[MontisVerdes]

In MMA, bandwagons are filled up and abandoned quicker than any other sport. Leben's badwagon is empty and weather beaten in the middle of the desert. Same with Arlovski. Same with The Crow. Same with countless others who have lost a fight.

Why does Vitor's bandwagon keep rolling so strongly? He hasn't done much in three years or more, yet his fans stay so loyal to him. This is very interesting to me, and very uncommon in the world of MMA.

Vitor is more like a football team whose fans follow through the bad years, just hoping the team is going to turn it around.

Discuss?

[kid-doh]

Originally Posted by MontisVerdes

I
Vitor is more like a football team whose fans follow through the bad years, just hoping the team is going to turn it around.

That
is exactly why. You kinda answered your own question.

[BenHulk]

the whole thing with his sister helps for one, he gets the sympathy for that

plus he just was so endeared even for a short time, it will never fade

i'm still a vitor fan but i know he's not what he could've been then again i still root for him anyways

[clubberlang]

I think it has to do with the way Vitor exploded into MMA. He just steamrolled through anyone who was put in front of him and it was awesome to watch his hand speed and aggressiveness. He has amazing potential, but he's always been missing the mental fortitude to outlast anyone who could withstand his initial flurry. I think people are less inclined to dismiss him b/c he's a very complete fighter physically and if he ever gets his head straight (which I don't see happening at this point in his career) he could still provide some entertaiing fights.

The Crow I think was exposed badly by Franklin and was a little overhyped to begin with. Arlovski will always carry the stigma of having a soft chin.

[Bigun]

That's like trying to explain why people like Tank. Either you like him or you don't. I keep watching him fight hoping to see the Vitor that took apart Marvin Eastman and Silva. Not the Vitor that laid with Daijiro Matsui for 20 minutes.

[BuakawRules]

Originally Posted by clubberlang

I think it has to do with the way Vitor exploded into MMA. He just steamrolled through anyone who was put in front of him and it was awesome to watch his hand speed and aggressiveness.

i couldn't agree more with your post. if you watch his first fights, up until the randy fight, he just ran through pple. he embodied a new kind of mma fighters while making his opponents look like dinosaurs. even after the randy lose, he came back strong... remember his thrashing of wandy? that was one of the most amazing TKOs i ve seen to this date.

i guess he was so big back then taht pple (me included) just got to love him and hope that somewho he could get his shit together and become the greatest mma fighter ever (maybe i m exagerating a lil bit...)

[MajorDoofy]

Explaining the Vitor Phenomenon in Two Easy Steps:

1) He kicked a lot of ass early in his career.
2) People remember the early part of his career.

[Mark]

When new fighters burst on the MMA scene, have nearly unlimited potential and just barrel over their opponents, then fans tend to follow them. When they flame out (like Mark Kerr, for example), this just makes them all the more interesting, in a tragic way.

Also, Vitor's drama with BTT, his sister's disappearance and his hot girlfriends makes for a lot of fan feeling (both positive and negative) and keeps him in the public eye.

Lastly, in this multimedia age, it's a fact that photogenic people are just more interesting than those of equal ability who are simply average-looking. If Vitor looked like Jeremy Horn or Dan Henderson, for example, no one would really be following him, IMO.

[Mark]

Plus, Vitor is Brazilian, so he kind of inherits the whole Gracie/BJJ legacy in MMA.

[andrewilbe]

Vitor always does well in his fights too.....

A sub par performance from vitor is still better then most.