Welcome to “Spinning Sh*t,” where we examine the PR and public image game.
Ortiz vs. Who?
Hmm. Why would anyone care, right? That’s largely been the response on social media to Combate Americas’ announcement of Tito Ortiz vs. Alberto Rodriguez.
Wait. Who? Alberto Rodriguez, AKA Alberto Del Rio, AKA Alberto El Patron, AKA Dos Caras Jr.
Ahh. Dos Caras Jr. Now that rings a bell. Remember that dude wearing a pro wrestling mask that was kicked in the head by Mirko Filipovic at Pride Bushido 1?
Now that we know whom Rodriguez is, it is easy to say it’s a fight between a has-been and, at least in MMA, a never was. That is the narrative? No one cares about this fight, right? Not so fast.
Ortiz has 557,000 followers on Twitter and if you think that’s a lot, Del Rio, a former WWE star, has 745,000 and his twitter handle is, no kidding, @prideofmexico. Turns out he’s a big deal south of the border after all. So all you U.S. fight fans that are moaning and complaining that you will not watch, well, it’s possible you’re not the intended target audience.
Combate Americas could potentially use this fight to accomplish what the UFC has failed to do: Truly create relevant buzz for a non-boxing combat sports spectacle in Mexico, which viewed on a much larger scale, could be a defining moment for the promotion and MMA in one of Latin America’s most historically-rich regions.