The folly UFC throwing its weight behind mm as a star

pilgrim4702

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I read the article on sherdog today which basically states that, generally, and going forward, UFC is having serious problems selling ppv's.

We all knew this anyway, but my point here is, the UFC, as the premier cage fighting entity on the planet, has choices in how it promotes and markets itself. So why on earth would they invest in mm? Especially knowing he's box-office poison. Ducking Tj got him more talked about than his actual fights! I have nothing against his size but rather him boring me for 24 minutes then deleivering an exciting finish over a bum and then the Hype machine regurgitating "goat" over and over again.

The biggest reason that I think it's foolish that mm is being promoted is because of what bellator is doing: fighters like Rory, mitrione, gegard, fedor, Larkin, fucking Aaron pico, all have enough value to have been offered Money to make a living in another org. The same is true of Ben askren with Onefc.
However, No other org is going to offer mm any money, as he brings in zero fans and stirs up zero interest relatively speaking.

Even a shot fedor still had value and was offered a better than fair deal in bellator because of what he's done in the past and b/c the mystique and Interest he generates. Mm has none of this pull. And generates none of the interest to make it remotely worth someone's while to roll the dice on promoting him- except UFC who knows he has no value to other orgs and are better off keeping him because no one else would offer him anything to join them.

Does wme have a deathwish, are they willing to sacrifice themselves on the altar of mm of all people? Josh Barnett was roiding and helped bring about the end of affliction, yet UFC and strike force STILL was willing to pay him because he is exciting.

Mm is squeaky clean and a nice person, yet he has relatively no ratings/ ppv value even now. He would have no value to bellator or the other orgs. What is UFC thinking? Did they go 'full retard'?
 
They definitely have NOT marketed DJ worth a shit.

He has the most complete skill-set of any MMA fighter today, regardless of the 'manlet' hate he gets here.

He's also cool as fuck. Which may be the issue.

Loud-mouth Douches seem to get the most fans nowadays. That said, they could market the heck out of him with fight high-lights alone, if they wanted to.
 
However, No other org is going to offer mm any money, as he brings in zero fans and stirs up zero interest relatively speaking.

You don't have the slightest clue what you're talking about. They didn't sign Rory McDonald and Gegard Mousasi because they're such incredible personalities with massive fan appeal (they're everything but). The reason Bellator wanted them at all is because having two top ranked, former UFC fighters on the roster is good for their credibility. Scott Coker would kill to have Mighty Mouse as a Bellator fighter.
 
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He's like the least marketed champ ever TS. What in the world are you talking about
 
DJ will always be irelavent unless he finally decides to ditch the kiddy pool known as FLW and moves up to BW.
 
While I'm no fan of DJ, what I really dislike is the UFC trying to hype up low-level or mediocre fighters like Sage Northcutt or Paige "lied to cancer kids" Vanzant.
 
They definitely have NOT marketed DJ worth a shit.

He has the most complete skill-set of any MMA fighter today, regardless of the 'manlet' hate he gets here.

He's also cool as fuck. Which may be the issue.

Loud-mouth Douches seem to get the most fans nowadays. That said, they could market the heck out of him with fight high-lights alone, if they wanted to.

I'm not sure if the UFC played any part, but DJ was just in a nationally televised commercial with Sage a few months ago, so he's getting more attention than most other fighters. The UFC is responsible for Johnson headlining PPVs, FOX cards and had an entire TUF season built around him. They also helped him push his Twitch channel, too. The UFC is trying, but nothing seems to be sticking with the casual fanbase. I'm sure they could be doing more, what I don't know, but the UFC have given an honest effort to push DJ into the mainstream, in my opinion.
 
I'm not sure if the UFC played any part, but DJ was just in a nationally televised commercial with Sage a few months ago, so he's getting more attention than most other fighters.

He had his own commercial too

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Even a shot fedor still had value and was offered a better than fair deal in bellator because of what he's done in the past and b/c the mystique and Interest he generates.

It wouldn't surprise me if shot Fedor wishes he could fight like the guy you say is overhyped.
 
I always asked myself why they even created the division if they never intended to market the best fighter in the division.

Still don't get it.
 
MM is a longer term investment but takes some patience and vision to understand having the BEST and UFC 125 can confidently market among its achievements.

125 will grow, the poor ratings are an industry challenge affecting other heavier weight classes too. Only Conor a reliable draw. Bisping and GSP perhaps we shall see.

If UFC wants to contract and optimize short term returns then yes at present 125 and Women would be the areas to trim but will constrain growth. Having a broader range of talent helps improve odds of a next Conor, made via 145 previously an outlier division. Some of the other divisions get less popular Champs at times but part of the competition.
 
Let's say the government passed a law that soft drink companies had to make a new drink that was nutritious and healthy. So they do and it tastes like total crap. They know no-one's going to buy it, so how much marketing are they going to put behind it? None. MM is that drink for the UFC, they have him because they pretty much have to--He's that good at 125 and they don't want the best going elsewhere--but nobody is going to watch it, much less pay for it. They're screwed.
 
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Even in his own commercial they disrespect him. The guy's final line was "I'm not giving this back." You think he would have said that if Brock was in the commmercial? The average sized man thinks he can beat up MM and UFC punks him in a commercial. lol.
 
So... you hate MM, we get it.

He's 10-0 in his last 10 fights with 7 finishes, and his most recent will be a candidate for submission of the year, but he bores you?

- "The biggest reason that I think it's foolish that mm is being promoted is because of what bellator is doing: fighters like Rory, mitrione, gegard, fedor, Larkin, fucking Aaron pico, all have enough value to have been offered Money to make a living in another org. The same is true of Ben askren with Onefc."

This makes zero sense... absolutely none. It's foolish for the UFC to promote MM because Bellator made offers to other fighters in other weight classes that they couldn't refuse? There is zero correlation between what Bellator offers other fighters and the UFC marketing MM... one thing has nothing to do with the other. Beyond that, Askren went to OneFC because the UFC refused to sign him and Askren likes padding his record with cans... again, that has nothing to do with the UFC marketing MM as a star.

Fighters are leaving the UFC. Some of their own free will and accord, and others because the UFC is making poor decisions regarding their talent. The UFC is giving fighters more and more reason to leave... not to stay.

To be honest, I don't even know what point you were trying to make. Are you advocating the UFC not promote MM and cut him because he can't go anywhere else? That they shouldn't put money into marketing him because Bellator won't sign him?

Given the choice between watching MM and the other male flyweights, or women's MMA in general, I'll happily watch MM all day long. Blaming MM for the UFC's poor marketing and matchmaking is stupid at best.
 
I always asked myself why they even created the division if they never intended to market the best fighter in the division.

Still don't get it.

Long term strategy to entice asia maybe.
 
Johnson is so good he could go to any other league and probably win the belt at the next weight class up. Guys like Benson Henderson and Rory MacDonald think they can do this and talk about it, but Johnson has proven it in the past by getting a title shot against Cruz before he was even at his peak. Imagine what DJ would do against Caldwell, Dantas, Moraes, or Fernandes. He would be a heavy favorite over all of them.
 
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