Why do people pretend that Woodley vs GSP wouldn’t have sold a lot of PPVs?

[NotoriousMillions]

No, I'm thinking he's like the ten guys in that Time's article I linked to, all of which made more than GSP has, who share with him a lack of any other money making skill to fall back on, and a lack of any previous money handling skills.

If it was just Iverson then yeah, its one guy being an idiot. But its so frequent in sport that its more like a large group of people who suddenly started making a lot of money without any of the skills it takes to not waste it away. Lottery winners fall into the same group - a large percentage of them end up broke within a few years. You are poor, you suddenly make a lot of money and start living the high life, and then continue living that life when the money stops coming in, until there's no money left. At which point you have nothing left.

Read up on it, its very common among athletes (and lottery winners). People think they can always make money other ways (coaching, endorsements etc), but the reality is being a great athlete typically is a very different skill set than coaching, and few athletes can make money via endorsements after retirement. Jordan and Gretzky still make a bit, but far less than they used to. Most make nothing at all, advertising companies are even more fickle than Sherdog fans - what you did five years ago means nothing to them.

Dude these guys make 10s of millions of dollars and you're saying they don't make enough? It's a lack of money management skills, not anything else.

 

[AnotherOldGuy]

Dude these guys make 10s of millions of dollars and you're saying they don't make enough? It's a lack of money management skills, not anything else.

From the viewpoint of most of us? Absolutely.

From the viewpoint of the athletes themselves? Absolutely not. Most of them seem to have no idea that there's even such a thing as money management skills; for most of them the only tactic they have is to make as much money as possible and then try to ride out the rest of their lives. Which is why they're trying to maximize their earnings.

If GSP had confidence in his money management skills he'd never have come back from retirement. Same for Ali when he came back for $20 million and two horrible losses (Holmes and Berbick) that rattled his brains, destroying the retirement he was trying to finance. Same for every other athlete who stays in the game too long. Money management skills is something most people learn from either necessity (most of us), or from example (kids of the very rich). Top level athletes tend not to fall into either camp, and so are all about maximizing the only variable they know - how much they've earned.

I didn't come up with this theory btw, its an ongoing problem with athletes (hence the Sports Illustrated article etc). Rags to riches back to rags is endemic, despite most of them earning (as you point out) tens to hundreds times what most people will earn in a lifetime. Why don't their financial planners/agents try to educate them? Most do but find young stars don't listen (too many hangers-on encouraging to spend all their money), and some get a percentage of the earnings and so are all about telling their guys to earn as much as they can rather than learning to save what they already have. Lots of reading material on that too if you look for it.

 

[TRUS8888]

You already know the answer.

GSP fans are terrible and will argue that Woodley isn't a draw in order to feel better about their hero BLATANTLY ducking the chosen one.

imho woodley vs gsp is the fight to make and would be awesome for all gsp lovers and haters alike.

 

[NotoriousMillions]

From the viewpoint of most of us? Absolutely.

From the viewpoint of the athletes themselves? Absolutely not. Most of them seem to have no idea that there's even such a thing as money management skills; for most of them the only tactic they have is to make as much money as possible and then try to ride out the rest of their lives. Which is why they're trying to maximize their earnings.

If GSP had confidence in his money management skills he'd never have come back from retirement. Same for Ali when he came back for $20 million and two horrible losses (Holmes and Berbick) that rattled his brains, destroying the retirement he was trying to finance. Same for every other athlete who stays in the game too long. Money management skills is something most people learn from either necessity (most of us), or from example (kids of the very rich). Top level athletes tend not to fall into either camp, and so are all about maximizing the only variable they know - how much they've earned.

I didn't come up with this theory btw, its an ongoing problem with athletes (hence the Sports Illustrated article etc). Rags to riches back to rags is endemic, despite most of them earning (as you point out) tens to hundreds times what most people will earn in a lifetime. Why don't their financial planners/agents try to educate them? Most do but find young stars don't listen (too many hangers-on encouraging to spend all their money), and some get a percentage of the earnings and so are all about telling their guys to earn as much as they can rather than learning to save what they already have. Lots of reading material on that too if you look for it.

