas, perhaps even an intravenous saline drip was administered in your hotel room. But despite multiple headliner changes, the event went off as a smashing success, and the celebratory atmosphere was appreciable throughout a fight card stacked from top to bottom with many of the sports most notable athletes.With the milestone event now in the books, lets try to imagine what the next big one will look like. Whether its UFC 250 estimated for the summer of 2020, or UFC 300 around the year 2024, lets consider the landscape of MMA and how the worlds biggest fight promotion will change in the years to come.Competitive structureWhat started out like a circus built to show cage fights for the first time has since become a well-oiled machine for MMA competition that every sports fan immediately recognizes. The days of constantly changing rules, battling regulatory bodies, and all manner of difficulties with media and live broadcasts are long gone. The slick packaging of UFC programming now includes desk analysts with pre and post-fight shows, and a wide variety of supporting media specific to fighters, events, or general MMA trends.But how individual fights are organized hasnt changed much since the elimination of tournaments in the early years, and there continues to be very little organization around the athletes themselves outside of divisions and rankings. Matches are made almost entirely as one-offs, with the rare exception being a title-eliminator bout between two potential challengers, the winner of which advances. Yet as the sport solidifies in mainstream culture, the best practices of established leagues like the NFL and NBA will work their way into the UFC.The most valuable aspect of league sports is the idea of playoffs. Any game that carries implications beyond the here and now is inherently more valuable and interesting than a simple exhibition of the sport. Tournaments and playoff games attract more eyeballs (and ultimately more money), and should be leveraged in the future of the UFC. Rankings are already the basis for seeding, and potential regional circuits within the UFC umbrella will allow for the necessary volume of bouts and a streamlined path to the top of the sports pyramid. The possibility of fight clubs drafting new talent from the wider pool would make for fun future draft coverage.Grand Prix style seasons for a select division will then pair the best 16 fighters to work towards the title. Theres a vast pool of complexities and possible structures, but certainly a robust sports promotion will be able to organize a competition structure that maximizes fan anticipation and helps organize the sport for better digestion by the larger masses.Weight classesSince UFC 100, numerous smaller weight classes have been added, as well as the previously unthinkable addition of womens divisions. In a fitting twist, UFC 200 ended up being headlined by female athletes, which was in fact the case for two consecutive fight cards during the UFCs biggest week of events. Theres not much more room to go for men in the UFC, as a strawweight division for 115 pounds is unlikely. If anything, athletes are getting bigger and MMA in particular is drawing from a deeper talent pool, so its more likely than an existing division like heavyweight could be split into two.But women have plenty of space to grow, the most obvious being a flyweight division in between the current strawweights and bantamweights. The hesitancy of adding womens divisions has been the perceived lack of depth. But the rise and recent fall of Ronda Rousey has cemented her divisions popularity and proven that stars will emerge even when one falls out of the sky. And the growing popularity of the sport will only attract even more.Currently totaling 10, the upper limit of total divisions in the UFC wont be much more (perhaps 13), but each division means one more champion to help anchor the promotion of fight cards, and several additional title fights per year. The next milestone UFC event will have more talent than ever before to draw off, and could even fill an entire main card with title fights.International exposureDespite a recent drought for Brazil and championship belts, two Brazilians, both underdogs, took gold home from UFC 200. Brazil has always been the origin of the sport and also the old country for the UFCs original founders. But not only did Europe get their first champion just recently, they now have three active title holders, further boosting the ceiling for the European combat sports market.Asia remains the next big thing for MMA, which will require displacing local martial arts styles fueling a thriving fight sports industry that is ripe for consolidation and scaled up management. In the next few years this market will mature and embrace standardized Mixed Martial Arts, and a bold move to create international feeder leagues for the UFC will leverage the abundance of regional talent and interest in fighting there.Emergence of the feeder league structure is unlikely to emerge by UFC 250, but possibly by UFC 300. Once mature, Super Bowl style UFC events will then bring each regions best to compete against each other, allowing for some level of geographic fan loyalty and a nearly Olympic level of international competition.OwnershipHaving turned their $2 million gamble on MMA into a $4 billion exit valuation, the Fertitta brothers and Dana White dovetailed the sale of the business with the UFC 200 weekend. They recently achieved several major regulatory milestones with the introduction of comprehensive drug testing, fighter health insurance, and finally the legalization of professional MMA in the state of New York, overcoming the last remaining hurdles to maximizing their stability and minimizing long-term risk. The time was right for the Fertittas to cash out and move on, and the sale will go down as the biggest in sports history.The leading