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Is lesnar the most popular ufc fighter of all time?

  • No

    Votes: 40 61.5%
  • Yes

    Votes: 25 38.5%

Is Lesnar the most popular fighter in ufc history

3K views 58 replies 30 participants last post by  Toxic 
#1 ·
No disrespect to royce,gsp,chuck etc, but just wondering if lesnar is the most popular fighter in the ufc? As he does own 4 of the top 6 pay preview buys, that is crazy considering those are his 4 recent fights.
 
#3 ·
Maybe very popular in the U.S. , but worldwide it's an other thing
Fighter like royce gracie , GSP , Wand , saku are much more popular outside then Brock is
Royce is know'd worldwide I'm pretty sure you go in asia and Brock popularity goes done the drain compare to saku ,wand or graci
 
#4 ·
true but if u factor in the popularity of the wwe worldwide and lesnar being a major figure in that company before the ufc it kinda adds up. Also the WWe is quite popular in japan. Plus lesnar made the list of the most popular athlete worldwide today 20, he was the only mma fighter in the top 20.
 
#6 ·
I think we need to see more of him before we start saying hes the most popular fighter ever, I am a Lesnar fan but for most people it might be a 'fad'. He comes in and starts blowing through people, will these same people continue to be a fan if he goes on a losing streak?

A fighter needs to be popular for a long period of time, like GSP. If Lesnar stays with the UFC for the next 2-3 years and continues to be impressive and rack up huge PPV numbers, then yes.
 
#9 ·
no doubt, but lesnar was big before the ufc when he got there he got bigger. Like i said no disrespect to guys who we all know in the mma world. But Lesnar brought a whole new market to mma. Lesnar has fans from mma,pro wrestling, and people who like to see freak shows. If u ask non mma fans who liddell,gsp or lesnar is chances are likely they will only know lesnar. Plus lesnar does lead the ufc in buy rates when he is in the main event.
 
#13 ·
no but explain if he is not that popular y ufc 116 did the second most in history with lesnar vs carwin followed by Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Chris Leben. I highly doubt leben or akiyama was responsible for that number. Also in his dynamite debut they paid him half a mill and it holds the record for the most people attending an mma fight unofficially.
 
#12 ·
he defiantely is, but mainly because haters want to see him lose especially afte ufc 100, he sells ppvs which means he is popular
 
#19 ·
i dont see why people hate lesnar for wwe when bloody ken effing shamrock left the ufc for the wwf and became this disgusting stupid character and then return after betraying the ufc essentially
 
#22 ·
Absolutely. There is no debate cold hard numbers don't lie and you can go on about the Japanese but lets not forget that they paid Lesnar a fortune to go over and do pro wrestling there before he got into MMA. Lesnar is custom made bigger than life the kind of guys that the Japanese fans absolutely love. Its not debatable, numbers tell the whole story.
 
#31 ·
I agree he has the most fans , but in MMA he isnt the most POPULAR , he is actually quite hated , he gets alot of views from WWE fans who ONLY watch his fights , guys like Wand grew a fanbase in a growing sport , Lesnar grew his in a global organisation so just think if guys like Wand etc started in WWE maybe they would be as watched , but Lesnar certainly isnt the most popular or most liked.
 
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#23 ·
"It depend on what your definition of the word is is."

somebody once said.

I don't equate Biggest draw with most popular. I'm weird.

edit: at one time tito was the biggest draw. I don't think he was ever considered the most popular. just 2 more cents.
 
#24 ·
There are different types of popularity, the GSP popularity where he is liked by such a large number of people, and the Lesnar popularity, people just want to watch him regardless of their opinion of him.

The fact that this is a business and the numbers dont lie, will Lesnar's PPV numbers continue to be so high? who knows...
 
#25 ·
popular is the wrong word. Brock is the most infamous. He plays the villain well, so everyone either loves or hates him. There are very few people who do not have a strong opinion of him.

Thats is why he sells so many ppvs, but he is not popular like michael jackson or johnny depp. Brock is popular like like George W. Bush is popular.
 
#30 · (Edited)
He has the most fans..........so in answer to your question yes, however i dont consider him the popular for the simple fact that the MAJORITY of his fans wouldnt be MMA fans if he was still in WWE , so unlike GSP Anderson Fedor Wanderlei they earned theres in MMA when it was growing, he already had a fanbase in a established profession which millions watch every week and brought them along and then combine that with the ones he has gained he was always going to be a draw.
 
