Why is Stipe not as popular as the other HW champs?

[JOLLYjoe]

Brock for sure, but the popularity came from his past more so than UFC itself, but at the very least, ex-champ like Arlovski, Carwin, JDS and Velazquez got the push from UFC harder than Stipe is getting, even though Stipe is more successful at least in terms of win/lose goes.

Yeah Brock for sure, and for those reasons you stated. I agree with the UFC pushing some of those Heavyweights, but as far as "popularity" I'd say outside of this mma bubble none of those guys are really popular, even to some casual fans.

 

[kflo]

How about Matt Hughes? He never strike me as someone who is oozing with charisma or having a flamboyant personality. He even came across as a bit of a jerk on ultimate fighter as a coach.

For the majority of his prime his ppvs sold 40k.

Brock for sure, but the popularity came from his past more so than UFC itself, but at the very least, ex-champ like Arlovski, Carwin, JDS and Velazquez got the push from UFC harder than Stipe is getting, even though Stipe is more successful at least in terms of win/lose goes.

Not sure how you’re assessing the push arlovski (when??) and carwin had.

 

[Cat Biscuits]

He's obviously a step above his opponents, but he's not 10 steps above them.

He's extremely well rounded, but not extremely dangerous in any one area.

Personally, I thought he could've forced the finish against Ngannou and taken the chance to prove he's there to stop the fight instead of controlling him to a victory. But that's the kind of gritty performance people want to see today to make you special. Stipe didn't need to go full Just Bleed mode, but he could've gone for a choke or GnP to finish the fight instead of riding him out.

I'm sure i'll get tons of hate for that opinion, but I believe it's why he's not as appealing as a champion. Wonderful person, and I support him, but I can see why he's not a fan favorite.

 

[Plutoburn]

For the majority of his prime his ppvs sold 40k.



Not sure how you’re assessing the push arlovski (when??) and carwin had.

UFC was a much smaller organization back then, the ppv buyrate is misleading without perspective. And I use Matt Hughes more as an example of favourable promo treatment from Dana as well as respect from fans (rarely underdog in bets).

Arlovski got immediate rematch with Sylvia even though he got KOed in the first round, Sylvia had to go on a 3 fight winning streak to get rematched. Arlovski was also featured in UFC-All Access, which no heavyweight got until Brock Lesnar.
As for Carwin, pretty much they'd go on and on about how freakishly big his hands are and what size gloves he wears. One can easily make a good case that Stipe is more effective at knocking guys out than Carwin but you certainly don't get that sense comparing these 2 guys ufc promo.

 

[pick999]

who?

 

[Dirge]

i mean, the idea that the ufc don't want him to be popular because they can't "manipulate" him, doesn't register as absurd to you? why would they want their marquee division to have a champ that doesn't draw just because they can't "maniuplate" him?

? Did you pay even the remotest attention to all the press leading up to the fight? The UFC basically pushed everything towards Ngannou. Rogan was saying Ngannou was the greatest HW contender ever blah blah blah.

Literally all of the marketing was aimed at Ngannou taking out Stipe on Saturday night.

You tell me why their marquee champ who was set to break the title defense record got almost zero airplay from the UFC in favor of a guy that was largely untested except for knocking out two glass chinned over the hill fighters?

Why wouldn't they push the champ? I personally found it baffling that they didn't. It's not hard to push polite respectful fighters. Randy and GSP were immensely popular despite not talking trash and acting like idiots.

 

[kflo]

? Did you pay even the remotest attention to all the press leading up to the fight? The UFC basically pushed everything towards Ngannou. Rogan was saying Ngannou was the greatest HW contender ever blah blah blah.

Literally all of the marketing was aimed at Ngannou taking out Stipe on Saturday night.

You tell me why their marquee champ who was set to break the title defense record got almost zero airplay from the UFC in favor of a guy that was largely untested except for knocking out two glass chinned over the hill fighters?

Why wouldn't they push the champ? I personally found it baffling that they didn't. It's not hard to push polite respectful fighters. Randy and GSP were immensely popular despite not talking trash and acting like idiots.

The proof will be in the numbers. Ngannou was the hook for the fight, not another defense for stipe. He did 300k in his last headline with jds.

 

[Meathead Jock]

after the legal shit he put the UFC through for his pay... I'm not surprised the UFC already gave up on promoting him...

I missed this somehow. Link or details?

