Los_29 wrote:BlackThought wrote:Los_29 wrote:
Tyron Woodley was a UFC champion and Askren got viciously KO'd by one of the most popular UFC fighters in Jorge Masvidal. Askren and Woodley had names in MMA and were seen as a significant step up from fighting guys like KSI and Nate Robinson.
And no, Jake Paul fighting some no name boxer from the Ukraine or something isn't going to sell. Why in the world would he fight a legitimate pro boxer for a fraction of what he would make fighting UFC WW's? Why do you think he's trying to fight Fury? Fury has a big name and he's not a good boxer.
Jake Paul isn't going to fight a credible boxer because he's going to get starched (So I agree with you there). Trust me, he's going to milk this thing for awhile. He's already calling out Gamebred, he wants Diaz. He likely beats both those guys.
And who are you calling a casual? When did I say MMA fighters can box? Not many of them can but you're fooling yourself if you don't think some can. It's abundantly clear who the casual is. You don't even know the backgrounds of MMA fighters.
Paul and Askren did 1.5 mil ppv buys, you are delusional if you think even a tenth of those buys came from Askren fans. People bought the fight because it's the first time that Paul is fighting an athlete that does combat sport. That's the draw, not the actual fighter. If Paul decides to fight an actual boxer, even a retired one with a name, it would do huge numbers because people want to see him lose.
My point is Paul is the main draw, the game is to fight guys that casual fans think might beat Paul but in reality likely wouldn't beat him. Fighting guys from the ufc is perfect because non boxing fans don't have a clue that those guys can't actually box. They see combat sports and just assume that it'll carry over. Fighting pro boxers is too risky because even an old roy jones would likely knock Paul the **** out, so it's a lose lose situation for Paul.
Your reading comprehension is astonishingly bad. Yes, people bought that fight because Askren was seen as a big step up in competition and people bought the first Woodley fight because it was seen as an even bigger step up in competition. You're fooling yourself if you think Woodley and Askren aren't big names in the sport. Woodley was a UFC champion and Askren got viciously KO'd by one of the most popular MMA fighters in the world in Masvidal. Both Woodley and Askren have big social media followings. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they are big draws, they are most certainly not. However, they are way bigger draws then fighting some random pro boxer.
Yes, I agree, Paul is the main draw but there is far more money involved fighting UFC fighters than average pro boxers. The pro boxers that Paul could fight that would sell amazingly well would completely annihilate Paul inside 2-3 rounds. So he's clearly not going to fight them because that means the show is over. Yes, Paul fighting a decent pro boxer would sell okay. But Paul fighting a UFC fighter sells much better. Go look at the 25th ranked cruiserweight and tell me if you've ever heard of him. No you haven't because the cruiserweight division is completely dead in boxing. We are talking about a difference of 5-10 million fighting UFC guys as opposed to cruiserweight boxers.
And most MMA fighters cannot box. But some definitely can. The way you are wording it is as if ALL MMA fighters can't box. And I'm sure you know that's not true. If you aren't a casual you'd realize that though.
Let me connect the dots for you since you still don't get it.
People who bought the ppv are Jake Paul fans, not ufc fans.
Nobody outside of the UFC fan circle know who Ben Askren or Tyron Woodley is.
It's that simple, I don't understand how you are still confused about this. Big name in the sport? What sport lol? The people who actually bought the fight don't follow your sport. The evidence is that when Paul was fighting Nate Robinson and some other youtuber, he was doing similar numbers. He's fought 4 guys and so far he did 1 mil+ ppv on 3 of the fights.
Not Paul/Robinson. No one even knew Paul was on that card until people actually bought the PPV. That was Tyson's PPV. It wasn't Paul's PPV. Tyson/RJJ gave Paul a platform and Paul to his credit has been able to sell himself well so much so that the MMA community continues to pay to see Paul fight because they want to see him lose. It's clear as day that Paul's best angle here is to go after MMA fighters because he knows MMA fans will pay to see him and that the MMA fighters he will be facing have somewhat of a name and are very beatable in boxing rules.
