Curtis Blaydes believes UFC doesn't want him as heavyweight champ

[FrankieNYC]

This...

Everyday a fighter says one more thing that that makes me say "I can't believe
fighters are still this dense in this day and age"

Blaydes has almost zero following behind us hardcores

The average casual isn't even aware he exists.

He doesn't have the most entertaining personality

No Blaydes you aren't getting a title shot

Now go take shit talking and trolling lessons from Colby Covington so you can
give WME the shit show farce of a sport it wants

Fighters need to realize they are building a brand & that brand is their business.
It is not always about trash talk.
GSP & Silva were not big trash talkers.
If Forrest didn't bottom out he would be a superstar
Tate, Cowboy & Faber all killed with sponsors after Reebok

none of the above are Colby/Conor/Chael types

This fallacy of having to trash talk to draw is a cop-out

 

[Dat Pre-HollyHolm Ronda $]

Fighters need to realize they are building a brand & that brand is their business.
It is not always about trash talk.
GSP & Silva were not big trash talkers.
If Forrest didn't bottom out he would be a superstar
Tate, Cowboy & Faber all killed with sponsors after Reebok

none of the above are Colby/Conor/Chael types

This fallacy of having to trash talk to draw is a cop-out

I agree thats just one way and was meant as partial jest to illustrate
that "sport" has very little to do with the UFC at this point.

There is no conspiracy against Blaydes.

Derrick Lewis is no handsome prince charming nor superior shit talker but look how the UFC got behind him.

He has a "Personality" and Blaydes does not.

He needs to do something to draw a following and "Entertain" whether it
be shit talking or developing some kinda charisma.

 

[jason73]

Fighters need to realize they are building a brand & that brand is their business.
It is not always about trash talk.
GSP & Silva were not big trash talkers.
If Forrest didn't bottom out he would be a superstar
Tate, Cowboy & Faber all killed with sponsors after Reebok

none of the above are Colby/Conor/Chael types

This fallacy of having to trash talk to draw is a cop-out

A fighters job is to fight.a promoters job is to promote.if the fighters are promoting themselves what good is the promoter?

 

[FrankieNYC]

I agree thats just one way and was meant as partial jest to illustrate
that "sport" has very little to do with the UFC at this point.

There is no conspiracy against Blaydes.

Derrick Lewis is no handsome prince charming nor superior shit talker but look how the UFC got behind him.

He has a "Personality" and Blaydes does not.

He needs to do something to draw a following and "Entertain" whether it
be shit talking or developing some kinda charisma.

We are on same page (as usual)

My only minor difference with you is that this is a "new" thing

Aldo was dominant when UFC was under an old regime & arguably a more popular time & had severe issues drawing

The definition of SPORT is part entertainment.
Mediocre teams in sports drew better & made more money if the team had "personality", of course Prize Fighting will as well.
Stipe was my fav HW, but telling Rogan publicly he hated doing publicity UFC set up & refusing to do anymore, hurts his own business.

In this day & age of social media, just engaging your fans on there helps. Then do appearances for sponsors, ask UFC to send you out on more interviews/appearances.

The best actors don't make the biggest impact.
Rock is the biggest movie star in the world ...

 

[Dat Pre-HollyHolm Ronda $]

Fighters need to realize they are building a brand & that brand is their business.
It is not always about trash talk.
GSP & Silva were not big trash talkers.
If Forrest didn't bottom out he would be a superstar
Tate, Cowboy & Faber all killed with sponsors after Reebok

none of the above are Colby/Conor/Chael types

This fallacy of having to trash talk to draw is a cop-out

Sorry I didn't address your examples.

How I see it...

Tate: She was sexy and the all american girl type. Thats instant money
People like that don't even have to be good fighters to get promoted.
Look at PVZ

Cowboy: is just a boss through and through. Major charisma, crazy entertaining
outside of the octagon and even more entertaining inside. Plays
the "Cowboy" budweiser angle like a G. Instant money

Forrest: Big charisma and has a dead pan style of comedy. Thats
why he hosts fight talk shows. He's an entertaining dude. Not "instant"
money. He had to kinda work for it but it just shows how far a little
charisma goes

Faber: All american California Kid surfer type. He's fun to talk to
Has a lot of charisma and has been around so long his following is huge.

