Why Is UFC's Talent Scout So Pro-Brazilian?

It's really not., fighters need many mroe wins on the local circuit before they get an UFC offer. As for Eastern Europe, blame M-1 Global, there are no promotions with such a tight hold on their fighters in Brazil.
 
countswagula said:
It's really not., fighters need many mroe wins on the local circuit before they get an UFC offer. As for Eastern Europe, blame M-1 Global, there are no promotions with such a tight hold on their fighters in Brazil.
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That didn't stop Bellator from luring reigning M-1 champs Sarnavskiy and Vasilevsky. Former M-1 champ Zavurov. M-1 fighters Volkov and Shamhalaev. Koreshkov and Minakov from other orgs. And previously, Shlemenko, of course.

That was only ultimately the issue with Fedor and a few others.
 
Simple, because Brazil produces so many great fighters.

What great Sambo/Eastern European prospects is the UFC ignoring?
 
JonSnitchPhones said:
That didn't stop Bellator from luring reigning M-1 champs Sarnavskiy and Vasilevsky. Former M-1 champ Zavurov. Koreshkov and Minakov from other orgs.

That was only ultimately the issue with Fedor and a few others.
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Vinny Magalh
 
SuperHoss said:
Simple, because Brazil produces so many great fighters.

What great Sambo/Eastern European prospects is the UFC ignoring?
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Minakov, Koreshkov, Shlemenko, Ivanov, Khalidov...
 
Soul Slasher said:
Yet you hardly ever see them bring more fighters from Eastern Europe?

I am sure with Sambo being big in Russia that there are many dangerous Heavyweight Eastern European fighters.

But UFC has always been a green door for many Brazilian fighters to come in and participate in the sport here in the US.
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They work cheap, the US currency ain't what it used to be but maybe the exchange rate is favourable with Brazil but mainly it is a standard of living thing. Being an undercard UFC fighter improves most Brazilians standard of living, plus there is the whole want to be the best, compete against the best, follow in the footsteps of my hero mentor argument.

Do people think before they start threads on Sherdog? Do I have to say that is a rhetorical question? Is that irony?

So yeah fighting on Jungle Fights pays way less than being a UFC undercard fighter. Poland has an MMA league and the best Polish guy basically turned down the UFC's offer because he can make more money staying in Poland than the UFC offered him. The same used to apply to Japan in the Pride days, now the UFC is clearly number one and regional/national MMA promotions can not compete salary wise even if 39K to show and 39K to win doesn't sound like all that much... The opportunity to fight multiple times in a year is another big thing in the UFCs favour now in signing fighters, only Bellator runs anywhere near as many shows hence the lawsuit over Alverez. He's arguing that he can make more money on one popular UFC PPV then he would make in a whole year fighting on regular TV let alone unbroadcast shows and he's right, whether he can win the court case is another matter.

Same with Invicta, Rousey is making a lot more than she was in Strikeforce or the Invicta champs make and the big reason is PPV and increased sponsorship. Dos Santos was sponsored by Nike in his last fight. Didn't you see the Swoosh? Nike doesn't sponsor chumps, they sponsor people who get seen by 100,000s if not millions of people so that everyone can see their logo. The Mexican guy who wore the mask, he's way more famous now as an undercard fighter and they're selling lucidore masks at UFC events if not on UFC.com or somewhere on the Internet. Ability to attract sponsors and higher level sponsors is another huge advantage to the UFC, you get your banner, your walkout shirt, your backstage interview with Ariel Hiwani or someone like that. Your Twitter handle appears on TV and on UFC.com.

The UFC signed that Russian suplex kid with the random number Twitter handle. The UFC will sign someone from any country even Communist China, well maybe not North Korea or some of the really secular kingdoms. If the UFC thinks it can make money promoting women, they're going to do it. If they think they can make money selling out a soccer stadium in Brazil they're going to do it. India and mainland China are next, expect to see some Indian wrestlers or boxers get a contract offer eventually, even if it is only for one show in their home country. It still pays better than One FC or whoever else might run a show in India.

Economics 101, supply and demand. Brazil is producing UFC caliber fighters, it has UFC caliber gyms which produce more UFC caliber fighters, though a lot of the best Brazilians have moved North due to quality of life and because the best sparing partners are generally in North America, especially at the heaviest weight classes.

Russia is also super corrupt, same with the Soviet satellite countries. It isn't just Dana ragging on M1 Global. Many corporations have had difficulty in doing business in Russia. China is also problematic, but going through Macau and it's casino industry was smart. Chinese love to gamble, they also have arguably the longest history of formal martial arts. The UFC has done shows in Germany, they signed an Austrian. It takes time to develop the infrastructure of gyms and training partners that is necessary to get to the highest level of MMA. To host shows you need arenas, paying customers, and attractiveness to celebs who would fly in along with whales to watch and gamble. Russian casinos inevitably have mob ties, whereas in Macau, Las Vegas Sands has several casinos as does Wynn and all the familiar corporate names the UFC knows from Vegas and Atlantic city. A host city also needs highend hotels, that is why Vancouver was chosen over Calgary until city hall managed to spoil it. Vancouver has lots of nice hotels especially after the Olympics.

Moscow could host a UFC event, but I don't think the UFC wants to deal with Russian politicians or criminal elements.

So yeah Brazil and Brazilian fighters are more attractive than Eastern Europe and Eastern Europeans to the UFC.
 
Muskie said:
Moscow could host a UFC event, but I don't think the UFC wants to deal with Russian politicians or criminal elements.
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Yeah, because Vegas has nothing to do with criminal elements...
 
brazilianblood said:
i could post a list of like 30 promising brazilian fighters, or like 10 for each weight class

but i'm lazy
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I don't say the talent pool in eastern europe is deeper than the brazilian talent pool. Just a few names the UFC is overlooking. Koreshkov is a force at WW, Minakov and Ivanov are Sambo world champions and both are undefeated.
 
brazilianblood said:
i could post a list of like 30 promising brazilian fighters, or like 10 for each weight class

but i'm lazy
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Those guys are more than promising, and it's about percentages anyways. You could name 30 promising Brazilians, well the UFC has 60 on their roster. They have 4 Russians and we could name a lot more than 2 promising ones.

If you think there are 15 times more good Brazilian fighters than Russian, you're severely deluded.
 
JonSnitchPhones said:
Holy circular logic, Batman. You can't be champion if you don't sign. Fedor never fought in the UFC, otherwise he probably would have been UFC champion. Vovchanchyn probably would have been in the early years. Who knows, though. They haven't signed over the years much out of limited mutual interest.
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fedor lost to 2 Brazilians, in a row, in SF...
 
BJJ_Rage said:
fedor lost to 2 Brazilians, in a row, in SF...
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Not sure if serious.

Also, if Tim Sylvia was champ, one would think Kharitonov would have had a good shot too. The guy beat Reem, Werdum, Arlovski, Rizzo, and Russow.

Khalidov might make a run at a title post Silva. Who knows until they fight in UFC with more prevalence.

But to use them not rising to champions in UFC when they seldom fight there is the height of idiocy.
 
Zlatan1 said:
Yeah, and he beat the shit out of Nog, twice...
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not really, he won 2 decisions, rightfully though...

now, what big foot did to him is what I call beating the shit out of someone...
 
BJJ_Rage said:
not really, he won 2 decisions, rightfully though...

now, what big foot did to him is what I call beating the shit out of someone...
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If you actually believe this, you're some kind of sheep.

It's hard to tell if people are trolling unless they are completely over the top, have a rep, or are in person to hear the inflection in their voice or see their facial expressions.
 
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