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Post by jasonkl on Sept 29, 2016 8:46:08 GMT -5
Dana White seems to crave two things more than anything else- huge success for the UFC and maintaining power where the UFC is always significantly bigger than any individual fighters. At this point, there is noway to dispute that Connor has become the biggest star the UFC has ever had. His 2015 and 2016 have just been enormous, bigger that Brock, Ronda, or GSP. According to mma-manifesto.com/root/ufc-ppv-data-root/top-selling-ufc-ppvs-of-all-time.html, Connor this year did 2 of the top 3 ppvs of all time with 1.65 million for UC 202 and 1.5 million for 196. last year's fight with aldo is estimated to have done 1.2 million PPVs for #4 all time. His first headlining PPV against Mendes did 825k ppv buys. His live gates are ridiculous. He is the most charasmatic fighter the UFC has ever had with an amazing ability to take over every press conference he is at, Dana has been dreaming about a superstar like Connor. The problem though is that Connor is very aware of just what a huge superstar he is, and how much the UFC needs him to continue pulling in huge numbers for their hyped cards. He is obviously a very good business man, and has put himself in position to earn around $40 million this year- absolutely unheard of for MMA- this will make him the top earner of all combat sports and a higher income just from sports (not including sponsors) than any US athlete this year. He knows how much power he has, and keeps testing Dana more and more. UFC 200 seemed to be a big turning point for his power struggle with Dana, Dana tried putting his foot down and took connor off of the card, the card ended up not living up to the hype and he had the disasters of jones and brock failing their PED tests. Dana thought that 200 would be where he regained the power, it was the opposite, especially after 202 did significantly more PPV buys than 200. Dana told everyone that Connor would have 1 shot at the 155 pound title in the beginning of the year and than would have to return to 145 to defend the belt, that didn't happen, than the story was that Connor was so obsessed with a rematch with Nate that dana had to give it to him, and win or lose his next fight would be at 145. connor refused again and said he only wanted eddie for the 155 pound belt. dana tried to get him to face aldo and made a bunch of bluffs that connor called, like having khabib sign 2 contracts for eddie and calling for the aldo fight. When he signed the eddie fight, dana made it clear that connor would have to give up a belt if he won, connor said they would need an army to get one of those belts off of him. I can't remember any athlete in any sport having the power that connor does, he has become the 499 and 1 (499 other ufc fighters and him) where the rules are completely different for him compared to everyone else. michael jordan was a bigger star, but he had the same rules as everyone else in the nba, same with pretty much everyone. Now Aldo wants out of his contract because he is tired of being lied to by Dana and sees the UFC as standing for the ultimate fighting connor. he won't be the last. if connor does win, the power struggle will become that much worse as dana really would be forced to try to make connor drop a belt, connor will refuse. i think things will get much uglier and dana will have to make a decision, is it worth it to continue to have connor make him look like a weak, scared liar, or will he have the balls to really stand up to connor and force him to do what everyone else would have done a long time ago therefore risking more huge PPVs and live gates? I thinnk Dana's ego and quest for power and control will become bigger than his goal of turning the ufc into the most profitable and biggest sport he can. a big question will be, huge side will the new owners take?
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Post by ocmmafan on Sept 29, 2016 8:59:51 GMT -5
I think Dana, the UFC and Conor all see a huge spot to sell 1.5 million PPVs in November and are going to leverage it. From a financial standpoint, it's the best and only choice to have Conor fight Eddie BEFORE he fights Aldo.
If Conor goes down and defends 145 now, and wins, he has a HUGE fight his next fight. Win for him, win for the UFC. He is as big or a bigger draw.
If Conor goes down and loses to Aldo, he does not have a fight at 155. He has the rematch with Aldo and loses some of the luster. He can no longer call himself a champion. He gets a rematch with Aldo at 145.
If Conor first fights Eddie, and wins, he's a fucking giant, a belt holder in both divisions and draws even more star power. Maybe he walks away from 145, or maybe he defends it. But the options then are endless.
If Conor fights Eddie first and loses, he is still the 145 champ and goes down for his fight against Aldo and potential rematch with Aldo. The UFC is in the same position as making Conor fight Aldo today, but gets the extra gigantic PPV at 205 in MSG.
From a financial and fight promoting standpoint, it's a no brainer to capitalize on letting Conor fight for the 155 first.
Also, like you say, Conor's power continues to expand right now because many of the other stars get hurt, pull out of fights and just don't garner the same following or reactions Conor does. I don't think Dana's ego has anything to do with it because he is first and foremost a fight promoter. Fair? In all your years watching MMA and boxing how many times has "fair" been the primary motivation behing setting up fights? Rarely. It's all about the mega-stars in fight sports and Conor is alone on the mountain and now, basically, the only dude on the mountain.