You're talking about guys that aren't smart at all and grew up dirt poor. I SERIOUSLY doubt GSP has this money problem you keep insinuating he has, and the reality is most guys don't have it. As far as anyone is concerned, GSP is more than financially secure.

 

[AnotherOldGuy]

You're talking about guys that aren't smart at all and grew up dirt poor. I SERIOUSLY doubt GSP has this money problem you keep insinuating he has, and the reality is most guys don't have it. As far as anyone is concerned, GSP is more than financially secure.

Dana White (granted not the most reliable source) says that GSP's one concern right now is making as much money as possible in his next fight. Does that sound like someone confident that he's got enough money?

Does his coming back after four years of sitting around enjoying life sound like someone who feels he has enough money? Does his going after the biggest money fight available (Bisping and now Conor) sound like someone who feels he has enough money?

Granted it could be that GSP is simply someone who likes money - most billionaires fit in that category - but it still adds up to the same thing: his primary concern is money. My take on it though is that he grew up lower class, never learned a profession, knows about all the athletes who made tens and hundreds of millions and are now broke, and is worried about ending up the same way. It seems to fit his history extremely well.

Compare to BJ Penn, who never had to worry about money, and was much more open to taking chances than GSP or Woodley.

 

[NotoriousMillions]

Dana White (granted not the most reliable source) says that GSP's one concern right now is making as much money as possible in his next fight. Does that sound like someone confident that he's got enough money?

Does his coming back after four years of sitting around enjoying life sound like someone who feels he has enough money? Does his going after the biggest money fight available (Bisping and now Conor) sound like someone who feels he has enough money?

Granted it could be that GSP is simply someone who likes money - most billionaires fit in that category - but it still adds up to the same thing: his primary concern is money. My take on it though is that he grew up lower class, never learned a profession, knows about all the athletes who made tens and hundreds of millions and are now broke, and is worried about ending up the same way. It seems to fit his history extremely well.

Compare to BJ Penn, who never had to worry about money, and was much more open to taking chances than GSP or Woodley.

I don't doubt he wants more money. Virtually everyone alive does. Just because you want more money, doesn't mean you need more money. That's the point I'm making.

 

[campbecc]

If I fought GSP it would probably sell a lot of PPVs (And of course by "fought" I mean me attempting to badly defend myself while he beat the hell out of me until the ref stopped it )

But Bisping is way better at talking trash than Woodley where everything he says is cringeworthy when he tries. Bisping vs GSP was clearly the bigger draw.

 

[West Linn]

The only people that were saying that were GSP fans who didn't want him to get molested by Woodley. They knew Bisping was an easy fight for a belt just like GSP. All this talk about "stock" was started by GSP and his fans just parroted it.

 

[maximumpwn]

This and his description of Woodley f'n hilarious. XD

 

[DIDM]

Dana: As a business billions in debt, we aren’t looking to make big money fights

 

[AnotherOldGuy]

I don't doubt he wants more money. Virtually everyone alive does. Just because you want more money, doesn't mean you need more money. That's the point I'm making.

No argument here, you need a certain amount of money to live comfortably, but some people ruin their lives chasing riches.

 

[Wariowokecancel]

No, I'm thinking he's like the ten guys in that Time's article I linked to, all of which made more than GSP has, who share with him a lack of any other money making skill to fall back on, and a lack of any previous money handling skills.

If it was just Iverson then yeah, its one guy being an idiot. But its so frequent in sport that its more like a large group of people who suddenly started making a lot of money without any of the skills it takes to not waste it away. Lottery winners fall into the same group - a large percentage of them end up broke within a few years. You are poor, you suddenly make a lot of money and start living the high life, and then continue living that life when the money stops coming in, until there's no money left. At which point you have nothing left.

