But here, let me go ahead and actually put some effort into looking into what media presence Liddell and Rampage actually had since 2007 that could have come from UFC’s efforts. This is what I got for their media appearances from searching IMDB, youtube, and Google:

Liddell:
- Blade
- Entourage
- ESPN the Magazine cover
- Best Damn Sports Show
- Inked
- Tapout w/ Antonio Banuelos
- Punk’d
- Letterman
- Conan
- Sports Unfiltered with Dennis Miller
- Ultimate Iceman DVD/Liddell vs. Silva documentary on UFC Unleashed
- Autobiography

Rampage:
- Kimmel
- Spike TV feature on Rampage at Camp Pendleton
- E3 to announce UFC game
- OC Weekly cover
- Best Damn Sports Show
- National Geographic Sport Science
- TUF 7
- Midnight Meat Train (upcoming Clive Barker flick)
- ESPN First Take

Do you really want to say the UFC did next to nothing to promote Rampage? Do you really think being a coach on TUF is next to nothing? By my cursory and incomplete count, Rampage got 25% less love from the UFC than Liddell, which is still considerable and nowhere near next to nothing.

All this coverage on UFC’s biggest event and Chuck Liddell did and still is getting the biggest rub off the event. He was on Letterman right after – it’s ridiculous to assert that they couldn’t have said, “the champion/winner of the fight” gets the interview in order to further their standing and be the face of UFC. Instead they shoved Chuck out there.

Chuck was on Entourage, appeared using the UFC name and in a UFC octagon. I’m sure the UFC had NOTHING to do with finding him a spot on the show.

MMA/UFC was/is the hottest new sport going, you can’t tell me that they have zero pull as to whom they put out there as a representative to the media etc.

The fact that they still ensure Liddell is a household name but do next to nothing to make sure Rampage gets the same exposure speaks volumes to me.

Liddell was getting massive publicity because he was the biggest name in the sport, and the UFC was just starting to get noticed by mainstream media. The major media outlets interviewed him because they *wanted* to interview him.

Rampage is not the star Liddell was, and getting somebody like ESPN to do a major segment about his fight is out of the UFC’s hands. Believe me, if they could, the UFC would have every champion on ESPN, The Tonight Show and the like, all the freaking time. The best they can do is promote him on their own show, which they did: it’s called TUF.

In this case, it’s easy to show how he isn’t being pushed: Find someone who is and compare…and no generalizations, I want specific efforts that the UFC took to promote Liddell. And note just because a UFC fighter is out in the limelight, it doesn’t mean Zuffa was responsible. Case in point: It definitely wasn’t Dana White who pushed Liddell onto morning TV to shill for 300 while he was still on a bender.

Mirko would have gotten it, but he apparently can’t fight his way out of a paper bag anymore.

It’s kind of hard to show proof of something that doesn’t exist…*evidence*, there.

Seems to me that Rampage has gotten a bigger push than GSP or BJ Penn. You can only do so much with to promote a fighter whether it is Greg Gagne or the Rock.

Rampage probably should be Forrest, but who the fuck knows? Honestly? I think Forrest is probably capable of more than we’ve ever seen, he’s got a lot of upside, and Rampage is probably the same way.

This could be a round one knockout, or it could be a long drawn out barnburner, it could end in a submission, it could end in a five round split decision…

Looking at the records, I don’t even know what SHOULD happen.

My fascination with the prelims continues. What worries me about the undercard isn’t the lack of talent, but the match ups. Aurelio v Tyson for instance. Aurelio can’t take him down. Will Griffin lay and pray? Will it become a stand and stare fight? It is hard to figure.

Kos and Lytle? Good fighters both but put them together and we have boring fight potential. Gonzaga v McCully has KO possibilities I suppose.