Jon is getting old/worse, when does the UFC stop the 'off-the-table' deals?

[100action]

I think we all unaminously agree (fans and haters of Jon) that Jon gets 'off the table' benefits by the UFC in the form of:

• favourable decisions by athletic comissions. All close fights with Jon that have gone to the judges have had farcical scoring - unfortunately this is not unexpected when you look at the judging track record in other sports like boxing (particularly Olympic boxing). By design, it it is prone to corruption because of the human element (no fault of Jones).
• favourable decisions by USADA. Lenient sentences and exemption for micro-traces of banned substances. As far as I know, this arrangement is not extended to any other fighter.

In both cases, the strong likelihood is that UFC has made some 'informal' arrangement with the relevant authorities (i.e. cash under the table to the organisations and/or the judgers/testers).

There is nothing we can do to stop this so the key question is, Jon is 32 and he has been showing his age in his last couple of fights (Reyes, Santos, Smith), he doesnt seem to be getting any better. When does the UFC shift these deals to the next 'torchbearer'?

Could it be Adesenya? good enough to perhaps generate 500k-800k level PPV and worthy of commercial protection but not good enough to win dominantly and consistently on a long term basis (based on ability shown so far).

 

[Dennis Lecker]

Jone's biggest benefit was winning Rd. 3 against Reyes. Jones was vastly outstruck.

UFC judging is truly sickening.

 

[BobbyBuds]

You know... If I'm completely transparent, Reyes for sure has rounds 1 & 2... In an average non-title fight, I would've given the 3rd round to Reyes as well.

Here's why I don't have any issues with the decision;

1-When you're fighting the champion, you fight the championship rounds, 4 & 5... Reyes landed some nice shorts at the very beginning of round 4, then clearly lost the rest of the round. Round 5 he clearly lost. Reyes did not win either of the "Championship" rounds against the champ.

2-Round scoring is tough in MMA. This is not boxing, there's only 3 rounds & in this case 5 to determine a winner. Though score-cards are good way to keep a limit on fights, if there was a rounds 6,7,8, these would've probably continued in Johns favour as momentum was on his side expending less energy through the first 3 rounds.

3-To beat the champ, you gotta "Beat" the champ. Reyes looked incredible, but to stop a streak when losing that last 10 minutes of the fight, it just wouldn't have seemed fair imo. Jones continued to press forward the entire fight giving the perception of control. Reyes was not able to do enough to stop this pressure.

Conclusion: On points, Reyes should've won if all things are equal. As a fan of both-I was happy Jones was able to break the record & retain his belt. A rematch is in order & will draw larger numbers, will be great for the sport, and throw Cory Anderson into a hissy. All really solid things for the world of MMA

 

[DivineMind]

There's an old bias towards reigning champs. If you want to beat one, it's gonna be convincing. Not specific to Jones.

And USADA was only lenient on Jones because he snitched. Everyone gets the snitching deal (well, most people). Again, not specific to Jones.

Both of your assumptions are flat out wrong.

 

[CallMeCasual]

I had it 3-2 in rounds for Reyes. The fact that Jones can just walk forward while getting outstruck is somehow a sign of him dominating the fight, it's just pure bias. Significant strikes goes before octagon control. I feel like this kind of judging is only used when there is some champion that has been really dominant. I was one of those who made some Reyes the Athlete jokes etc, but damn he shut me up quick and for me, he is the winner here. Of course, the vast majority agree with me and so do most fighters aswell. The fighters who do not speak out on this have the same management or there are guys like Daniel Cormier which says Jones won. I feel like Daniel says this because he would look worse in a lot of people's eyes If Reyes beats Jon while he lost twice.

Reyes definitely worked on his TDD as well, do the rematch and hopefully, that will answer all of the questions we have as of right now.

So basically a total shitshow so far this year. First UFC starts of the year with a circus act and possible dive and now this. We are 3 cards deep and two of these cards' main events have been controversial. Not only that but there were numerous fights on this card that was controversial decision aswell and somehow the hometown fighters got the decision their way. hmmm, fishy....