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Dave Meltzer on Shane Carwin: “I think he hasn’t done his job in selling this fight, that’s for sure…”
By Zach Arnold | June 20, 2010
From Observer radio on Saturday night, a discussion about a point I made earlier in my recap of UFC’s Saturday night event about how those split-screen segments on TV with PPV headliners usually don’t come across very well. At least those split-screen segments aren’t as bad as the cageside cameo spots they used to do…
BRYAN ALVAREZ: “Then we had this really interesting, strange segment. They had Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin there to hype up July 3rd and everybody listening to this is well aware that Brock Lesnar is a big, scary man who lives out in the woods in Minnesota. He hates people. He doesn’t like doing this stuff. He didn’t show up for the big UFC Fan Expo. He’s not the kind of guy, they obviously would have liked to have done the three week Countdown show but they knew Lesnar wasn’t going to go for it, so he’s out there with Shane Carwin hyping up this fight and Shane Carwin looked like Brock Lesnar times 10 on this particular evening as far as absolutely wanting nothing to do with this it appeared.”
DAVE MELTZER: “He looked like annoyed or detached or something.”
BRYAN ALVAREZ: “Yes, he was not a happy man here and they asked both guys and I can’t say Brock was jolly, but I guess in terms of your usual…”
DAVE MELTZER: “For Brock, he was.”
BRYAN ALVAREZ: “For Brock, he was, yeah, per your usual Brock Lesnar, he was in a very jovial mood. He said he hadn’t had a health issue in six months, he was on a war path to destruction, he couldn’t wait for July 3rd and then they went to Carwin and he just was not in the mood to do this and unfortunately that…”
DAVE MELTZER: “He didn’t say a thing.”
BRYAN ALVAREZ: “No. It led to a segment where I don’t think it added a single buy to this show. I don’t think it took any buys away from people that were going to buy it. Maybe people on the fence watched it and thought, huh, I don’t know about this one, but it certainly did not help matters at all.”
DAVE MELTZER: “I thought Brock was good. I mean, you know, it’s just he was… it’s just like that other, the last confrontation, it’s just like Brock’s… Brock’s trying to promote a fight with no help whatsoever.”
BRYAN ALVAREZ: “Yeah.”
DAVE MELTZER: “And I’m surprised, you know, because it was Carwin you know mouthing off that put him ahead of Cain Velasquez, you know, in getting this shot and now he’s just not… you know, I’m sure he’s training hard and everything.”
BRYAN ALVAREZ: “Well, yeah, I mean…”
DAVE MELTZER: “He is, kind of, Carwin is kind of a quiet guy in a lot of ways. He’s just not big talker. Brock likes to talk. So… yeah, but… I thought that you know Brock was encouraging him to fire back, like the last time, and Carwin just wouldn’t.”
BRYAN ALVAREZ: “Yeah and you know it’s a week left of hard training and I’m sure Carwin’s all pissed off, just because there’s one more week of hard training.”
DAVE MELTZER: “C’mon, you’re on national TV, you’ve got to…”
BRYAN ALVAREZ: “For two minutes you can pretend.”
DAVE MELTZER: “You got to sell the fight. I mean, Carwin’s… I don’t know, you know it’s like, he’s 35 years old, he’s got to know the name of the game, you know, and I just… I just think, I think he hasn’t done his job in selling this fight, that’s for sure, and I mean all across the board.”
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 32 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The name of the game, gentlemen, is fighting. Not promotion. With the overly generous slice of the pie MMA promoters take, blaming fighters for failing to build hype is asinine.
BTW, how many paid listeners can Observer radio claim?
True, but…
A) They both have promotional obligations in their contracts
and
B) One can assume that there is more money to be made for both if this fight sells well. Why wouldn’t they wan’t to put five minutes of effort in to promote it?
Maybe Carwin isn’t getting a % of PPV’s, hence no incentive to hype.
“Maybe Carwin isn’t getting a % of PPV’s, hence no incentive to hype.”
His incentive is to prove to the UFC that he is deserving of a PPV cut. Brock sells like a motherfucker because he engages fan’s imaginations. He invokes strong feelings both negatively and positively. Carwin does none of that.
Shane is a great fighter, but I have seen more charisma from a cardboard cutout. Why would Zuffa ever give that guy a PPV cut?
If Carwin wins and they decide not to give him a PPV cut, what do you anticipate occurring afterwards? Seriously.
Prove to the UFC he deserves a cut of the PPV? have you ever watch Carwin fight? 12 and 0 with not fight going out of the 1st round! that should be proof enough! Lesnar is 4 and 1 and his fights are dull. He has zero skill. All he has is a big name. July 3rd will show the lack of talent lesnar has. Yeah Lesnar sells because if his name he has proved nothing in the cage. He has no skill and it will show on July 3rd.
Umm HE didnt do a good job of promoting the fight? He’s the fighter!! The legion of marketing people and marketing execs the UFC have working for them have the job of promoting the fight and selling the fight. If HEs doing THEIR job, then why do you employ them???? Granted he should speak up a little bit more but in the end, the responsibility falls on the marketing team… Thats Marketing 101…
What i like about Shane Carwin is that he is quiet. It’s good to have a contrast and it is making me more interested in the fight. You have 2 opposite personalities meeting to battle it out for the World Title,..now that’s interesting.
Those who talk too much are trying to cover something up. Carwin might be ALL action.
Let’s wait and see. I think it just makes it more exciting.
