UFC Live Cruz vs. Johnson: Can The UFC Sell Dominick Cruz on Versus?
by Nate Wilcox on Aug 10, 2011 1:13 PM EDT
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UFC bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz is preparing to make the first live basic cable TV UFC title defense in history when he faces Demetrious Johnson at UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson aka UFC on Versus 6 in October. Cruz' previous title defence headlined UFC 132 against Urijah Faber.
MMA Nation talked to Cruz about the whys and wherefores of a champ being "demoted" from PPV to free cable:
His two World Extreme Cagefighting headlining appearances averaged just 344,500 viewers and his UFC main event against WEC poster boy Urijah Faber barely cleared 300,000 buys on pay per view, just over half of the UFC's average event in 2010.
Nobody knows Cruz, despite his glorified status as one of the sport's best. The UFC is looking to change that, putting his next fight on free television, the headliner for a Versus event in October. Cruz's opponent will be Demetrius Johnson, a lightning quick grappler even more anonymous than he is. While some fighters, especially a champion of Cruz's caliber, would be crushed by the status downgrade, Cruz is taking it all in stride.
"Let the UFC do their job," Cruz told MMA Nation's Luke Thomas. "Their job is to market us. At the same time, our job is to do the best we can to market ourselves at the highest levels so we can make their job easier. I'm doing what I can to do that on Twitter, Facebook, as much media as I can. Getting out there doing seminars. Doing everything I can to put myself out there...If they want to put me on free TV to do it - let's do it. The UFC is smart. They have a plan. They obviously know what they are doing."
Some attribute Cruz' lack of proven drawing power to the small size of the bantamweight division fighters. It's true that many fans just can't get pumped about seeing fighters smaller than the ring girls headlining a card. But that hasn't held back boxing fans from going crazy for Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and other fighters in the >150lbs range.
I'll concede size is a factor but I would hold that fighting style and a lot of change all at once is holding back the UFC bantamweights. Cruz is infamous for fighting for decisions. That's not how you please MMA fans. He's a talented fighter with a unique style, but leave the point fighting exhibitions for boxing please.
On top of Cruz' style, he's also joining the UFC at the same time they are adding not one, but two divisions of little guys from the WEC. Featherweight champ Jose Aldo has a more compelling style but he's been injured and unavailable for most of his UFC tenure so far. UFC fans are trying to keep up with all the new featherweights and bantamweights they're seeing on the PPV and Spike and Facebook cards but it doesn't help when no one is really jumping out at fans and declaring themselves capo di tutti capi (boss of bosses) in the division.
The UFC is definitely making the right play by introducing Cruz to fans on free TV, the problem is will seeing 5 rounds of Cruz "cruz-ing" to a decision sell anyone on buying a pay-per-view?
The full Dominick Cruz interview is after the jump.
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Section 116 Row G Seats 1-6
Can’t Wait!!!!
by JONBONESJONES79 on Aug 10, 2011 1:19 PM EDT reply actions
Cruz needs to study the heelish aristry of Floyd Mayweather
PBFs hyper-defensive, hyper-technical style is hardly what sells fights to casual boxing fans, but his epic heel turn more than makes up the difference.
I don’t think its fair to ask Cruz to change his phenomenally effective style, but if he’s going to insist on being dull-ish in the cage, there’s no reason he needs to have the personality of a dishrag outside of it.
Tatum: I think he's a good man. I like him. I got nothing against him, but I'm definitely gonna make orphans of his children.
basically this
in any sport with a ppv business model you need to be exciting in some sort of way to sell fights. i personally find cruz style tremendously exciting but i understand that most people dont. cruz desperately needs to go to the Chael Sonnen school of shit talking, say what you will about him but Chael has the perfect blueprint for making a guy with an unexciting style a must see fighter
"I have smoked weed with alot of UFC champions" - Joe Rogan
"Você ta fudido. Se vai levar muita porrada, ta ligado?" - Anderson Silva
Yup
I hate Chael’s approach in the cage, but I always want to see him fight, because he has been SO effective at making me root against him. Honestly, that Silva triangle was probably the happiest moment of my MMA-watching life, and the previous 23.5 minutes were some of the worst.
Cruz and all of these other boring MFers need to get off this notion that their only job is to win fights. If you want to make money you need to give people a reason to care whether you live or die, and in MMA there are two basic ways to do that: destroy dudes a’la JDS, Silva and Aldo, or be interesting, a’la Chael.
