Can a non english/ESL fighter achieve Ronda/Conor fame?

[Myrddin Wild]

GSP is ESL and he is the GOAT. He's had PPV buys bigger than Ronda and PPV buys in the same neighbourhood as Conor (in MMA). He might not be quite as known to the casuals as Ronda and Conor, but he isn't that far off.

The answer is Georges St Pierre.

What are you smoking? gsp doesn't even come in the same universe in ppv sales as conor does...not even remotely close.

Ronda has had 3 PPV's over a million... though one of them was pushed by Weidman / Silva... while GSP has not main evented over a million... GSP was on UFC 100, but Brock is the reason it went that high.

GSP's draw is probably pretty comparable to Ronda's though... cause Ronda has some low numbers in some of them at the start.

@bigconan is right that neither of them are even close to Conor. In fact Conor's 5 fight total is bigger than Rondas 8 fight total.... & GSP's last 7 fights come in about 600k less than Conor's 5 fight total.

Spoiler: PPV Records

Ronda​

2/23/2013 UFC 157 Rousey vs Carmouche 450,000
12/28/2013 UFC 168 Weidman vs Silva II 1,025,000
2/22/2014 UFC 170 Rousey vs McMann 350,000
7/5/2014 UFC 175 Weidman vs Machida 545,000
2/28/2015 UFC 184 Rousey vs Zingano 600,000
8/1/2015 UFC 190 Rousey vs Correia 900,000
11/15/2015 UFC 193 Rousey vs Holm 1,100,000
12/30/16 UFC 207 Nunes vs. Rousey 1,100,000

GSP
​

11/18/06 UFC 65 Hughes v. GSP II 500,000
04/07/07 UFC 69 GSP v. Serra 400,000
08/25/07 UFC 74 Couture v. Gonzaga 520,000
12/29/07 UFC 79 GSP v. Hughes III 650,000
04/19/08 UFC 83 GSP v. Serra 530,000
08/09/08 UFC 87 GSP / Fitch 625,000
01/31/09 UFC 94 GSP v. Penn II 920,000
07/11/09 UFC 100 Lesnar v. Mir 1,600,000
03/27/10 UFC 111 GSP vs. Hardy 770,000
12/11/10 UFC 124 GSP vs. Koscheck 785,000
04/30/11 UFC 129 GSP vs. Shields 800,000
11/17/12 UFC 154 GSP vs. Condit 700,000
03/16/13 UFC 158 GSP vs Diaz 950,000
11/16/13 UFC 167 GSP vs Hendricks 630,000
11/04/17 UFC 217 GSP vs Bisping 875,000 early est.

McGregor
​

07/11/15 UFC 189 McGregor vs Mendes 825,000
12/12/15 UFC 194 Aldo vs McGregor 1,025,000
03/05/16 UFC 196 McGregor vs Diaz 1,317,000
08/20/16 UFC 202 McGregor vs. Diaz 2 1,650,000
11/12/16 UFC 205 McGreor vs. Alverez 1,300,000

 

[Karelinator]

Are you talking about mega fame in the U.S. ? the entire world? a certain region?

There are many regional stars that are barely stars in the U.S. There are even more national stars by country that are virtually unknown in the U.S. You can be the most famous athlete in Japan. Probably some baseball player. Have a tone of endorsements there, be on TV shows, commercials. Recognizable by every Japanese person. Thats 130 million people an entire country behind you. Ngannou dosent look or sound like most people in the U.S. but he does so in Africa especially French speaking parts. The UFC is global so whoever becomes heavyweight champ he will have a region or at least country to appeal to. According to wiki there is about 220 million people who speak French daily world wide and 54% are in Africa. Ngannou does not have to speak English to become a big star in that part of the world. I dont think its a tragedy if he is only known to 10 million Americans but world wide 500 million people know who he is.

This.

The answer to TS question is likely NO.

Such fighters, however, certainly can become stars in other places though.

The catch is whether the 'other places' are going to make it worthwhile for UFC.

 

[Andre Xiong]

Maybe there’s also a skin color factor?

 

[Deleted member 500785]

This seems more of an example of your own perception of abnormally big, strong individuals, as opposed to an honest observation based on things that Francis has said or done. How did you perceive Brock when you first came across him?

 

[bigconan]

Ronda has had 3 PPV's over a million... though one of them was pushed by Weidman / Silva... while GSP has not main evented over a million... GSP was on UFC 100, but Brock is the reason it went that high.

GSP's draw is probably pretty comparable to Ronda's though... cause Ronda has some low numbers in some of them at the start.

@bigconan is right that neither of them are even close to Conor. In fact Conor's 5 fight total is bigger than Rondas 8 fight total.... & GSP's last 7 fights come in about 600k less than Conor's 5 fight total.

Spoiler: PPV Records

Ronda​

2/23/2013 UFC 157 Rousey vs Carmouche 450,000
12/28/2013 UFC 168 Weidman vs Silva II 1,025,000
2/22/2014 UFC 170 Rousey vs McMann 350,000
7/5/2014 UFC 175 Weidman vs Machida 545,000
2/28/2015 UFC 184 Rousey vs Zingano 600,000
8/1/2015 UFC 190 Rousey vs Correia 900,000
11/15/2015 UFC 193 Rousey vs Holm 1,100,000
12/30/16 UFC 207 Nunes vs. Rousey 1,100,000

GSP
​

11/18/06 UFC 65 Hughes v. GSP II 500,000
04/07/07 UFC 69 GSP v. Serra 400,000
08/25/07 UFC 74 Couture v. Gonzaga 520,000
12/29/07 UFC 79 GSP v. Hughes III 650,000
04/19/08 UFC 83 GSP v. Serra 530,000
08/09/08 UFC 87 GSP / Fitch 625,000
01/31/09 UFC 94 GSP v. Penn II 920,000
07/11/09 UFC 100 Lesnar v. Mir 1,600,000
03/27/10 UFC 111 GSP vs. Hardy 770,000
12/11/10 UFC 124 GSP vs. Koscheck 785,000
04/30/11 UFC 129 GSP vs. Shields 800,000
11/17/12 UFC 154 GSP vs. Condit 700,000
03/16/13 UFC 158 GSP vs Diaz 950,000
11/16/13 UFC 167 GSP vs Hendricks 630,000
11/04/17 UFC 217 GSP vs Bisping 875,000 early est.

