“Dan Henderson has been in the game forever. Mark Hunt has an entire country behind him. When we do fights in Australia, he sells out arenas. Gegard Mousasi isn’t selling out arenas,” White said.
“That’s why you see guys like Bisping, different fighters from Brazil, Conor McGregor. When you have guys who have countries behind them, it’s a game-changer for them. Not everybody has that luxury.”
“Listen, I’m a Gegard fan. I’m the one who who brought Gegard in here. I like the guy very much.”
Caught_clean - Then maybe start promoting him and pushing him?
Why, so fans can complain that the UFC is trying to shove him down their throats? lol.
Oh, you mean like they do when the UFC is doing that with Ronda, Sage and PVC? Nobody is going to complain about any fighter with the fight credentials Mousassi has being marketed as a fighter to watch.
Who the fuck does sell out arenas??? DC? Mighty Mouse? Gus/Glover? Lebov/Swanson?
All headlined/will headline in coming months and i'd argue all less popular than Mousasi. This is Whites way of looking like he ended it before Moose fucks off for the green pastures of Bellator.
Like a desperate chick that dumps her boyfriend knowing he's gonna do it anyway.
The crowds are extremely fickle about who they like and why. Nate Diaz wasn't the huge star he is today until he beat Conor. Ronda was a star regardless of the UFC push, meanwhile a slightly less popular Nunes is the real deal- tough, aggressive, skilled. Doesn't matter to the main stream, which is who the UFC cares about.
Gegard isnt who Joe Sixpack wants to live vicariously through in looks, he doesn't have a fun personality in interviews, and although his accomplishments speak for themselves, he doesn't have some flashy style that sets him apart. He is really just another face in a lineup of UFC clones so far as the average fan is concerned. Do you think the casual fan knows that gegard is a multiple time champ outside the UFC?
Moreover, the casual fan wouldn't care if you told them. I've tried to talk about lesser known fighters at work to friends who watch but don't fully understand and they just respond with something like "okay but when is the Irish guy fighting again? What about Ronda, think she's coming back?"
You can bitch and complain about Mighty Mouse getting a promotional push and treated like he's something special- which he clearly is- but the casual fan has trouble caring about the smaller guys. They all want to see rocky balboa and clubber Lang- heavyweight sluggers.
People bitch about the UFC pushing one less popular fighter while claiming that they don't try to promote less popular fighters. They push and push Mighty Mouse and Joe Sixpack couldn't care less.
