Did the hiring of CM Punk devalue UFC? (This is from a predominantly pro wrestling fan)

[The casual MMA Watcher]

Now I know there’s been some shit in MMA, one that annoyed me was Nick Diaz 5 year suspension and $160,000+ for testing positive over pot (oh the horror) meanwhile Jon Jones got applauded after testing positive for cocaine and going to rehab. Good for him trying to get himself cleaned up (the whole one night, according to his mother) but for Christ’s sake, there should have been a bigger punishment and yeah, all the fighters that were pissed off had every right to be pissed off.

It seems the only reason he’s had any punishment was for the hit and run leaving a pregnant woman so it’s not like this is the first slap to the face the world of MMA has had but what’s happening with Phil Brooks CM Punk? Good god, people still can’t understand why people lost/still losing their shit over CM Punk getting a UFC contract.

“He’s a draw for PPV’s”

Thanks captain obvious, that’s the only reason Dana White gave him a contract. That’s why people lost their shit, Dana got someone who’s a nobody

“A NOBODY? Mate, he’s a former WWE champi…”

STOP!

"He's living his dream, leave him alone"

It's a dream he didn't work for. Fame does not make you a somebody in the MMA world, or any sport for the matter. Say we’re finding competitors for the next Olympics.

“Right lads, Freestyle swimming. We’ve got multiple national championship winners and the 2016 Rio Olympics Men’s 50m Freestyle Gold winner, Anthony Ervin, wants to push himself for 100m now. Well, that lot can fuck off because Matt Damon is famous, he’s now going to represent America in the 100m”

Doesn’t work like that.

“Oh but that’s the Olympics, Dana can do what he want because the UFC is his promotion”

Oh sorry, that makes it perfectly fine and doesn’t slap actual fighters in the face then.

Forget ownership. The Olympic analogy – Let’s get him because he’s famous even though there are actual swimmers who want this

What Dana did – Let’s get him because he’s famous even though there are actual fighters who want this

What’s the difference?

If all it takes to be a UFC fighter is “oh, he’s a name, he’ll do” that seems pretty damn devaluing to me. Of course you’ve got people using Brock Lesnar to justify Punk but here’s the thing, at least Brock actually had a fight before going to the UFC. Yeah, A fight but still some experience. Am I justifying A fight to be able to go to UFC, NO, I think Brock going was stupid too, it was just fortunate he was actually an alright fighter and had to be because he got fed to the wolves.

Brock Lesnar had no starting point in the UFC like Punk facing someone with a few fights. Brock's first fight was against a in-his-prime Frank Mir with 8 wins 3 losses, JUST IN THE UFC. Add his previous fights before UFC, 10 wins.

So yeah, Brock was a bit of a stupid decision but CM Punk is an even stupider decision that slaps fighters across the face and it only happened because Dana White needs dollars to jizz on.

So Sherdog... thoughts?

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

The UFC was initially going to be sold for $6 billion. But then they signed CM Punk.

 

[DanaWhitesButler]

Depends how much he will be paid and if he can generate revenue. If they pay him more than the amount of revenue he generates in ticket sales and PPV buys, then it was a bad investment that destroys value. If he generates more revenue in ticket sales and PPV sales than they pay him, then it was a good investment that added value.

 

[basementdweller]

hi, welcome to sherdog forums! a place full of gifs. on what you wrote, I believe the UFC devalues itself a lot more doing other things that are not hiring CM Punk. personally, I don't give a shit. the UFC signs many crappy fighters anyway. maybe CM Punk is decent, who knows. It says a lot about a company when a 0-0 fighter is signed to it, but I don't think fans care. maybe casuals like you.

 

[ALAN PARTRIDGE]

Wait and see how he does against Gall

 

[rjmbrd]

For me - Nate Diaz said it best: "If he's a joke, then we're all a joke."

Famous people can't walk on to play other professional sports by way of being famous. Not just team sports, but any individual sport as well, like tennis or golf. It is common sense this is impossible in legitimate sport - but this is a delineation line.

If you want MMA to be about pure entertainment, then its fine. If you're like me, and you would prefer to see MMA mature into a fully realized sport - a sport with a seat at the table - then CM Punk is setting us back a few years.

