Quote Originally Posted by amat
Wow. I'm surprised they would feed Forrest to Shogun.

He's a star, they could just as easily give him someone like Babalu. That's a much more appealing fight for fight fans, and it's someone that the UFC crowd knows. Gives Shogun a chance to avenge a loss and it would be exciting no doubt. They're basically sacrificing a star in Forrest, for him to win would be bigger then Serra beating GSP imo.

Shogun is just an animal, I'm really surprised they would give him a guy like Forrest. They never really hyped Silva up as a star, even when he beat their champion so I never thought they would give a Pride guy the type of stardom they give to other guys.

I wonder what happens when the sport's champions aren't American white guys. I wonder if globalization will hurt the UFC the same way it has hurt the heavyweight division in America. When the Tito's, Rich's, Chuck's and Randy's of the world leave and are replaced by Mauricio's, Silva's and Fedor's of the world, if some of that demographic widdles away.

The only guy they have brought from Pride and really made a big deal of was Rampage, and he's American. Now they're doing the same with Dan Henderson. Meanwhile, Anderson Silva has nowhere near the popularity of Rich Franklin even though he is the champion. No secret why either imo.

Interesting time for the UFC no doubt.
Really thought provoking post. I think you are definitely onto something there. Hopefully these guys overseas will get the respect and exposure they deserve, I particularly like Anderson Silva, possibly the best champion in the UFC right now.

Guys like Rampage and Henderson definitely deserve the attention they get. Rampage especially is such a massive personality that his involvement in the UFC can only be good for the sport.

UFC 74 looks to be another great card, their stacked card last time out certainly lived up to the hype, some great action on that one.