Who could be MMA's biggest draw if Brock Lesnar retires?

jon fitch

I also have to go with Jon Jones, He is in a heavy enough weight class, and he is still young enough to really invest alot of marketing into him.

He doesn't have that love'em or hate'em factor that Brock does. During Cain vs. Lesnar half of my living room was rooting for Cain and not because they knew his skill set, but just because they wanted to see Brock lose. It'll be awhile before someone comes in and has that kinda draw just on name alone.

Jose Aldo

the ufc has found him and his name is





Jon 'BONES' Jones

Im not sure if he is or was the biggest draw in MMA to start with.

his PPV where always strong yes but lets remember the ones he was in first were big events with big names on it



like UFC 81 with Sylvia and Big Nog fighting for the interim belt.

Then the next one was GSP on it ufc 87 and did ok.



then next one was not that big of a draw for PPV's UFC 91 where Randy was in.



UFC 100 was a big event overall not only because of Lesnar

GSP was also on the card.

and UFC 116 and 121 did good but nothing extraordinary.

Remember that although within the MMA world Jones is well known, outside of it he's not. In terms of guys who attract people relatively apathetic about MMA I think GSP's hugely influential. Specifically in Canada, but his men's health stuff and mystique means he's hugely enticing.

Alistair Overeem, could become the best draw in MMA history, he is already famous in Japan and Europe if he wins the tournament his stacks are going to go way up, then a fight against the UFC champion could be easily promoted, and he could be introduced to American fans as the most devasting HW ever. He is the perfect guy to market, he is easy on the camera, he is talented and has an actual fighting record to back up the hype...

yep thats true. Alistair is the biggest draw.

you make some good points but if Brock did retire GSP would hands down be the biggest draw. Brock has the casual fans + pro wrestling fans that don't watch mma + the pro wresting fans that do watch mma buying his PPV's. Even IF Reem won the SF-GPand then went on to win the UFC title the only way he'd get that level would be to stay undefeated for a long long time which is just so unlikely in the HW division. I also find it funny that GSP contradicts your reasons for why Reem would be a big draw, he far from exciting however he's been winning for so long. Oy yeah Reems record on paper at LHW is actually pretty bad and hasn't beaten many top HW in ''MMA'' yet. Dont' get me wrong though I love watching him fight I just KNOW he will never draw like Brock or GSP.

What I mean with an actual fighting record is that the reason Lesnar got so big is because he was a WWE star then he switched to MMA and as soon as he got in the UFC he was in the main card with a record of 1-0, then he lost to Mir and next event he is still in the main card, only because all these retarded WWE fans followed him to MMA. Overeem has a big fan base outside of the US, he has a bunch of great fights and a very impresive highlight reel, with the UFC hype machine behind him he will easily become the bigest draw, GSP is right there but unless he is fighting in Canada he will not get a lot of attention if he is not fight Diaz or Silva, and even after that what would be next for him?, in the HW there are so many good fights thaat can be made with really big names right now and that is where the money is at...

I wouldn't say Reem is already the biggest draw, hes relatively unknown to the casual fan in Norty America....biggest draw imo is probably GSP seeing that hes the most popular MMA fighter in the world n hes easily marketable also, Jones n Cain hve the potential to b huge draws if thet keep on destroying there opponents

triple H

BJ, GSP, A.S., Fedor. All these people are pretty big draws, its just because Brock is pretty big that hes a big draw as well. Im a huge fan of Brocks but if i didnt see him on WWE and liked watching him wrestle and become a fan of him back then then i wouldnt be a fan of him now. Hes big, thats pretty much it.

They really should bank on Allister,but gsp still has some time left in him. Also Jones is still a kid,he has a huge future ahead of him. I see him winning the belt 3 or 4 times in his career,even though i dont like the little asshole



Dont think Silva has much left (already talking about retiring,his age,etc)

If Cain can string some title defenses together it will be him. The Latin American community is huge and he seems to be a very humble champion. He is exactly what this sport needs.

I am Mexican and It´s hard for me to see Cain becoming the biggest draw, he is a humble champion that is very true also I think he is a likable guy but he will need to be market outside the States to become something as big as he would need to get to beat Lesnar´s draw, here in Mexico the UFC is rather unknown because our main focus in combat sports is boxing, the UFC ppv events are free here in Mexico and even like that the ratings are really low, the UFC has failed in making his product hot here in Mexico, and they had a gold opportunity to do it with Cain but instead of exploting the Mexican Market they kept a low profile.



Alistair might not be the UFC champion but if he wins the HW tournament he will become notorious in America, his style is really exciting to watch, and he has a huge market outside the States already, casual MMA fans are getting to know him and a fight for the UFC title could put him on top of the money if he wins, now I am not saying that this is the only way it could go but money wisely it would be the easiest to get huge draws...

Not to mention, Overeem has an online documentary that is very well edited and constructed, and watched by a large number of MMA fans (some who are not even fans of Alistair).



I'm usually not a fan of reality based shows but Overeem's show is very intriguing to watch.

Damn the ppv's are free in Mexico!? Damn! Watching the fights at your place haha! Man that's crazy that you say you guys haven't rallied around Cain. To me he is what a champ should be like. I really admire what he has done in his short career and I love the way he has handled himself and the pressure that is put on him.

Of the people mentioned, Alistair is the only one who could possibly draw crowds...he definatly has the fighting style, size, but his personality is misconstrued as being arrogant. This isn't the case at all in fact he is a humble gentleman...if he was arrogant or had some sort of ****y attitude, did some trash talk, he may bring in more numbers, but unfortunatley he's not.



