"Fedor the Red Menace" in the LA Times |
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MMAcca
MMA Sensei
Career record: 156-84
Season: 26-14 (#963)
Location: North East of England
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I've argued for a while that Fedor's previous failure to draw on PPV had to do with the lack of effective marketing around him and not with any inherent resistence to Fedor on the part of American MMA fans.
I refuse to believe that the archetype Fedor represents -- the implacable, seemingly unfeeling, and virtually invincible Russian -- isn't still planted deeply in the American psyche.
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Post #1 5/17/08 3:14:42PM
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The_hungry_lumberjack
MMA Regular
Career record: 150-108
Season: 28-8 (#831)
Location: Elliot Lake, Ontario, Canada
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All you have to do is put up some stars and stripes with Randy's face on it and looming in the background above a semi-transparent evil looking Fedor. Put those posters all over the states (especially the republican southern) and Russia, and PPV buys will hit so high it will crash TV as we know it.
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Post #2 5/17/08 3:28:58PM
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Check my profile pic
Career record: 149-80
Season: 16-9 (#4678)
Location: Regina SK
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I still think if Affliction gets this on Japanese tv(Fedor vs. sylvia) it will be a rediculous success. Japanese fans love Fedor more then they love (insert something they love alot here) and they love physical mismatches(Big tim is pretty damn big).
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"Fall down 7 times, get up 8" - Ancient Chinese proverb.
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Post #3 5/17/08 3:31:48PM
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Aether
MMA Sensei
Career record: 107-74
Season: 25-15 (#1576)
Location: Canada
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the reason he's not popular in america is pretty simple. Most people in north america didn't have easy access to PRIDE events on PPV the way that we all do with UFC. The UFC PPV channels come with essentially any basic digital cable/satellite package, but PRIDE is something you needed to get special channels for (at least where I lived you did). I'm pretty sure he would market himself if people simply had easy access to his fights.
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Post #4 5/17/08 4:20:00PM
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89vision
In Full Mount
Career record: 39-20
Season: 12-6 (#5628)
Location: Pangea
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Posted by cmill21
and they love physical mismatches(Big tim is pretty damn big).
yeah, like Sudo dominating Butterbean, classic
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Post #5 5/17/08 5:15:21PM
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The-Don
In Full Mount
Career record: 90-75
Season: 23-17 (#2452)
Location: TN
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yea I think it is simply lack of exposure not many american fans know much about Fedor, He seems to be a myth of epic proportions.. He does not fight as often as some other fighters and fights in more obscure places, for american fans that is..
Though if you watch Fedor in MMA matches he does seem to have theat Ivan Drago stone face. Watch him in his Sambo matches, he is smiling relaxed and having fun... like a whole new person... though in the ring he is just as good ... I think Fedor will be embraced by American fans in general once they get to really see him.. His sportsmanship is 2nd to none and he can be very exciting to watch at times. Espically once he decides the fight should be over,,,
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Post #6 5/17/08 6:36:11PM
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thatfedorsohotrightnow
banned
Career record: 96-75
Season: 0-0 (#-)
Location: Joe Rogan's couch rolling a fatty
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Americans want to see the best people in sports compete regardless of nationality. This is how I feel at least. The excitement I feel when the fight is for the belt is like 20 greater than a normal fight.
The probelm with Fedor's last PPV was that he was fighting Lindland and HMC and even if you think they are respectable fighters they aren't championship level HW's. It takes two to tango.
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Post #7 5/18/08 11:10:23AM
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The-Don
In Full Mount
Career record: 90-75
Season: 23-17 (#2452)
Location: TN
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true... I think this will be a good fight for Fedor... Tim has enough of a fan base and is known enough you will have alot of people tuning in to see him.. those uneducated in MMA may think they are tuning in to watch the American beat the Russian... sadly they are most likely in for a major dissapointment. But if We see typical Fedor.. He is going to win alot of fans who may not really know who he is yet.
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Post #8 5/19/08 10:17:40AM
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Pimp hand workouts
Career record: 160-69
Season: 26-14 (#752)
Location: Oklahoma
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If they are relying on Fedor or Tim to draw in fans in the US they will find themselves in a world of hurt. Your avg US fan know the UFC as MMA and only the UFC. Fedor has never even fought in the UFC so your avg US fan has no clue who he is and doesn't really care. Why do people think all these other start ups are having such a hard time. Its because the UFC is all your avg fan knows and cares about. I just don't see Fedor being big in the US unless he fights in the UFC a few times.
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Anxiously awaiting Scott "The Pit Bull" Ferrozzo's return.
The only way to prove that you're a good sport is to lose.
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Post #9 5/19/08 3:50:37PM
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Barksdale
Learning to Sprawl
Career record: 45-36
Season: 19-21 (#2190)
Location: The T.
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It all depends on marketing...Americans love a winner, and Fedor is just that. Add in the USA vs Russia factor and the fact that the card is more stacked then any UFC ever (other then 84) and so many people love Affliction, and if it's marketed right in the U.S. and Asia, this event could break records.
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Post #10 5/20/08 5:00:05PM
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The-Don
In Full Mount
Career record: 90-75
Season: 23-17 (#2452)
Location: TN
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Posted by telnights
If they are relying on Fedor or Tim to draw in fans in the US they will find themselves in a world of hurt. Your avg US fan know the UFC as MMA and only the UFC. Fedor has never even fought in the UFC so your avg US fan has no clue who he is and doesn't really care. Why do people think all these other start ups are having such a hard time. Its because the UFC is all your avg fan knows and cares about. I just don't see Fedor being big in the US unless he fights in the UFC a few times.
True... int he US the average and and below MMA fan really only knows about the UFC everything else.. with except maybe the WEC is pretty much an upstart backyard type of thing though longer time fans may have at least heard of Tim and that might be enough to get them to check it out.. and after the fight I bet people are going to be searching the net for Fedor and his US popularity is going to explode Espically if the Rany Fedor fight gets set up for later in the year... Fedor will quickly become a favorite in the US I think espically if he handily beats Tim which I expect him to do... And would like to see him do to randy... , not that I dislike randy he is probably in my top 5 favorite fighters but he is not my number one fav fighter to watch...
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Post #11 5/20/08 7:12:21PM
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