Contrary to popular opinion, the above poster was not created by a drunk eight year old with cataracts learning to use photoshop for the first time. No, this poster for Fight Night 37: Gustafsson vs. Manuwa was actually created, approved, and released by the UFC yesterday, signifying a new benchmark of laziness for a marketing department that has long since given up.
I mean…just look at that thing. Why is Manuwa crystal clear, yet the only thing on Gustafsson that isn’t blurry is his dog tattoo? Was the person in charge of compiling this monstrosity asked to use the most neutral, non-eye grabbing font available? And why does the background look like it was lifted directly from my 4th grade yearbook photo? Is the “world” we’re supposed to be “stepping into” a undefinable, blue-hued purgatory? So many questions.
Contrary to popular opinion, the above poster was not created by a drunk eight year old with cataracts learning to use photoshop for the first time. No, this poster for Fight Night 37: Gustafsson vs. Manuwa was actually created, approved, and released by the UFC yesterday, signifying a new benchmark of laziness for a marketing department that has long since given up.
I mean…just look at that thing. Why is Manuwa crystal clear, yet the only thing on Gustafsson that isn’t blurry is his dog tattoo? Was the person in charge of compiling this monstrosity asked to use the most neutral, non-eye grabbing font available? And why does the background look like it was lifted directly from my 4th grade yearbook photo? Is the “world” we’re supposed to be “stepping into” a undefinable, blue-hued purgatory? So many questions.
(Above: UFC 157 poster via @rondarousey. / Below: UFC 157 tickets banner via UFC.com. Click both for larger versions.)
See? I told you guys this wasn’t just an elaborate prank. Here we have Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche front-and-center in the first official promo poster for UFC 157, while Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida lurk in the background, just a couple more innocent men subjugated by the gynocratic culture of the UFC.
From the moment this event was announced, fans and pundits have debated whether the UFC made the right choice in having its first women’s match headline a pay-per-view, especially when one of the competitors has no name value with casual fans. I thought Zach Arnold at FightOpinion had an interesting take on it yesterday:
When Gary Shaw was promoting Gina Carano as his women’s ace, was he in the women’s MMA business or the Gina Carano business?…Gina drew plenty of eyeballs against female fighters who had lower media profiles. She saw her run end against Cyborg, but it was a hell of a run. You can’t say that the experiment was a failure…
Much in a similar vein to Gary Shaw with Gina Carano, Dana White sees Ronda Rousey as his vehicle to reach the masses who only care about Entertainment Tonight, Extra, The Insider, Access Hollywood, Inside Edition, and random Youtube video clips where Rousey can make remarks about sex & testosterone and know that a billion people are going to talk about her comments. Rousey is completely shameless in the way she attracts what political pundits call ‘low information voters’ and she’s proud of it…
(Above: UFC 157 poster via @rondarousey. / Below: UFC 157 tickets banner via UFC.com. Click both for larger versions.)
See? I told you guys this wasn’t just an elaborate prank. Here we have Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche front-and-center in the first official promo poster for UFC 157, while Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida lurk in the background, just a couple more innocent men subjugated by the gynocratic culture of the UFC.
From the moment this event was announced, fans and pundits have debated whether the UFC made the right choice in having its first women’s match headline a pay-per-view, especially when one of the competitors has no name value with casual fans. I thought Zach Arnold at FightOpinion had an interesting take on it yesterday:
When Gary Shaw was promoting Gina Carano as his women’s ace, was he in the women’s MMA business or the Gina Carano business?…Gina drew plenty of eyeballs against female fighters who had lower media profiles. She saw her run end against Cyborg, but it was a hell of a run. You can’t say that the experiment was a failure…
Much in a similar vein to Gary Shaw with Gina Carano, Dana White sees Ronda Rousey as his vehicle to reach the masses who only care about Entertainment Tonight, Extra, The Insider, Access Hollywood, Inside Edition, and random Youtube video clips where Rousey can make remarks about sex & testosterone and know that a billion people are going to talk about her comments. Rousey is completely shameless in the way she attracts what political pundits call ‘low information voters’ and she’s proud of it…
So, why is there more heat on Dana White for promoting Ronda Rousey the way Gary Shaw would promote Gina Carano? Rousey’s a significantly better fighter & athlete. Combine that with the media buzz that Zuffa’s consumer behaviorologists in Las Vegas are focusing on and you have a pretty fail-safe combination here.
In other words, the UFC isn’t aiming to please the hardcore fans on this one — they’re aiming for novelty, and the mainstream media coverage that will no doubt result from that novelty. So enjoy it, because it won’t be like this forever.
Being the poster-designer for the UFC must be a horrible job. You spend all day selecting the perfect photos of each headliner, tweaking size and shading until they’re juuuuust right, and then you get a frantic phone call from your boss just as you’re leaving for the weekend, saying that so-and-so blew out his such-and-such, and it’s time to start over.
Case in point, check out the poster above. For a brief moment between UFC 151 being canceled and Jones vs. Belfort being booked, some poor bastard actually had to make a Jones vs. Machida 2 poster, and Lyoto Machida hadn’t even accepted the fight. I’m not saying a lot of time was spent on this, I’m saying that no matter how long it took, that time could have been better spent napping.
We’ve compiled a lot more outdated UFC posters in the pages below. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be reminded of great fights that were sunk due to injury, and of the fragility of human ACLs. If we’ve left out any good ones, shoot us some links in the comments section.
Being the poster-designer for the UFC must be a horrible job. You spend all day selecting the perfect photos of each headliner, tweaking size and shading until they’re juuuuust right, and then you get a frantic phone call from your boss just as you’re leaving for the weekend, saying that so-and-so blew out his such-and-such, and it’s time to start over.
Case in point, check out the poster above. For a brief moment between UFC 151 being canceled and Jones vs. Belfort being booked, some poor bastard actually had to make a Jones vs. Machida 2 poster, and Lyoto Machida hadn’t even accepted the fight. I’m not saying a lot of time was spent on this, I’m saying that no matter how long it took, that time could have been better spent napping.
We’ve compiled a lot more outdated UFC posters in the pages below. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be reminded of great fights that were sunk due to injury, and of the fragility of human ACLs. If we’ve left out any good ones, shoot us some links in the comments section.
(UFC 3: The empty promise that started it all. Though they were matched up on the poster, neither Royce Gracie nor Ken Shamrock made it to the finals of the event’s eight-man tournament.)
(Isn’t it bad luck to have twins on the same fight card? It was in this case, as Big Nog had to drop out due to a hip injury. Mirko Cro Cop came in to replace Nogueira for a “Fight of the Year, Just Kidding” candidate against Mir.)
(They should have included a can of soda for size comparison.)
With Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem, the UFC will arguably be presenting the most dynamic wrestler vs. striker battle that the heavyweight division has ever seen — but if you really want to hook the casual fans, it’s a lot easier to say “gawd damn these sons-a-bitches are huuuuuge!”
Which they are, of course. This might be the first time that Lesnar will look out-sized in the cage. And after Brock’s year-long illness layoff, Alistair isn’t exactly the ideal return opponent. But hey, this is MMA, anything can happen, etc.
(They should have included a can of soda for size comparison.)
With Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem, the UFC will arguably be presenting the most dynamic wrestler vs. striker battle that the heavyweight division has ever seen — but if you really want to hook the casual fans, it’s a lot easier to say “gawd damn these sons-a-bitches are huuuuuge!”
Which they are, of course. This might be the first time that Lesnar will look out-sized in the cage. And after Brock’s year-long illness layoff, Alistair isn’t exactly the ideal return opponent. But hey, this is MMA, anything can happen, etc.
