Apologize if this point has been already (most points have), but Rafael Dos Anjos lost his first two fights in the UFC. For prelim-midcarders that is almost certainly a UFC pink slip these days.
Interestingly,RDA got a third fight. and now he's champ of arguably MMA's deepest decision.
Now to move into the realm of advanced speculation: if he were cut, would making it back to the top of the UFC even have been possible? And the real kicker: is the UFC truly better off for not having cut him? Last part requires some critical thinking. Discuss.
The UFC would rather have cut RDA than be dealing with Pettis being dominated from bell to bell.
They have been trying to position him as a UFC version of Floyd Mayweather.
The Wheaties box, the Showtime kick, his good looks and so on. Giving him a TUF coaching gig and all pieces were in place to have this guy be 28 and capable of wrecking shop for the next 2-4 years.
Now they've got a champ they never even sold as a competent challenger who lacks marketable looks or perceptible star power and they've got the guy they told us was the greatest who was throttled from start to finish.
Yeah, they wish RDA had been cut rather than deal with this.
It would be as if Siver beat McGregor in terms of ruining their best made plans.
The UFC would rather have cut RDA than be dealing with Pettis being dominated from bell to bell.
They have been trying to position him as a UFC version of Floyd Mayweather.
The Wheaties box, the Showtime kick, his good looks and so on. Giving him a TUF coaching gig and all pieces were in place to have this guy be 28 and capable of wrecking shop for the next 2-4 years.
Now they've got a champ they never even sold as a competent challenger who lacks marketable looks or perceptible star power and they've got the guy they told us was the greatest who was throttled from start to finish.
Yeah, they wish RDA had been cut rather than deal with this.
It would be as if Siver beat McGregor in terms of ruining their best made plans.
Do you think UFC would rather Khabib as champ over Dos Anjos though?
Good question, but ^ ridiculous. It's thought luck when they put money into a champ who loses early, but hey now they have a rematch to make money out of and as long as a champ is dominant they can sell the crap out of that fighter. That's what matters in this sport, the other crap is a plus for dumb mainstream audiences. This wasn't a boring fight either!
From a business perspective this is a complete nightmare. Even though Dallas was in favor of Pettis, you could hear a pin drop in that crowd after RDA's victory. He deserves the title no doubt about it. However, how do you pump the guy up to market ? The first thing that comes out of his mouth is "Jesus told me I will win tonight".
HollywoodHondaHousey - From a business perspective this is a complete nightmare. Even though Dallas was in favor of Pettis, you could hear a pin drop in that crowd after RDA's victory. He deserves the title no doubt about it. However, how do you pump the guy up to market ? The first thing that comes out of his mouth is "Jesus told me I will win tonight".
"Jesus told me I will win tonight"
Haha when I heard him say that I could picture Lorenzo cringing on the sidelines.
Not to mention that RDA has neither a pristine record, huge finishing rate, or comes from a country where they can use him to build incremental revenue. He literally checks zero boxes for marketing bonus as a champ
maybe two and out isn't so bad. You might cost an RDA A real Cinderella run, but you give more fighters a chance at the bigs
Not to mention that RDA has neither a pristine record, huge finishing rate, or comes from a country where they can use him to build incremental revenue. He literally checks zero boxes for marketing bonus as a champ
maybe two and out isn't so bad. You might cost an RDA A real Cinderella run, but you give more fighters a chance at the bigs
I would say at the least you could check the exciting fighter box.
Look at you guys suggesting that UFC should be smart and stage convenient fights for their champions. Fuck all of what you guys are saying. The day this shit becomes a beauty pageant, and not about who the best FIGHTER is, I will stop watching this shit. This shit is about the fans. Don't you ever forget it. I love competitive matchups and couldn't careless what the individual looks like. RDA's talent will speak for itself. You guys want beauty? Go watch Miss America or Miss Universe. UFC needs to market RDA now that he is champ. No one cares what you look like as long as they believe the hype. Hype up RDA and no one will give 2 fucks that he looks like a BattleToad.
Why shit on Dos Anjos and his incredible accomplishment by whining about how he isn't marketable? Shouldn't you be watching this sport to see the best fight the best?
He 5-0'd Pettis when no one else but Khabib was thought to be able to do so.
Funny how people cry about Ronda or McGregor who promote themselves quite well with their outlandish remarks but when a quiet, hard working killer like Dos Anjos makes it to the top now it's all bad for business.
KnockoutThoughts - Look at you guys suggesting that UFC should be smart and stage convenient fights for their champions. Fuck all of what you guys are saying. The day this shit becomes a beauty pageant, and not about who the best FIGHTER is, I will stop watching this shit. This shit is about the fans. Don't you ever forget it. I love competitive matchups and couldn't careless what the individual looks like. RDA's talent will speak for itself. You guys want beauty? Go watch Miss America or Miss Universe. UFC needs to market RDA now that he is champ. No one cares what you look like as long as they believe the hype. Hype up RDA and no one will give 2 fucks that he looks like a BattleToad.
Totally agree...
UFC take a lot of shit around here but it's not the WWE... 90% of the time the right matches are made at the top of the divisions...
Why shit on Dos Anjos and his incredible accomplishment by whining about how he isn't marketable? Shouldn't you be watching this sport to see the best fight the best?
He 5-0'd Pettis when no one else but Khabib was thought to be able to do so.
Funny how people cry about Ronda or McGregor who promote themselves quite well with their outlandish remarks but when a quiet, hard working killer like Dos Anjos makes it to the top now it's all bad for business.
I love it when people become a single entity with one mind.
The UFC needs to relax with the hype machine on their fighters. Sure after beating Gil and Bendo most people would assume that he'd run through the division with ease. But there's always a challenger out there. Someone at some point will come and dethrone a guy. Just don't start tossing the term goat or top pound for pound fighter until you've proved it. Jones, Aldo, Rousey have all proved that they are dominant and deserve heaps of praise. Hype your fighters just do it in an intelligent way so it's not like a bomb in the face when your favorite guy fails.
I'm definitely not shitting on RDA, I think he's incredible In fact I bet money on him last night. But it is interesting and deserves discussion re the two and out policy
Not everything has to be black and white pro or con fighter x
