Darren Rovell: If they can't find anyone to even compete with her, interest will fade

I would like to see WBW get deeper but people buy Ronda's fights to see her dominate. The interest in Anderson Silva grew over time and eventually he was even beaten.
 
JKS said:
I have to strongly disagree with his opinion here and personally think that the interest in Ronda will only get bigger.

Looking at this from the sports side, fans are always attracted to winners and dominant champions. We have seen this with GSP, Anderson and Jon Jones the longer they stay on top the more success they have in fan interest. Fans will either tune in to see them win or to see them lose and everything in between. You dont have a dominant champion lose interest from fans overtime, it just doesnt work like that. Its a system of those who watched will continue to watch and those who missed out want to join in to see what all the commotion is about.

Now considering the above we have to understand how this happens, its not just a matter of winning simply. The most important part of building a star is marketing and promotion. And if Ronda keeps winning we can sure as hell count on the UFC putting money into her. The UFC really is pretty good at spinning their champs to the mainstream audience when they have a potential star with star qualities. So if Ronda keeps winning, expect more interviews, promos, PR, media, advertising from the UFC's side. And that is not even considering the media and advertising from outside UFC with companies, talk shows, films etc that she will get involved with.

One big quality that Ronda has going for her and this is huge to her success is she is a female fighter. A female fighter in a sport that has been dominated by men in which she is the first true star. Of course, we have seen female athletes come out and get attention in other sports like boxing but they cant get the same attention as the male fighters. Why is that? Lets be honest here and admit that the mass mma audience is really a base that is sold on marketing, promotion and gimmicks and I dont mean that in a bad way in terms of gimmicks. Boxing fans are educated and a fickle audience in a way, mma fans are not. Ronda has the capability to only have male mma fans, but also a whole audience of female mma fans watch that never really existed before.

Now regarding competition and what the writer said. I think that he has a point that competition is important in this case but not in the way exact way he means it. I think if a fighter comes along that will give her a tougher fight, or say a Cyborg moves down and this will be a huge marketing gem for the UFC. These are scenario that will only add to Ronda's interest to something that will already have a big audience to begin with.
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You make some good points here. Boxing fans are much harder on "can crushers" and what not and know when it's happening moreso than MMA fans. Lots of UFC fans still think Chuck Liddell is champion.

UFC fans by in large want to see someone get their asses kicked. They care not a whit about the technical aspects of the sport.

I sometimes think Tank Abbott could come back and outsell everyone in PPV's
 
I don't think it'll fade. As the win streak increases, it becomes more amazing, and the hype and pressure on Ronda builds. The bigger the streak, the more it means for her to lose. People will tune in to see if she can keep it going. Also, competition isn't the only appeal in fights; exciting fights matter too, and Ronda is a very exciting fighter who runs straight forward and goes for the kill immediately.
 
I watch all her fights, but it's honestly anti-climactic watching her run through these poor girls, I'm just going through the motions. I can't really speak for the average MMA fan, but I was pretty much done with her after she beat McMann. I didn't believe for a second that Davis, Zingano, or Correia had a chance.
 
I doubt it. It's the gimmick of seeing a dominant female fighter that fuels her popularity among the casuals more than anything else.
 
Makani said:
I watch all her fights, but it's honestly anti-climactic watching her run through these poor girls, I'm just going through the motions. I can't really speak for the average MMA fan, but I was pretty much done with her after she beat McMann. I didn't believe for a second that Davis, Zingano, or Correia had a chance.
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Neither did any of us, but you still kind of hope by some miracle they land something on her. But there is only so long the ufc can build her opponent up as something they are not. They had 10 seconds of Bethe where she landed a flurry on a dead tired opponent and they showed that 100 times to convince people she was some sort of great striker. A 3rd fight with tate is even more pointless than Bethe as we exactly how it will play out
 
He's wrong, Ronda is the draw, seeing how fast she can win and how she does it is the draw.

Did interest fade when Tyson was knocking everyone out?

Her fights keep getting bigger, Tate will be bigger, then Holly Holm, then Pena, a Cat/McMann rematch, it doesnt matter.
 