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Post by adamg01 on Sept 29, 2016 9:11:52 GMT -5
I think Dana, the UFC and Conor all see a huge spot to sell 1.5 million PPVs in November and are going to leverage it. From a financial standpoint, it's the best and only choice to have Conor fight Eddie BEFORE he fights Aldo. If Conor goes down and defends 145 now, and wins, he has a HUGE fight his next fight. Win for him, win for the UFC. He is as big or a bigger draw. If Conor goes down and loses to Aldo, he does not have a fight at 155. He has the rematch with Aldo and loses some of the luster. He can no longer call himself a champion. He gets a rematch with Aldo at 145. If Conor first fights Eddie, and wins, he's a fucking giant, a belt holder in both divisions and draws even more star power. Maybe he walks away from 145, or maybe he defends it. But the options then are endless. If Conor fights Eddie first and loses, he is still the 145 champ and goes down for his fight against Aldo and potential rematch with Aldo. The UFC is in the same position as making Conor fight Aldo today, but gets the extra gigantic PPV at 205 in MSG. From a financial and fight promoting standpoint, it's a no brainer to capitalize on letting Conor fight for the 155 first. Also, like you say, Conor's power continues to expand right now because many of the other stars get hurt, pull out of fights and just don't garner the same following or reactions Conor does. I don't think Dana's ego has anything to do with it because he is first and foremost a fight promoter. Fair? In all your years watching MMA and boxing how many times has "fair" been the primary motivation behing setting up fights? Rarely. It's all about the mega-stars in fight sports and Conor is alone on the mountain and now, basically, the only dude on the mountain. [bra Excellent points. I'm glad Conor is in a position to tell Dana what he is going to do. Maybe other fighters like Conor will realize their position and cash in on it. Nate Diaz obviously did. Dana will throw them to the wolves when they lose that "new" smell. Look what he did to GSP, very unprofessional. And I don't even like GSP. People complaining about fighters getting cheated. Aldo is only an asset in Brazil. He isn't dynamic or even particularly likable these days. He might get what he wants and put himself in position to become the greatest can crusher since Cyborg. The UFC is a money first organization, sometimes contenders have to take a backseat. Hell if Penn crushes Lamas (I know won't happen) and starts trash talking McGregor, Aldo might get the shaft again to a more marketable matchup.
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Post by clubman on Sept 29, 2016 9:45:41 GMT -5
I thought it was going to be GSP or Anderson Silva back in the day, but I absolutely am sure that within the next 12 months, Conor is going to split from the UFC and form "Notorious Promotions" and be his own Promoter and co-promote his events with the UFC. Especially now that the Fertitas arent involved its a done deal.
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Post by peAk on Sept 29, 2016 10:16:49 GMT -5
The other thing to remember is, Conor's "window" for having this must leverage is short because he will eventually lose again, possibly twice in a row. Had he not won the Diaz rematch, things would be a lot different right now.
Conor knows this, Dana knows this.
Might as well cash in on the biggest events now while things are hot.
What's going to be interesting is seeing how things play out once Conor doesn't have the leverage. I think it will get messy - really messy.
I am enjoying this....though, and hope it continues for some time.
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Post by jonas0tt0 on Sept 29, 2016 10:22:03 GMT -5
I think Dana, the UFC and Conor all see a huge spot to sell 1.5 million PPVs in November and are going to leverage it. From a financial standpoint, it's the best and only choice to have Conor fight Eddie BEFORE he fights Aldo. If Conor goes down and defends 145 now, and wins, he has a HUGE fight his next fight. Win for him, win for the UFC. He is as big or a bigger draw. If Conor goes down and loses to Aldo, he does not have a fight at 155. He has the rematch with Aldo and loses some of the luster. He can no longer call himself a champion. He gets a rematch with Aldo at 145. If Conor first fights Eddie, and wins, he's a fucking giant, a belt holder in both divisions and draws even more star power. Maybe he walks away from 145, or maybe he defends it. But the options then are endless. If Conor fights Eddie first and loses, he is still the 145 champ and goes down for his fight against Aldo and potential rematch with Aldo. The UFC is in the same position as making Conor fight Aldo today, but gets the extra gigantic PPV at 205 in MSG. From a financial and fight promoting standpoint, it's a no brainer to capitalize on letting Conor fight for the 155 first. Also, like you say, Conor's power continues to expand right now because many of the other stars get hurt, pull out of fights and just don't garner the same following or reactions Conor does. I don't think Dana's ego has anything to do with it because he is first and foremost a fight promoter. Fair? In all your years watching MMA and boxing how many times has "fair" been the primary motivation behing setting up fights? Rarely. It's all about the mega-stars in fight sports and Conor is alone on the mountain and now, basically, the only dude on the mountain. Well said.
