The UFC turned heads with its signing of SalahdineParnasse. | 📷: Sarah Stier/Getty Images for Netflix
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This past weekend, it was announced during the Ultimate Fighting Championship‘s Abu Dhabi card that the organization had made a notablesigning, enough so that the signee would be making their Octagondebut in the main event. Given there isn’t a whole lot of attentionpaid to KSW from most North American fans, I’m sure there was a lot of”Who?” being said when Salahdine Parnasse was announced to befighting Dan Hooker at UFCParis in September.
How the KSW champion could reshape the UFC’s talentpipeline
Despite the likelihood of Parnasse being an unknown to many fans,it shouldn’t take away from the fact that the Frenchman islegitimately a big signing for the UFC. He managed to win titles intwo divisions in KSW and made a respectable attempt for a third.For those unaware of the significance of KSW, it has severalfighters over the last decade who have turned down UFC offers,largely due to financial reasons as KSW tends to offer moreguaranteed money. Would they be able to carve out long-term UFCroles? I have no doubt in my mind. In fact, the UFC nabbed a pairof their past champions from the organization in Jan Blachowicz andDricus du Plessis.
Am I willing to say Parnasse is a future champion? The smart moneywould be to bet the field, but if there was anyone on the KSWroster whom I would bet would slap UFC gold around their waist, itwould be Parnasse. He’s still on the young side at 28 and doesn’thave a major hole in his game. He also has the physical tools toget the job done, but I’ll add the addendum that there’s a largepool of fighters that tag could be applied to that haven’t.
Regardless, the UFC is badly in need of this type of signing.Someone who stirs the curiosity of the fans who tend to only payattention to the UFC product. I’m not going to crap on those fans.People only have so much time to devote to a hobby or interest likemixed martial arts and the UFC is the most convenient organizationto follow. That said, even if it is the best MMA organization inthe world — and it surely is — it can grow stale. There’s so manyevents that its rare anticipation grows and difficult to dolong-term promoting. A new fighter is something that is one of theeasier sells.
If someone wants to throw out the UFC had several signings lastyear, I can’t argue that. Patricio”Pitbull” Freire, Patrick”Patchy” Mix and Aaron Pico all made the transition over fromBellatorMMA. But they were also some of the more anticipated fights forme for the year. How would they stack up against UFC talent?Everyone knew “Pitbull” was past his prime on signing, but therewere still interesting matches to be had. Many — myself included– thought Mix could emerge as a title contender. That proved to bevery wrong, but I was happy to find out rather than foreverwonder what could have been. In Pico, he still could havehis best years ahead of him. However, given Bellator was arguablythe No. 2 MMA promotion in the world for a long time, there wasalso a lot of familiarity.
With Parnasse, very few know much about him. For most, their onlyexposure to him came from the MVP event in May headlined by RondaRousey and Gina Carano. It may be possible at that point in time,Parnasse was the best fighter on that card… but he sure wasn’tpromoted that way. He had an entertaining scrap with Kenny Crossthat didn’t get much attention. He was dominant against someone whovery easily could have been signed by the UFC following his victoryon Dana White’s Contender Series.
The question I have is whether this will be a sign of things tocome or if is an aberration. The UFC hasn’t done much to bring inthe best available talent. Well… perhaps I should say TKO hasn’tdone much to bring in outside talent to the UFC. They didn’t mindspending $15 million for one fight with Conor Benn, but they can’tspend six figures a fight for a potential difference maker in theUFC? Given the UFC is one of two organizations where TKO buttersits bread — the other being the WWE — it’s frustrating to see itunwilling to recruit the best available talent from around theworld when it throws that type of money around for a venture thatseems more like a passion project solely for themselves rather thanputting it into something the fans would like to see them investin.
Perhaps they’re noticing the grumblings. I’m hardly the only onewho feels this way and the start of the Paramount era has been adisappointment. Sure, UFC White House ended up being a success, but that doesn’t takeaway from the fact the fans felt somewhat cheated when the carddidn’t live up to the expected quality on paper it was hyped up tobe. Hype the UFC helped to promote. They’ve dug a hole forthemselves in terms of fan goodwill.
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Who should the UFC target next?
Would it be able to dig themselves out some if they startedrecruiting high profile talent? Not entirely, but it wouldcertainly help. Parnasse could prove to be the biggest star out ofFrance. I admit I’m not fully aware of the contract situation ofDakota Ditcheva — or some of the other names to follow — but shelooks like she could be the heir apparent to Valentina Shevchenkoat women’s flyweight. It would be worth backing up the Brinks truckfor her. If Dana White and Francis Ngannou could set aside theirdifferences, that’s an easy fight to promote. The unbeaten championreturns to claim his throne against Tom Aspinall or Ciryl Gane? Ofcourse, the clock is ticking as Ngannou turns 40 soon. Of course,Usman Nurmagomedov is presently the UFC’s “Moby Dick.”
In the end, should the Parnasse signing prove to be an aberration,the UFC won’t be doing much to improve the malaise of its fanbaseat the moment. But if he’s the start of a flurry of new andestablished talent making their way to the promotion, it could verywell salvage the rest of the year that has been underwhelming. Itneeds to show fans they aren’t just happy with the status quo. Asigning like Parnasse is a good step in the right direction. Thequestion is if it is the only step they are presently taking.
