I hated the idea of Jon Jones getting an immediate HW title shot, but now it's the only thing to do

[HockeyBjj]

Stipe vs Ngannou end of this month in a great rematch. So Jones isn't jumping in line in front of Ngannou.

Curtis Blades just got KOed by Derrick Lewis. We all love Lewis, but does he deserve his second title shot right now? On paper Lewis is deserving with 4 win streak in HW division and latest KO over Blades, and previous wins over Ngannou and Volkov. Lewis also sounds pretty disinterested in a title shot right now, talking about wanting a 3 round fight for his next one. So not for title and not even a main event.

Going down the UFC rankings list, Rozenstruik is #4 and he just shit the bed.

Volkov #5 is 3-2 his last three, but his wins are over Walt Harris and an Overeem that very much looked his age

Overeem just lost, Gane deserves a step up with his win streak but didn't win any fans with his coasting last fight. Gane vs Volkov would actually be great to do now and put one of them into contender status imo.



But unless we want Jones to wait his turn so Derrick Lewis can get another chance at the belt, Jones is what makes sense with Blades out of the picture and Roz shitting it up. If Ngannou wins a close one, I do think Stipe deserves an immediate rematch for the trilogy. But really just letting Jones fight the winner of Stipe or Nagannou would be by far the most intriguing fight, and not near the slight to the other contenders after how things shook out with the HW top 5 lately. Overeem's last run at a title got de-railed, Blades just got put to sleep for minutes. Rozenstruick is gonna find himself on the prelims next fight, and the up and comers aren't quite there yet for a title shot. And Mr. Hot Balls sounds like he'd more enjoy being a co-main for that PPV anyways (And then we also have injury substitute options).

 

[Blayt7hh]

It is a good time for Jones to get an immediate shot I agree. I had problems with it when it looked like Francis might get benched, but now he’s getting his much deserved shot so I’m good with it

 

[Hellowhosthat]

There's no reason not to give him an immediate title shot, people far less deserving than the greatest of all time in the weight class below have gotten title shots

 

[HockeyBjj]

It is a good time for Jones to get an immediate shot I agree. I had problems with it when it looked like Francis might get benched, but now he’s getting his much deserved shot so I’m good with it

That too. When they were first talking Jones at HW, Francis wasn't yet officially booked. He gets his chance, only other guy deserving of a chance got badly exposed his last title shot and sounds like he'd rather have a fun 3 rounder against a fellow banger, so let Jones do a massive summer PPV for the HW belt.

Maybe some fan capacity back for these? Baseball talking about doing 25%, some hockey arenas allowing 25% with masks of course.

 

[Zebra Cheeks]

There's no reason not to give him an immediate title shot, people far less deserving than the greatest of all time in the weight class below have gotten title shots

That’s just it. It’s jon jones. He’s obviously getting towards the end of his career. Let’s say he’s actually really good at HW. Why wouldn’t we want to see that ASAP and squeeze every fight out of it we can? Benching him and making him take contender fights is almost as stupid as when Dana wasted Prime Anderson Silva on making him fight ranked 5-15 guys at LHW. Sure it’s “fair”, but also, we abandoned that level of dedication to fairness a long time ago.

Let him fight for his legacy, and don’t waste the opportunity. Not to mention, it’s a huge legacy opportunity for someone like stipe as well. Beating Jon jones? Especially if jones looks like a killer? That would be huge.

 

[GoodBadHBK]

He deserves a title shot at hw then at lhw once he loses

I'm still interested in the Brock super fight

 

[BFoe]

I’m not a Jones fan, but he’s earned it. He’s the most dominant LHW in history. No reason not to give someone like that an immediate shot.

 

[Zebra Cheeks]

That too. When they were first talking Jones at HW, Francis wasn't yet officially booked. He gets his chance, only other guy deserving of a chance got badly exposed his last title shot and sounds like he'd rather have a fun 3 rounder against a fellow banger, so let Jones do a massive summer PPV for the HW belt.

Maybe some fan capacity back for these? Baseball talking about doing 25%, some hockey arenas allowing 25% with masks of course.

UFC has some big fights in their back pocket. You have guys like Cejudo or Dillishaw that could come back. You have garbrandt vs fig sitting there...

Nate diaz has been Mia for awhile. You could book a massive event in the summer and top it with stipe vs jones, and sell it as the first US event with live attendance. That would be fun.


I know it won’t happen though

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

We all love Lewis, but does he deserve his second title shot right now?

Hell yes. Lewis absolutely deserves a shot right now, aesthetics aside. Four fight win streak and he smashed Blaydes and Volkov back to back. Both are top five guys in the division. How many more top five guys would he need to put to sleep to get a TS?

The only question is whether he deserves it so much the UFC would put Jones on hold. And I think we all know that the UFC ain't putting Jones on hold for anyone.