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olig
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Post by olig on Sept 29, 2016 13:54:51 GMT -5
The other thing to remember is, Conor's "window" for having this must leverage is short because he will eventually lose again, possibly twice in a row. Had he not won the Diaz rematch, things would be a lot different right now. Conor knows this, Dana knows this. Might as well cash in on the biggest events now while things are hot. What's going to be interesting is seeing how things play out once Conor doesn't have the leverage. I think it will get messy - really messy. I am enjoying this....though, and hope it continues for some time. I can't see him fighting on for all that many years to be honest. He'll take his considerable career earnings and retire to try and use it to make even more. I can't see him wanting to fight Khalib whatsoever, so maybe he retires as a 2 weight world champion? Have a good year and a half year off to recover and enjoy yourself. Then you have Diaz welcome him back for the trilogy fight having hopefully built up Diaz in the meantime. You can tease his big "comeback" endlessly and drive up interest. Just let Nate be Nate. Not sure what happens if he loses? Back to 145 I guess? Personally I love the Stephens fight. I have Stephens as a favourite in that fight.
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Post by ocmmafan on Sept 29, 2016 14:03:55 GMT -5
Really, Oli? Man, I think Jeremy Stephens has zero chance against Conor. Zero. Picture made opponent though so I could see that fight happening if say Conor lost a few fights. He's slower, less reach, willing to stand and trade, has a solid chin, mediocre defense and doesn't use his wrestling. If you could script a guy to showcase Conor it would be Jeremy Stephens.
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Post by peAk on Sept 29, 2016 18:29:31 GMT -5
Oh man, I agree with oc....
Conor blows through Stephens. He's tailor made for Conor.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 9:44:16 GMT -5
Did that idiot that said Conor wasn't a draw happen to come over here? We were all telling him over a year ago that Conor was a huge draw.
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Post by clubman on Sept 30, 2016 10:07:30 GMT -5
probably killed himself. its rough being that far off
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olig
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Post by olig on Oct 6, 2016 7:16:25 GMT -5
Really, Oli? Man, I think Jeremy Stephens has zero chance against Conor. Zero. Picture made opponent though so I could see that fight happening if say Conor lost a few fights. He's slower, less reach, willing to stand and trade, has a solid chin, mediocre defense and doesn't use his wrestling. If you could script a guy to showcase Conor it would be Jeremy Stephens. I think I was stoned when I wrote this?!
Actually, I don't think it's that far fetched? The type of fighter to beat McGregor won't fear him and won't essentially run away from his power, thus giving him the time and space to tee off with that long southpaw left hand.
Stay at the end of his punches and move backwards and you're handing him the victory!
Get in his face more with solid boxing fundamentals, a good chin and great power and you'll cause him troubles. Add in the fact that a very solid wrestling base means that you should have the ability to run time off the clock in your favour (clinching, etc) as well as giving you a more realistic back up plan should you get stunned and I think all around Stephens gives him a tough fight.
I know Yves stopped him but Stephens really comes across as granite, so I'd be amazed if anyone could "blow through him with ease?"
My thinking is based on the best Stephens turning up and utilizing ALL of his talents to win, rather than just standing there having a trade up with him.
I love the fight though.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2016 11:09:14 GMT -5
Imo, Aldo has only himself to blame. He has had all the time in the world to learn english and help make himself more of a worldwide draw. He hasnt. Pulling out of fights doesn't help him either.
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Post by adamg01 on Oct 6, 2016 16:23:05 GMT -5
Imo, Aldo has only himself to blame. He has had all the time in the world to learn english and help make himself more of a worldwide draw. He hasnt. Pulling out of fights doesn't help him either. Coasting in the late rounds doesn't either. He needed to be clubbed and I'm glad such a bitter rival was the one to do it.
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olig
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Post by olig on Oct 7, 2016 8:14:36 GMT -5
Yeah Aldo certainly had an air of arrogance, that it was perfectly ok to be putting a beating on someone for 3 rounds, win them and then just let the other guy survive.
Also, the whole learning English thing. Whilst I don't necessarily agree that fighters should learn English (they should concentrate on becoming better fighters!), it certainly doesn't hurt to see a guy try a few words in English, "hello guys. I love all my fans!" or whatever, goes a long way.
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Post by boboplata on Oct 7, 2016 8:21:44 GMT -5
I saw a pre-wec aldo fight recently. It was in england. His nickname was the smiling squirrel and he was wearing boardshorts. Legit lol'd.
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Post by jamesod on Oct 7, 2016 11:08:56 GMT -5
It would suck to get KTFO by a dude in board shorts named the smiling squirrel.
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