 

[BoomCannon]

Stipe sucks. Overrated

 

[Troy Nelson]

I have a lot of respect for him but me personally the two biggest reasons are 1) I can't understand a word he says, this is even worse because he speaks English and 2) I'm not convinced he's actually that great. Werdum fought dumb against him, Overeem has no chin left, and he couldn't put away an absolutely exhausted Ngannou.

You really have to live up to baddest man on the planet to move the needle for me. And right now I just think that division sucks.

 

[campbecc]

Not achieving a completely flawless victory is not "weird", not even "somewhat weird".

the Werdum fight was weird, but not because of anything Stipe did.

 

[Cro Cop Is Back]

He has a foreign sounding name, a relatively boring persona and a voice that sounds like a walrus gargling on a tuba.

That being said, he is still the baddest man on the planet, popular or not.

 

[Dirge]

The proof will be in the numbers. Ngannou was the hook for the fight, not another defense for stipe. He did 300k in his last headline with jds.

Yes and 475k when he fought Overeem. JDS has never been much of a draw except with the hardcores and the brazillian audiences.

Ngannou has never headlined an event. Plus Saturday has Cormier defending his belt as well. Hard to parse out the numbers on that one.

What i found strange was Bellator putting their card on the same night and timeslot. Yes they had Rory Lima main event as well as Rampage Sonnen as well as their poster boy Chandler but it's a strange night to go against the bigger outfit.

 

[kflo]

Yes and 475k when he fought Overeem. JDS has never been much of a draw except with the hardcores and the brazillian audiences.

Ngannou has never headlined an event. Plus Saturday has Cormier defending his belt as well. Hard to parse out the numbers on that one.

What i found strange was Bellator putting their card on the same night and timeslot. Yes they had Rory Lima main event as well as Rampage Sonnen as well as their poster boy Chandler but it's a strange night to go against the bigger outfit.

The opportunity to sell the card was really around ngannou. Dc fight wasn’t going to be a huge draw. Stipe isn’t going to drive a huge buyrate. The chance was around the new guy on the block with the big body and big knockouts. It was also an opportunity for stipe to capitalize on that through the strength of his performance against a seemingly scary opponent.

 

[dfoster]

Despite his stellar resume, he just doesn't seem to get the same amount of love other successful champions get. Seems clear Dana was more more excited talking about how scary/powerful Ngannou is leading up to the event rather than Stipe breaking the defense record, where Dana seems as enthusiastic as reading a script.

He also seems to get less respect from fans either, at least those who bets, very rare to see such an accomplished champ going against a relative new comer to the sport and is an underdog.

The only things I can think of that may be hurting his popularity is that his name is not American enough, the second is he has a weird cadence when he speaks, like he is rushing to finish a sentence. Outside of these 2 rather small oddities I can't really think of a reason why he isn't more popular and get the respect he deserves. Does he really need to talk shit like Connor or Bisping?

his whole persona is the antithesis of what people picture the baddest man on the planet would be. He's just straight up goofy

 

[Idonotbelieveit]

Style

Hes well rounded but not amazing at something imo

 

[beastman]

Ufc does a terrible job at promoting him.

I've seen the UFC build up guys in efforts to get them to be champ.

Look at Cains resume. They saw Brown pride on his chest and said we need this guy.
Pamper his first 4 fight

Then look and jds first 4 fights.

One guy fought to the top. One guy catered to the top, and the latter was a failure

The UFC put more into promoting Nguanno than Stipe for this fight which is ridiculous. UFC should have been promoting the hell out of Stipe after the Hunt and Arlovski TKO's, especially after taking the belt. The UFC should be putting billboards up and putting him commercials. He's very marketable.

 

[Fullmount Triangle]

He's not in the best division. He came in the class after the class that benefitted from the HW Bubble of the late 2000's. Cain benefits to this day from his win over Lesnar, JDS got the win over Carwin then Cain on FOX, these guys were the next class of heavyweights who beat the old. Miocic is cleaning up the remains of that too late for people to get invested.

HW is a division full of characters and uniqueness, Miocic is decidedly not unique in any real way, he's just a good cage fighter

 

[maxi diablo]

Because He's not dynamic enough. Has power but not like Ngannou. Has takedowns but not like khabib. Has striking but not like Barboza. Has subs but not like Ferguson. Plus no personality.

 

[Idonotbelieveit]

I like him though