This article might as well be called “Don’t do what Raphael Assuncao does”, and you’ll know why once you’ve read it. This won’t be overly long, confusing or drawn out – it’s a straight forward three step guide on how fighters can make fans, keep them, and make the most out of their spotlight in MMA.
A Poor Man’s Guide to a Fan Friendly Fighter
Step Number One – Be Exciting
The first step, the most essential step, and the most obvious step – if you want to succeed in MMA and get the fans behind you, you need to be an exciting fighter. Don’t believe me? Ask Ben Askren. Nearly two years ago he was the Bellator CHAMPION, a nearly consensus top 10 fighter and yet Bellator chose not to renew his contract. That’s right, they let their champion walk and you know why? Because he’s about as entertaining as watching paint dry. Yes I understand he’s gotten finishes and he’s been a little more exciting lately (largely due to the level of competition he’s been facing in ONEFC), but even now the only reason people pay any attention to the guy is because of his animosity towards UFC President Dana White. The facts are that 99% of people don’t like watching a fighter take their opponent down and lie on them for 15 or 25 minutes (don’t bring up GSP here – the man would lay an absolute beat down on the best of the best for 25 minutes. Never stalled and wasn’t afraid to stand and trade punches when necessary) and having a style like that won’t fill the seats. When it comes down to it, MMA is largely an entertainment sport and you’ve got to have a crowd-pleasing style. Urijah Faber and Donald Cerrone have never won a UFC title, but they’re two of the most popular fighters in their respective divisions – they’ll sell tickets because they’re exciting and people want to see them fight because they know they’re always going to get a good show!
Step Number Two – Big Social Media Presence
Yet another point that seems fairly obvious, but so few fighters take advantage of it. We live in an age where things like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have never been bigger. It takes two seconds to update a status, send out a tweet or snap a picture. Some people will say that they don’t want to do any of this stuff, or that they stay off of social media because they want their privacy. Privacy? You’re dream (or at least it should be your dream – if not, why are you in this sport?) is to fight for a championship belt and win it. Your dream, if it ever happens, will also happen in front of ten’s of thousands of fans live and millions more watching at home in front of their television sets. Your privacy has gone out the window. We, as fans, want to know about your life – what you’re doing, how’s training going, what are you doing when you’re not training, etc. Social media is an easy way to keep the fans updated and to get them on your side. As a bonus, how about picking a few fans per day and actually replying to them. I know fighters are busy, but there’s always a minute before practice, waiting for planes to take off, etc where you can connect with your fans and make it personal by acknowledging what they’ve sent you – it’ll make a world of difference in their eyes and might be exactly what you need to boost ratings during your fight.
Step Number Three – Don’t Waste Your Time On The Mic
You’ve just won the biggest fight of your life. It’s time for your post fight speech. Joe Rogan asks you “Anybody you’d like to fight next?” and you respond “Nobody in particular” or the always classic “Whoever the UFC puts in front of me next”. WRONG, ABSOLUTELY WRONG, BIGGEST MISTAKE OF YOUR LIFE. The biggest opportunity of your life to call and promote your next fight, and you just wasted it. Whether you’re a fan of them or not, call outs are absolutely essential. You ever notice anything about guys who call out specific opponents (sometimes even specific dates or events) after a fight? Notice that most of them get exactly what they want? Yup, they do. Promoters, matchmakers and fans all want to see that burning desire inside of you, they want to see that you’re setting goals and letting them be known. Nobody wants to hear that you’ll fight anyone they put in front of you – we know you will, it’s your job. We want to see that you’re a predator and you’ve already set your eyes on your next prey. Take a few minutes, look at who’s ahead of you in the rankings (or if you so desire, come up with someone who you think deserves an ass whoopin) pick one person in particular, and go into that fight knowing you’ll call them out. Some who even suggest coming up with a few good one liners. Look at Conor McGregor or Chael Sonnen. They win a fight and people are practically begging for them to get ahold of the mic right away – people hang on to their every word. And they’ve created classic quotes, increased their popularity (or distain for them anyways) and have always and WILL always get the fights they call for in their speeches. When you get the mic don’t give us the same old stuff everyone else is. Show us what sets you apart from the rest. It’s your time to shine and make known exactly what and who’s next for you. Take advantage of it and become the fighter every fan wants to follow
The Assuncao Story: Now this is just as a side piece and this is how NOT to succeed – this is the Raphel Assuncao story. It was recently announced that TJ Dillishaw will be rematching Renan Barao in April at UFC 186 and Rahpael Assuncao will be fighting Urijah Faber in March. Raphael Assuncao has won seven fights in a row, one of which came over current champion Dillashaw. He’s a consensus top five bantamweight in the UFC and yet he just got passed over for a title fight AGAIN. The man lies and says he’s injured and can’t fight for the title due to his return timetable. Yet somehow he’s fighting BEFORE the champion fights, a month before! You know why this is? You know why Raphael Assuncao got passed over on two title shots and will lose to Faber in March and never realize his dream? Because he didn’t follow any steps on my list. He’s not an exciting fighter – he doesn’t have the worst style, but he doesn’t go out to put on a show and is mostly known as a grinder. He doesn’t have any social media presence what so ever. Twitter’s been around for over five years now – yet Assuncao has only a tad over 9000 followers (Yes, for the average person that’s a lot, but compared to Faber’s 399 000, Dillashaw’s close to 61 000 and so on – as a top level UFC fighter that’s next to nothing). He’s hardly ever active on social media and his image and how well known he is show it. Last, he doesn’t take advantage of his mic time, like at all – he beats Bryan Caraway and yes, he makes a notion that he wants the belt, but he spends his entire post fight speech thanking Caraway and saying hi to everyone. That’s nice and all but if he grabs the mic from Anik, gets a mean face on and demands a title fight against Dillashaw I GUARANTEE he’s fighting for a UFC title fight in a few months time. Instead, he’s fighting Faber (yes it’s the main event and it’s a big fight, but with seven wins in a row UFC didn’t exactly have many other options for him) and when he loses he’ll fade further away into obscurity.
Follow Nate Grotenhuis on Twitter @BurgersMMA
