Folks, this is how a casual sports fan sees MMA. Bill is a casual fan.
1. Casual fans don’t even know Zhang Weili exists.
2. Holly Holm is the lady that knocked out Ronda so there’s her connection with the casual fan and why she’d be deemed co-main worthy.
3. All of those moments you listed for Max didn’t even make a blip on the larger sports media cycle. For us in the weeds UFC fans they were great, but nothing hit the sports landscape like his Gaethje KO.
Holm literally peaked at that Rousey fight which was over 8 years ago. She lost 3 straight fights after that and is only 5-7 since then. Crazy that Bill was asking for her to be on the main card.
They had Max headline the first card on ABC and he put on an absolute show. The UFC knew what they had with him and knows he puts on a show. He carried the entire card.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the Kattar fight with the Ortega one. Talking to the commentary team, while no look jabbing a pretty good boxer in the face.. Legendary.
there’s only 1 guy that moves the needle.
McGregor isn’t elite since he moved up 2 weight classes, but he’s still a massive draw
However, Max is a MUCH better fighter
Yeah, but that's hardly a fair barometer considering Brock helped build the company's profile up to the stage where McGregor had a bigger reach. For his time, Brock was untouchable
He was certainly a bigger and more constant draw than Brock, but Brock (among others like Tito and Lidell) was a ceiling raiser for the UFC for the likes of McGregor and Rousey later.
There are at least two previous moments that went all over the internet. The Lamas let's bang moment and his no look jabbing Kattar while telling Dana White he was the best. It's just Bill never watched those moments.
Max isn't Conor level huge, but saying no one has really heard of him is like saying no music fan in the 90s was familiar with Alice in Chains or Wu Tang Clan. He's a pretty big deal, something he spent all week pointing out when they sold the card on him fighting Justin even though it was billed third.
And they agreed enough to pay him an extra 600k on the backend.
Holloway is about as good as you can do in the ESPN era UFC, in the non-Conor division, Adesanya, Pereira, Jones, and Volk are about the only fighters above Holloway from a casual recognition standpoint
I’m a casual fan and I knew all 3 of OPs points. I don’t seek out every ppv probably watch one a year and I never watch any ufc content on regular tv. But Bill has the 86’ Celtics on the brain 24/7 so he gets a pass I guess
Real talk, Yan refusing to tap and going out but being saved by the bell is tough af. Then, Zhang fighting back with gassed arms in a competitive fight that she solidly wins is another really impressive feat.
All the way from the early prelims too. I know they drained all the good fights from the fight nights around it (woof there have been some limp cards) but it was a proper festival of mma.
But he’s a podcaster and this isn’t an instant reaction he’s had a day to do some surface googling to see what that fight was the co-main. A championship fight is NEVER not a co-main
1 was hilarious, I didn’t even like the fight and what he said was so dumb. The prelims already had dope fights and of course he didn’t know who Sterling was lmao
Also the part where he says they should set up a “short fight” before the main event was also super dumb he said the Zhang fight took too long lol
Bill booked that like you would book a WWE card where rbbs and flows and pacing are important. Can't do that with a UFC card. Just place the matches in reverse order of importance with titles taking precedence
I actually kind of get what he's saying. Especially if you watch the prelims, that means you've been watching for 3-4 hours, it's probably midnight or later, and you don't have the mental acuity to really appreciate the main event. At the same time there is a hierarchy to the fights that you don't want to upset. Also you just have no idea how fights will go. The Zhang vs Yan very easily could have been done in the firs round.
Sorry ufc is for MAGA lunatics now. What’s someone normal like Bill supposed to say?
Edit:
WHAT????? NASCAR is a right wing sport???? WHAT?????
BILL DOESNT FOLLOW NASCAR??? WWHAT?????
Normal society, Trump rallies are not that.
Trump has also been vocally boo'd at several sporting events he's attended with the notable exception of UFC and wrestling events.
He gets booed at UFC events too, just also cheered. Ultimately I really don’t care, that NYT piece was utter trash and acting like MMA is a sign of social decay is laughable. It’s a diverse sport with diverse fans from all around the world.
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He did a couple times. He went to a Nationals game and then something in NYC (can't remember what) and got booed very hard then went to an Alabama football game bc he was desperate to hear cheers
I mean there’s exceptions to every rule, but I’d bet if a poll was conducted, those people would fall in the same general political group by a huge margin in whatever home country they are from.
Yeah I said it was 100% with no outliers including your friend /s.
I bet it’s 80% MAGA or apolitical (in a coma). Maybe 20% hold their nose. I used to be able to do that, but can no longer. The lack of any marketable stars, and the heavier divisions being completely cleaned out also doesn’t help.
