Why Isn't There Pressure On Stipe Miocic To Save UFC215?

[Dirge]

Saving UFC215.

I understand Stipe's probably excuses. I am just surprised that the fans are not putting any pressure on him to save the card.

Like another poster stated, it is probably because he is too vanilla, and the fans don't expect too much excitement from him.

They just want him to win because "he is a really nice guy."

Stipe has been damn impressive and has become a true heavyweight champ.

While he should fight Ngannou at some point, he has fought 4 times in the last year and a half. That's pretty damn active for any UFC fighter. Ngannou is definitely not a draw yet.

The fault here is JDS's, not Stipe's. 3 weeks notice to take on a beast like Ngannou? We have no idea what shape Stipe is in. He hasn't fought since May, he could be completely off his training, especially given he has not had a fight scheduled.

 

[Mikey Palangio]

Stipe has been damn impressive and has become a true heavyweight champ.

While he should fight Ngannou at some point, he has fought 4 times in the last year and a half. That's pretty damn active for any UFC fighter. Ngannou is definitely not a draw yet.

The fault here is JDS's, not Stipe's. 3 weeks notice to take on a beast like Ngannou? We have no idea what shape Stipe is in. He hasn't fought since May, he could be completely off his training, especially given he has not had a fight scheduled.

I accept all fighters' excuses. I am just wondering why the fans are not putting pressure on him to save the card.

Like a few others have stated, it is probably because he isn't on the radar. Taking Ngannou on short notice would have brought some attention to him and the HW division.

He should have at least offered to fight Ngannou on social media, and forced the UFC to pay him more in the background, and when the fight doesn't happen, he looks like he tried.

He needs to take hints from Joanna Champ's tactics. Ask for the fight when you know it can't be made, and get some shine.

 

[Dirge]

Has Stipe even commented on the situation? I don't think he has even been offered the fight...

 

[cumafish]

If you define "charisma" as shit-talking, yeah you're right. He's not going be the barker at the carnival, but that doesn't mean he can't be sold. Thing is, UFC 198 didn't even try. It wasn't even supposed to be a PPV in the first place, it started life as a Fight Night Brazil. But when Cain pulled out from his fight with Werdum and then Werdum pulled out of fighting Cain's substitute (ie Miocic) their card got demoted from pay status. The rematched heavyweight title fight got grafted onto the Brazil card and the UFC made it a PPV in its stead. BUT it was still being sold like a Brazil card, not a title fight per se. There's just too many weird and jury-rigged things about UFC 198 for any statistic about it to be quoted without an asterisk.

Fair enough, 198 was botched.
But explain 300k buys for 211, rematch with JDS and co-main with JoJed.
I could personally give two shits about Conor level shit talking, but he does have a real strong personality. A personality that makes people buy his ppv's, whether they want him to win or lose.
There are quite a few fighters that aren't great on the mic, like Stipe, but they still manage to have a following based on exciting performances. Guys like Hendo, Shogun, Hunt and Rumble.
Stipe reminds me more of Tim Sylvia as far as personality, might have produced solid wins in his title run, but not an engaging guy that draws eyes to his fights without a name opponent.

 

[SuperNerd]

Has Stipe even commented on the situation? I don't think he has even been offered the fight...

http://www.mmaweekly.com/heavyweigh...ing-out-until-ufc-contract-dispute-is-settled
Reported in July.

"Miocic isn’t happy that the challenger was paid more than him in his two title defenses and wants his contract restructured before he steps back inside the Octagon."

The suggestion there should be pressure on him, or he should "pretend" to take the fight comes from someone without all the facts and a loud mouth.

 

[Dorkman]

That is just your opinion.

I think people are interested in Ferguson vs Lee. It is a very interesting match-up with high stakes for both fighters. You can't really be a fan of the sport if you don't think it is a main event fight.

None of those reason are going to tip people who are on the fence to buy though, which is what you're looking for in a main event of a paid card. Fans of the sport are fine with it sure, but the casual crowd who makes up a large chunk of the audience needs something more than that to care. Neither man has competed for a belt, and Lee has no top end wins to date so probably has no name recognition as he's only headlined a Fight Night card as his most notable spot, and was on the undercard for every single other one of his wins except maybe 2 of them. So realistically Ferg is carrying all of the weight here as far as reputation goes with his TUF backround, long winning streak, and win over a former champion.