Gervinho said:
Neither did any of us, but you still kind of hope by some miracle they land something on her. But there is only so long the ufc can build her opponent up as something they are not. They had 10 seconds of Bethe where she landed a flurry on a dead tired opponent and they showed that 100 times to convince people she was some sort of great striker. A 3rd fight with tate is even more pointless than Bethe as we exactly how it will play out
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I dunno if I'd say it's more pointless, no one has taken her past the first round besides Tate, but Miesha hasn't really shown any improvement that makes me think this fight will be anything but her rolling around trying desperately not to get armbarred. It seems even Ronda's more skilled opponents just lose their fight IQ the moment the bells rings, even if there's not much they would be able to do against her. Oh well, I support WMMA, but I won't say I'm excited about the future, even the Cyborg fight doesn't really do much for me, I'd bet the house on Ronda.

Grats on Black Belt, by the way.
 
Yes didn't buy the ppv. Already knew she would steam roll Bethe.
 
Casual interest will grow. Hardcore will fade somewhat, but people will still watch.
 
Tate fight will be her biggest.

Holly Holm if she gets to a title shot they can market as the best striker ROnda has fought. Unbeaten, one of the top female boxers of all times, can kickbox.

Boxing vs mma, thats how they promote it and it would sell.

Pena, TUF winner, is friends with Tate, if she goes on a run over the next year she can be someoen to fight ROnda.

Then McMann who many thought got the shot before she was ready and Cat who made a mistake rushing in, they could get rematches.

Not saying these are the biggest fights but interesting isnt just gonna die off now, I think Ronda right now has another 2 years worth of opponents.
 
I have little interest in her fights, they are all gimmies at this point. Bring in cyborg to fight at 140 and I'll be interested.
 
the UFC has bypassed that obstacle with their tremendous promoting techniques to make every girl look like they have a chance. They made some starbucks employee look like he may give DC a run for his money, for example.
 
The boredom started for me about two fights ago.
 
The 30 second finishes are the very reason she's talked out outside of hardcore fans.
 
I think people are confusing their interest in competitive fights with the mainstream interest in watching dominant athletes.

People want to see competitive fights. They also want to see generational and dominant talent. They aren't necessarily required to both be present for people to retain a certain level of interest.

There will always be people who will watch a fight just to see one person crush another human being. It isn't always about competition or parity.

Most casuals aren't well versed enough to care about the technical details. What they know is that Rousey is excellent at what she does and that she's light years ahead of her competition. For many of them that is enough.

Will the 1 min fights grow old for some of them? Of course it will. However, some people will keep going back to watch because they don't want to miss a single fight of what is sure to be viewed as a historical run.

People keep comparing Rousey to Royce, but I think that's the wrong comparison. Royce was a pioneer, but nobody else even had any idea what he was doing in the ring. All of Rousey's competition know exactly what Rousey is doing, they're just too far behind the curve to catch up to Rousey.

I think Rousey is more like Babe Ruth or Wilt Chamberlain... someone who is just stunningly superior to her peers and who is way ahead of her time.

If Rousey was transported 30 years into the future she might still be the Champion, but it's unlikely they would be sub 1 minute fights. However, that's not Rousey's fault and I think many viewers understand this.

They understand that they're watching a pioneer of the game, someone who will be held up as the measuring stick for future generations of WMMA fighters.

In 2035, if Sherdog is still around there will be countless debates whether this fighter or that fighter would have beat Rousey. There will be arguments over whether they can live up to the shadow that Rousey will cast upon the entire sport.

In the scope of history many people who are watching the Rousey PPV's understand that you only rarely get to see a truly generational athlete compete in a sport. People who missed Tyson, Jordan or even Tiger Woods in their prime regret that they didn't take the time to watch them. The same applies here.

Rousey will eventually exhaust the interest to some degree, but as long as she is winning and dominant she'll draw fans. It may not be the same numbers as when she hits her peak (which I don't think we've hit yet), but she will still likely remain a bigger draw than most champions should she decide to stay around beyond the next 2-3 years.
 
I already lost interest.

it's obvious that she's light years ahead of her opponents, but would probably get tooled by a Gladiator Challenge level 135 lb male.
 
BWC said:
IDK about that Rousey is more of a feminist avatar at this point than anything or simply someone that destroys her opponents. But really is it going to last? We're already to MEISHA TATE 3. Does anyone really think this will end any differently than the last one? What next? Rousey-Correia 2? Rousey-McMann 2?

It will get old at some point..
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Well there's still undefeated Holly Holm to feed to her and others will come up with 2 or 3 fight win streaks like Nunes or Pena or Andrade. I think at least 2 of those last 3 have already started talking shit about Ronda in interviews.
 
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