The Gustafsson Conundrum

[canucksfreak19]

With UFC Fight Night 38 underway I am wondering what others think about the UFC putting Alexander Gustafsson on Fight Pass coming off of his fight with Jon Jones.

Personally I think that it is foolish to put someone coming off of a loss (albeit razor thin) in one of the best fights in MMA history, who with a win will most certainly earn another title shot behind an internet paywall.

This leads to a bigger issue facing the UFC, their inability, to develop new stars, but I'm not looking for a larger scope discussion.

I am just glad to live in Canada where the main card is still being shown on television.

Lastly,

Go Gunnar Go!

 

[BravesFan4Life]

A lot of these fighters just do not have the personality to sell fights. As much as he is criticized I like Chael Sonnen because he can sell a fight WWE style and I will watch just to see him lose. I watched that JBJ-Gus fight and it was a great fight but Gus just does not have a marketable personality, unless he is able to beat Bones he will not be a headliner for anything other than fight nights.

 

[canucksfreak19]

I don't think that a fighter has to have a personality to sell a fight in particular, or be a star in general. Chuck Liddell was no promo wizard, he was just a badass dude that knocked people the hell out. Chael can talk up a fight, but he's not really a star because he can't back it up in the cage, in those big fights.

In my opinion the issue is that the UFC doesn't promote fights smartly. For the longest time, and really to this day they try to promote the brand over any fighter, it was fine when the product was hot, but now that it is in more of a cool off phase they don't know what to do.

The best way to make a star is to have someone fighting frequently beating guys down, like Jon Jones in 2011 on PPV four times. It boggles my mind that they put this Gustafsson fight behind an internet paywall. This was a perfect showcase fight like you see in boxing all the time. This should've been on FOX, or been put on as a PPV Co-Main Event. Let the world see Gustafsson looking like a star, in the cage, and people will be more likely to see him as one.

 

[arashikag3]

the ufc has a vested interest in both rousey and jones and will promote the hell out of them.

gus won over a LOT of fans with his fight with jones and a lot of people have been clamoring for a rematch, immediate even.

 

[BravesFan4Life]

Yeah but Liddell owned that persona, even if it wasnt truly a persona but himself. He was badass in his day and he owned that. A lot of these fighters can be like that but if you do not attempt to show your personality you will have a hard time being a top star. Yes promotion does help but you can self promote as well like Sonnen does. If you are trying to get the casual fan in to watch(much like WWE) you have to have people with personality, at this point all sports have their die hards and you do not have to convince them to watch, for the UFC to grow they have to get that casual fan, hence where someone like Sonnen comes greatly in handy. I started watching UFC when Lesnar moved over(well actually a bit before that) because of his personality and well his freak of nature ability, now I try to watch as many fights as humanly possible. Drew me in with a larger than life personality and I stayed, gotta have a hook more than just saying that it is real fighting and this guy does this and that. Why do you think the UFC Fan fests, trading cards sets, etc do so well, allow the personalities of these people to shine and you create loyalty. Ability is one thing, there are plenty of great fighters all over the planet but not all can sell a fight.