Fighters the UFC needs to market like they do Connor and Ronda

[Juventud]

Not every fighter has charisma like Conor & Ronda. It's not as easy as just putting them in advertisements. Nobody cared about Pettis on the Wheaties box.

Makwan

Makwan has charisma.
The guy owned his post fight interviews and is a bit of a troll as well which can help.

If Joanna Superstar improves her English she could do better media tours once she starts racking up fights and builds an undefeated reputation.

 

[TheGrouch]

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

TRUE! She's a killer.

 

[georgejjr]

You can't just market any fighter like Ronda and Connor. Doesn't work that way. You can set up countdown shows and put the spotlight on them and they give generic fighter answers, they won't get the attention you're looking for.

Connor and Ronda market themselves using the UFC as a platform.

This is exactly it. Rousey turned an Olympic bronze in an obscure sport for a country that gets 100 medals every Olympics (most of which are gold and silver) into large media cover long before the UFC picked her up (in fact they picked her up and created the 135 division because of the media coverage she already had).

And Connor has been promoting himself since day one.

They're very good at promotion; if not the UFC, they'd be doing it somewhere else. Not everyone can do that. Whatever people think about the two, they're not lazy - they've put an awful lot of effort into self-promotion.

If Cyborg, for instance, had put the same effort into marketing as Rousey there'd be a 145 division in the UFC for her, and she'd be making as much money as Rousey. But Cyborg hasn't bothered to do so, and it shows in their popularity.

 

[rufferto]

If Cyborg, for instance, had put the same effort into marketing as Rousey there'd be a 145 division in the UFC for her, and she'd be making as much money as Rousey. But Cyborg hasn't bothered to do so, and it shows in their popularity.

I don't think it's a matter of effort alone.

 

[bigkabosh]

Its pretty much Conor marketing himself, not UFC marketing him. You cant do that to any person out there, not every fighter would suit the attention.

 

[kflo]

no one. they should stop worrying about marketing and let the fights speak for themselves. will never happen, oh well.

Lol. What? They should stop worrying about selling the product?

 

[TFanatic]

Lol. What? They should stop worrying about selling the product?

Unfortunately, many mma fans still want to treat the sport like it's the Kumite or something.

 

[kflo]

Ronda and Conor had the buzz. They're not created. They stood out in a crowd. That's why they are where they are.

 

[deise69]

It's the fighters responsibility to market themselves. Conor and Ronda are getting the attention because they're marketing themselves and putting in the work outside of their UFC fights.

ie Conors first appearance on the MMA Hour before he'd even had a UFC fight or anyone stateside had really heard of him.

[YT]655FhfyyLDg[/YT]

 

[SpiderNxno]

It's the fighters responsibility to market themselves. Conor and Ronda are getting the attention because they're marketing themselves and putting in the work outside of their UFC fights.

ie Conors first appearance on the MMA Hour before he'd even had a UFC fight or anyone stateside had really heard of him.

[YT]655FhfyyLDg[/YT]

Exactly! Really wanted to watch him fight after that interview in which Helwani said, immediately after, could have been the best guest ever. He was right.

 

[ForbiddenSun]

That's not how it works. You don't create a Conor or a Ronda they create themselves. You are talking about mega superstars, it's not the same. That being said the UFC should promote their fighters more, they mostly promote their own brand

 

[kflo]

That's not how it works. You don't create a Conor or a Ronda they create themselves. You are talking about mega superstars, it's not the same. That being said the UFC should promote their fighters more, they mostly promote their own brand

They promote every card around the fights and the fighters. How do they mostly promote the brand?

 

[jjresq]

Jon Jones

 

[riitzni]

I can't figure out for the life of me why the UFC hasn't given a huge push to the few fighters that truly are marketable and could be huge stars.

The first that comes to mind is Donald Cerrone. The guy is the total package and the mainstream audience would eat it up if he got the exposure. He's got the look, his fights are always exciting, he talks shit, and he drinks beer and parties. He's like the Stone Cold of MMA.

There are other examples I'm sure. Who do you think the UFC is stupid for not giving a push? Rockhold? Lawlor? Or is there some reason for only having two huge stars? Or does it fall solely on the fighters to market themselves?

Thoughts?

lol, what the fuck are you talking about.

Cerrone is about the worst example I could think of and highlights why you have no idea what you're talking about. I get that you've watched way too much WWE but iirc Stone Cold was like 90s wrestling? It's not the 90s anymore. The WWE these days is pushing to be more "family friendly", whatever the hell that entails and I guarantee that a wrestler with his beer drinking gimmick wouldn't do.

Cerrone is a great fighter, no doubt. He's also a dick, a fake cowboy and a borderline racist. Do you really think that it would go well with him on talk show after talk show spouting the stupid shit that comes out of his mouth? He would get eaten alive by the press when he says some Don Imus worthy "nappy headed hoes" comment.

There's a reason Georges was the highest paid fighter in MMA. He didn't spend his time and money on a ranch riding bulls and drinking shitty beer. When he was outside the cage he spent his time securing sponsorships, going on TV shows and elevating his brand. It's a synergetic thing to get famous for your fighting, then grab press elsewhere, then get more press for your fighting, and so on and so on. Another big reason he (and many like him) haven't gotten the push is because they're not champion material. People don't want to root for the fourth or fifth best guy, they want to follow the best.

In short, they don't promote Cerrone because they don't have anything to promote. He's a fan favorite among people that know MMA but he'll never be a casual star for a litany of reasons. If you can't see that then I don't know what to tell you.

 

[LongTermLurker]

Any fighter's managers should get them out in the public eye. UFC only kicks in if they see interest to begin with.

 

[cwatz]

You need a fighter that is willing, or specific circumstances.

Conor created himself, not unlike Sonnen. UFC joined the bandwagon and pushed him to the moon.

Ronda got attention as a standout in the relatively small female combat sports picture. Mainstream started covering, UFC ran with it. Casual train came running.

The easy big push comes from the king of the mountain. GSP or Silva are examples (though even Sonnen made Silva). Jones was growing to this.

Its harder to give a giant push to someone who either lacks the talent, or lacks the personality. They seemed to be trying with Pettis for example, but that fell flat.

 

[Charlie77]

Has to be Chris Weidman. He's had the most impressive title run through the most talented challengers of anyone recently. He also has an amazing back story with his home being lost in the super storm. All American dude with a good personality. Checks all the boxes imo.

 

[TX Fighter]

Not even a sport anymore when ronda gets that much publicity and somewhat like bethe gets none. I want to know what makes bethe tick just as much as ronda

I dont know, but the bethe fight might have been much closer if narketing was more even

Not saying bethe would have won but would have been different for sure

 

[BigMuffler]

I dont know, but the bethe fight might have been much closer if narketing was more even

Not saying bethe would have won but would have been different for sure

Lol that's like saying a fight between Ruan Potts and Werdum would be close if Potts was massively hyped as being better than Cain and the guy to dethrone Werdum.

 

[Benoco]

I'm not sure what the appeal is to Ronda's personality, she's murderous in the Octagon though and she's a good looking Olympian female so I suppose it makes sense.

Fighter's like Conor and Chael don't need to be marketed, they sell themselves. There's very few elite fighters who are mentally strong enough to deal with the huge pressure that comes with talking tonnes of trash and have the required gift of the gab to grab attention and create waves.

For people who love this type of entertainment Tyson Fury is the best imo and is fighting Klitschko for the belt soon enough.

The funniest selling of a fight I've ever seen is at 5:35, he basically says everything not to say: