fighters as the embodiment of their natural culture

marvinparsons

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I find it funny that some of the fighters that best represent their countries are the embodiment of their nations own perceived persona:
GSP - humble bilingual Canadian
Connor - Brash Irishman
Fedor - Stoic and indifferent to violence
Randy - "Captain America" - The underdog, poised, square jaw
Japan - Sakuraba the Kamikaze or the honorable Minowaman

And unsurprisingly these are the most popular fighters. These guys are almost characters from central casting. Goes to show that fighting ability is only a small ingredient in terms of popularity as much as most don't want to admit it. We like people who fit into out neat little boxes. Nothing wrong with that.
 
I've lived in America for 20 years and have never seen anyone like Randy Couture.

I would say Rampage Jackson, Cain Velasquez, and Jessica Eye are all more accurate depictions of American Culture.

But if Brazil could funnel all of its society into one man, Jose Aldo would be a good pick. Violent, a little crazy, but likes to have fun. and very very good at soccer
 
From a marketing perspective it's easier to establish a brand that presents a clear and easily digestible concept, so cultural stereotypes fit into this category. Velasquez is a good example of an attempt at this type of promotion that struggled to gain the same level of traction as some of the other guys mentioned.
 
why does japan get kamikaze? yellow hater imo
 
I find it funny that some of the fighters that best represent their countries are the embodiment of their nations own perceived persona:
GSP - humble bilingual Canadian
Connor - Brash Irishman
Fedor - Stoic and indifferent to violence
Randy - "Captain America" - The underdog, poised, square jaw
Japan - Sakuraba the Kamikaze or the honorable Minowaman

And unsurprisingly these are the most popular fighters. These guys are almost characters from central casting. Goes to show that fighting ability is only a small ingredient in terms of popularity as much as most don't want to admit it. We like people who fit into out neat little boxes. Nothing wrong with that.

I think Chris Weidman fits more as the fighter fans would want to represent the USA then Couture. I could be wrong, though.
 
It's hard to properly stereotype this even if you don't want to offend anyone.

I've worked with a bunch of Canadians who were anything but humble or bilingual. As for the US, you've got Randy on one end of the spectrum and Nick-Nate Diaz on the other, great fighting spirit but mind-altered opinions coming out of their mouths.

Cain might be the best American stereotype out there as a bilingual immigrant.
 
I would say Rampage Jackson, Cain Velasquez, and Jessica Eye are all more accurate depictions of American Culture.r

How does Cain fit that? Just curious, coz I've never really paid much attention to Cain's personality (...does he have one?) so am interested to know in what ways he does.

Unless it's the 'American who thinks he's Mexican' thing which makes sense I guess.
 
Karo Parisyan- Proud Armenian, temperamental, ego driven as well as creative, capable and has a tendency to over exaggerate accomplishments.
 
James Thompson - The working class Englishman who will scrap it out if you talk shit about his soccer team.
 
I should have been more clear in that none of these people necessarily reflect their societies, they reflect stereotypes and idealized versions of those societies.

And yes I think you can link fighting people WAY heavier than you to the Japanese honor code which also led people to fly planes into boats.
 
I do agree with some points there.
But there's no one fighter that depict a whole culture, but you can take a few and paint a relativily high fidelity picture.
 
Samoa Mark Hunt: Huge, surprisingly athletic iron chin bad ass that would canoe across the ocean and rape and pillage your island when he got there.

BJ Penn for Hawaiians: epitome of the just scrap attitude of the islands.
 
Chris the All American Weidman you fucks.
Middle Class upbringing, wrestler, etc. Dude is merica
 
I'd say Gus, besides his violent past, basically embodies what people think of Sweden.

Physically anyway.

Tall, Blonde, Handsome, looks like a fucking Viking.
 
Not sure where you come from but Irish people aren't generally considered to be brash.
Funny, like a drink, friendly, easy going... But not brash
 
I should have been more clear in that none of these people necessarily reflect their societies, they reflect stereotypes and idealized versions of those societies.

And yes I think you can link fighting people WAY heavier than you to the Japanese honor code which also led people to fly planes into boats.

That's because the UFC markets these fighters accordingly. They are reflections of those stereotypes in order to appeal to the masses.
 
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