McGregor
​

07/11/15 UFC 189 McGregor vs Mendes 825,000
12/12/15 UFC 194 Aldo vs McGregor 1,025,000
03/05/16 UFC 196 McGregor vs Diaz 1,317,000
08/20/16 UFC 202 McGregor vs. Diaz 2 1,650,000
11/12/16 UFC 205 McGreor vs. Alverez 1,300,000

Another way of looking at it, when comparing ronda to conor...ronda's best ppv numbers are not better than conor's worst.

 

[Voltron]

Anderson Silva, wanderlei, Royce, fedor, etc.
All this guys where and some still are super stars.
You don’t need English to be a mma super star, all you need is to be one bad ass mother fucker

 

[rearnakedchoke]

I barely can understand anything that drunk Irish says.

Came to say this. Reminds me of when ross pointon needed subtitles on tuf

 

[Myrddin Wild]

Another way of looking at it, when comparing ronda to conor...ronda's best ppv numbers are not better than conor's worst.

Can't really say that, since Ronda grabbed that pair of 1.1 mill events... & Conor's first 2 events were slightly lower than that... but very true for every one after that.

That said, neither of them are even close to Conor for consistency... & Conor walked away from them in his last 3. (4 if you count Floyd)

 

[DeathByBeer]

Hopefully not

As it is the whole explosive fame/TMZ thing has had a negative impact on the sport.

Lets get back to promoting great fighters first and use the trash talkers, no matter how canned it is, as an extra to lure in the casuals.

 

[12ga.]

You mean can any non white fighters clock same numbers. Doubt it. White legacy wealth keeps GHWs in riches and away from danger. Like Till they are giving push to now keeping him away from killers like Usman.

 

[Seven30]

Maybe there’s also a skin color factor?

Well, Lenny from "Of Mice and Men" was white, so I don't think that's necessarily the issue. It may just be a "big, dumb jock" type of perception when coming across abnormally big & strong individuals.


Edit: Disregard. I realize that you mean "a skin color factor" in regards to how big of a star one could potentially become, correct?

 

[MeatheadFighter]

Look at Conor before he was a superstar and look at him now. Ngannou just needs a load of shitty tattoos, a ginger beard and to loose to a very average fighter in a non tile fight after beating Stipe and then he'll be up there with Conor.

Your butthurt is showing.

 

[Seven30]

Something wrong with the question? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[dildos]

Came to say this. Reminds me of when ross pointon needed subtitles on tuf

reminds me of myself after a bottle of scotch!

 

[mikehunt]

 

[welcometohavoc]

Who the fuck looks like that in UFC ? Being different makes you stand out.

You have to add into the factor that he is KO'ing every motherfucking HW to the moon.

He doesn't even need to talk.

Conor/Ronda fame maybe not but i think he will become a star for sure.

What do Conor and Ronda have in common? Both did alot of talking. It's hard for the English speaking world to care about what you're saying when they can't understand you.

 

[welcometohavoc]

They had subtitles for Bisping in TUF so I assume most Americans have no idea at all what Conor is saying.

That suggests that being able to be understood by Americans doesn't matter.

Look at Conor before he was a superstar and look at him now. Ngannou just needs a load of shitty tattoos, a ginger beard and to loose to a very average fighter in a non tile fight after beating Stipe and then he'll be up there with Conor.

The Dublin accent is far easier to understand than the Manc accent. Hell even fellow Brits have trouble understanding them sometimes

 

[nostradumbass]

No. Conor and Ronda have the 2 biggest names in the 25 years UFC has been around, so even all the fighters who speak English don't get as famous.

The level of stardom depends on your home country as well. There aren't going to be a bunch of people from Cameroon waving flags in the arena, they're a little preoccupied with not starving to death.

 

[kila2]

I was watching a video on Stipe vs Ngannou. The gentleman said "If Ngannou wins, and a couple after he will become a star". I honestly don't see it. Every single time he talks, either Lenny from Of mice and men pops in my head or recently John Coffey from The Green Mile.

Which non english/ESL fighter is the closest to mega fame or possess the abilities to get there? I can't think of one.

are you talking about Francis? cause it's not 100% clear to me from your OP. but if so, I disagree. I actually think he has a very interesting personality, which in my opinion includes his voice and the way he speaks. I would actually love to hear more about his past, about Africa and other topics from him directly.

and I also think that to put subtitles in, when he speaks, was absolutely unnecessary, since f.e. I understood like every single word he said.

Conor or Ronda status? I am not sure about that. but f.e. DC, Aldo or Robbie? that is more than likely IMO.

 

[kila2]

Anderson Silva, wanderlei, Royce, fedor, etc.
All this guys where and some still are super stars.
You don’t need English to be a mma super star, all you need is to be one bad ass mother fucker

I think Anderson is actually a good example. I dont see any reason why in future Francis couldn't be as famous as Anderson Silva.