Having worked closely with Brock Lesnar for so many years, Paul Heyman knows a thing or two about PPV draws.
Known for his creative talents during his ECW and WWE days, Heyman was in part responsible for the success of several of wrestling’s biggest stars. He also served as the “manager” and mic-piece for Lesnar, and remains on television with the former UFC heavyweight champion to this day.
When asked on The MMA Hour who he thought was the biggest draw in the PPV business, his answer came as a surprise:
“I think the UFC has the biggest draw in PPV at the moment: Ronda Rousey.”
Although Heyman could not deny that Floyd Mayweather was a bigger draw “on a one-off basis”, he did make an interesting point regarding their respective corporate perception.
“Rousey brings a lot of things to the table that Mayweather does not. She is new to the general media. She is very sponsorable. Floyd Mayweather is not very sponsorable. He is always in trouble with the law. He is always in some sort of a scandal, always in some sort of trouble. It is not really the type of thing that NIKE really wants to sponsor.”
Apart from saying that Rousey is “sponsorable”, Heyman took it a step further and said that Rousey has already become the modern day Mike Tyson, even though she is yet to reach her full potential.
“Ronda Rousey is ridiculously sponsorable. Networks can build reality shows around her. She is at the top of her game and not satisfied with that yet. We haven’t seen the best of Ronda Rousey yet, and I said this: everybody in the PPV business is looking for the next Mike Tyson.
“The UFC has her – her name is Ronda Rousey.”
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