men will of course have to stay involved through any ownership transition, as the brain trust of Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White, and matchmakers Joe Silva and Sean Shelby have climbed an enormous experience curve that will be critical to the successful management of a full blown international organization. But external parties will surely have an investment thesis to justify these multiples, which will likely have an international flavor. The current leadership has proven the UFC platform in the US, but is constrained in replicating the structure in a repeatable and sustainable way overseas, with additional risk of brand dilution running too many secondary events under the UFC name. A giant cash infusion could change all that, providing the capital necessary to fully build out what might be UFC Asia, UFC Oceana, UFC Euro, etc.Dana White has long referred to becoming the NFL of MMA, and that goal is closer than ever. But as many have pointed out, the volatile behavior of White would be in sharp contrast to the NFLs corporate leadership, so while the near-term changes will be slight, the long-term evolution of the company will be significant when it transfers leadership to a new president for the first time in decades. Ideally, a number of retired fighters will grow into leadership roles in the UFC, which will improve upon any potential tradeoffs that may put athlete priorities in second place. And if the UFC truly becomes what it dreamed of, it will have to consider a fighters Union as part of that transformation.TechnologyFightMetric has made statistics an increasingly important part of MMA coverage, and they will continue to lead the implementation of data capture and presentation for the UFC. Last years addition of motion tracking cameras has escalated discrete counting statistics to new levels of details that capture one of last remaining elements of how fights are fought.The final holdout is measuring strikes directly. Imagine that when a key punch is landed, fans immediately see how fast the thrown punch was, similar to a fastballs speed shown during Major League Baseball games. This has been a pipedream for a long time due to the conundrum of collecting such specific data without interfering with the athletes themselves. But a company called Hykso has recently productized glove sensors small enough to fit in the back of glove linings that can measure the type, accuracy, and speed of each punch thrown.Very soon, not only will casual boxing and martial arts enthusiasts be using these in gyms around the world for daily training, but professionals will be wearing these sensors and potentially other biometric sensors for things like heart rate, and fans will see even more detailed information and stats on screen during live fights. Well know more information about strikes and conditioning than ever before, which is useful not just for athletes, but also regulatory commissions interested in protecting the safety of athletes.With the amount of data that will proliferate in gyms around the world, fighters will be closer than ever to standardized ratings in much the same way golfers have a handicap rating, or amateur tennis players and their international ranking. The data and metrics that drive this revolution will also become part of MMAs lexicon as the sport sees full data-driven maturation.Live environmentThe buzz in the air on fight night is palpable, thanks to UFCs long-perfected ability to create an exciting atmosphere in the arena. The usual elements will all remain, such as the excellent house DJing, ring card girls, and multimedia production parallels through the evenings entertainment. But technology will continue to evolve as it has through the history of the entertainment and sports industries, and the theatrical elements of a live show will benefit from this trend.Far richer and dynamic visual displays will use an increasing share of the arena itself, while the canvas inside the Octagon could even host video. Imagine a green screen mat that can show different viewers in different countries sponsor logos geared specifically to them, as the audience for UFC events will no doubt be more internationally diverse than ever before. Already, tent pole events are toying with using the walls and roof of a theater to engulf attendees in an immersive environment, and sporting events will eventually adopt this cool new tech.Legalized sports bettingAs with the growing acceptance of other legalized vices, sports gambling is ripe for federal oversight and the tax revenues that come with it. Whether it happens state-to-state or at a national level, its hard to imagine the US not embracing this already enormous industry. That could open the doors for far more interest on fight night, and plenty of cage side bets being placed in real-time through mobile apps. Houston Texans Keke Coutee Jersey . Following a lopsided 5-2 loss against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night, Paul MacLean told reporters that "theres a lack of focus, theres a lack of leadership and theres a lack of preparation" with his struggling team. 