Payout Opinion: Hype or Hyperbole, Dana Says Brock Could Be Best Ever
June 15, 2009
There is a fine line between hype and hyperbole, one that promoters walk tautly over like a tightrope or just vault over into sublime exaggeration. Michael David Smith transcribes a Dana White hype piece that on the face looks like one, but looking back, comes across as the other:
“After his first fight there were a lot of questions,” White said. “Did he come into the UFC too fast? Should he have gotten more experience in the smaller shows before he got into the UFC? And he absolutely destroyed all those questions in his second outing against Heath Herring. Heath Herring is a guy who has fought all over the world, in the best organizations in the world, been in big fights before, and Brock Lesnar absolutely dominated him. Smashed him, beat him up for three rounds, and that answered all the questions right there about him. That was the day I said this guy absolutely belongs in the UFC, and if he keeps progressing at this level could possibly be the best heavyweight fighter in UFC history.“
This line is said with a build that almost gives it an air of believability, until you realize the UFC have used the same line of reasoning hyping Gabriel Gonzaga. The same promotional smoke and mirrors were in effect when Gonzaga was facing off against Randy Couture, and the hyperbole was laid on thick. Joe Rogan went so far as to say that “Gabe Gonzaga could potentially be the greatest heavyweight of all time.” That statement boggles the mind now, but it wasn’t that much more realistic when it was made before UFC 74.
Lest one not forget Phillipe Nover being tabbed as the Next Anderson Silva, either. That gem from prior to the TUF 8 season gave the young fighter of Filipino descent a world of expectation to live up to. In the end, White’s handicapping of Nover’s skills fell on deaf ears as Efrain Escudero eventually proved to be the cream of that particular crop of TUF participants.
But the nature of the media carries the day when outlandish statements are taken at face value, given credulity when suspicion would be better served, and quickly wiped from memory when the next main event roles around. Given the track record up to this point, a grain of salt might be in order when taking into consideration these prognostications of greatness. Time will tell us the true mettle of Lesnar, not the hyperbole of promoters and color commentators.
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