Shockingly, Rampage isn't mentioned in this article. IMO he fits the profile perfectly. Has outside movie influence, is a polarising figure, entertaining and is always in the title contention mix with his heavy hands and takedown defence.

yeah i dont see him as arrogant, just a real confident guy

Well they are free but I am willing to pay if I can get Joe Rogan to comment the fight the mexican commentators suck, there is a video jockey (whose voice is really anoying and I feel like punch him in the face until he dies and I am not kidding), a soccer commentator, a guy that is a fan but does not know much about MMA and BJJ black belt who has not commentator skills, and then since the fights are like 2 hours delay they always know the outcome and the "predict" the fights but they are really letting you now the outcome in advance, and even like that they are not able to make the right calls on the moves...

Also yeah I thought for sure MMA would have been getting a lot of attention in Mexico after the Cain fight but instead of that they focus in box and the WWE. when I tried to talk about MMA to my friends must of them think that is another WWE but with a diferent name...

I fully understand. I come from a family with nothing but Boxers. We Mexicans love the sport, it's a damn ritual down there. Unfortunately, I was raised in Martial Arts, so my roots differ from my brother, cousins, uncles, etc.



At family outings back in the day, they would hold these little Grand Prixs, and with me participating it'd have the feel of a UFC 1 tournament (Boxer vs. Judoka/Karateka).

To be honest, none of them are close to Lesnar as far as who is the most famous and i don't see any of them becoming as famous as him,the only reason he is a big draw is because of his wwe past and brock as a pro wrestler isn't that famous as he came in at a down spot in the popularity of pro wrestling. So really it has to be someone who is good at atleast one aspect of mma and has become world famous from something else.

Let me just add that i think Cain and Jon have the best chance of becoming big draws but still not compared to Brock, I think Alistair's could possibly be a big draw but it depends on if he fights in the ufc and how many fights he has left before he retires

I think it is alot of wishfull thinking on many peoples behalf that they believe brock will retire. in the unlikely scenario that happens gsp,jones or carwin why A. silva has never been a big draw always confounds me. as far as allistar i think he may be big but first he has to beat some decent guys winning k-1 is great but it does nothing in the causual veiwers eyes and they are the ones who drive the big numbers

Anderson silver

I don't think Lesnar will retire just yet. He is looking at close to a year out though if he goes ahead with the surgery.

If he does retire, Cain and GSP are big draws.

Bones will be a huge draw in a year or two if he carrys on fighting crime, as well as winning.

To be honest with you guys, I think as a draw GSP is sort of losing his appeal. With his recent performances and the amount of PPV buys from UFC 129, it hasn't been as good for him as it was in the past.

I have to agree. GSP is great at attracting people to the sport, but at the same time he is damaging his name with performances a lot of fans don't want to see.

Brock was divisive because he was a 'bad guy' for the fans to hate on.

GSP is divisive only in the sense that he has fans raging at each other over whether his performances are worth praising or criticising.



Cain is exciting but is kinda lacking a personality. Same with Frankie although his performances have been awesome. Anderson is a big draw but it is mediated by him not being an American champion.



The answer in all likelihood is Jon Jones. His fights are exciting and he has a strong personality. Before I would have said he was too much of a nice guy but this whole Rashad silliness has left him not quite as swueaky clean as he used to seem. But that provides more interest and gives him a better storyline.



With another strong title defense or two Jones could come into his own.

nearly everyone i know even people that dont like mma know Anderson Silva and watch his fights

The biggest draws sadly are the people who arent MMA fighters - they are the people who cross-over from other forms of media and already have an established name for themselves and outside popularity.



Only MMA fans know MMA fighters,where as someone like Brock, you not only draw the MMA fans but millions of fans who did not even watch MMA.



Considering that, it's only a wild guess to who will decide to cross over and bring some success. I have the feeling we wont know until we see them cross over successfully.

as a few others have said here...brock has a significantly larger following than many mma fighters combined because of his WWE past. the market for WWE is just so much bigger than MMA purely because of it's age range from kids to adults...adults watch and buy into WWE even if they don't want to because their kids are into it. also,WWF/WWE/TNA are 3 very well known and long-time running business', as far as commercialism, it's been on tv years before mma events were known and noticed.

there's a massive argument on the reasons and differences of opinion but that is mine as its most obvious...yes,there may be kids that watch ufc+ other mma events but only because 'dads' into it and lets them or they go out of their way to download events...they find a way.



back to point...in my opinion, and this wont happen because of ufc's view on women fighting...GINA CARANO could be the next biggest brand IF she were allowed to compete inside UFC.

she has a wealth of celebrity status now from strikeforce,red faction (the computer game) and obviously gladiators...im sure shes done a bunch of tv/cartoon and movies parts as well...she's the hottest mma fighter to date and has a background and strong enough following to carry the flag...not forgetting that her pop's (didnt) played for the dolphins, therefore having a football connection as well

I think bones jones also

matt hamill

The reason Brock has been such a big draw for mma is because he is a polarizing figure. Either people love him or hate him and there is very few in between. The reason people watch is so that they can see him destroy his opponent or hope that he gets destroyed. Thats one of the main reason Jon Jones will NOT be a big draw, pretty much everyone likes him. He does not have that polarizing opinion draw that Brock does.

Giant Silva

what about Rampage? If he can get the belt then he fits the profile perfectly...he has that love/hate attractoin. big personality, and also in the media alot for A-TEAM...and trust me there will be an A-TEAM 2 so that's driving in more traffic to UFC...it's gotto be rampage.

SHOGUN

bob sapp

a real fighter..



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