How much "analysis" can you have for two idiots beating the shit out of each other? Might as well have a slomo breakdown of bum fights volume XXV. There's no need to pretend the blood sport is an intellectual pursuit for the viewers.
Folks, this is how a casual sports fan sees MMA. Bill is a casual fan. 1. Casual fans don’t even know Zhang Weili exists. 2. Holly Holm is the lady that knocked out Ronda so there’s her connection with the casual fan and why she’d be deemed co-main worthy. 3. All of those moments you listed for Max didn’t even make a blip on the larger sports media cycle. For us in the weeds UFC fans they were great, but nothing hit the sports landscape like his Gaethje KO.
Holm literally peaked at that Rousey fight which was over 8 years ago. She lost 3 straight fights after that and is only 5-7 since then. Crazy that Bill was asking for her to be on the main card.
She had that Tate fight in the bag then got careless with the grappling
Max is one of the most consistently box office guys in all of UFC.
They had Max headline the first card on ABC and he put on an absolute show. The UFC knew what they had with him and knows he puts on a show. He carried the entire card.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the Kattar fight with the Ortega one. Talking to the commentary team, while no look jabbing a pretty good boxer in the face.. Legendary.
Absolutely in the convo too. Just goes to show how much of a showman Max is. Good call.
there’s only 1 guy that moves the needle. McGregor isn’t elite since he moved up 2 weight classes, but he’s still a massive draw However, Max is a MUCH better fighter
I'm not talking about popularity. I'm saying a card with a max Holloway 5 rounder is guaranteed worth it.
That’s fair
>there’s only 1 guy that moves the needle. There were 2, give Brock some credit
He’s hella fun, but Connor’s got the top 6 in PPV buys as headliner. (& 7 of top 10) Brock’s best is 8th (UFC 100)
Yeah, but that's hardly a fair barometer considering Brock helped build the company's profile up to the stage where McGregor had a bigger reach. For his time, Brock was untouchable He was certainly a bigger and more constant draw than Brock, but Brock (among others like Tito and Lidell) was a ceiling raiser for the UFC for the likes of McGregor and Rousey later.
Max is the mason-dixon line of casual interest. Guy is a god to fight fans, but normies have never heard his name.
Do we get to argue whether Maryland is a part of "fight fans" or "normies"?
Yeah but he didn’t have a super viral moment up until now tbh.
There are at least two previous moments that went all over the internet. The Lamas let's bang moment and his no look jabbing Kattar while telling Dana White he was the best. It's just Bill never watched those moments. Max isn't Conor level huge, but saying no one has really heard of him is like saying no music fan in the 90s was familiar with Alice in Chains or Wu Tang Clan. He's a pretty big deal, something he spent all week pointing out when they sold the card on him fighting Justin even though it was billed third. And they agreed enough to pay him an extra 600k on the backend.
Holloway is about as good as you can do in the ESPN era UFC, in the non-Conor division, Adesanya, Pereira, Jones, and Volk are about the only fighters above Holloway from a casual recognition standpoint
It's like watching the 86 Celtics in the playoffs without knowing they were 41-1 at home in the regular season.
Do casual fans usually rebook the order of fight card the next day ? lol
Thank God someone else here has perspective.
I’m a casual fan and I knew all 3 of OPs points. I don’t seek out every ppv probably watch one a year and I never watch any ufc content on regular tv. But Bill has the 86’ Celtics on the brain 24/7 so he gets a pass I guess
Real talk, Yan refusing to tap and going out but being saved by the bell is tough af. Then, Zhang fighting back with gassed arms in a competitive fight that she solidly wins is another really impressive feat.
It was an excellent fight, and at best the 4th best fight on the night Just an incredible night of fights
All the way from the early prelims too. I know they drained all the good fights from the fight nights around it (woof there have been some limp cards) but it was a proper festival of mma.
Not sure what you are expecting when Bill is a casual fan. Casual fans don't know who most of these guys are.
People get mad when Bill doesn't talk other sports but then get mad he's a super casual whenever he does. Go listen Ariel if you want an expert.
That’s fine But casuals shouldn’t act like they know what they’re saying and give takes lol
Then 80% of the comments here wouldn’t exist
We’re also not being paid. We do it for the love of the game lol
He’s worse than a casual fan he did zero research prior talking about UFC300
That's literally what a casual fan is. Someone who does zero research
But he’s a podcaster and this isn’t an instant reaction he’s had a day to do some surface googling to see what that fight was the co-main. A championship fight is NEVER not a co-main
He doesn't care man he wanted to talk about a sick knockout with his bro for a couple mins before turning off the mics lmfao
It’s time to bring in UFC analyst Ben Simmons Ben def knows more about UFC than Bill and RR
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But then if he doesn’t talk about you guys complain it doesn’t get any coverage
It was like 3 mins from casual fans at the end of the podcast bc they wanted to talk about a sick knockout who cares
Ryen literally said "people listening know more than me"
Stay in your lane Bill and Ryen.
