Why Does It Take UFC Fighters So Long To Learn The Promotion Side Of The Business?

[Gangsters_Paradise]

That works in Asia and to an extent, Europe. Have you ever wondered why Fedor is virtually unknown in North America? It's because he never fought here in The UFC and because he had the personality of a head of cabbage. People here want to like the fighters they pay to see. Why should they pay hundreds of dollars to see a guy who they don't like because he has no personality or charisma? He couldn't make American fans love him or even like him a lot. If you don't really like a fighter very much, why would him winning a fight matter enough for you to want to pay a lot of money to see it happen?

True mma fans aren't watching mma for fighters personalities they want to see the best fighters not the best personalities. There are plenty of guys in the UFC with great personalities but they suck at fighting they are just filler personalities to fill in shows with if they didn't have personalities they wouldn't even be in the UFC. Also Fedor was actually very popular in North America not too long ago it was only after his first loss in 2010 that his mystique slipped away. Only the casuals don't know who Fedor is because they don't know shit to begin with.

 

[Mad Dollar]

It's up to the UFC to promote the fighters and make them superstars, just look at GSP, boring fighter, and shit at self promotion / UFC hype machine = Superstar.!

 

[Blackjack]

True mma fans aren't watching mma for fighters personalities they want to see the best fighters not the best personalities. There are plenty of guys in the UFC with great personalities but they suck at fighting they are just filler personalities to fill in shows with if they didn't have personalities they wouldn't even be in the UFC. Also Fedor was actually very popular in North America not too long ago it was only after his first loss in 2010 that his mystique slipped away. Only the casuals don't know who Fedor is because they don't know shit to begin with.

Fedor never had a PPV in America that got more than approximately 100,000 buys. That's not exactly setting the world on fire.

 

[Blackjack]

It's up to the UFC to promote the fighters and make them superstars, just look at GSP, boring fighter, and shit at self promotion / UFC hype machine = Superstar.!

No, The UFC promotes the events and he fighters and/or their managers do the talking. Are you suggesting that the fighters stop talking since it's not up to them to promote themselves? Can you name a successful wrestling or fighting promotion that doesn't have the athletes and/or the managers of he athletes do any talking to promote themselves..

 

[Gangsters_Paradise]

Fedor never had a PPV in America that got more than approximately 100,000 buys. That's not exactly setting the world on fire.

PPV numbers weren't great because the UFC held a monopoly over PPV buys, Affliction wasn't exactly a well known organization and neither was Strikeforce. Who knows what PPV numbers he would have brought in if he fought in the UFC. Name a "promoter" back then fighting for the UFC who Chuck Liddell ? He was the promoter ??? all he did was knock dudes out and throw his arms wide open scream into the air that was basically his entire personality and he was the UFC number 1 attraction at the time.

 

[209NickDiaz]

I think this perfectly illustrates the point that not every person is good at promoting themselves. Even Brock Lesnar sucks at it and he's been in the business for over a decade.

Luckily he has Paul Heyman as a mouthpiece to cut all his promo's for him.

We've all seen the cringey Rothwell, Buentello, Romero, etc. Post/Pre fight interviews. It's definitely something that some fighters have and some don't.

The UFC SHOULD be promoting their fighters, but they usually only really promote fighters that they KNOW will benefit the company, or put butts in seats.

Seriously, I'm all for UFC to promote fighter they need to do a better job... But to hire a mouthpiece for them? Seriously? U guys can't be serious

 

[BabyBlue_Bomber]

Seriously, I'm all for UFC to promote fighter they need to do a better job... But to hire a mouthpiece for them? Seriously? U guys can't be serious

The UFC should be their mouthpieces...

 

[Blackjack]

Seriously, I'm all for UFC to promote fighter they need to do a better job... But to hire a mouthpiece for them? Seriously? U guys can't be serious

Are you serious that a fighter who doesn't have the gift of gab shouldn't be allowed to hire a manager to assist him in his promos and interviews so that he can start to draw more people and make more money?

 

[soulsstealer]

We have a heavyweight title fight coming up where both the champion and the challenger need a lot of help in the promotion side of their business. Miicic isn't good at doing interviews or promos, he's fairly boring and he doesn't even like promoting himself. He actually said he hates doing the promotional side of the business. Then there's the challenger Ngannou who struggles to even speak English. Even if he were to improve his English, he doesn't have charisma or the ability to get people outside of a small, hardcore niche of fans to care whether he wins or loses.

