Of course Pat Miletich will probably spaz and say Dana has something against MFS.

They are risking a hot young prospect who is undefeated against one of the most reviled fighters in MMA today. Unfortuneately for Vera, Sylvia is a very effective fighter who may just beat him. Why would UFC risk Vera this way? They need to build him up to star level with a few increasingly risky fights, not throw him to the dogs after he has been out for so long.

I thought the idea here was to create starts to push the sport forward? Vera could be one of those stars.

Jeff

Never, really. Those kind of labels, however annoying, have their purpose when it comes to describing public interest. Like, there is a reason some UFC PPVs creep just under a million buys, and a reason that some get half of that. And it’s nothing unique to MMA, same goes in boxing, probably even on a grander scale with more fights happening globally.

Anyway, as someone whose UFC watching experiences are spent with a diverse crop of people, I’d say that Vera has some middle of the road exposure to your average UFC fans. I watched 65 at a big party, and a lot of the dudes there were your garden variety newjack UFC fans, and they were exciting for him to fight Mir, and were pumped when he jacked him. They also hated Sylvia, and Sylvia’s heel heat transcends a bit to your more casual fans who may only buy a UFC PPV when they see Randy, Chuck or Tito fighting. The fight doesn’t offer the biggest reward for Sylvia, but it’s not a terrible idea, either.