Well, there wasn't a ton in terms of high profile fights on the card this past weekend and there is even less going into this coming weekend. That means we're going to have to get creative for the middle of this week and this is an idea that sort of came to mind a few hours ago for me. I'm writing this on Monday night at 10 PM and just started listening to today's episode of the MMA hour. It kind of occurred to me earlier today that MMA is a very strange sport. It is the only sport that I know of where wins and losses aren't enough. The way you win matters and so does the way you act outside of the cage and on social media. A lot of these things work both ways. If someone is a very exciting fighter and is entertaining on social media, then they can elevate themselves a little faster. I think of someone like Derrick Lewis and Tai Tuivasa as people who do this to their benefit. Of course they win, but they win in a way that fans prefer to watch and are fun on Twitter and Instagram. Someone like Leon Edwards has all of the physical skills and wins, but he doesn't connect with fans very well. We've seen this hold him back and probably delayed his title shot. We just saw Joaquin Buckley have TikTok sensation Commander Brown in his corner as a way to get some positive attention on himself. Listening to his interview as I write this reminded me because I actually forgot about it until just now. Of course, there are fighters that have the priorities backwards and take social media fame more seriously than their actual fights. Think of people like Dillon Danis. Being in the good graces of both the promotion and the fans is key towards elevating a career. If the fans are behind a fighter, they're going to make the promoter more money and will be more likely to get opportunities. There's a lot of ways to have the machine behind you and pushing you farther up the ladder. There's also a few ways to hold yourself back and that is what I want to discuss here.
The easiest way to ruin your career is to get on the bad side of the promotion. This typically comes in the form of contract disputes. Fighter pay is a hot topic and it is way more complicated than I can cover here, but it is a huge hurdle in getting any fights done. The fighter has to balance the need and want to make as much money as possible with needing to actually compete. Most fighters do not have the luxury of McGregor, Diaz, and Jon Jones where they can afford to just walk away if the money isn't what they think it should be. On one hand, fighting or combat of any kind isn't a sport that people stay in for a long time, so each fight needs to be maximized. On the other, fighters only get paid when they actually are competing. In the short term, the incentive is to fight as many times as possible so that they can get a check and have money for the next few months. It isn't an easy game to play and it can go sideways really quickly if a fighter doesn't play their cards right. If a fighter finds themselves on the wrong side of the promotion, they can be buried pretty quickly. They can be offered really tough fights with poor card placement until their contract is up and then the promotion moves on from them after putting a few losses on their record. It isn't always fair, but playing the game is an important part of eventually getting to the top. There aren't many people who can completely infiltrate the system without working their way up. Another way to get on the bad side of the promotion is to turn down fights. Fighters who refuse to do anything outside of their comfort zone will probably find themselves in less desirable situations. This one probably works more the other way, but still. Fighters who help out the promotion and take fights on short notice are invaluable to a company. Especially during the peak of COVID, fighters were falling out left and right. When someone like Kevin Holland, Cowboy Cerrone, or Jorge Masvidal step in to save the day, that builds them a lot of good will with the UFC and will get them helped out when they need it because they did the same for the company. Fighters that refuse short notice replacements or just try to cherry pick their opponents will have the opposite effect. Chael Sonnen made a video on his YouTube channel that talked about Gregor Gillespie turning down fights. We never see him in big matchups because he only wants certain opponents and refuses to fight anyone else. If he isn't going to be reasonable and a good business partner, the UFC has no reason to give in to him. He was out for 2 years, came back in May 2021 and now he's been gone since. Especially with the UFC, but I'm sure with all promotions, trying to boss around the bosses won't get you very far. Trying to dictate the people that cut your checks probably isn't a great strategy in any field of work to be honest.
The other main way to halt a career is to be on the wrong side of the fans. If the fans aren't willing to push a fighter or are actively working against a fighter, then they can have a hard time elevating themselves. One way to be on the wrong side of the fans is style. This one is a little complicated, but fighters who are perceived as boring don't always get that push. Someone who is grappling heavy may not always get the same push because the general population views grappling heavy styles as being a little more boring. Unfortunately, the PPV model relies on the fighters to be interesting and for them to be able to generate interest in the fight. The promotion has to put on the fights that the fans want to see and will make them money. Someone like Leon Edwards isn't the most exciting or fan friendly fighter and it has really hurt him. Leon isn't even a grappler really, he just doesn't get finishes, but he still has a hard time getting over. With time and enough consecutive wins, these types of guys can force a promotion's hand, but it isn't easy. The other major way to get on the wrong side of the fans is to come across as a phony. Whatever gimmick that fighter has decided to go with, they have to stay true to it or they risk being exposed as fake. I think this is why Colby Covington really doesn't have as many fans as he likes to think. His choice in politics automatically eliminates half of the fans from liking him, but then it is the least well kept story in MMA that he is apparently a really normal, likable guy. He tries to come across as brash and like he doesn't care about anything else, but there are times when it shows that it is all an act. Of course, I think most people already knew it was mostly an act, but when the fighter exposes themselves, it really doesn't go over well. There is also an implicit understanding that fighters are supposed to be tough. When a fighter does things that suggest otherwise, this is also a way to expose yourself. If someone is known to turn down fights or seems to be ducking opponents, that is a sure fire way to have the fans turn on you. The fans in MMA are both different and more important than fans in other sports because they have a direct impact on a fighter's career. If the fan base turns on a fighter and refuses to support them, the promotion will be in a tough spot.
The final point I want to make is that activity levels are important. If someone is inconsistent in their appearances, then it is hard for them to catch on. Fighting once or twice a year makes it hard to gain momentum both in performance and with the fans. Fighting consistently allows fans to know who a fighter is. Kevin Holland took advantage of this during the pandemic. He was constantly jumping in when fighters fell out and the fans learned who he was because he was fighting so often. I think a similar thing happened with Bobby Green. On the other side of things, there are fighters who are very talented that can't get a push because they just don't fight often enough. Gregor Gillespie is one of these guys. Blagoy Ivanov is another guy who a lot of fans probably don't even remember is on the UFC roster despite him being in the rankings for a couple years now. Obviously, injuries happen and other things arise that can lead to a fighter taking time off and that isn't what I'm talking about. There are fighters who have all of the talent in the world, but they just don't have the ability to rise fighting once or twice in a calendar year. There's too many events with too many fights for someone to make any relevant progress by going 1-0 or 2-0. The UFC will put on 45 or so events with 10+ fights on each. That is 450 fights minimum. Winning a couple of those will have a fighter lost in the shuffle unless they're already established. This isn't to say that someone should just accept every fight given to them either of course, but that is another conversation.
This isn't exhaustive and there's a lot of other things someone can do, but I think it is a good start to a conversation. This is a little bit of a different type of post for this blog, so let me know what you guys think about this style. Let me know what you think in general. What is the easiest way for a fighter to fall out of favor with you? Leave your thoughts and comments below. Thanks for reading and have a good one.
Comments
Post a Comment