'Dana said I need more social media followers to get titleshot'

[The Bard]

Uh, he was hurt for a title shot, was beaten by T.J., and went to SD w/ Moraes. Had other injuries, hasn't been particularly active, and doesn't look dominant when he fights good competition.

Perfectly legit reasons.

 

[NoSmilez]

And all items you said should be completely irrelevant.

Dude is 11-1 with his ONLY loss being a decision loss to TJ.
No one deserves a rematch more than him.

Number of followers should NEVER be part of an argument if someone deserves or not a title shot. EVER!

They trying to sell PPVs. Sometimes you have to make a little noise for yourself. I didn’t make up the rules. It is almost one of the requirements of prize fighting nowadays

 

[dipstickjimmy]

I am sure we are only getting half the story... he is quite old, doesn't fight very often, has had like 7 injuries in as many years and is regularly in pretty closely fought decisions. They might just not really think he is worth the risk

Add to that that the division he is in has a belt which is only defended on average once per year, there aren't really a huge number of title opportunities for him

I would hope that twitter followers is not an indication of who gets a title shot and not but it would be naïve to think it doesn't have some influence

He has a 4 fight win streak sandwiched with a loss to current champ TJ and a 7 fight win streak (including a win over TJ) on the other side. He has 7 fights since 2014 compared to TJ's 9. Defending once a year is BS since TJ isn't hurt and isn't defending while chasing guys in the smaller division. The UFC are called "The Promoter" because its their job to sell the fight and if a guy who is 1-1 with the champion isn't something to work with then why not close up shop and open Celebrity Fighting Championship TM? I am pretty sure the Queen of England vs The Pope for the Openweight Intergender Absolute Championship would sell like hotcakes.

 

[Zanmato]

What the sweet fuck are you talking about? WOW man. I hope you're trolling.

You don't have to be an entertainer to be a fighter but you do have to be an entertainer to be a rich one. It's literally fighting over a pile of cash commensurate to the number of people that want to pay to see you fight. Opportunities come to those that make people want to see them fight

 

[Dillashaw's Monkey Kick]

Assunçao's problem is not his followers, his problem is he is skilled enough to outclass almost every BW out there, but he can't finish anybody. And won't, he doesn't take any risks in order to get a finish. And one of the few BW he can't outclass is the champion, who decisively beat him recently and only seems to get better. Perhaps Assunçao's lack of popularity is his own fault, as he doesn't appeal to casuals, but the fight itself against TJ doesn't have a selling point, it would be as close as you could get to a foregone conclusion in MMA

 

[MMA4Life]

Raphael Assuncao is very underrated on Sherdog but I get it. It’s 135 and although he did win against Moraes. Moraes won his last two fights with devastating KO’s and then even Moraes doesn’t have the same following as Platinum Perry. Also we have seen Assuncao vs TJ twice and TJ already avenged his loss so there is that. I would say this works out okay. TJ is doing the fight with Cejudo and he is fighting Marlon again. If he beats Marlon again and gets skipped over then it would be truly f*****.

 

[VAfan]

if this is true, it's a new low. i think dana is trying to follow his buddy trump's lead.

 

[SteveColdStone]

Dammit, I thought I'd be the first to point out that he already had a title shot!

So yeah, people, he has already had a title shot. It was just his shitty luck (and TJ's fortune) that he was injured. But he should have probably had another one considering he's 1-1 with the champ.

Him vs Marlon is a great #1 contender fight though. I hate Dana but I don't really think the UFC has done him too dirry

He's one of the most underrated fighters IMO. His fight with Marlon was very close and it sucks that one of them will be knocked down the ladder - both are worthy contenders. The fact that the loser will be forced to rebuild means that the winner simply has to get a title shot. Just put it co-main on a ppv to a headliner with name-value if you are worried about ppv sales.

 

[mortal]

Dana doesn't like entertaining fighters either. Source: The Diaz brothers.

Let's face it, Dana wants his cake and eat it too. He wants entertaining fighters who get payed peanuts. Oh, and they have to be 100% under his thumb.

 

[The Bard]

I am pretty sure the Queen of England vs The Pope for the Openweight Intergender Absolute Championship would sell like hotcakes.

Kinda depends on whether The Vatican has adopted the new Unified Rules TBH.

 

[Shaddows]

They trying to sell PPVs. Sometimes you have to make a little noise for yourself. I didn’t make up the rules. It is almost one of the requirements of prize fighting nowadays

that's a cop out response.
MMA is a sport. Should be treated as such.

in Soccer, Brazil does not play in every finals because they play beautifully or because they have a lot of fans.
In the NBA, Lakers did not make playoffs just because "Kobe was retiring" or "they are popular".

Number of followers should NEVER be part of criteria for a title shot. Being top contender is the ONLY criteria.

 

[dawnignited]

He isn’t pretty, old, no engrish and he isn’t a consistent finisher

His English is better than a good portion of the native English speakers in the UFC.

 

[sdpdude9]

I wish UFC would try to run things like a sport and not WWE. Let the best guys get the opportunity, not whoever can talk the most or post online the most. Shit is ridiculous. It’s like letting the Cowboys play in the super bowl over and over even if they lose in the playoffs.

 

[Chagaev]

If hardcore fans are above these petty things, then why this forum has "likes".

 

[linch]

It's all about Instagram these days.
Next in line for a title shot is ostovich

 

[Fight Professor]

I think fighters should be promoting themselves by themselves or by working with a marketing agent. They are contractors for a reason who can potentially get a share of the company’s revenue.

The UFC platform makes it relatively easy to do so. We are not talking about some obscure organization with a well known name.

 

[Craig Hogg]

Absolute joke, wish UFC would get overtaken by another organisation.
They treat the majority of the fighters like shit.

 

[Mahkor]

Yeah number of followers = PPV buys, that's why The Black Beast set the world on fire at UFC 230.

 

[dawzz]

He isn’t pretty, old, no engrish and he isn’t a consistent finisher

Actually Assuncao has a pretty good english . And he deserves the title shot now that the GOAT Dominick Cruz is injured again

 

[christer]

Sucks to match make by follower count and let that weigh in on title shots and the like.
I dont consider a 4 fight win streak, two being by split decision, amazing enough to be outraged if the fighter does not get a shot.
In his case he fights higher level guys of the divison so the streak isnt bad or a title shot totally unwarranted either.