Last night, I accidentally stumbled across a YouTube video about the history of Internet Explorer and its downfall. It went from completely dominating the browser market to being challenged by Mozilla, crushed by Chrome, and eventually becoming little more than a nostalgic memory.
A while before that, I had also watched a discussion about the UFC. More and more fans have been criticizing the promotion, saying it's become predictable, overloaded with weekly events, and too focused on business-driven matchmaking instead of pure competition.
Even though those two videos had nothing in common, they connected in my mind.
It made me think: if Pride could disappear, then there's no reason to believe the UFC, despite being the undisputed king of MMA today, is immune to the same fate.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized this isn't just something that happens in sports or technology. It's a pattern that keeps repeating across almost every industry where one company becomes too dominant.
So here's why I think history keeps repeating itself.
What Happens When One Company Dominates for Too Long?
Whenever a company or organization controls its market for an extended period, the same pattern tends to emerge.
First, it becomes the only major option, leaving consumers with very few alternatives.
Then, because there isn't any serious competition, the company starts believing its position is untouchable.
As a result, innovation slows down. Why rush to improve when customers keep coming back anyway?
Eventually, a new competitor appears, usually from an unexpected direction. They're faster, more flexible, and more willing to challenge the status quo.
Consumers gradually begin switching, and by the time the former giant realizes what's happening, it's often too late.
It sounds simple, but history has repeated this cycle over and over again.
Internet Explorer: From Browser King to Internet Joke
When I was in high school, Internet Explorer was still installed on some internet cafés' computers. But honestly, almost everyone around me had already switched to Mozilla Firefox.
Between roughly 2012 and 2018, Firefox was incredibly popular where I lived. Even after that, plenty of people continued using it because it looked cleaner and felt much faster than Internet Explorer, which had earned a reputation for being painfully slow.
Ironically, Internet Explorer had once ruled the browser market so completely that Microsoft even faced antitrust accusations over its dominance.
But after spending too long at the top, Internet Explorer failed to keep up. Firefox gained momentum, and Chrome eventually arrived to dominate the market entirely.
Microsoft later tried to make a comeback with Microsoft Edge.
I've used Edge myself, and honestly, it's surprisingly lightweight. But despite its improvements, it never felt quite as polished as Chrome, so I eventually switched back.
Today, Edge is a respectable browser, but it still hasn't managed to recreate the dominance Internet Explorer once enjoyed.
As for me, I've bounced between browsers over the years. I started with Firefox, moved to Chrome during the COVID era because Google's ecosystem made everything incredibly convenient, switched to Edge when Chrome became too resource-hungry, experimented with Opera for a while, and eventually settled on Brave, which feels fast, lightweight, and responsive.
Mobile Browsers: A Faster Cycle of Winners and Losers
If browser dominance on desktop computers changed gradually, mobile browsers have gone through even more frequent shifts.
My first phone was a Nokia with a physical keyboard, a camera, and a very basic built-in browser.
Later, around 2013, I got a Samsung Galaxy Young. Back then, Opera Mini was easily the most popular browser among people in my area.
Then came UC Browser, which quickly became the favorite and remained widely used throughout my high school years.
By the time I reached my second year of high school, Chrome had become the default choice for many Android users as the operating system matured and Google bundled Chrome with most devices.
Chrome eventually took over the mobile browser market.
Ironically, I barely use Chrome on my phone anymore. Like on desktop, I eventually switched to Brave.
What's interesting is that many Chinese smartphone brands ship with their own proprietary browsers. Because of that, achieving complete dominance on mobile has always been much harder than it was on desktop.
Nokia, BlackBerry, and Sony: When Phone Giants Lost Their Thrones
The smartphone industry offers some of the clearest examples of how quickly market leaders can fall.
Nokia was once the undisputed king of mobile phones. Almost everyone owned at least one Nokia at some point.
But when smartphones and touchscreens became the future, Nokia reacted too slowly. Even its partnership with Microsoft, which many believed would save both companies—ultimately failed because they were both late to recognize where the market was heading.
BlackBerry had its own golden era.
Before the iPhone became popular in Indonesia, owning a BlackBerry was considered a status symbol. Thanks to the exclusivity of BBM, it was often associated with wealth and prestige.
But as app-based smartphone ecosystems exploded, BlackBerry couldn't keep up. Today, it has all but disappeared from the mainstream market.
Sony tells a slightly different story.
As a company, Sony remains hugely successful through its cameras, gaming consoles, and consumer electronics.
But when it comes to smartphones, Sony never managed to compete with the industry's biggest players.
These companies sold different products in different markets, yet they all followed the same pattern:
they dominated one era, then struggled because they failed to adapt quickly enough to the next.
Could the UFC Be Next?
This is the question that stuck with me after watching those two unrelated YouTube videos.
Today, the UFC is essentially the dominant force in global MMA.
Yet criticism has been growing.
Many fans argue that the shift away from traditional PPV models has reduced the prestige of major fights. Others believe matchmaking is increasingly driven by business interests rather than sporting merit.
On top of that, the UFC now holds events almost every week. While that's great for keeping fans constantly engaged, some longtime followers feel the product has become less special. Instead of feeling like must-watch events, UFC cards can sometimes resemble an endless stream of weekly sports content.
The UFC itself doesn't seem particularly concerned.
And that's exactly what history warns us about.
Pride was once one of MMA's biggest organizations before collapsing. Internet Explorer once ruled the web. Nokia once ruled mobile phones. BlackBerry once seemed untouchable.
Every one of them believed they were secure, until they weren't.
Today, new promotions are beginning to emerge across combat sports, all trying to challenge the UFC's dominance.
Will they succeed?
Nobody knows.
But history has repeatedly shown that no market leader stays on top forever if it stops evolving and stops listening to its own customers.
Conclusion: Why Does This Keep Happening?
Whether we're talking about desktop browsers, mobile browsers, smartphone manufacturers, or even sports organizations, the underlying pattern remains remarkably consistent.
Being the market leader is an incredible advantage, but it can also create dangerous complacency.
Consumers can be loyal, but loyalty has limits. If a competitor offers something significantly better, people will eventually switch.
Markets never wait for companies that refuse to adapt.
And perhaps most importantly, user criticism is often ignored precisely because the company still feels untouchable. Ironically, those complaints are often the earliest warning signs that something is beginning to go wrong.
Whether it's a technology giant, a smartphone manufacturer, or an organization as powerful as the UFC, history has delivered the same lesson countless times:
Today's market leader can easily become tomorrow's nostalgia if it stops listening, stops improving, and assumes its dominance will last forever.
What do you think?
Could the UFC eventually suffer the same fate as Pride, or is it simply too powerful to be seriously challenged?
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