 

[ExitLUPin]

Lewis got a title shot for beating Volkov already that win isn't relevant in his case for getting another one. He's won 4 fights and 2 of them were split decisions that could've went either way. Never mind one was against 5'7 LHW journeyman Latifi. The other before Blaydes was retirement home Oleinik who dominated the first and almost finished him

Lewis VS Volkov hematch will prolly happen next for the next shot. Ideally it'd be Gane/Lewis but everyone knows Game/Lewis would go the same way as what we just saw 9/10 times and there's at least a narrative with Volkov. Dana doesn't seem high on Gane after that fight and he's still very early in his career too

 

[HockeyBjj]

. You could book a massive event in the summer and top it with stipe vs jones, and sell it as the first US event with live attendance. That would be fun.

This indeed would be fun. I’m pretty cautious covid wise (lots of nurses in my family and I’m hearing stories of icu patients) and even I think fan attendance by July should be totally feasible and safe. Probably beyond even 25% capacity if vaccine rollout happens like they keep saying.

 

[ExitLUPin]

Hell yes. Lewis absolutely deserves a shot right now, aesthetics aside. Four fight win streak and he smashed Blaydes and Volkov back to back. Both are top five guys in the division. How many more top five guys would he need to put to sleep to get a TS?

The only question is whether he deserves it so much the UFC would put Jones on hold. And I think we all know that the UFC ain't putting Jones on hold for anyone.

B2B? WTF? Volkov fight was 2 1/2 years ago...... Lewis already got a title shot for it

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

Lewis got a title shot for beating Volkov already that win isn't relevant in his case for getting another one. He's won 4 fights and 2 of them were split decisions that could've went either way. Never mind one was against 5'7 LHW journeyman Latifi. The other before Blaydes was retirement home Oleinik who dominated the first and almost finished him

Lewis VS Volkov hematch will prolly happen next for the next shot. Ideally it'd be Gane/Lewis but everyone knows Game/Lewis would go the same way as what we just saw 9/10 times and there's at least a narrative with Volkov. Dana doesn't seem high on Gane after that fight and he's still very early in his career too

That's a good point about Volkov being part of his case for Lewis' previous ts. I confused Lewis' win over Oleinik and Volkov, and said Lewis beat Blaydes and Volkov bac to back.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

B2B? WTF? Volkov fight was 2 1/2 years ago...... Lewis already got a title shot for it

I was just typing out a correction for that factual error. My bad. Confused my Slavic HWs.

 

[Fioretti]

Jones has earned whatever the fuck he wants.

 

[Raymundo Alvarado Guevara]

It is not the best or fair for the others HW fighters, but no one has the spot light like Jones right now

 

[datfnguy]

Stipe vs Ngannou end of this month in a great rematch. So Jones isn't jumping in line in front of Ngannou.

Curtis Blades just got KOed by Derrick Lewis. We all love Lewis, but does he deserve his second title shot right now? On paper Lewis is deserving with 4 win streak in HW division and latest KO over Blades, and previous wins over Ngannou and Volkov. Lewis also sounds pretty disinterested in a title shot right now, talking about wanting a 3 round fight for his next one. So not for title and not even a main event.

Going down the UFC rankings list, Rozenstruik is #4 and he just shit the bed.

Volkov #5 is 3-2 his last three, but his wins are over Walt Harris and an Overeem that very much looked his age

Overeem just lost, Gane deserves a step up with his win streak but didn't win any fans with his coasting last fight. Gane vs Volkov would actually be great to do now and put one of them into contender status imo.



But unless we want Jones to wait his turn so Derrick Lewis can get another chance at the belt, Jones is what makes sense with Blades out of the picture and Roz shitting it up. If Ngannou wins a close one, I do think Stipe deserves an immediate rematch for the trilogy. But really just letting Jones fight the winner of Stipe or Nagannou would be by far the most intriguing fight, and not near the slight to the other contenders after how things shook out with the HW top 5 lately. Overeem's last run at a title got de-railed, Blades just got put to sleep for minutes. Rozenstruick is gonna find himself on the prelims next fight, and the up and comers aren't quite there yet for a title shot. And Mr. Hot Balls sounds like he'd more enjoy being a co-main for that PPV anyways (And then we also have injury substitute options).

Why do you hate that one of the 3 most successful Champs in UFC history gets an immediate shot? How did you handle it when the least successful champ (Conor) got his?

 

[Zebra Cheeks]

This indeed would be fun. I’m pretty cautious covid wise (lots of nurses in my family and I’m hearing stories of icu patients) and even I think fan attendance by July should be totally feasible and safe. Probably beyond even 25% capacity if vaccine rollout happens like they keep saying.

I mean they pulled it off at the super bowl just fine yeah?

 

[MMAProfessional]

Jones has earned an immediate HW title shot more than most of the turds in the UFC that has gotten them. I don't think he needs a "welcome to HW win." He had a career that has made him above that.

 

[ExitLUPin]

That's a good point about Volkov being part of his case for Lewis' previous ts. I confused Lewis' win over Oleinik and Volkov, and said Lewis beat Blaydes and Volkov bac to back.

Ah okay that makes sense then