I’m the biggest fan of mixed martial arts you’ll ever come across, but I’m extremely alarmed by one trend that I believe is turning the sport into a mockery.
In 2013 alone, there have already been three fighters who have received UFC title shots coming off a loss. At UFC 156, Frankie Edgar – fresh off two straight decision losses at lightweight – dropped to featherweight to take on UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo.
At UFC 158, Nick Diaz – who lost a decision to Carlos Condit and then got suspended for marijuana metabolites – took on UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre. And at UFC 159, Chael Sonnen – who was TKO’d by Anderson Silva at UFC 148 – moved up to 205 pounds to take on UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones.
I was okay with Edgar getting the shot, since almost everyone (including myself) believed he was robbed in his second fight against UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson, but the Diaz and Sonnen title shots were outrageous when there were contenders like Johny Hendricks and Alexander Gustafsson who earned their title shots, but were pushed to the side in the name of promotion.
However, none of these cases are more ridiculous than Miesha Tate getting a title shot against UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey, and coaching against her on the next season of TUF, which the UFC announced last night.
Apparently Cat Zingano – who TKO’d Tate at the TUF 17 Finale to earn her title shot – tore her ACL and will be on the shelf for six to nine months, necessitating the switch. But Tate has already lost to Rousey via armbar, and she sure as heck didn’t earn a rematch by getting clobbered by Zingano. Or maybe she did, because it seems as though the UFC has forgotten all about the concept of fighters winning title shots, in the name of putting on big money fights between rivals.
There’s no reason why Tate should be getting this fight with Rousey. I, for one, am not interested in it at all. And the reason is that she was just TKO’d a month ago, and therefore she’s definitely neither the best fighter at her weight class nor the second best. That’s why I don’t think she should be getting the chance to compete for the honour of being the top fighter in the division when she takes on Rousey for the title.
Had the UFC put Rousey up against Sara McMann, I would have been totally fine with that. McMann is undefeated and, like Rousey, is a fellow Olympian. The storylines write themselves, and the fight would likely be highly competitive. But Rousey vs. Tate II? Who the heck wants to see this?
I assume the UFC is banking on Rousey and Tate’s rivalry to help prop up ratings on TUF and lead them into a big-time pay-per-view near the end of the year. But as we saw with Jones vs. Sonnen, fans just aren’t interested in what they perceive as a mismatch. And that’s exactly what Tate vs. Rousey II is – a mismatch. There’s no point in even sugar coating it, since it’s the truth.
We’ll see how the season goes, but I expect this to be one of the most annoying seasons of TUF ever. And while I was very excited about the prospect of Rousey vs. Zingano coaching a cast of up-and-coming female bantamweights, I’m not looking forward to Rousey vs. Tate at all, and I wish this was all a big joke by the UFC. But unfortunately it’s not; it’s reality, and we’ll all have to deal with it.
But that doesn’t mean we have to like it.
I thought a good Idea would have been the winner of Davis/Sexton. I think Liz/Gaff should now fight
I think it's kind of nice in a way that the ufc usually gives the best fighter the shot, but sometimes we also get fights that maybe one fighter didn't really earn, but it's one we wanna see. it's kind of the best of both worlds. regarding the women though, I think it's really beneficial to have a fight with a rivalry and two hot ladies, as opposed to just the most qualified, bc it's probably the best thing to further promote womens mma, which is really important at this time. right now maximizing viewing by using a fighter that isn't necessarily the best contender, but is a bigger straw, is more beneficial than just using the best contender. especially bc it's not like it's a ridiculous mismatch. once women's mma has a bigger, more dedicated fan base, then they should focus on using the most qualified contender
Edgar's "losses" were so close and so controversial that there's still doubt in a lot of minds if Bendo has done enough to not just earn, but hold onto that strap. It's obvious the fans weren't the only people who thought he got robbed on those. Diaz is an outlier in all respects. Both he and Chael sell tickets. They make the fights interesting. It's naive on the level of being a brand new fan of the sport to think that title shots and fights are made solely because it's fair. Welcome to the real world where people are out to make money. The promoter puts on fights that have the greatest chance of being exciting. Chael can hype a fight like nobody else. If you want to be upset about who is getting the shots, convince the fighters to put more personality into what they do. When they understand that they're in the entertainment business even before they're in the fight business then they'll get the same chances as these people you claim don't deserve them. They deserve them because they made it happen when others didn't just by being exciting.
I'm so past being alarmed by it anymore.