Which is why buddy was mentioning using Stipe on that card as the Main Attraction anchor. Heavyweight Championship Match just naturally draws some attention.

 

[Mikey Palangio]

None of those reason are going to tip people who are on the fence to buy though, which is what you're looking for in a main event of a paid card. Fans of the sport are fine with it sure, but the casual crowd who makes up a large chunk of the audience needs something more than that to care. Neither man has competed for a belt, and Lee has no top end wins to date so probably has no name recognition as he's only headlined a Fight Night card as his most notable spot, and was on the undercard for every single other one of his wins except maybe 2 of them. So realistically Ferg is carrying all of the weight here as far as reputation goes with his TUF backround, long winning streak, and win over a former champion.

Which is why buddy was mentioning using Stipe on that card as the Main Attraction anchor. Heavyweight Championship Match just naturally draws some attention.

Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey and Brock Lesnar are outliers. Two very respected fighters who are known in the mainstream media, and fought on an awesome card couldn't crack 1M PPV (Cormier vs Jones).

Ferguson vs Lee is good enough to do the average or better, but not worse.

 

[cumafish]

Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey and Brock Lesnar are outliers. Two very respected fighters who are known in the mainstream media, and fought on an awesome card couldn't crack 1M PPV (Cormier vs Jones).

Ferguson vs Lee is good enough to do the average or better, but not worse.

It'd sell slightly more than 100k, IMHO.

 

[g*r*b]

Fair enough, 198 was botched.
But explain 300k buys for 211, rematch with JDS and co-main with JoJed.
I could personally give two shits about Conor level shit talking, but he does have a real strong personality. A personality that makes people buy his ppv's, whether they want him to win or lose.
There are quite a few fighters that aren't great on the mic, like Stipe, but they still manage to have a following based on exciting performances. Guys like Hendo, Shogun, Hunt and Rumble.
Stipe reminds me more of Tim Sylvia as far as personality, might have produced solid wins in his title run, but not an engaging guy that draws eyes to his fights without a name opponent.

It's funny that a lot of people compare the current UFC model of promoting shit-talkers to pro wrestling. It's actually far worse. Pro wrestling actually has a glimmer of the idea that you can have different roles and gimmicks and niches. All UFC seems to do of late is see one fighter make a splash of publicity, then shrug at the others and say "See, why can't you do the same?"

Stipe had the PR misfortune of losing to Struve when he did, which punctured the hype balloon that was only starting to be inflated. (This actually was a good thing for his development as a fighter, however.) By the time he regained traction in the public eye, Conor had burst into the UFC and changed the expectations of what one paid attention to in a fighter. I'm guessing "guys like Hendo, Shogun, Hunt" got their fanship rolling before that paradigm shift, and before they came to the UFC; Rumble's current cult status could be the hug of "welcome home" from a glorious record in exile back into the UFC. A guy like Stipe though, someone we saw start in the UFC as relatively new to the game and developing gradually as he went, can suffer from being ignored until being ignored becomes a habit too ingrained to easily change.

I personally think it could be overcome. From all that I've been able to see and read, Stipe is actually a very engaging guy personally. Everyone that talks of interacting with him just raves about what a great and cool dude he is. People see him on the Embeddeds and leave comments on how much they wish he was in a reality series! Surely there is some way the UFC could tap into that, but it would take a little more innovation than the company seems to be capable of at this time. All they know is that he's Not Conor and they can't wrap their heads around it.

 

[cumafish]

It's funny that a lot of people compare the current UFC model of promoting shit-talkers to pro wrestling. It's actually far worse. Pro wrestling actually has a glimmer of the idea that you can have different roles and gimmicks and niches. All UFC seems to do of late is see one fighter make a splash of publicity, then shrug at the others and say "See, why can't you do the same?"

Stipe had the PR misfortune of losing to Struve when he did, which punctured the hype balloon that was only starting to be inflated. (This actually was a good thing for his development as a fighter, however.) By the time he regained traction in the public eye, Conor had burst into the UFC and changed the expectations of what one paid attention to in a fighter. I'm guessing "guys like Hendo, Shogun, Hunt" got their fanship rolling before that paradigm shift, and before they came to the UFC; Rumble's current cult status could be the hug of "welcome home" from a glorious record in exile back into the UFC. A guy like Stipe though, someone we saw start in the UFC as relatively new to the game and developing gradually as he went, can suffer from being ignored until being ignored becomes a habit too ingrained to easily change.