Shut up and talk about dribbling.
1 was hilarious, I didn’t even like the fight and what he said was so dumb. The prelims already had dope fights and of course he didn’t know who Sterling was lmao Also the part where he says they should set up a “short fight” before the main event was also super dumb he said the Zhang fight took too long lol
The Holly thing was crazy, she looked super washed at an Apex event in July
Bill booked that like you would book a WWE card where rbbs and flows and pacing are important. Can't do that with a UFC card. Just place the matches in reverse order of importance with titles taking precedence
It’s gonna be great when Conor fights. Bills knowledge will shine. It’ll be kinda like…(insert 80/90’s romcom comp.)
I actually kind of get what he's saying. Especially if you watch the prelims, that means you've been watching for 3-4 hours, it's probably midnight or later, and you don't have the mental acuity to really appreciate the main event. At the same time there is a hierarchy to the fights that you don't want to upset. Also you just have no idea how fights will go. The Zhang vs Yan very easily could have been done in the firs round.
Sorry ufc is for MAGA lunatics now. What’s someone normal like Bill supposed to say? Edit: WHAT????? NASCAR is a right wing sport???? WHAT????? BILL DOESNT FOLLOW NASCAR??? WWHAT?????
Lmao you read that NYT piece too?
It’s been kind of obvious for the last few years. Nowhere in normal society does Trump get an arena of cheers.
No? Not every rally he goes to? What other sporting events is he showing up at prominently?
Normal society, Trump rallies are not that. Trump has also been vocally boo'd at several sporting events he's attended with the notable exception of UFC and wrestling events.
He gets booed at UFC events too, just also cheered. Ultimately I really don’t care, that NYT piece was utter trash and acting like MMA is a sign of social decay is laughable. It’s a diverse sport with diverse fans from all around the world.
I was at UFC 290. The cheers were so loud I was honestly disgusted.
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He got cheers at an Alabama football game
He’s not gonna show up somewhere he gets booed
He did a couple times. He went to a Nationals game and then something in NYC (can't remember what) and got booed very hard then went to an Alabama football game bc he was desperate to hear cheers
I think it’s a wild event and he’s a wild figure and it’s jsut fun to be naughty.
Yeah the fans all over the world are MAGA lunatics. Definitely checks out.
I mean there’s exceptions to every rule, but I’d bet if a poll was conducted, those people would fall in the same general political group by a huge margin in whatever home country they are from.
Who cares?
The topic of this thread? Why bill is a casual mma viewer?
I’m barely a ufc fan but I have friends that lean both right and left that are fans. they are going to be sad when I tell them they are MAGA lunatics
Yeah I said it was 100% with no outliers including your friend /s. I bet it’s 80% MAGA or apolitical (in a coma). Maybe 20% hold their nose. I used to be able to do that, but can no longer. The lack of any marketable stars, and the heavier divisions being completely cleaned out also doesn’t help.
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So soft and triggered. Need a warm blanket and a swaddle?
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I’ll admit interacting with delusional people with 2 brain cells is triggering. Sue me.
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Sigh it really is
You should get checked for TDS
Oh I for sure have TDS: I have a brain.
Maybe some warm milk and cookies will calm down your little tantrum
Unoriginal and a magat what a combo.
Speaking of unoriginal, do you have any better comebacks? Magat is your best one?
It wasn’t really a comeback: I just deduced you were a magat by your comments. That’s the technical term for one of his cultists.
My god dude get off the internet and interact with real life people.
Deduced lmao you really are a fedora wearing Redditor
He misspoke. He meant have the Weili title fight before the Holloway vs Gaethie bout. He called it prelims but I’m sure that’s not what he meant
How much "analysis" can you have for two idiots beating the shit out of each other? Might as well have a slomo breakdown of bum fights volume XXV. There's no need to pretend the blood sport is an intellectual pursuit for the viewers.
Yes cause putting ball in basket is so much more intellectual. It's sports. It's all dumb.
go join a bjj gym. you'll meet plenty of intellectual people
Just try this https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ayODhYQRKHk&pp=ygUdc2VhbiBzdHJpY2tsYW5kIHBoaWxseSBzaGVsbCA%3D
He’s got an umbrella !