Is GSP more mainstream America than the sport of MMA?
From a marketing perspective, I think there are many fighters who are extremely marketable but that don’t have the record…
From a marketing perspective, I think there are many fighters who are extremely marketable but that don’t have the record that Georges’ does and that losses don’t always affect your marketability, she said. He’s also said that when he lost to Matt Hughes, he ended up getting many more fans than when he was winning. Randy Couture has a few losses on his record, and he’s one of the best-loved fighters of all time. … I don’t think our corporate sponsors are expecting a win or they’re going to pull out. We don’t feel that weight at all. Not at all.
Spencer has helped St. Pierre become one of the few mixed martial artists to cross over into the mainstream with sponsors such as Gatorade and Under Armour. She credits his ability to separate himself from conventional views on fighters.
I think he’s less of a typical stereotype of what the mainstream thinks of MMA and at one point what I thought of MMA — that it’s mainly testosterone-laden, tatted up, pierced guys, Spencer said. That’s what most people still think. Slowly but surely we’re chipping away at that perception. Here you’ve got a good-looking, clean-cut guy, wears a suit at the press conference, doesn’t trash talk. He’s much more mainstream America than the sport is. I think that’s why he has that ability.