I would even be OK with special treatment in this case, I'm a realist, eg. if he went out and won a few fights on the regional circuit.


To enter the Octagon as an 0-0-0 amateur with zero experience is absurd. It was a short sided move when times were tough for Zuffa, in my opinion, very regrettable.

 

[J. Bernie Cunningham]

Casual interest is in seeing people fight. The more character and backstory the better. Book The Rock vs Vin Deisel to headline 205 and it would do 5 million buys at the lowest.

Those who want it to have legitimacy as a sport will definitely see it as devaluing the sport ethically. But you can't pretend it hurts financially.

 

[Breaking]

No.

But it is dumb as fuck.

 

[Slapchoppin]

no because he's worth money

 

[The casual MMA Watcher]

Depends how much he will be paid and if he can generate revenue. If they pay him more than the amount of revenue he generates in ticket sales and PPV buys, then it was a bad investment that destroys value. If he generates more revenue in ticket sales and PPV sales than they pay him, then it was a good investment that added value.

Well this is the problem. He's JUST and investment at the moment which is why it's a slap to the face. If he Brock Lesnars it and turns out to be good then good for him but that wouldn't override the point of hiring him in the first place.

 

[BAM]

no, it just reconfirmed what most already knew - that the UFC places money and 'entertainment' above sports legitimacy.

 

[The casual MMA Watcher]

no because he's worth money

by that logic anyone who's famous can go to a gym and get a contract.

 

[Dbreiden83080]

From that recent preview I would like to know how a guy that has been training for this for like two years and is fighting in a lower weight class appears to be so out of shape?

 

[Les Vejtibals]

The hiring of an employee that makes the company an exponentially larger amount of money than the employee costs is not devaluing.

But cm punk sucks, as does any professional wrestling match that did not involve D lo Brown.

 

[Teefs]

Of course it doesn't. Despite what a lot of idiots around here might might try and argue his name generates interest among fans of pro wrestling and obviously to those who couldn't care less about it. Just count the number of times he's mentioned in a given day on this site. Whether people want to admit it or not they're going to tune in and either hope he can hold his own, or hope to see him get smashed.

Either side of that coin is a win for the UFC and good for their bottom line.

 

[KungFuJones]

Only if he wins.

 

[soulsstealer]

No it probably raised their value moneywise, if you mean by prestige i dunno if UFC ever had much to begin with.

 

[The Renegade]

Wait and see how he does against Gall

50/50 shot it's fixed. Not much to go on there unfortunately.

 

[basementdweller]

by that logic anyone who's famous can go to a gym and get a contract.

you got that right. if you're famous enough, they'll absolutely set you up. the UFC sells PPV. if you're gonna generate the numbers for them, they're interested in hiring you. it's quite simple actually. Imagine fighter X has enough star power to generate 100k PPV purchases. 100k PPV x 60 = 6 million. if they hire the fighter for 2 million, they'll profit 4 million. of course that's a gross idea of it, but some of that is what they're doing. fighter x can de a famous tv dog, they will sell it if people are buying it. CM Punk is an instant cash grab, Lesnar too.

 

[The casual MMA Watcher]

Casual interest is in seeing people fight. The more character and backstory the better. Book The Rock vs Vin Deisel to headline 205 and it would do 5 million buys at the lowest.

Those who want it to have legitimacy as a sport will definitely see it as devaluing the sport ethically. But you can't pretend it hurts financially.

I'm not pretending it doesn't hurt financially, of course it's a jackpot as Teef pointed out...

Of course it doesn't. Despite what a lot of idiots around here might might try and argue his name generates interest among fans of pro wrestling and obviously to those who couldn't care less about it. Just count the number of times he's mentioned in a given day on this site. Whether people want to admit it or not they're going to tune in and either hope he can hold his own, or hope to see him get smashed.

Either side of that coin is a win for the UFC and good for their bottom line.

He is right, either way we're sat here typing away talking about it but this is the problem. Money seems to be the only thing that matters and UFC would probably seriously consider something like The Rock vs Vin Deisel but by only focusing on money, that certainly has to devalue MMA as a sport.