Focusing on "stars" has been killing the UFC for YEARS and Conor is the sad culmination of it all...

[Foppa21]

Dana, and Zuffa killed any legitimacy the UFC had. Then got the fuck out and made a fortune. The bros slam dunked that shit all the way to the bank.

Dana made the big bucks. But, really looks bad now. He should retire. Enjoy his money, and get out of the rat race.

Let's not go that far. Without them, MMA also probably wouldn't be where it's at today. Give credit where credit is due. The choices they made in the last few years have been baffling though.

I do wonder if the Fertittas would've let Conor go the way he has the last few years though. I highly doubt it from what I've heard of them being super tough negotiators.

 

[Broke Lester]

A merely "good" fighter wouldn't have had as much success vs Byron Mitchell, Jeff Lacy, (who was undefeated at the time) Mikkel Kessler (who was quite lauded at the time) Bernard Hopkins (all time great) and lastly, Roy Jones...

byron Mitchell was promtoed by Don King, he never fixxed fights right? lacy and Kessler were decisions surprisingly in wales and England. Bernard was well past his prime and i personally favour hard shots over tip-tap bullshit, not to mention that Bernard was hated in boxing circles at that time and the only way for him to win was by KO, not to mention he was way past his prime when Joe finally agreed to fight him. Jones is a former shell of himself, Sorry but i'm not impressed. not saying he isn't a very good fighter, just that he fought most of his carreer under favorable judging in his home country, again 46-0 and nobody mentions him when they talk about all time greats

 

[Broke Lester]

Let's not go that far. Without them, MMA also probably wouldn't be where it's at today. Give credit where credit is due. The choices they made in the last few years have been baffling though.

I do wonder if the Fertittas would've let Conor go the way he has the last few years though. I highly doubt it from what I've heard of them being super tough negotiators.

I think that Dana is purposefully trying to ruin the UFC, then he and the Ferritas are going to buy it back at 5 cents on the dollar and build it back up, maybe second time around Dana will be a 30% partner.

 

[Azure]

If only they would place their focus on ACTUAL FIGHTS...

When Conor is the face of your company...you have problems.

And I'm not using hyperbole.

When your "star" won't actually defend...

When your "star" is given so much power that HE can dictate the rules...

When your "star" makes a mockery of your organization by acting the fool left and fucking right...

These are not things that other fighters on the roster should aspire to in order to get paid, alas, being a loudmouth does have it's monetary advantages given the fucked up nature of the UFC.

In closing, I know the entertainment aspect is VITAL, but what about focusing on entertaining FIGHTS and INTRIGUING match-ups...

I'll end my saying this... Imagine if Conor was not a "star"... If that was the case, a fight with Tony would have probably happened already...

*end of rant*

LOL...Actually until recent history the UFC was very careful to market the UFC brand first. I remember people on here complaining that they were doing that and saying how the UFC needs to create stars and market them..Those same people wanted the Fertitas gone.

 

[Azure]

I think that Dana is purposefully trying to ruin the UFC, then he and the Ferritas are going to buy it back at 5 cents on the dollar and build it back up, maybe second time around Dana will be a 30% partner.

My guess is Dana is taking his marching orders from WME and my guess is that he does not agree with many things that are going on but he is getting paid well so he doesn't give a rats ass.

Dana has always been the front guy that takes the bullets. Kinda his job.

 

[Hollywood Jack]

How about.......................

Converting a noteworthy amount of casual fans into hardcore fans via GOOD FIGHTS bereft of CONOR drama and the rest of the bullshit...

Foresight is good.

I'm all for it...

 

[Hollywood Jack]

Let's not go that far. Without them, MMA also probably wouldn't be where it's at today. Give credit where credit is due. The choices they made in the last few years have been baffling though.

I do wonder if the Fertittas would've let Conor go the way he has the last few years though. I highly doubt it from what I've heard of them being super tough negotiators.

They pulled him out of UFC 200, so they didn't fuck around when it came to certain things.

 

[The Big Bang]

I'm all for it...

 

[Charles Lee Ray]

The UFC has been pushing self-made stars like Royce Gracie, Liddell, Hughes, Couture, Wand, Shogun, Rampage etc,etc for years now. Fighters like GSP and even Conor fall into the self-made stars category. I'm not a Conor fan but I give him his due respect. He still had to win some tough fights. The UFC is right to promote those fighters.

Ronda is one of the iffy ones but she did have an impressive streak and women in the UFC is a way to expand their market. I can even understand trying to pretend CMPunk was a legit fighter in hopes the WWE fans will spend some of the PPV budget on the UFC in the future.

The stars that the UFC pushes on us like Paige Van ZZZZZ and Sage Northcutt, I don't like. Those two don't even do a good job promoting themselves. Don't give them extra bucks because they are pretty, while nickel-and-diming fighters llke Rory Macdonald. Even Kimbo Slice, who was a huge internet star and most watched event in MMA history, had to jump through TUF hoops to get into the UFC. It's just not fair.

Early TUF made some fighters popular but still, the UFC cannot create stars, it has to happen naturally.

 

[TatooNU]

If only they would place their focus on ACTUAL FIGHTS...

When Conor is the face of your company...you have problems.

