Can MMA's elite be as popular as Manny Pacquiao?
Posted on May 7, 2011, 02:04 AM by Ryan Ventura
For you Lowkickers out there familiar with my work, you know of my love of the sweet science. With the big fight between Manny Pacquiao and "Sugar" Shane Mosley just around the corner, a thought came to me. Whenever Pac-Man fights, it's not just a fight, it's like a national holiday all over the world. Not only do boxing enthusiasts look forward to this main event, but it seems like a big chunk of this planet will be watching.
Every sport has it's face, a talent that becomes the unofficial representative of it's athletic competition. A person so talented or charismatic, that they transcended the very sport that they represent. Names like Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan are some that come to mind in pop culture when you associate golf or basketball. In the world of professional boxing Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson are some of the most recognizable names. But in this day and age no name is bigger than Manny Pacquiao.
Not only is he one of the greatest boxers of our time, he's probably the most popular boxer of our generation. Aside from his in-ring accomplishments, he has become embedded into our daily lives, and into pop culture. You can play as him in the EA Sports Fight Night video games, you can wear his Nike clothes and sneakers, and you can eat his own brand of produce. He's been featured in movies, TV, and most recently signed a deal with HP computers. He is literally almost everywhere.
The sport of Mixed Martial Arts is still growing and no where near the age or even level of popularity that professional boxing is around the world. To date, arguably the most recognizable face in MMA could be Georges St. Pierre with his UFC Welterweight championship and endorsment deals with Gatorade and Under Armour. Randy Couture has been featured in many movies, has his own brand of exercise equipment, and is one of the sport's most beloved stars. You can put Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz in that mix of fighters well-known in the mainstream.
Will MMA ever have a star one day as big or bigger than Manny Pacquiao? Here are some names that I believe could be our sport's biggest star.
4. Nick Diaz: Nick Diaz is one of the most loved and hated fighters to date. His balls to the wall style of fighting make him a very exciting talent to watch. He keeps demanding for more money and I think it's there for him. The world has always been facinated with bad boys and rebels. I think he could be a big star if given the chance to compete at the highest level.
3. Alistair Overeem: The Reem is one of the toughest Heavyweights in the world of not only MMA, but kickboxing. His raw power, his personality, physique, and his accomplishments in combat sports makes him a marketing dream. A real life superhero like Alistair Overeem could be very popular amongst the mainstream.
2. Cain Velasquez: Cain Velasquez's technique and skill in the Octagon is some of the best amongst all the heavyweights. He just seems to get better with every fight and he'll be very tough for Brock Lesnar or Junior dos Santos to dethrone. It's also important to mention that he is one of the most exciting fighters to watch and he finishes most of his fights. With a whole culture and country supporting him, he could be one of MMA's biggest stars.
1. Jon Jones: The new UFC Light Heavyweight champion of the world has all the tools to not only be an all-time great in the sport, but a media darling. If you combine his likable personality, his youth, and his unorthodox skills in the cage, he could be a huge draw for the sport.
Don't agree with my choices? Drop your two cents in the comment box and tell me who you think could be MMA's biggest star.
Photo: UFC fighter Jon Jones before his fight against Vladimir Matyushenko at UFC-Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko at the San Diego Sports Arena on August 1, 2010, in San Diego, California. Francis Specker
- 1. Jon Jones
- 2. Cain Velasquez
- 3. Alistair Overeem
- 4. Nick Diaz
- 5. Other
Comments
theres not gonna be one specific fighter that will bring all the attention to mma, because it is hard to remain as dominant as pacquiao and mayweather and whoever else. people just dont realize that mma is a more difficult sport than boxing
once people get that into their heads, they will be appreciating MMA.
I agree with what you are saying, but can't we appreciate all combat sports?
since when is overeem and diaz 'superstars'? poor choices even tho im no fan of his gsp is easily the most popular mma fighter and hes not even an option..
and cain isnt really that popular either..
Ummm, Los Angeles disagrees with you. Nearly half the place was waving Mexican flags.
The fact that Cain is a minority (especially a Mexican-American) plays to the latino community -- which is the fastest growing group in the United States.
