Let's go back to the OP and consider that this is the situation that MOST people find themselves in. That means limited time, motivation, or physicality. Take a step back and remember that self-defense is about defense of life... so you must
have one. For MOST people, they don't want to slave away in a gym or dojo 24/7... just so they can slave away in a gym or dojo! If that's your passion in life, fine, but MOST people aren't going to find that kind of life meaningful.
We have girlfriends, wives, family, friends, hobbies, responsibilities, needs, etc. that make up
life. Time is precious. Motivation in the purely self-defense arena is driven by need. The likelihood of getting into an unavoidable H2H is low for MOST people. Finally, physicality is determined by age, sex, size, genes, and lifestyle
more than effort. High-end MMAers have a lot of effort (read:time + motivation, the latter born of sport considerations more than defensive ones) but there's no question that most of them are natural athletes with advantages in age, sex, and size (young man's game where you pick a weight class).
Let's look at the OP again...
I'm looking to get the basics for my fiancee and myself . ... I'm not interested in becoming a martial arts super star, just trying to get the basics down and then make a better choice about what, if any, specific art to pursue after the basics.
A very rational approach. Note that we have to consider his fiancée (sex) and their time/motivation (basics).
Let's say your motivation is high for a reasonable reason- you live in a high crime area. Let's say you train 6 hours a week (2 hours during the week, half a day on Sat) because you want to get up to speed quickly (this is because of "clear and present" danger, after all) but that's the best you can do without starting to make serious lifestyle sacrifices (neglecting rest, family, etc). This also does not include normal conditioning time which you should be doing anyways regardless of martial arts. Being extremely generous, that means you train about 300 hours in a year (2 weeks off for vacations or injuries, 50 weeks a year x 6 hours a week).
You're now fairly trained in a highly specialized/pretty specific defensive application... and yet, as we've seen from the last 3 UFC upsets, you could still go down for all your training. A Sunday punch, Mr. Murphy, or Karma could all strike. What else could you have done with that time? Presuming you have all this time and money to train, I'm going to assume a certain income level. So you could've worked overtime or a second job during those 300 hours (at, say, $30/hr)... subtracting gear and gym costs, you're easily pulling an extra $10,000 a year (plus career development that translates into more dough down the road). If we're using the OP, that includes his fiancée, which could mean $20,000 total. If you're in a high-risk environment, that suggests urban, and $20K goes a long ways towards moving you just enough so that your risk profile changes
completely. Not to mention, money and hard work are versatile life-defense tools.
[More probably, one's risk profile doesn't start out that high to begin with. And a compromise is made, as it always is, to put
some time and money into training for the gravest extremes.]
I fear that "MMA [or any style] as the best self-defense" is a bit of an escapist fantasy to justify a beloved recreational activity. MMA may very well be the
best for a street-fight, but is it your best investment of time/energy taking into account a bigger picture of self-defense? I honestly don't think so and fear people who jump to "MMA as a one-size-fits-all answer" are spreading a false gospel. People seeking basics and a H2H self-defense "toolbox" should look for curriculum developed with that in mind instead of trying to piece together the "machine-shop" exhibited by highly specialized paid athletes on programs like Ultimate Fighter.
"But you won't be prepared for this or that!"
We all draw lines in terms of costs vs. returns, time vs. efficacy, risk vs. reward. Touting MMA as
THE solution is like saying everyone's CCW should be a G18 w/ 2 33rnd reloads- no ifs, ands, or buts about it... or that everyone should attend Sniper School if they want to deer hunt. We don't wear bodyarmor 24/7, drive tanks, or test our every meal for poison. Living in the tyranny of unwarranted fear is arguably worse than being unprepared in some cases.
Again, I'm not questioning the efficacy of MMA in a street fight. Nor am I saying, "Don't train." If you get kick out of it, by all means! But I'm saying the vast majority of us would do well to know some basics and practice those to perfection rather than investing our lives into mastering H2H combat. I don't question the value of some H2H training as a means to get to situations or tools where you can multiply your advantage. Remember, we're talking about potential differences in weight class, sex, tools, age, or numbers... taking time to master something like gun skills, which will degrade much less with age, seems a more effective investment if any is to be made.
is not going to be as good for what I hear you saying you want. 
Remember one thing against multiple attackers and or weapons, unless your armed don't believe the hype.