And I'm not using hyperbole.

When your "star" won't actually defend...

When your "star" is given so much power that HE can dictate the rules...

When your "star" makes a mockery of your organization by acting the fool left and fucking right...

These are not things that other fighters on the roster should aspire to in order to get paid, alas, being a loudmouth does have it's monetary advantages given the fucked up nature of the UFC.

In closing, I know the entertainment aspect is VITAL, but what about focusing on entertaining FIGHTS and INTRIGUING match-ups...

I'll end my saying this... Imagine if Conor was not a "star"... If that was the case, a fight with Tony would have probably happened already...

*end of rant*

Sorry you just described king of the cage not the UFC . No stars and the ufc would be worth very little.

 

[soulsstealer]

only on sherdog do ppl not want stars. dumbest ppl in the world. hate just clouds ppl so much.

UFC was never a sport its a promotion ya goof.

 

[ocfightfan]

LOL what a joke. If you bums were running things the UFC would not exist or would be running shows on some Indian casino. I won't deny that some level of sporting legitimacy is beneficial and even necessary, but from the time of Royce to now the core has been spectacle. They have always favored names and given bullshit title shots. The fantasy of the UFC as orderly assembly line of ranking and title shots has never existed for any length of time.

 

[Hollywood Jack]

The UFC has been pushing self-made stars like Royce Gracie, Liddell, Hughes, Couture, Wand, Shogun, Rampage etc,etc for years now. Fighters like GSP and even Conor fall into the self-made stars category. I'm not a Conor fan but I give him his due respect. He still had to win some tough fights. The UFC is right to promote those fighters.

Ronda is one of the iffy ones but she did have an impressive streak and women in the UFC is a way to expand their market. I can even understand trying to pretend CMPunk was a legit fighter in hopes the WWE fans will spend some of the PPV budget on the UFC in the future.

The stars that the UFC pushes on us like Paige Van ZZZZZ and Sage Northcutt, I don't like. Those two don't even do a good job promoting themselves. Don't give them extra bucks because they are pretty, while nickel-and-diming fighters llke Rory Macdonald. Even Kimbo Slice, who was a huge internet star and most watched event in MMA history, had to jump through TUF hoops to get into the UFC. It's just not fair.

Early TUF made some fighters popular but still, the UFC cannot create stars, it has to happen naturally.

CM Punk was responsible for half of the buys that 203 got. He made the company a lot of money. He'd be a legit superstar if he had legit skills or at least size, strength and athleticism like Brock. But it's almost impossible to sell him as legit. That said, he actually has more of a fighter's heart than Brock. He just doesn't have any martial arts or boxing or wrestling background, unfortunately. And he got in the game late. If he had started young with his drive, he could have been decent.

 

[Charles Lee Ray]

LOL what a joke. If you bums were running things the UFC would not exist or would be running shows on some Indian casino. I won't deny that some level of sporting legitimacy is beneficial and even necessary, but from the time of Royce to now the core has been spectacle. They have always favored names and given bullshit title shots. The fantasy of the UFC as orderly assembly line of ranking and title shots has never existed for any length of time.

Dana is just like most Sherdog posters. It wasn't his money and he still runs his mouth too much bullying great fighters hoping their value goes down instead of up.

Anybody here does as good a job as Dana. What did Dana actually do? Some forgettable interviews? Working hard at his job? The sport sold itself. Maybe bullshitting is something Sherdoggers are really good at.

 

[ocfightfan]

Dana is just like most Sherdog posters. It wasn't his money and he still runs his mouth too much bullying great fighters hoping their value goes down instead of up.

Anybody here does as good a job as Dana. What did Dana actually do? Some forgettable interviews? Working hard at his job? The sport sold itself. Maybe bullshitting is something Sherdoggers are really good at.

Yes, I'm sure his job is easy. Keeping 500 alpha males, all with personal agendas, in check long enough to put on dozens of shows a year is a piece of cake.

 

[FrankieNYC]

The new owners desperately need "stars" and money fights as they realized how massively they had overpaid the UFC.

That is so not true
The company is worth 30% more now then they paid & they are making over $150m in profit in 2017

 

[JokerOfThePack]

I don't think that much money is sad.

 

[The Big Bang]

I don't think that much money is sad.

Hey, if you like the current landscape of the UFC, then...good for you.

If it was boxing, Conor would have been stripped LONG AGO.

 

[JokerOfThePack]

Hey, if you like the current landscape of the UFC, then...good for you.

If it was boxing, Conor would have been stripped LONG AGO.

I agree. But the current landscape works on numbers. If it makes money it makes sense. I don't like it either, especially after watching the may/pac spectacle. It's emotionless.
If you run a business and demote the person making you record breaking money, your business probably will not last.

 

[The Big Bang]

I agree. But the current landscape works on numbers. If it makes money it makes sense. I don't like it either, especially after watching the may/pac spectacle. It's emotionless.
If you run a business and demote the person making you record breaking money, your business probably will not last.

Ok, but where does one draw the line?

What does Conor have to do in order to make the UFC grow some balls...?

In this man's humple opinion, he's done FAR than enough already.

Defend or vacate retire or at the very least, get stripped while you're stalling and stalling.