Ian McCall is not impressed with the recognition – or lack thereof – that the flyweights receive in comparison to other divisions in the UFC. Whether it is the amount of promotion invested in them, or the lower pay scale, McCall has a variety of concerns with the flyweights’ value in the organization.
It is a frustrating turn of events for McCall, who believed he would be in a far more stable position after signing on with MMA’s top promotion. However, he has come to the conclusion that maybe fans are simply not interested in seeing “half-sized people fight.”
“I mean, look at the numbers,” McCall said on Tuesday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “We don’t get paid the same, and I’m not hating on the UFC, the UFC treats me amazing. If you want to make more money, you fight more, you win more. But it’s just an overall consensus from everybody that we just kinda get swept under the rug and no one seems to really care.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that, it’s not racism, it’s like small person-ism,” McCall said.”No one really gives a s**t about us, and it’s true. I mean, maybe it’s Demetrious’ fault for not being the marketable guy, even though he’s an amazing athlete. Maybe it’s my fault for not beating him up when I should’ve. Maybe people really just don’t care about seeing small half-sized people fight. I don’t know what it is, and it’s frustrating, but at the same time, you just get over it, whatever, I go in there and do my job.”
While his main concern is fan support, McCall placed much of the division’s problems on current champion Demetrious Johnson, who he believes is a marketing nightmare for the division – despite the fact that he is an extraordinary athlete with an unrivaled work ethic.
“I don’t mean to pick on him, but it does (fall on him),” McCall said. “The guy has the personality of my coffee mug. Actually, my coffee mug has more personality because it’s a Joe Rogan coffee mug, so never mind. He doesn’t do his job as far as marketing.
Although the struggle for recognition amongst the lighter weight classes is nothing new in the UFC, McCall is concerned that the UFC is simply focusing its promotional efforts on certain segments of the roster.
“The women get a lot more exposure than we do, and let’s be honest, we’re twice the fighters they are.”
Overall, the situation is a disappointing one for McCall, who feels he is missing out on the deserved fame and exposure that he had craved throughout his career.
“I don’t want to cause too much trouble,” McCall added. “But it’s like, I don’t know, it sucks. It’s kinda depressing at some point because we’re never going to get the love that everybody else gets, and that translates to money, that translates to fame, that translates to everything that you strive for when you’re an athlete.”
Transcription taken from MMAFighting.com.
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