Lay and pray MMA is just as bad as the worst boxing bouts, and lay and pray is the majority of MMA right now.
I think this is a fundamental problem with competitive fighting: by making it civilized enough to exist in society, and be enjoyed by well-adjusted people, it can't be too savage. So it needs rules. But the more rules it has the less it can feel like "fighting" and the more opportunity its participants have to try to exploit those rules in ways that may be effective or impressive, but aren't necessarily entertaining.
In terms of both potential harm and the money involved, there's not as much incentive to fight with the kind of reckless abandon that, frankly, would be more interesting to watch.