UFC: Popularity vs. Merit?

[DaysOfThunder]

To understand the full picture, one has to take into account that UFC is a business.
Although many best fighters are popular, not only is the ranking system questionable but the match making is often not based by merit.
Paddy would be a perfect example and so would Diego Lopez.
However, Paddy has a huge British following and Lopez has a huge Mexican following. That always spells money.
I think that Arman is intentionally being put on ice, but I wouldn't be surprised if an Arman vs. Topuria face off at Lightweight is not being planned for the White House event.
Arman has a huge Armenian, Russian and Middle East fan base and his title shot would be perfectly legit.
I can see where the winner of Interim would then face the Title winner.
The point of Interim is to keep things going and have something in case Title is vacated,
Topuria has not vacated the Lightweight Title and it's too soon for him to challenge for Welterweight.
Before Topuria vs. Islam happens, UFC will have generated much more money from both of those fighters.
Let's face it (although I favor Islam at Welter) whoever loses would lose some of their marketability.
Another potentially huge fight would be Jones vs. Poatan at White House.
The question is at what weight?
It would be easier but riskier for Jones to fight at LH for title.
Even if Poatan was to lose(which I doubt) he could still go on and fight at HV and possibly be guaranteed a shot at the winner of Aspinall - Gane.
That all makes perfect business sense.

 

[Egészségére!]

Regardless of all other factors Arman pulled out of a title fight less than 24 hours before the event for a somewhat sketchy reason

For all Dana’s faults we all know he’s intolerant of that shit, it may seem excessive but Arman handed Dana the excuse he needed on a silver platter to follow this course

 

[DaysOfThunder]

Regardless of all other factors Arman pulled out of a title fight less than 24 hours before the event for a somewhat sketchy reason

For all Dana’s faults we all know he’s intolerant of that shit, it may seem excessive but Arman handed Dana the excuse he needed on a silver platter to follow this course

I am well aware of why Dana dislikes Arman, so he is icing him, but ultimately Arman is a money maker and Dana never says no to money.

 

[MySDName]

Arman is a money maker

Arman moves the needle as much as Angela Hill.

 

[DaysOfThunder]

Arman moves the needle as much as Angela Hill.

Terrible comparison. A lot of UFC elite fighters admire and respect Arman. He is not a journeywoman and a pinata.

 

[WT3]

The only think that really makes it bad to me is the fact that Dana advertised the fact that they don't do this and we. get the fights we really wanna see. The were critical of boxing for doing it and now they do it.

 

[Sycho Sid]

Is there any evidence that Justin is some big needle mover at this point? Or ever was? Exciting fighters don't mean money.

THis is the big problem anymore with the UFC, we have no idea if fighters are actually popular or not, unless you trust their insta numbers or something. The fact that the UFC has not bragged about how big any of their stars are, or how well any of their shows have done in a long time is pretty telling to me.

 

[Aegon Spengler]

The only think that really makes it bad to me is the fact that Dana advertised the fact that they don't do this and we. get the fights we really wanna see. The were critical of boxing for doing it and now they do it.

They have always done it. GSP vs Anderson Silva could have happened. Dana said it was going to be part of both fighters usual contracts, not some kind of special arrangement. They played hard ball. Killed it. They killed Jones vs Ngannou. Jones vs Anderson. Khabib vs GSP.

In boxing at least there’s the problem with rival promotions having to agree. In the UFC it’s a single program but it’s so dysfunctional it can’t get anything big done.

 

[theufcbaddy]

Both ya tin headed mushrooms. I win and I'm popular.

 

[FlyAmericanEagle]

Both ya tin headed mushrooms. I win and I'm popular.

You win against fighters on the down slide. You are quite popular though kid.

 

[Rdude92]

Has people forgot that Colby Covington received a title shot when he was a year+ inactive?

 

[swarrrm]

Can we stop?

-Arman was already awarded a title shot when he won a split decision robbery over Oliveira. He pulled out of the fight last second. He said it was a back injury, Dana said it was a weight issue. Given the fact he was on Rampage's podcast a couple days later to play the victim while showing no signs of discomfort, I'll believe Dana.

-He has 18 months of inactivity after the Oliveira win, while being plenty active on twitter. He was offered Gamrot (who he has a loss to) and he declined, saying he was too low ranked. A month later he takes the Hooker fight, 1 ranking higher lol. Meanwhile Charles takes the Gamrot fight and walks through him, his 3rd fight since the Arman fight.

All he's done since his last title shot is beat Dan Hooker, which is suddenly like dethroning Jon Jones apparently. He acted like a retard and headbutted Hooker at the weigh-in, then fought a dirty fight. He knows the UFC are pissed about ruining the Islam fight and he still does this shit. You think Dana and company saw that headbutt and just brushed it off? He almost ruined another main event. He doesn't deserve a title shot and he's a liability.

 

[DaysOfThunder]

Is there any evidence that Justin is some big needle mover at this point? Or ever was? Exciting fighters don't mean money.

THis is the big problem anymore with the UFC, we have no idea if fighters are actually popular or not, unless you trust their insta numbers or something. The fact that the UFC has not bragged about how big any of their UFC stars are, or how well any of their shows have done in a long time is pretty telling to me.

 

[DaysOfThunder]

Dana is aware of the market. Hell, he helped create it.
It's all about the Benjamins.
When you have a whole nation behind a fighter, that always generates dollars.
UFC is on the international stage, recruiting nations,