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RIO DE JANEIRO -- As he walked into an Olympic pool venue for the final time on Saturday night, Michael Phelps couldnt help but feel the emotion begin to settle over him. He had known this day had been coming for years. Ever since he decided to unretire for one last Olympics, he knew it would all come to an end late on Aug. 13.He expected there would be emotions. How could there not? This was nothing like four years earlier in London, where he left the sport of swimming kicking and screaming and eager to put lane lines and kickboards in his rearview mirror as quickly as he could. This time, he had embraced the journey, became a team leader and rediscovered the love for the water he had as a little boy. So of course there would be tears, even before his final race began.Walking down the warm-up pool deck, I started getting choked up thinking this is my last this, this is my last that, Phelps said. It was definitely more emotion than in 2012, and I think thats a good thing.He wasnt alone. Bob Bowman had coached Phelps for 20 years. He watched Phelps grow from an eager 11-year-old into a hard-headed, complicated competitor into a grown father and leader. He had once worried about who Phelps was hanging out with and what they might be up to. At one point, the relationship between Bowman and Phelps had devolved into ferocious, profanity-laced arguments, with both of them swearing they would never talk to the other again, only to somehow return.And yet, here at the end, for the past 21 months, their bond had become everything it always should have been. They respected one another. Vacationed together. Laughed. Worked hard but had fun doing so. So of course, when Phelps began his final warm-up swim before the mens 4x100 meter medley relay final, Bowman had to excuse himself.?I just walked off like I was going to the bathroom, Bowman said. I spent the whole day thinking about sentimental stuff. The last time I will see him swim freestyle. The last 200 IM. The last time Im going to watch him do this 25 or that 25. I got emotional. I dont think he even knew.By the time Phelps stepped onto the competition deck, the tears were in check for the time being. He had just one thought: Get the lead. The United States had never lost the mens medley relay, and they werent going to start now. Not in the last swim of Michael Phelps career. His motivational speech to his teammates was simple but effective.He said, I dont have anything to say, but lets just go out there and kill it, Ryan Murphy said. It wasnt much, but that was enough for me to get hyped.Murphy began the American charge by setting a world-record time in the 100 backstroke during the first leg of the relay. But thanks to a monster breaststroke by Great Britains Adam Peaty, Phelps entered the water on the third leg with the Americans trailing by .61 seconds. In a way, this was exactly how it was supposed to be -- the United States needing Michael Phelps to help them to victory.One hundred meters and a little more than 50 seconds later, Phelps and his strong butterfly stroke handed teammate Nathan Adrian a .41-second lead that the Americans did not lose. And just like that, the greatest career in Olympic history came to an end.This was the cherry on top that I wanted, Phelps said after the race. I couldnt be any happier with the end of my career.With that last race of the aquatics schedule in Rio, Phelps won hiss 28th career Olympic medal and his 23rd gold.dddddddddddd Last week, he regained the 200 butterfly crown he had lost four years ago that had meant so much to him. He again beat teammate Ryan Lochte in the 200 individual medley for the fourth straight Olympics. And in the last individual event of his career, he took home silver in the 100 butterfly behind 21-year-old Joseph Schooling, who grew up in Singapore idolizing Phelps; it reminded the world just how hard greatness can be to master.Phelps leaves Rio with five gold medals and one silver, the fourth straight Olympics where Phelps is likely to win more medals than any other Olympian.When the race finally was over, Phelps raised his arms high above his head to acknowledge the cheering crowd. The emotions returned while he waited for the medal ceremony, but it happened behind closed doors, where no one could see it. Teammate Cody Miller became dizzy and light-headed, postponing the medal ceremony by some 25 minutes. By the time Phelps re-emerged, he put himself back together.You could see the tears in his eyes as we were walking to the medal ceremony, Murphy said. It got tampered down with how much time we had to wait, but he was super emotional. It was a great way to cap off an incredible career.For Phelps, these Olympics have proved to be different than any other. He walked in his first Opening Ceremony after being elected the U.S. flag-bearer by his teammates. He served as one of the team captains -- another first -- and help lead the Americans to 33 total swimming medals, the most since 1984.And, for the first time in his life, it wasnt all about winning. It was the process of getting there. Which is why those close to Phelps are optimistic that the next chapter of his life will be far brighter than it might have once looked. For years, Phelps defined himself as nothing more than a swimmer. In 2008, when a University of Michigan athletics administrator asked him what he planned to do if he won eight gold medals in Beijing, he shrugged his shoulders. Retirement after London in 2012 was followed by a reality television show, playing golf and a lack of direction.This time, Phelps insists its different. He will no longer have swimming to keep his life within the boundaries -- to bring him happiness, contentment, sobriety. But he doesnt need it. He finally knows who he is beyond a swimmer. He no longer needs gold medals to define himself as a successful and productive human being. He has a fiancée who has been there through the good times and bad and loves him for the man, not the medals. He has a son who will blindingly care about him and has cried in recent days during FaceTime chats because he misses Dad.This time, Rio was closure.He knows where hes going, Bowman said. There is a baby and a house and a wife. He can see the next chapter of his life. And he cant wait. I dont worry about him anymore. Hes on a great path, and I think thats the biggest difference.The end of Phelps competitive career is anything but the end of his story. In many ways, it is only the beginning.The things Ive gone through in my life -- this is how Im supposed to be today, Phelps said. 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