#33 · (Edited)
I don't think having great PPV buys makes you the most popular fighter of all time.

That just means that he's a large draw, and that appeal can stem from popularity as well as unpopularity. Brock Lesnar is a very polorizing personality in MMA, I'd say he's far too polarizing to be considered the most popular fighter.

Plus, I think PPV buys don't necessarilly tell the whole story, and some of you are acting like it was all Brock and his "Magic"

Brock Lesnar's debut loss against Mir did 600,000 buys. And was equally matched by his second fight at UFC 87. But if you're telling me you think all of those buys came from Lesnar, and not GSP/Fitch/Florian or Huerta you're simply lying to yourself.

UFC 91 pulled a buy rate of 1,010,000 but again, Lesnar was fight Couture. You're out of your mind if you think fight fans just wanted to see Lesnar fight Couture and not as equally as they wanted to see Couture fight Lesnar. I'd say there's no way in hell Lesnar will ever be as popular as Randy Couture. So again, you can't just equate the buyrate to Lesnar. It also depends on the match-up.

UFC 100 was destined to be an amazing event for the UFC with GSP/Alves and Henderson/Bisping as well as the debut of Akiyama. Lesnar vs Mir II was just the icing on the cake. Personally I'd say people were just as interested in seeing Mir again as they were Lesnar. It was more about the rematch, and not just Lesnar. So again, the math doesn't add up to it all just being about Lesnar.

I'm not trying to say brock isn't popular, undoubtedly he is. But he is also very unpopular and polarizing like I said. And buyrates really don't mean as much as some of you are making it out to be. Couture/Lesnar was the second highest buyrate in company history and you're telling me it was all Lesnar and not Couture??? GTFO with that nonsense.

People used to buy PPV's to watch the Iceman fight because everyone LOVED the iceman. I don't think the same can be said for Lesnar...which means he in no way is the most popular fighter in UFC history.
 
#34 · (Edited)
Its easy to make it look like that, however take a look at the fighters you mentioned and their previous PPV buys. When was the last time Couture even reached 600-700k? did he even do it in his career?

Lesnar was a big part out of all of those buys, UFC 100 was mainly due to GSP and Lesnar both, but to put Bisping in there... thats ridiculous.

Randy Couture did 270,000 buys vs Coleman, please dont tell me that he contributed much to the PPV buys with Lesnar.
 
#37 · (Edited)
You can't just say its about matchups. GSP,Lesnar and Rampage can fight anyone and they will get a lot of PPV buys, once that person is done with that matchup against any of the 3 I mentioned, they probably will never get near that number again.

Just take a look at UFC 114, Rampage vs Rashad. That PPV sold more than a million and that card wasn't exactly packed with big names. That card mostly consisted of newer names in the UFC.

Who sold that PPV? I would say its Rampage, you can tell me this matchup contributed or that one but at the end of the day, people bought it for Rampage.
 
#38 · (Edited)
You can't just say its about matchups. GSP,Lesnar and Rampage can fight anyone and they will get a lot of PPV buys, once that person is done with that matchup against any of the 3 I mentioned, they probably will never get near that number again.

Just take a look at UFC 114, Rampage vs Rashad. That PPV sold more than a million and that card wasn't exactly packed with big names. That card mostly consisted of newer names in the UFC.

Who sold that PPV? I would say its Rampage, you can tell me this matchup contributed or that one but at the end of the day, people bought it for Rampage, not Rashad.
or to see the ultimate fighter coaches slug it out in a delayed match.

RealityTV is extremely popular these days, don't ask me why. But I'm sure ultimate fighter helped massively. Me and my friend were sure the bar would be empty for 114 But that event was packed wall to wall.

plus I do think I can say it's all about the match-ups in Lesnar's case. Cause Lesnar's fights have all been against stellar, top competition. The only fight card where he didn't elevate the buyrate was against Herring (I wonder why). But Mir, Couture, Mir and to a lesser extend Carwin are all excellent draws with huge amounts of popularity for Lesnar's popularity to mesh with and create an outstanding buyrate.

The UFC is not stupid, they weren't just coasting on Lesnar. It had just as much to do with the match-up IMO. I'd love to stay and argue about Lesnar's popularity a little more, but I'm off to the fights, Have a good one!
 
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