UFC raises eyebrows with 'horrible' Sean O'Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili poster

Fans react to UFC 316's artist series poster

"This looks like trash," One user remarked.

"I'm not advocating to use AI over actual human artists, but this isn't even AI art, that's what's unfortunate," Another commented.

"This kinda sucks," One viewer wrote. "Everything about the UFC is low effort these days."

Reacting to the design on a T-Shirt, one user exclaimed, "Whoever wears it, will look like a clown."

Breaking down the UFC 316 poster

Looking at the semiotics of the image, it makes sense. 'The Machine' Dvalishvili wears his belt, surrounded by factories chugging fumes, suiting his nickname. The chimney stacks rise up to give way to the challenger, O'Malley, who looms over with a glare.

You could also link the smoke to O'Malley's penchant for smoking.

Dvalishvili and O'Malley also fight in miniature at the bottom of the frame, while two statues of women's fighters- Julianna Pena and Kayla Harrison -occupy the shade at the back, which is questionable considering their position as the co-main event of the card.

While being unique, the artwork doesn't inspire high stakes, and it does the women's bantamweight title fight a disservice by relegating them to the background, where they are easily missed. There's also the wonky proportions on Dvalishvili's torso.

'The Machine' is known for being robust, but his sloped shoulders and dodgy midsection in the poster betray his actual physique and position as an intimidating champion. O'Malley's moon-like face also lacks definition, which gives the impression of his head stretching to fill the negative space in the upper frame.

This could be due to Konkol creating a looping animation from the poster, keeping Dvalishvili's forearms separated from the body on a new layer.

In rough sketches, Konkol's vision is clear, but something got lost in translation.

Compared to previous artist series posters, UFC 316's lacks dynamism, while failing to acknowledge fighter heritage and fight location and undermining the women's bantamweight title fight by making them a relatively small component of the design.

Look no further than UFC 315's exceptionally colored and dynamic artist series design by David Barco as a reference piece for an engaging and relevant fight poster.

Or UFC 314's Miami-inspired poster...

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