I personally think it could be overcome. From all that I've been able to see and read, Stipe is actually a very engaging guy personally. Everyone that talks of interacting with him just raves about what a great and cool dude he is. People see him on the Embeddeds and leave comments on how much they wish he was in a reality series! Surely there is some way the UFC could tap into that, but it would take a little more innovation than the company seems to be capable of at this time. All they know is that he's Not Conor and they can't wrap their heads around it.

They could put him in the studio with Cruz/DC and Tyron if they felt his personality would gain him traction. I think when he settles whatever contract squabble he's in they might consider it.

 

[g*r*b]

Stipe has been damn impressive and has become a true heavyweight champ.

While he should fight Ngannou at some point, he has fought 4 times in the last year and a half. That's pretty damn active for any UFC fighter. Ngannou is definitely not a draw yet.

The fault here is JDS's, not Stipe's. 3 weeks notice to take on a beast like Ngannou? We have no idea what shape Stipe is in. He hasn't fought since May, he could be completely off his training, especially given he has not had a fight scheduled.

Stipe generally keeps in good baseline shape, he's not the kind to roll off the couch and into a camp. And he has accepted short notice fights before. But why should the champ be asked to do a favor for Ngannou, especially if it's true that the guy refused an offer from Oleynik to step in for JDS? The last camp Stipe did was 10 weeks, and his coach has a very particular rhythm to how the camps are conducted that would probably be screwed up if compressed into a shorter time.

 

[g*r*b]

They could put him in the studio with Cruz/DC and Tyron if they felt his personality would gain him traction. I think when he settles whatever contract squabble he's in they might consider it.

Problem with that is he's stiff on a mike. He's good in situ but not stuck in front of the camera as a talking head.

 

[cumafish]

Problem with that is he's stiff on a mike. He's good in situ but not stuck in front of the camera as a talking head.

Then he needs to work on that,the guys I mentioned(plus Stann) have probably all been coached to some degree. Except Cruz, who seems like a natural.

 

[bangard]

What kind of moronic shit thread is that? The champion should step up and safe the card because he is not marketable enough? Even better....all the experts in this thread explaining how he doesn't create ppv buys etc.....somehow everybody turnes into Don King overnight.

 

[g*r*b]

He should have at least offered to fight Ngannou on social media, and forced the UFC to pay him more in the background, and when the fight doesn't happen, he looks like he tried.

He needs to take hints from Joanna Champ's tactics. Ask for the fight when you know it can't be made, and get some shine.

Except that it would be so incredibly far off from character that it would be painfully obvious it was a ploy. Stipe don't play that game. He's the king of frustrating interviewers trying to get him to name who he wants to fight next.

 

[g*r*b]

Then he needs to work on that,the guys I mentioned(plus Stann) have probably all been coached to some degree. Except Cruz, who seems like a natural.

I suspect he has been working on it, and others have noted that in the last go-round of media surrounding UFC 211 he seems to have been better, but he's a looooooooong way off from being smooth behind a desk. His nature would be better suited as a character than as a commentator, methinks.

 

[Based Akali]

He doesn't need to cut weight. He is a self-proclaimed baddest man on the planet. He is a firefighter, so he must be in reasonable shape.

Why are the fans letting Stipe sit and wait?

The UFC aren't going to do any of their fighters any favors except for Conor, why should the fighters do favors for the UFC? If Stipe loses the UFC will just shit on him anyway.

 

[teamfox223]

He doesn't need to cut weight. He is a self-proclaimed baddest man on the planet. He is a firefighter, so he must be in reasonable shape.

Why are the fans letting Stipe sit and wait?

His the baddest man on the planet and he is expected to get paid like one. His the baddest man not the stupidest man.

 

[jsbx45]

A lot of good, intelligent posts in this (shit) thread. STFU Mikey. Save 215? Your presumptions are ludicrous and do nothing but show your own bias. The champ owes nobody anything right now. He'll draw plenty when he's ready.

 

[GOATweight]

Against who

Best would be against Cain at UFC 216.

Against who is he going to save the card on UFC 215? Take a short notice fight with Ngannou? Don't think he will be doing that.