Why does UFC pair prospects against old fighters?

cyrusthevyrus

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To try to market them? Like a young Gastelum beats the super old Anderson?

They should pair young ones against young ones, make some tournaments like Bellator did. Prospects:

1. Mike Perry
2. Uriah Hall
3. Kevin Lee
4. Derrick Lewis
5. Lando Vannata
6. Paige VanZant
7. Darren Till
8. Derek Brunson
9. Colby Covington
10. Ion Cutelaba
11. Paulo Borrachinha

12. Mickey Gall
13. Sage Northcutt
14. Junior Albini
15. Marcin Tybura
16. Kelvin Gastelum
17. Justin Gaethje
18. Misha Cirkunov


 
To either

A) Build the young fighters name off of their credibility

or

B)Rebuild the legends name off of the young up and comer

Pretty simple, really.
 
Exactly as you said, to help market them. Plus nobody wants to watch Hendo vs Belfort 4 times a year, you've got to mix it up and keep the legends fighting new guys too.
 
Exactly as you said, to help market them. Plus nobody wants to watch Hendo vs Belfort 4 times a year, you've got to mix it up and keep the legends fighting new guys too.
but people want to watch Shogun vs Anderson for example, or they wanted Machida vs Belfort.
 
To try to market them? Like a young Gastelum beats the super old Anderson?

They should pair young ones against young ones, make some tournaments like Bellator did. Prospects:

1. Mike Perry
2. Uriah Hall
3. Kevin Lee
4. Derrick Lewis
5. Lando Vannata
6. Paige VanZant
7. Darren Till
8. Derek Brunson
9. Colby Covington
10. Ion Cutelaba
11. Paulo Borrachinha

12. Mickey Gall
13. Sage Northcutt
14. Junior Albini
15. Marcin Tybura
16. Kelvin Gastelum
17. Justin Gaethje
18. Misha Cirkunov

It's called a 'crossroads' fight.

It provides the answer to 2 questions

1) is the young lion ready to compete against the best
2) is the old lion ready to retire/be put out to pasture, or do they have a few wins left in them
 
It's called a 'crossroads' fight.

It provides the answer to 2 questions

1) is the young lion ready to compete against the best
2) is the old lion ready to retire/be put out to pasture, or do they have a few wins left in them

1) this is the problem, the old ones are not the best anymore
2) this might work, but its no win for the fans
 
Fighting old guys is a great way for young fighters to get recognition and to benefit from the old guys' star power.
 
Fighting old guys is a great way for young fighters to get recognition and to benefit from the old guys' star power.
see , this is wrong promotion. if Albini beats Arlovski, what? If Brunson beats Machida, what?
Fights like Ngannou vs Lewis should have been made, Borrachinha vs Gastelum.
 
Gives younger fighters a chance to get some recognition by beating a more well known fighter. Passing of the torch if you like. UFC needs to build names and thats one of the ways to do it. I think this mainly targets the fans who don't watch every single event and don't know some of the up and comers but know most of the older/established guys.
 
1) this is the problem, the old ones are not the best anymore
2) this might work, but its no win for the fans
It's a win for the fans and potentially the young fighter as they get the opportunity to make a name for themselves with as many people watching as possible.

Having prospects face each other all the time, or older stars on the way out creates stagnation and most viewers are not watching the prelims to see young up and comer A vs young up and comer B.

Bellator utilized that format due to a lack of names and needing to establish their own stars to build their brand. Now they have their own homegrown talent fighting established stars coming over from UFC.
 
Fighters have a choice in the matter to a certain extent, Gastelum wanted to fight older fighters because he knew he couldn't beat guys like Rockhold, Weidman and Jacare. He even said that himself, the only reason he fought Wiedman was because Wiedman lost 3 in a row so he figured he might have a chance against him.
 
To test the young guy against the old guard and see how they fair for future fights in the division. Maybe that "out with the old, in with the new" theory.
 
Prospects fighting high-level guys: "OMG thrown to the wolves!"

Prospects fighting low-level guys: "OMG this is a waste of time he should've gotten a title shot by now!!"

Prospects fighting other prospects: "OMG killing-off prospects!!!"
 
Is this unique to the UFC? Don't boxing promotions do the same?
 
It's just the way it is really. Passing the torch is the term i prefer. It gives the young fighter a chance to beat an established name and the older fighter a chance to show they still have it. No Complaints from me about it.
 
It's just the way it is really. Passing the torch is the term i prefer. It gives the young fighter a chance to beat an established name and the older fighter a chance to show they still have it. No Complaints from me about it.
lot of good posts in this thread but I'll quote this one.

It also helps highlight when a prospect isn't ready, like Myles Jury vs Donald Cerrone. Myles lived to fight another day and had plenty of footage for him to review where he went wrong and where he can improve.
 
Because they want their prospects to pick up wins off of "name" fighters. Makes them look more legit.
 
To give the people who deserve a chance to shine, to shine. A win over someone with a bigger name than you helps your ability to sell PPVs and tickets. It's weird, but beating Anderson Silva right now will give you a bigger name than beating Robert Whittaker.
 
see , this is wrong promotion. if Albini beats Arlovski, what? If Brunson beats Machida, what?
Fights like Ngannou vs Lewis should have been made, Borrachinha vs Gastelum.

then those guys become more credentialed

as an example, nobody gave a fuck about floyd until he went up in weight and beat oscar de la hoya and won his fans over

rashad was taken a lot more seriously after he ko'd chuck etc

machida has how many more years of fighting in him? it would be better if brunson beat him and became a star
 
You don't want a fight that is guaranteed to eliminate a prospect. It's why we never saw Cain vs Carwin sadly.

Prospect vs veteran is more of a win-win for the promotion for all of the reasons already stated. Prospective prospect is only good short-term.
 
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