What is up with the UFC being stingy signing Eastern European talent?

The UFC more than any other sports organization relies on their top fighters being marketable and being able to sell a $70 pay per view. The biggest draws in the sport have been entertaining fighters sure, but more importantly charismatic or polarizing. Take Anderson Silva for example. Crazy dominance, highlight reel finishes, and didn’t (or refused) to speak English. His highest earning PPV’s were Weidman II and Sonnen II because of the story lines.

Non-English speakers don’t typically sell because it’s hard to connect with the North America fan base. So even though some of these guys could contend and potentially be champs they won’t be able to sell.
 
TorontoTO said:
Like I get that they don't want to have too many Eastern European in the UFC since their main audience is America and Easterners don't sell, but why don't they just release the bad ones they do have?

They were quick to sign someone like Khadis Ibragimov or keep guys like Roman Kopylov on the roster but pass on guys like Rustam Kerimov, Mukhamad Vakhaev, Albert Tumenov, Mateusz Rębecki. Even Mateusz Gamrot vacated his belts in 2019 and was a free agent, but eventually signed a two fight deal before UFC finally budged.

Not even Brazilians have this much trouble getting signed and I would say they usually aren't draws as well.
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I mean Stipe was at the top of the sport for a while and even he can barely speak English so why would they want half the roster from there with unpronounceable names.
 
I genuinely believe that if the UFC just signed everyone in a truly meritocratic style, particularly in the alpha weights, they'd get situations like what Bellator's got percolating where every division at the top is just Eastern European sambists/grecos vs American wrestlers. That lack of diversity would not be very appealing to people watching the sport.
 
Honestly, probably for the same reason they don't sign a lot of SE Asian fighters. Those regions have strong promotions that keep a lock on talent. They had to make a legitimate partnership with M1 to even get into the Eastern European market.
 
CorninginChristianburg said:
I genuinely believe that if the UFC just signed everyone in a truly meritocratic style, particularly in the alpha weights, they'd get situations like what Bellator's got percolating where every division at the top is just Eastern European sambists/grecos vs American wrestlers. That lack of diversity would not be very appealing to people watching the sport.
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Isn't the UFC where the best fight the best though?
 
SokoudjouFanboy said:
Do they? I ask that in earnest because I do not follow soccer. I figured the competition and need to win would squash this in team sports. I know for sure this isn't the case in any North American sports league.
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NFL teams have to interview a person of color for management jobs, even if they have their minds set on a certain person
 
maximmm said:
I can't help but feel like we could see some real monsters from China and India - the population numbers alone suggest that there's bound to be at least a few. But yeah - it's all about market - will signing this guy get us more views or not - if ufc is not shown in China/India, then there's not much point in even scouting the talent from those countries. Pride FC was quite different in that sense - it really was pretty international, even though it wasn't shown internationally.

So, when they say that UFC champs are the best in the world, it's rather easy to dismiss it as being bullshit.
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India is HORRIBLE in sports
 
UFC has an internal limit on how many Russians they want on roster at any one time, Yan's manager confirmed it, because the Russian fighters are far better than their market return will be in the US. MMA is not a sport.
 
lukeuidswords said:
UFC has an internal limit on how many Russians they want on roster at any one time, Yan's manager confirmed it, because the Russian fighters are far better than their market return will be in the US. MMA is not a sport.
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In last few months UFC cut Russians -- Akhmedov, Yakovlev, Yandiev, Kuramagomedov (seen on Twitter, not 100 % sure). And signed 0 Russians.
 
Gotta spread dem wings and taste the MMA world!

<EdgyBrah>
 
Feniamin said:
In last few months UFC cut Russians -- Akhmedov, Yakovlev, Yandiev, Kuramagomedov (seen on Twitter, not 100 % sure). And signed 0 Russians.
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Gotta make room for the 5-4 Chinese fighters!
 
Another factor to consider would be asking price.

The thing about Russia is that there actually is some money in the sport over there. An ACA champion might be making around 100k. They wouldn't want to be signed to the UFC for much less than that. Yet the UFC would be very unwilling to actually pony up that kind of cash for someone unknown in the American market.

One of the reason why they rushed Jiri so much was that they signed him from Rizin. As such, they had to provide him with a lucrative contract. A make-or-break scenario. Instead of building him up on the prelims. Unlike, say, Yan, who had to scrape by in the prelims for some time.

Feniamin said:
Personally, I have my doubts that if he gets into the UFC he will be more successfull than Imadaev.
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Lamo, c'mon man. Dudaev is 1000% more tested and proven than Imadaev ever was. Better technical, more athletic, superior cardio. I'd be shocked if he doesn't manage the UFC.

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