âEveryone seems like clones of one another now,â Hardy told MMA Fighting. âAt one point, it was a free market, I had a Earache Records sponsoring me, I had a bunch of smaller companies that had a bit of marketing budget that could get behind their favorite fighter, and then that sponsorship tax came in, which meant that maybe there was a sponsorship pool of maybe 10 companies left at a considerably reduced marketing budget that was then spread out across the roster. And they got watered down a little bit, and everyone lost a bit of cash.
âThen there was the next stage where the banners went, and it was just this constant squeezing the life out of it, and thatâs the bit that hurts so much. Because these guys coming up now, the idea now is how do I protect myself and play the game and make the most money. You look back at the old Nick Diaz vs. Robbie Lawler days, they were there for love of it, for the honor of it, for the privilege of standing in there and showing what youâre capable of. And I donât know, it just seems like weâre moving away from that a bit now.â
I Mean , he does have a point
Says the white guy that fought in MMA with a shaved head Mohawk and a bunch of tattoos.
to be fair, in this case I think itâs having a genuine personality, rather than a cynical, style cash-grab
I agree.
The UFC has many good qualities with itâs model and systems. Lots of positives.
However, one negative is the lack of personality allowed with their appearance, and concept.
Chuck, for example, really looked like a character. It is cliche to say, but he could have been a video game character. Same with Tito
If they fought today, they would have black venom shorts, with their name on it.
And that is one of the things about fighting. It is not merely âthis guys skills vs that guys skillsâ. It is, or should be, this guy vs that guy and their appearance, style, and personality. The total person vs another total person.
Like this:
DY3 Gets it
Orly?
Hahaha a friend of mine used to call Hardy âthe Rancid guyâ when weâd see him fight.
Oh really? Thatâs cute
Clones in MMA has been a problem for a while now.
Hey at least we wonât get anymore Dennis Hallmans! But yeah it is a lot harder for fighters to stand out and be themselves these days
I thought Hardy meant clones in terms of fighting style⌠that I would back up 100%âŚ
Agreed. Now itâs down to being a Conner or Colby wanker with no respect for anybody to get noticed. Chael was the starter of this to get the attention but he played it well. Now itâs down to personal insults to get attention & this is a negative on the UFC. UFC claims to be the world leader in MMA but I can not name any company in the world that lets their employees & contractors speak to each other in the way the UFC allow it to happen. Even at the weigh ins, you canât put your hands on another employee.
Chael was good because the stuff he said was almost silly.
Connor is just a dick.