I believe one of the biggest issues is that people think MMA is too brutal when in reality, it's a whole lot safer for fighters than boxing. I really think they should try to educate more people on the safety of the sport and do more comparisons and maybe advertisements.
I know I'm gonna quit crab for this but I'm a boxer but honestly I love mma I love the sport it's a great sport it's amazing the stuff these guys can do this is truly unbelievable sometimes. but honestly if you want to look at the future if you truly wanna care about the fighters and I know some fighters might disagree but the elbows should be taking out. here's the thing if you get a huge Cut and I'm not saying that's the only way people to get cut in a fight but that thing is gonna will put up every time you get it on that spot scar tissues gonna build up and your career might even and from stupid cuts and honestly I don't think anyone watches the sport to see blood the there more educated right now they wanna see great submissions great knockouts.
I wouldn't say that mma is more difficult than boxing or boxing is more difficult than mma. there 2 different sports in boxing you only get to use your hands so you have to be super smart and great with your hands, which mma you have so many different disciplines what does it allows you to be good at everything and great at 1 thing and still dominate n b a great mixed martial artist. I just think that they're 2 completely different sports I don't think anyone should compare them to each other. each sport has its own difficulty.
Real great boxing is done with the feet not the hands.
How is it more difficult to be successful in MMA than boxing? If you are better than the rest then success will follow. Same in any sport.
Pacman achieved this because on how he fights. His style is different from other boxers. MMA can be like this and there will be one face but it will take a while since the sport is still growing.
And he beats bigger stronger guys.
kinda like Frankie Edgar
Who's this Manny, in which octagon has he fought?
are you dumb or something?
the one guy who doesn't get the joke ^
Joke was crap.
nobody in MMA could ever stand out like Manny....most of the guys who excelled in MMA can either be boastful, arrogant and most likely, tend to forget where they came from, they tend to think that they're already untouchables so probably that's one of the reasons why they can only have a short stint of popularity....
unfortunately for the fighters i dont think MMA fighters or MMA will be as big as boxing for a very long time. Boxing has been around for soo long and is recognized worldwide while MMA is relatively new to many people. MMA is the future and i think it will be huge in our childrens generation
Who has Pac been dodging? he's been trying for the last two years to get Mayweather you fool. gayweather ducks we all know it but not Pacman.
I believe MMA is already more popular than Boxing with the younger age groups. Any of my friends who are in to fighting are in to MMA, not boxing. The majoirity of people I know in to boxing are my step dad, his friends, and my friends fathers.
As we go further in to the future I believe MMA will become more and more in the lead.
I thought I should specify what I mean by younger age grouops, I'm 29, and it seems that those in my generation and younger are MMA fans, but my parents generation are Boxing fans.
I also thought I should say I enjoy boxing as well. But I don't believe that these days they put on anywhere near as many quality fights, or has as many talented fighters, as MMA does currently.
I would have to say I agree with Spyridon and his sidenotes haha. I'm 28 and I believe the younger generation will grow up liking MMA more. I love MMA and I like boxing but an event like Manny and Shane has gotten me pretty hype for tonight. I love watching Manny fight because he isn't scared to fight anyone. His hand speed is amazing and his footwork is flawless. If anyone can be as popular as him in MMA it would have to be someone like GSP or Anderson because they win a lot. MMA fans are really critical though about the way a MMA fighter fights so that hurts their popularity. Most boxing fans don't complain if it goes to the cards as long as the bout is still exciting. REM up there has a point as well even though he got weaked. Manny is really really humble and most MMA fighters aren't. 99% of people are going to appreciate him taking that approach as opposed to the guy who always thinks he's the baddest man on the planet.
mma is definitely the future, but to say who would be the polarizing figure is impossible, he's probably not even well-known yet, by the time boxing hits rockbottom and leaves room for mma to compete most of our generations fighters will be retiring
and the fact that most fighters stick to (or close to) their natural weights and organizations tend to have atleast 10lbs seperating classes means none of them will ever be winning 6-7 belts and since mma is so far generally an employer-employee system there is less opportunity to bolster records by picking and choosing opponents, so we might never see someone whos 40-0
oh and pacqiao has another advantage, the best nickname in combat sports :) and ofcourse his nationality who have the greatest pride in the world to the point it's annoying
GSP is the biggest MMA star in the USA right now, i dont know about other parts of the world.