Preliminary numbers for UFC 115 are 520k. Very good number. I guess around 400k
Feels like Carwin is pissed at the UFC for holding him to the orignal contract he signed when he entered the company which of course means no PPV percentage bonus for the Lesnar fight. I guess in his mind he sees no benefit going the extra mile for buys because he won’t see any of that extra money.
Right. Carwin’s pay for this event? 50k for the fight.
That is pathetic for what is the biggest card UFC is throwing all year so far.
You are an idiot if you think Shane Carwin isn’t making a ton of money off this fight one way or another.
There is no way he is just making 50k off of the fight, that much is sure. According to his contract? 50k.
Sponsorships will probably pay up quite a bit and the chances of Dana White slipping him a sizable check if the fight is a success is very good.
He is mad that Lesnar will make up to 2mil on this fight from UFC if he wins, 1mil at least.
Do you honestly think this kind of behavior is going to help him get a better deal when the time comes to renegotiate? Being petulant and uncooperative only works for Randy Couture.
Shane would be far better come renegotiation time by proving he is a team player.
Shane says he’s making $40k and $40k, but that he plans on taking the KO and FOTN awards too.
If he is irked about that he is incredibly naive.
You don’t get a PPV cut until AFTER you win a title.
Should Kenny Florian get a PPV cut? He challenged for a title twice. How about Demian Maia? Or Jon Fitch? Of course not. Challenging for the title is not enough. You have to win it.
Considering how little time Carwin will probably have in the sport (he’s 35) you’d think UFC would renegotiate his contract right now.
It’s not like he’ll be able to make a load of money later on. He probably has 4 years on top at most before he’ll retire.
The obsession over meaningless kayfabe stuff like this is just bizarre. Oh no, Shane Carwin isn’t a good “worker”… stop the presses! As if he ever had a chance to meet the ridiculous expectations of a Wrestlemania-like megaspectacle that all the media types seem to believe UFC 116 will be. Is it the UFC’s fault for not developing a strong gimmick for him? Excuse me while I go hurl.
1) There is no proof that Carwin is angry with the UFC.
2) Carwin does not like the media. Which would be why he isn’t friendly with them.
3) No fighter should feel obligated to not act like themselves. If Carwin doesn’t want to act differently to pump up a fight, it is his option to do so. He should still be doing the media stuff, but he shouldn’t hype up what he doesn’t want to.
I really don’t see anything wrong with how Carwin is acting.
Carwin/Lesnar is going to sell on it’s own… based on the SPORT of it. Which is how it should.
Besides, people complain when fighters fake hating each other. And now Carwin isn’t doing that…. And people STILL complain. Come on!! Some people are never happy.
“Carwin/Lesnar is going to sell on it’s own… based on the SPORT of it. Which is how it should.”
But he didn’t promise any black-on-black violence or call him a homo… 🙁
Yes, yes there is proof, he just didn’t want to air dirty laundry. I mean he flat out told people he wasn’t doing press for this event because he wasn’t get his fair share.
Show me. I have yet to see him say that. I could have missed it, but I have not read that anywhere.
Dave is probably referring to this: http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2010/6/4/1501168/why-shane-carwin-wont-make-any
He didn’t “flat out” say anything. This is a good example of sbnation writers reading their own awful journalism(and I use that term loosely).
This is in RE: to Jon.
I mean, it is a matter of do you trust me or do you not. You are allowed to do either, but no, my information doesn’t come from that article.
I’d be interested in seeing this quote also.t
Yes, Carwin should totally call Lesnar an Uncle Tom to get this fight hyped up.
Uncle Tom = additional 250k buys
Why shouldn’t Brock make more money than Carwin.
Brock could ump a litte league game and pull more buys than a Carwin fight.
I didn’t mind Carwin before, but he got a career by whining on twitter like a 12 year old girl. Now he doesn’t want to hype the fight. If he wins I hate to see what crappy card they put Carwin-Cain on cause its not gonna be a big one.
“Why shouldn’t Brock make more money than Carwin.”
I like Carwin, probably more than Brock, but thats ^^ even giving him to much credit.
Brock pulls in gangbuster PPV buys.
The paperwork is there, its a fact!
I’d reckon Carwin pulls in somewhere in the neighborhood of nil?
Carwin is still green as fluck in the UFC.
He hasn’t been around long enough, or created enough of a draw of himself to be asking for any special treatment at this moment.
If he beats Brock, (Which I really think he can. I think it will be Brocks biggest test and the first actual evidence to support his reputation so far), then he’ll have some sort of bargaining chips.
Until then not so much.
First work, then eat.
Should have threatened to kill somebody in the ring and then took a giant bite out of a slim jim.
All that matters come renegotiation time is whether or not he wins. Anyone who thinks some guy could bump off Lesnar and shouldn’t get an increase in pay as a result is gonna be mighty disappointed when we suddenly end up with another interim title situation soon after.
Do those guys want Carwin to act out a part like WWE guys do or something? This discussion is so stupid.
Shane Carwin was very gracious in granting me an interview before his last fight and he took time out to answer each question thoughtfully and thoroughly. This upcoming fight is a HUGE fight and I would assume Shane wants to put his focus totally into winning this for his family, his fans, and for himself.
If Shane does read this, I would dearly love to interview you again when you have had time to chill out after the bout. If you don’t wish to, that’s fair enough.
I think the main thing a lot of media people choose to forget is that the celebrities in the spotlight are also people and they are entitled to privacy and respect. The media and the fans don’t own the celebrities just because they buy their CDs, view their movies, or in the case of fighters, watch their fights.
Stars “give” interviews – they don’t “owe” interviews.
I wish Shane all the best in his match with Brock and know Shane will be putting everything he has into this fight.