and that’s the reason why he’s not a draw. Stipe also gets no respect and the UFC is shoving Ngannou down our throats and hoping he wins.
That seems to be the popular common belief around here leading up to the fight.
But did the UFC fail Stipe?
http://www.news-herald.com/sports/2...tipe-miocic-as-ufc-heavyweight-champ-millions
In over a year and a half since becoming champ ... The UFC had big plans for him and tried to push him right away. They set up UFC 203 in his hometown shortly after and the UFC even did him a major solid by throwing CM Punk on the card. How? Why?
UFC 203 did about 450K. Punk was probably responsible for at least 150-200K? That’s quite a few new viewers (WWE fans) tuning in to see the “Baddest man on the planet”. Then he headlined 211 which I thought was a very deep card yet it only did 300K.
So what happened?
The UFC believed that he would be marketable, his manager believed, his supporters believed and most importantly he believed he would be a major draw and deserved top money. Thing is you can’t hate promoting and expect to be a draw and earn top dollar. The UFC did their part and Stipe whether he was keeping it real by being himself or being too stubborn remains pretty much the same guy he was before he won the belt. Win or lose I’ll always respect the guy.
I’m not a UFC apologist by any means but to say they didn’t push Stipe or promote him properly is erroneous. The Stipe camp seems bitter/offended that the UFC is pushing/hyping Ngannou. Well of course they are... gotta get more than 300k buys and it’s not gonna happen by promoting Stipe or DC vs Volkan.