Both of these guys need managers (in the sense of having someone act as a mouthpiece for them in interviews) and it should be obvious to them. How can guys who make their living in the fight business who are in their 30s not understand this? I understand that MMA is a relatively new sport but the concept of doing promos in a way that creates an emotional connection with the audience isn't new. If people don't care whether a fighter wins or loses and the fighter doesn't have the ability to get them to start caring whether they win or lose, then that fighter just doesn't have the necessary talent to do his interviews/promos on his own in a way that will maximize his earnings. The solution is to hire a manager to act as a mouthpiece. This is a time tested concept that is proven to work but none of the fighters in The UFC have availed themselves of one yet. That's absolutely incredible. Are they to proud to admit they aren't good on the mic or are they just too ignorant to be able to understand how much their income would benefit by using a manager?

i like ngannou, i think he has charisma, he is very confident. you will see a lot of haters pop up after his win over stipe, sherdog hates teh confident type. dude even learned english.

i hate managers. i wanna hear the fighters talk themselves even if thier english sucks. thats goes far more than some manager inbetween. Its some dumb WWE gimmic.

 

[Blackjack]

i like ngannou, i think he has charisma, he is very confident. you will see a lot of haters pop up after his win over stipe, sherdog hates teh confident type. dude even learned english.

i hate managers. i wanna hear the fighters talk themselves even if thier english sucks. thats goes far more than some manager inbetween. Its some dumb WWE gimmic.

Where did you get the idea that it's a "dumb WWE gimmick"? WWE doesn't even use managers except for Brock Lesnar because he works part time and because he's not good on the mic. The idea of a manager speaking for his fighter goes back at least 50 years before WWE existed. It's time tested and proven to work. What else are you going to do with a guy who sucks on the mic? Just let him cut terrible promo after terrible promo? Or hire someone who can help get the most out of the fighter's ability to connect with the public as he possibly can?

You do know that Ali got his gimmick (specifically his speaking style) from emulating a pro wrestler don't you? Do you think that was a dumb thing for Ali to do? Or would you concede that ideas that can greatly help the careers of combat athletes can come from pro wrestling?

 

[Blackjack]

i like ngannou, i think he has charisma, he is very confident. you will see a lot of haters pop up after his win over stipe, sherdog hates teh confident type. dude even learned english.

i hate managers. i wanna hear the fighters talk themselves even if thier english sucks. thats goes far more than some manager inbetween. Its some dumb WWE gimmic.

He's confident but far from charismatic. Sherdog loves the confident type. You have to believe in yourself if you wanna be champion. Ngannou is overconfident and if he manages to defeat Stipe in January, which I doubt, I agree you will see hatred for him coming from UFC fans, but because they like Stipe better. Ngannou has made some ridiculous comment such as: "I am stronger than Brock Lesnar."

 

[UFC=Pride]

Stipe should hire Jim Cornette an old school wrestler manager let's turn this full into wwe shit.

 

[soulsstealer]

Where did you get the idea that it's a "dumb WWE gimmick"? WWE doesn't even use managers except for Brock Lesnar because he works part time and because he's not good on the mic. The idea of a manager speaking for his fighter goes back at least 50 years before WWE existed. It's time tested and proven to work. What else are you going to do with a guy who sucks on the mic? Just let him cut terrible promo after terrible promo? Or hire someone who can help get the most out of the fighter's ability to connect with the public as he possibly can?

You do know that Ali got his gimmick (specifically his speaking style) from emulating a pro wrestler don't you? Do you think that was a dumb thing for Ali to do? Or would you concede that ideas that can greatly help the careers of combat athletes can come from pro wrestling?

look at this promo. its from pride. its tells a story and shows the fighters showing real emotions. after a fight there is a huge release of emotion from most fighters. they dont even have to say anything all. dancing,jumping around etc. fedor looks like he doesnt even show any emotion at all, that became his style. cept when he saw his bro getting beat up, thats where you see him pissed.

you are missing my point ali didnt get a manager, he spoke for himself. thats the key. you wanna hear the fighters urself. the person in between doesnt help bring hype whatsoever. if anything it takes away from it.