Tatum: I think he's a good man. I like him. I got nothing against him, but I'm definitely gonna make orphans of his children.
by Dave Strummer on Aug 10, 2011 1:42 PM EDT up reply actions
he has all the potential for an amazing heel turn too
1. he has built in enemies in team alpha male, who people like
2. jokes about faber, mendes, and benavidez could practically write themselves
3. hes actually a really good fighter, but pisses fans off to begin with
4. he just kinda looks like a douchebag in that studio 54 picture
theres plenty of material here
"I have smoked weed with alot of UFC champions" - Joe Rogan
"Você ta fudido. Se vai levar muita porrada, ta ligado?" - Anderson Silva
by milk72 on Aug 10, 2011 1:48 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Agree with all of that
it wouldn’t take much. He is not believable at all when he’s being humble.
Tatum: I think he's a good man. I like him. I got nothing against him, but I'm definitely gonna make orphans of his children.
by Dave Strummer on Aug 10, 2011 1:56 PM EDT up reply actions
see but at least you give a shit about him
cruz’ problem is that hes boring in both his fighting style and personality so noone cares about him. the guy should never change his fighting style and it looks like hes never gonna be a humble fan favorite like Randy Couture was.
the only option left is to exploit people’s natural dislike for him and go full Sonnen
"I have smoked weed with alot of UFC champions" - Joe Rogan
"Você ta fudido. Se vai levar muita porrada, ta ligado?" - Anderson Silva
Not really.
If he wins or loses i dont care i dont really watch his fights. I don’t like the way he fights. I don’t like his attitude. He is just boring to me.
Sonnen might be hated but hi is not boring over the top maybe but not boring in anyway in or out of the cage.
He's not that great of a striker
Cruz, that is. The problem is, there isn’t too many elite strikers in the division competing for the belt to cancel out his shadow boxing.
Boohoo, my BM Hunter.
by HumanGore on Aug 10, 2011 1:24 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
cruz is a good enough wrestler to beat any elite striker anyway
sure there arent any at 135, but cruz has a very talented and well rounded skill set
"I have smoked weed with alot of UFC champions" - Joe Rogan
"Você ta fudido. Se vai levar muita porrada, ta ligado?" - Anderson Silva
This.
There isn’t a single technical striker in 135, right now. Torres might be it but honestly Cruz’s non-jabs are horrendously wide and ugly-looking. His defense is so damn good though so his reckless goofy looking arm punches don’t ever cost him.
I went whale watching the other day. I think. There were a lot of people in that lake.
Fast covers a lot of sins
and dude is fast.
The thing that always drives me crazy about his style is how much he opens his body up. He seems to be constantly providing his opponent with the largest possible target, which anyone who’s ever studied any striking technique from anyplace, ever knows is dead wrong. But somehow it works for him.
Tatum: I think he's a good man. I like him. I got nothing against him, but I'm definitely gonna make orphans of his children.
by Dave Strummer on Aug 10, 2011 4:09 PM EDT up reply actions
350,000 viewers or less
Would tune in with cruz as headliner.Its a better idea than putting him on ppv
"I've had no desire to follow in anyone's footsteps. I didn't believe in the term role model until I became one"-letter19
by letter19 on Aug 10, 2011 1:57 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Well 350-375K people paid $45-55 to watch him fight Faber
So they probably made more money that way.
You know what's gonna sound stupid?
I think part of the reason BW and FW get underestimated more in MMA than in boxing is because of the size of the refs. Boxing refs mostly look normal guys. So a 5’9 Cruz(or 5’8 Floyd) don’t look much smaller. However most MMA refs seem to be guys that are 200+. So when they fight it looks weird because it seems like two people are fighting who Dan Murgliatta could take.
As far as Cruz goes I love watching him fight. I think this is more of a thing to “stack” a Versus card. The UFC is doing this to show themselves off to other networks. Putting Cruz out there more is a way to throw on a title fight to get some additional views.
Rampage vs Hendo
was the 1st basic cable TV UFC title defense.
MMA journalism lol.
by Deathcawk on Aug 10, 2011 2:02 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
was checking on this
wasn’t live, but on tape delay.
But I had the same thought.
http://fightdrinker.blogspot.com
by some schmuck in texas on Aug 10, 2011 2:06 PM EDT up reply actions
Banhammer?
You know what, chris81203? You confuse and infuriate me. - James Brady (Ninjames)
Most of the time I am a rather quiet fellow, who likes to read about Philosophy, Mathematics and History, but like most people I also have a deep appreciation of sex and violence... - John Danaher
But that hasn’t held back boxing fans from going crazy for Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and other fighters in the >150lbs range.
Oh come on, HOw many fights does guys like Dominic Cruz have compared to Mayweather or Pacquiao? I just don’t see a comparison there.
