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BJJ Rage and JusttheTip- Whenever I try to quote posts, it doesn't work, but I wanted to add a few things to both of your posts.
1. Ryan's popularity is absolutely not from his DVD's, unless you started jiu jitsu late (after he stopped competing) and weren't around when he was at Lloyds. He was heavily marketed and very much in the spotlight as one of the first few popular Americans, and most promising up and comers at the time. He was popular for his unorthodox guard, unprecedented amount of triangles, and for regularly submitting higher belts, which although commonplace now for serious competitors, did not happen very often a decade ago.
2. The Worlds division that Ryan won at purple was anything but shallow. Especially not for the time. Most of the guys in that division were heavy hitters on the competitive circuit, they just aren't active anymore or never blossomed into big names. Off the top of my head and without a way to double check, I remember that Alec Baulding, Vince Parra, Ronis Gracie, Chase Wheaton and Jake McKenzie were all in at lightweight that year. Years later when he placed third at brown, he was in there with Henrique Rezende, Zak Maxwell, Ed Ramos and more. Mike Easton was on the other side of the bracket, and I think that was his last major competition before entering the UFC.
3. Not disagreeing with your points about who people identify with and race being a contributing factor to popularity, only adding this: much of the popularity from the other names you mentioned were due to a concerted marketing effort by Lloyd, the novelty of the grappler being promoted, and how they fought as well. Fowler, Brandon Vera, Ryan, and all those guys were literally turned into animated cartoons in magazine ads to promote their careers, DVDs, online training programs, etc. Each had a unique angle being pushed such as Fowler's quick path to black belt (and how you can do it too!) or Ryan's inverted guard and ability to submit higher belts. Two, this was at a time when successful American grapplers were few and far between so guys like Glover and Fowler and Hall got more of a spotlight. There were plenty of better (at the time, or higher ranked at least) white Americans fighting at the elite level that received hardly any real attention, and I am willing to bet hardly any blue or purple belts on this board would recognize names like Todd Margolis or Garth Taylor. Finally, and the major contributing factor I think, is that their highlight reels look way different. Tonon gets attention because he is unorthodox, and win or lose, he is entertaining because he is hyper active and flying around the ring at all times. Hall was literally turning upside and spinning on his head, which created a spectacle basically. DJ is a tough sell because despite having a high finish rate, his grinding, top heavy style isn't particularly unique and doesn't stand out to those that don't specifically appreciate the technique. Unfortunately, result and skill isn't the major determining factor for what makes one popular. See Marvin Castelle, who isn't nearly as good as the viral attention from an iminari roll would have you believe.
From what I've seen online, Jamil is poised to become a huge name in the sport, not only because he's an emerging contender in a division that has had the podium firmly cemented for a great deal of time, but because of the game he plays and how hard he goes after it. I haven't seen a single person online mention him without singing his praises, and almost everyone is in universal agreement that he was slighted against Cobrinha. I'd venture to say (only based on what I've seen) that he is one of the up and comers generating the most interest right now and he managed to establish himself with jiu jitsu alone. No fake crowns, or obnoxious social media, or marketing push needed.
1. Ryan's popularity is absolutely not from his DVD's, unless you started jiu jitsu late (after he stopped competing) and weren't around when he was at Lloyds. He was heavily marketed and very much in the spotlight as one of the first few popular Americans, and most promising up and comers at the time. He was popular for his unorthodox guard, unprecedented amount of triangles, and for regularly submitting higher belts, which although commonplace now for serious competitors, did not happen very often a decade ago.
2. The Worlds division that Ryan won at purple was anything but shallow. Especially not for the time. Most of the guys in that division were heavy hitters on the competitive circuit, they just aren't active anymore or never blossomed into big names. Off the top of my head and without a way to double check, I remember that Alec Baulding, Vince Parra, Ronis Gracie, Chase Wheaton and Jake McKenzie were all in at lightweight that year. Years later when he placed third at brown, he was in there with Henrique Rezende, Zak Maxwell, Ed Ramos and more. Mike Easton was on the other side of the bracket, and I think that was his last major competition before entering the UFC.
3. Not disagreeing with your points about who people identify with and race being a contributing factor to popularity, only adding this: much of the popularity from the other names you mentioned were due to a concerted marketing effort by Lloyd, the novelty of the grappler being promoted, and how they fought as well. Fowler, Brandon Vera, Ryan, and all those guys were literally turned into animated cartoons in magazine ads to promote their careers, DVDs, online training programs, etc. Each had a unique angle being pushed such as Fowler's quick path to black belt (and how you can do it too!) or Ryan's inverted guard and ability to submit higher belts. Two, this was at a time when successful American grapplers were few and far between so guys like Glover and Fowler and Hall got more of a spotlight. There were plenty of better (at the time, or higher ranked at least) white Americans fighting at the elite level that received hardly any real attention, and I am willing to bet hardly any blue or purple belts on this board would recognize names like Todd Margolis or Garth Taylor. Finally, and the major contributing factor I think, is that their highlight reels look way different. Tonon gets attention because he is unorthodox, and win or lose, he is entertaining because he is hyper active and flying around the ring at all times. Hall was literally turning upside and spinning on his head, which created a spectacle basically. DJ is a tough sell because despite having a high finish rate, his grinding, top heavy style isn't particularly unique and doesn't stand out to those that don't specifically appreciate the technique. Unfortunately, result and skill isn't the major determining factor for what makes one popular. See Marvin Castelle, who isn't nearly as good as the viral attention from an iminari roll would have you believe.
From what I've seen online, Jamil is poised to become a huge name in the sport, not only because he's an emerging contender in a division that has had the podium firmly cemented for a great deal of time, but because of the game he plays and how hard he goes after it. I haven't seen a single person online mention him without singing his praises, and almost everyone is in universal agreement that he was slighted against Cobrinha. I'd venture to say (only based on what I've seen) that he is one of the up and comers generating the most interest right now and he managed to establish himself with jiu jitsu alone. No fake crowns, or obnoxious social media, or marketing push needed.
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