I dont watch wwe but brock is great on the mic in the ufc. his speech of frank having horse shoes up his ass and making strawberries out of his face is quite memorable.


Dana is supposed to be the "manager" of all the fighters. but i dont really like to hear him speak on the fighters behalf either. Only time i like listening to him is when he is salty.

 

[Mask Of Winters]

They promote Conor, not the fighters.

FIFY

 

[HelloJapan]

Anytime a fighter gives an interview or a press conference he is self promoting. The UFC provides the medium for the fighters to get their message across. The fighters and/or their managers use the medium provided by The UFC to promote themselves. That's a simple concept to grasp, isn't it?

What is your ideal - no more fighter interviews and no more press conferences where the fighters answer questions? Muhammad Ali was master self promoter and he's known as the greatest boxer of all time. he didn't whine about the boxing promotion not doing everything for him - he was glad of it because they wouldn't have known how to promote Ali as well as Ali did!

...and?

 

[soulsstealer]

He's confident but far from charismatic. Sherdog loves the confident type. You have to believe in yourself if you wanna be champion. Ngannou is overconfident and if he manages to defeat Stipe in January, which I doubt, I agree you will see hatred for him coming from UFC fans, but because they like Stipe better. Ngannou has made some ridiculous comment such as: "I am stronger than Brock Lesnar."

nah noone cares about stipe unfortunately, ppl wont hate on ngannou for beating him. ppl hate him cuz he is confident.
see like yourself. ngannou hasnt even talked shit about his opponents, just been confident in his abilities.

 

[Blackjack]

nah noone cares about stipe unfortunately, ppl wont hate on ngannou for beating him. ppl hate him cuz he is confident.
see like yourself. stipe hasnt even talked shit about his opponents, just been confident in his abilities.

That's just common sense to not talk shit about your opponents.. If Stipe were to say :My opponent is a loser who just got this far on a few lucky wins over opponents far past their prime" and then he lost, he would have lost to a loser. If he won, all he would have accomplished is beating up an overrated fighter that only got the title shot on some fluke wins." Do you understand this principle? It's one of the most important principles for a fighter to understand. It's enough work to keep your opponent from making you look bad; you certainly don't want to help him by potentially making yourself look bad.

 

[Paynebringer]

They're not fucking actors and I tend to hate the dipshit fighters who try to pretend they are. It's a joke and completely unfunny.

↑↑↑ This right here, I'd much rather have a fighter be themselves than to put on some made up Colby Covington act to try and make me love or hate them I'm not 12yrs old and need to be sold, your fighting sells me. Over my decades of watching combat sports I've learned that most fighters are either introverts or overt, but it's what they do in the cage/ring is why I'm interested in them.

It's the promotions job to promote the fighter to the best of their abilities without turning them into dancing monkey's.

 

[Mask Of Winters]

Do PVZ and Sage have these great personalities I'm not aware of? Because UFC promoted the hell out of them.

But hey, who am I to question TS's mastery of self-promotion? Just look at how over he's gotten himself in this thread...oh wait, never mind

The only problem I have is fighters who win and then in the postfight interview mumble something about fighting whoever the UFC decides they should. No no no no NO!!! ALWAYS have a callout in mind, no matter who is it, just as long as it's somebody. The postfight interview is where fighters need to show the UFC they have a plan. Screw all the other stuff.

 

[soulsstealer]

That's just common sense to not talk shit about your opponents.. If Stipe were to say :My opponent is a loser who just got this far on a few lucky wins over opponents far past their prime" and then he lost, he would have lost to a loser. If he won, all he would have accomplished is beating up an overrated fighter that only got the title shot on some fluke wins." Do you understand this principle? It's one of the most important principles for a fighter to understand. It's enough work to keep your opponent from making you look bad; you certainly don't want to help him by potentially making yourself look bad.

i actually made a mistake i meant to say ngannou.

anyways thats a dumb idea also. look at conor all he does is talk shit about about his opponents. it basically adds extra worth for the viewers and the other fighter. it increases the imaginary stakes. As to the fact of losing, you suck either way. thats some dumb cheal sonnen quote that he doesnt even believe in.