Read up on it, its very common among athletes (and lottery winners). People think they can always make money other ways (coaching, endorsements etc), but the reality is being a great athlete typically is a very different skill set than coaching, and few athletes can make money via endorsements after retirement. Jordan and Gretzky still make a bit, but far less than they used to. Most make nothing at all, advertising companies are even more fickle than Sherdog fans - what you did five years ago means nothing to them.

GSP doesn’t buy cars, mansions or go to Vegas. He made 5-10 million a fight (look it up). He comes from a modest family and they taught him to be humble. He’s set for life. Even if he lost everything he made in an investment scam, he’s a national hero in Canada and could be a commentator, analyst and gym partner making 200k a year which is enough for a dude who doesn’t spend money and still covers trips to the Bahamas and Thailand.

 

[Wariowokecancel]

From the viewpoint of most of us? Absolutely.

From the viewpoint of the athletes themselves? Absolutely not. Most of them seem to have no idea that there's even such a thing as money management skills; for most of them the only tactic they have is to make as much money as possible and then try to ride out the rest of their lives. Which is why they're trying to maximize their earnings.

If GSP had confidence in his money management skills he'd never have come back from retirement. Same for Ali when he came back for $20 million and two horrible losses (Holmes and Berbick) that rattled his brains, destroying the retirement he was trying to finance. Same for every other athlete who stays in the game too long. Money management skills is something most people learn from either necessity (most of us), or from example (kids of the very rich). Top level athletes tend not to fall into either camp, and so are all about maximizing the only variable they know - how much they've earned.

I didn't come up with this theory btw, its an ongoing problem with athletes (hence the Sports Illustrated article etc). Rags to riches back to rags is endemic, despite most of them earning (as you point out) tens to hundreds times what most people will earn in a lifetime. Why don't their financial planners/agents try to educate them? Most do but find young stars don't listen (too many hangers-on encouraging to spend all their money), and some get a percentage of the earnings and so are all about telling their guys to earn as much as they can rather than learning to save what they already have. Lots of reading material on that too if you look for it.

WTF? GSP came back because he’s a competitor who left the UFC because of everybody he faced was roiding and being treated like shit by Dana. He came back, made a bomb but nobody ever has said that GSP has money issues. He likes to fight and challenge himself which is why he’s a multi millionaire. Who doesn’t stand on a rented Rolls Royce for Instagram like a failed plumber.

You ever ever see GSP spending money like an idiot like Mayweather or Conor?

 

[Wariowokecancel]

Penn being rich allowed him to train and never work a day but it also made him lazy and complacent.

GSP was thinking about carrying trash for bucks an hour and the toys his dad couldn’t buy him, while pumping iron at the gym, meanwhile Penn was roasting a pig on the beach in Hawaii.

 

[AnotherOldGuy]

GSP doesn’t buy cars, mansions or go to Vegas. He made 5-10 million a fight (look it up). He comes from a modest family and they taught him to be humble. He’s set for life. Even if he lost everything he made in an investment scam, he’s a national hero in Canada and could be a commentator, analyst and gym partner making 200k a year which is enough for a dude who doesn’t spend money and still covers trips to the Bahamas and Thailand.

You may well be right about cars, mansions etc, though he does seem to travel the world a lot, judging from clips I've seen of him in different places.

However, as a Canadian I can assure you there are at least 100 NHL players and one basketball player (Nash is a Canadian) who rate much higher in the sports hero category than GSP does. In fact there are curlers (to our shame) who are much better known here than GSP. He's a hero to the Canadian MMA scene, but that's tiny compared to hockey (more people watch amateur hockey every weekend in Canada than have watched any of GSP's fights, and our curling championships draw 3-4 million viewers according to released figures, far higher than the total viewership of any of GSP's or anyone else's fights).

He's simply not a big enough deal to make it is a commentator in any sport other than MMA, and there's just not much of a market for MMA commentators - nor does he have the gift of gab needed to be a good commentator. He's a very respectful, classy person, and those types aren't often hired as commentators.

But if you're right about his spending habits then he'll be fine, even if he isn't a national star on the level of NHL players.