I definitely agree with this. Figgy has got to go up and test the waters but if he uses the UFC PI and does it smart he could be a serious force at BW. Same thing with FLW. He can't afford to destroy his body anymore whichever way he goes. He's got to be smarter. He is 33 so he still has a bit of time to figure it out. If he stays winning and same with Moreno absolutely down the road again they should fight.
Spot on. These managers need to start mapping out the entire career and exploring the different contingencies (what if he wins, what if he loses, what if so-and-do drops the belt, etc.)
Instead, the manager and fighter are always looking two inches in front of their faces.
Whittaker is my go-to example. He’s won three big fights in a row, and they all “mattered” and got attention, because by delaying the rematch those fights became part of a relevant story arc: RW’s journey back to the top. Meanwhile, the white hot Izzy has cooled off a bit, Rob has built some new skills and healed his ego, and Rob’s coaches have probably studied 500 minutes of Izzy footage.
And, if you’re the manager and just care about money, he’s fought closer to a new contract while remaining the second biggest middleweight attraction.
What leverage does he have if he rushes back to Izzy and loses again right after Till or Cannon? He’s Weidman and Rockhold at that point. You don’t *have* to be champ to be compelling. But you do need to be relevant to the title picture, unless you have some unexplainable angle like the Diaz Bros.
By contrast, look at Marvin now. Being Izzy’s toughest fight (sorta) wasn’t a bad little nugget to have in your pocket. Kid was clearly growing and getting better. But they rushed it, and now what? Yes, I’ll enjoy every minute of the battle of the meatheads against Costa if it happens, but Marvin is irrelevant as long as Izzy is champ.
I’m trying to remember a time when rushing to the title rematch didn’t end the fighter’s time as a contender and major attraction.
Anderson was done (leg break bad luck in fairness). Aldo became FW gatekeeper and then left. Cody went off the rails completely. BJ started wandering divisions again and getting beat up (styling on someone like Mark Bocek and then rematching Frankie wouldn’t have been better?).
Fortunately for Max he did well enough and then looked good enough against Calvin to remain in the mix. Conor was VERY fortunate that he snuck by Nate, what a disaster that could’ve been. GSP vs Serra is very different IMO because Serra was a reality show winner.