I tend to be biased towards strikers . . . exciting strikers.
- - - - -
VEe is ANIMated!
The lower divisions of boxing can't really compete with the HW division at it's best, but
boxing fans are more open to the lower weight classes than MMA fans.
There’s also a more nationalistic (I don’t know if that’s the right word) culture in boxing. The Filipinos will watch any Pacquiao fight, the Hispanics get behind other Hispanic boxers, etc. MMA doesn’t have that yet.
Check out the C&D Channel on YouTube for MMA reviews, predictions, analysis, and other MMA related content.
Decisions & Point fighting
Cruz is infamous for fighting for decisions.
That’s not how you please MMA fans. He’s a talented fighter with a unique style, but leave the point fighting exhibitions for boxing please.
GSP has not won stopped an opponent since BJ Penn, the former lightweight champ? Rampage? He has not stopped anyone since he fought Wanderlei Silva who cut down to middle-weight. The former fighter wows a nation the latter is still a huge draw despite his declining skills.
I tend to be biased towards strikers . . . exciting strikers.
- - - - -
VEe is ANIMated!
yea but both gsp and rampage became stars due to their exciting style of fighting
and in GSP’s case that he happened to be the best canadian fighter as canadian interest exploded
GSP and Page have had their star power waver in the past few years, but they still are beloved due to their past successes. Cruz doesnt have any of that, he never slammed Arona, took out Matt Hughes, or knocked out Chuck Liddell. All Cruz has is that he beat Urijah Faber who doesnt have nearly the star power as any of the people GSP or Rampage built their careers on
"I have smoked weed with alot of UFC champions" - Joe Rogan
"Você ta fudido. Se vai levar muita porrada, ta ligado?" - Anderson Silva
That's not even remotely comparable
I mean, it’s not even close. Cruz has not stopped a single fighter by himself in the WEC or the UFC.
I went whale watching the other day. I think. There were a lot of people in that lake.
The UFC fanbase doesn't care about smaller fighters.
UFC doesn’t cater to sports fans, who want to see competition. They cater to WWE fans who want to see giant roided out white guys smash the crap outta each other.
homosexual skin head fightin FTW BRO wana play some COD later
Twitter @MaZZM
http://www.mazzznet.com/
i think Cruz is a fun fighter to watch
better then watching guys like johnson who lay and pray who also should of lost that last fight .
I agree about Cruz
if I had to pick a favorite fighter it would be him; I would be happy to see him play the heel role a bit but it really sucks to see him get no love from the casual fans. I think it does have everything to do with size – just look how popular the bigger (often sloppy) HW fights are…
Though I do not agree that DJ is a LnP fighter.
No sir, I don't like it.
DJ is hardly a LnP fighter
I went whale watching the other day. I think. There were a lot of people in that lake.
Who is the best MMA fighter of all time? Brock Lesnar. Why? Because he made the most money. Guys like Cruz just don’t get it. They are not in the fighting business they are in the entertainment business. Guys like Sonnen understand which is why he has seen his popularity go up and his money will go up for his fights.Guys like Lesnar, Ramapage, and St. Pierre are draws because they understand the entertainment aspect of the business. They understand marketing.
No one is saying Cruz needs to develop a gimmick and get all pro wrestling on us, however there are elements of pro wrestling as far as self promotion that Cruz should really study and apply. Cruz has all the makings of being a good babyface champion rather then the dull, bland, blue-chipper gimmick he is currently playing. Cruz comments after his fight with Urijah at UFC 132 shows how out-of-touch he is. Being boo’d because people FIND YOU BORING is NOT a good thing.
by Ghost Battousai on Aug 10, 2011 6:24 PM EDT reply actions
They obviously can't "sell" it since it's on free TV.
I think this only affects the opinion of the hardcore fan, for the casual (that I’m assuming they are aiming for) they think, hmmm free UFC.
To me this is the best thing for Cruz, he has the pressure to put on a great performance and if he does he will have more eyeball on him than if he did an unsuccessful PPV.
The Big Book of English for MMA: Brazil Edition! Including Such Staples As:
"I'm Ready For Fight!"
"I'm Excite For Fight"
"I'm Train"
"He Will Receive The Punch"
"I'm Good Standup"
No
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
@xFenixKnightx on the Twitter
by xFenixKnightx on Aug 10, 2011 9:36 PM EDT up reply actions
Boring fighter... Midget class...
Can he sell on Versus? meh… i guess… a little.
Torres can beat this man
all needs to to string together 2 wins and wait for faber’s rematch.
http://www.twitter.com/VonSyndicate
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