UFC
Ian McCall upset with flyweight draw in the UFC, Demetrious Johnson: "The guy has the personality of my coffee mug"
Oct 28, 2014 - 5:50:00 PM Ian McCall upset with flyweight draw in the UFC, Demetrious Johnson: "The guy has the personality of my coffee mug"

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Flyweight contender Ian McCall isn't happy with the status he and his fellow 125 lb. fighters find themselves in under the UFC banner, and he's not entirely sure what's to blame for the reaction - or lack thereof - they've received to date.

In an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, McCall placed it on fan prejudice over smaller fighters, and on what he feels is a lack of marketing effort from Champ Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson.

"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*** 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."

"I mean, look at the numbers. 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. The women get a lot more exposure than we do, and let's be honest, we're twice the fighters they are."

"I don't mean to pick on [Demetrious], but it does [fall on him]," he continued. "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. We all know, he's awesome, he does great, he improves and whatever, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But this is entertainment."

"This is the entertainment business, and as a whole, the flyweight division, apparently we're not doing enough, so I'm just going to take it upon myself to beat the crap out of everybody, become champion, and then just start talking s*** like Conor McGregor and causing trouble. You never know, I might get a DUI. Who knows. I'm going to do whatever I can to make money and to get the little people some publicity."

Penick's Analysis: Lighter weight classes have always run into one key issue with the common fan: the thought from those who weigh more than them that they'd be able to beat them in a fight. For many of the casual fans who perhaps don't appreciate the level of skill apparent in the lightweight division and below, the fact that they're bigger than those under 155 lbs. means those fighters aren't worth watching. It's not right, but it's the way that mindset has worked in the past for those who don't want to give those fighters the credit for what they actually do in the cage. Some of it is a simple aesthetic thing for some as well, and there aren't any clear answers on how to improve things. Of course, not all lighter weight fighters have been box office bombs, and it's possible to be a major seller, but we just haven't seen that happen on a big level at this point in the UFC.