Blaydes deserves a title shot but he has none of the qualities above.

 

[Dat Pre-HollyHolm Ronda $]

We are on same page (as usual)

My only minor difference with you is that this is a "new" thing

Aldo was dominant when UFC was under an old regime & arguably a more popular time & had severe issues drawing

The definition of SPORT is part entertainment.
Mediocre teams in sports drew better & made more money if the team had "personality", of course Prize Fighting will as well.
Stipe was my fav HW, but telling Rogan publicly he hated doing publicity UFC set up & refusing to do anymore, hurts his own business.

In this day & age of social media, just engaging your fans on there helps. Then do appearances for sponsors, ask UFC to send you out on more interviews/appearances.

The best actors don't make the biggest impact.
Rock is the biggest movie star in the world ...

Yeah we are usually on the same page but just focused on different paragraphs of the page. Lol

You are right this dilemma is not a new thing. It just seems much more extreme
and carries much more weight then it used to.

Maybe its my perception but back in the good ol Zuffa era all this just seemed less forced
fake entertainment where as today I don't even take the UFC seriously anymore. Which
is why the WWE Brock stuff just doesn't even bother me.

I no longer even expect the product I grew up liking. Its long gone

 

[Dat Pre-HollyHolm Ronda $]

A fighters job is to fight.a promoters job is to promote.if the fighters are promoting themselves what good is the promoter?

I agree to a certain extent. In a perfect world this would be the case.

Conor said something that made me appreciate his genius. (God I can't believe I'm about to quote Conor. Lol)

Paraphrasing: Conor said "These journeymen don't get it. So what... they can fight.
At this stage everyone can fight. But are they just as good inside the Octagon
as they are outside? I'm the highest paid fighter in the game because like Ali
I'm one of those rare people who can do both. I'm equally entertaining in
the fight as I'm outside the fight."

 

[FrankieNYC]

Blaydes deserves a title shot but he has none of the qualities above.

Absolutely
He would have to work harder to connect with fans

but guess what?
He should do everything he can to make money.
Stupid not too.

Derek Jeter was far from "Mr. Personality" but he build his brand by hard work on/off the field.
He was famous for hating doing press after games, but he did it & made it work.

I hated doing stuff for others as an employee, but I did it
When I could make money building my brand, I put in effort doing things that wasn't exactly fun ... I realized it helped me in the long run.

A fight promoter job is to promote fights, not manage hundreds of fighters brands.

It takes two for maximum potential.

 

[jason73]

I agree to a certain extent. In a perfect world this would be the case.

Conor said something that made me appreciate his genius God I can't believe I'm about o quote Conor. Lol)

Paraphrasing: Conor said "These journeymen don't get it. So what... they can fight.
At this stage everyone can fight. But are they just as good inside the Octagon
as they are outside? I'm the highest paid fighter in the game because like Ali
I'm one of those rare people who can do both. I'm equally entertaining in
the fight as I'm outside the fight."

There will always be characters and larger than life personalities that will be head and shoulders above the others.they promote themselves.its the other guys who need the promtional push from the company

 

[Dat Pre-HollyHolm Ronda $]

There will always be characters and larger than life personalities that will be head and shoulders above the others.they promote themselves.its the other guys who need the promtional push from the company

Very true. the UFC is in a sad state. I wonder what would happen to people like Forrest
in todays UFC? Forrest was kinda in the category of people that were not larger then life
outside the Octagon but needed a little help before people could see his personality.

In the Colby, Conor, WWE era I don't see Forrest types rising to stardom. Its much much
tougher for guys like him now

 

[ECC170]

Good thing all other major sports
Don't hold you by the balls just because you don't act like a prick.. fighting should be about skills not who's the favorite..I don't watch fighting because of the theatrics I watch it to see the best fighters fight each other.

 

[Haulport]

I also think comparing a fighter voicing to doing "bad thing X" is a bit hyperbole, but no biggie

Nah. Crying on social media is a literal plague on civilization and should be considered the social equivelant of farting out loud at a conference table during a meeting...

 

[1031]

A fighters job is to fight.a promoters job is to promote.if the fighters are promoting themselves what good is the promoter?

Perfectly stated.