News Dana White: Stipe wasn't called & offered an interim title fight (no ducking)

[Thepaintbucket]

So are they planning to book Jon - Stipe for the real belt, then expect the winner to fight the interim champion despite the fact both of them are almost certainly gonna retire?

Why not just make Sergei - Tom for the undisputed title and let Jon fight Stipe for bragging rights?

We already know the answer. Jones/Stipe has the potential to do some decent numbers and removing the belt from this equation is counterproductive. Plus they can manufacturer three heavyweight champion events with everything being said and done.

 

[Oris79]

The Baldfather has spoken, peasants.
Stipe is too good for a interim HW fight.
Go back to your shanties !

 

[don't ask]

A fresh-out-of-retirement Stipe isn't useful as champion because that inevitably turns into a hot potato belt, but he is useful to pad Jones' legacy.

 

[jaberwock555]

Full quote:

"To ask Stipe to fight for an interim title when we have already selected him as a sacrificial lamb for Jones is complete disrespect."

 

[Thepaintbucket]

 

[SharpasaRazor]

Confirmation that the winner of this belt will never get to fight Jones - they’ll make the Stipe fight again and he’ll retire afterwards - holding up HW for more than a year and juicing to his hearts content in the process.

 

[C0NCH3TO]

I love how he sticks to the Stipe “hw goat” BS when the man is in his 40’s and hasn’t won a fight in more than 3 years.

 

[MMA_AZ]

I love how he sticks to the Stipe “hw goat” BS when the man is in his 40’s and hasn’t won a fight in more than 3 years.

GSP is WW GOAT in his 40s and hasn't won a fight in 6 years. I'm not sure you understand the meaning of GOAT

 

[Sturm]

I love how he sticks to the Stipe “hw goat” BS when the man is in his 40’s and hasn’t won a fight in more than 3 years.

Goat =/= Current #1.

 

[ineverpost]

Jon calling the shots 100% on this. He is confident he will steamroll Stipe.

 

[jjjjjjjjjjohnny]

EXACTLY

 

[Tweak896]

Stipe never showed interests in interim or runner up fights before. He clearly dgafs about waiting out the remainder of his athletic career. I wouldn't be so quick to absolve him from being involved.

 

[HaulParris]

With Ngannou leaving and and taking the real / lineal HW belt with him, UFC is not even trying to pretend that it cares about the legitimacy of the title.

They are setting themselves up for a similar situation as they had years ago when Brock-Randy (for HW belt) and Mir-Nog (for interim HW belt) happened like a month apart. Problem is, like any "tournament" that looks good on paper (like the Strikeforce HW Grand Prix) it has a very real chance to fall apart.

 

[Uber_Noober]

This whole thing is a deep state psyop, just scrub the whole thing already.

 

[BJJ4Tone]

Media Member: "I think a lot of people want to know if Stipe was offered to fight one of them, or if he decided he wanted to wait for Jones..."

Dana: "Stipe's not fighting for an interim title. So Jones said 'I wanna fight Stipe" I said 'You're fighting Stipe'. You have the greatest heavyweight of all time, versus the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. This is a legacy fight for both of these guys. To even call Stipe, and to ask Stipe to fight for an interim title is, you know, complete disrespect. This is a fight for two legends, legacy, two of the greatest to ever do it. The fans wanna see it, I wanna see it, and they both wanna do it."

What a god damn bald goof.
Knows business, but not fighting, somehow.

 

[Egészségére!]

I doubt many fans would have a problem with this logic if they would just make the Sergei/Aspinall fight for the title

Just call Jones v Miocic a legacy or superfight & we're good

 

[djason1988]

Of course not. If Stipe gets knocked off before jones fights him, it destroys the "greatest hw" narrative, exposing that he is, in fact, old and effectively retired.

Edit: not to say that stipe isn't the ufc hw goat, he is, but he's not the current best, which is what they'll sell.

 

[ssBaldy]

Both Pavlovich and Aspinall defeat today's Stipe, and Dana knows it. That is why Stipe was not offered the fight, hard to justify his title shot after he gets demolished by another contender.

 

[Spaslab]

Thought they made the BMF belt for this kinda stuff...​

 

[Brigfa2]

Dana doesn't want Stipte to get a title, the only reason he was fighting against Jones because Dana and Jones thinks he is an easy opponent. Now Jones is out of the picture, Dana doesn't need him. If it not Jones, he wants new breeds to get the title