i disagree, GSP is fading as MMA's biggest stars because his lack of finishing fights. In my opinion, the ones who get recognized are the ones who use their talent fully and finish fights, or put on exciting fights balls to the walls.
he has his own commercial on espn, to say he isnt the biggest star is retarded.... weak me some more dumb asses
You are blind. GSP is huge all over the world.
he's huge name, but dissapoints fight after fight. One of these days mma fans arnt going to take much of his style anymore and think nothing of him because of his performances latley
Last time I checked MMA was the fastest growing sport in the world and boxing was taking a dump in forget-me-ville. Who cares about boxing anymore when we have MMA? ALL MMA fighters are more popular than Manny Paquiao where I come from.
In all honesty Brock Lesnar is the biggest mma star even after his lost to cain. So I'm wondering why he isn't on here.
nvm, there is a other...
I (sadly) was thinking the same thing about Brock... Even people who do not often follow the sport will go out to a local bar to watch Brock fight, yet they might pass on an Anderson Silva bout. These are "casual" fans, if not something even less, but that shows how far Lesnar's name extends beyond the core fan base.
Jon Jones? I highly doubt it at the moment.
Nick Diaz? Not even close.
Alistair Overeem is already a rockstar in Japan, South Korea, Netherlands, Thailand, Philippines and some parts in the European Union. If he wins the Strikeforce Grand Prix and signs with the UFC, then Overeem's popularity can only increase.
Cain Velasquez? He definitely has a chance. He's young, exciting and a minority fighter who expresses his heritage proudly. Cities like Los Angeles, San Diego, Miami, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Juan (Puerto Rico) have shown alot of love for Cain.
In the States Jon Jones will be very popular. He's Black, Christian and successful, i don't want to stereotype but i do think all those things combine will propel him in the States. Cain might have moderate success. For world wide fame i think Overeem will have the biggest success.
But that's the problem. African Americans aren't attracted to MMA. They're still holding onto Mayweather's stock.
If Cain manages to muster at least another 12-15 wins then Velasquez will be more than just a moderate success. By 2016, the hispanic/latino community would have grown another 10%.
While Manny and Mayweather may command big PPVs, once you get past them, the ledge of poplarity drops steeply.
MMA already outdraws boxing on a total yearly PPV.
When you analyze the numbers--MMA, and specifically UFC has already overtaken boxing. Boxing still gets bigger single PPV numbers with Manny or Mayweather--but that will soon change.
The pace of UFC expansion has shown no signs of slowing down yet. The stadium show in Toronto was huge and visibly demonstrated the popularity of MMA with fans.
The UFC does not only have a one or two stars, but instead have a constellation of stars. If the UFC continues the pace of the last few years then in 5 years we will look back at this debate and laugh.
I really don't see Nick Diaz as becoming 'the face of mma'. and I don't see him as being the most dominant person at welterweight either. If Overeem takes his streak and dominant display of late into the UFC and continues, he will definitely become larger and more popular. And I think Jon Jones will be around for a long time. GSP is already one of the primary faces of mma, and luckily a good representative and role model. I am not sure we will be seeing any of these guy's faces on cereal boxes anytime soon, but who knows.
GSP has already been featured on a Wheaties box and in Nike & Under Armor commercials.
Cain Velasquez has been featured in two music videos and eight (from my count) magazine covers.
Alistair Overeem... too much to present. I saw his face plastered on a soap box in Japan.
Silva will retire soon, GSP is currently probably the most popular fighter, and the future might be Jones and Allister if they continue winning. Allister is pretty much already set but needs the ufc's exposure.
Reem or Jones. Depends on who wins more and if Jones moves up to HW. If I had to chose one I'd predict Reem cause he's a massive HW and HW's usually draw more interest.
Are you serious???Diaz and Overeem? not only they are not in the UFC, i think they are also distracted from focusing in MMA. Diaz to boxing and overeem to K-1.