Should the UFC do a better job of giving the #1 contender a title shot??

Lately it just seems like they throw out there the fight they think will sell the most, I know people will say "yes of course, it's a business" I feel like it takes away some it's legitimacy as true sport. Other sports leagues don't do this, whoever earns the right to fight or play for the championship is who plays. If the world series ends up being Milwaukee vs. Seattle that's who plays, even though the ratings would obviously be way better if it were the Yankees vs. the Dodgers. Etc... I would love to see the UFC take a more straight forward approach of giving the #1 contender the title shot, and just keep things rolling like that.

 

So hendricks is the #1 contender for winning two ultra tight split decisions, and Diaz isn't for losing one highly controversial one?

I'm not sure that necessarily follows.

It's the same reason why Edgar got the title shot before Maynard. Maynard should have lost to Diaz. Everyone knew it.

 

Yes I would say Hendricks is the #1 contender above Diaz, and Sonnen is certainly not the #1 contender.

 

#1 contenders evenyually get their shots, so i'm not too concerned. Big money fights need to be made to grow the sport, expand to new areas, and sign new talent.

 

Split decisions aside, he knocked out Fitch and Kampmann in under a minute combined.

Those two victories alone are more than Diaz has done.

 

That's what other promotions' grand prix are for.
I would be cool to have a knockout tourney in the UFC though


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In the UFC, fans and fighters decides who gets number 1 slot.

it's all about hype and timing.

Hype + perfect timing = $$$$$$$$$

If it is a tournament rankings make sense, but the reality is, more than a sport. This is a business. The more interesting match up, the more money to be made.

 

Except Hendricks' last fight was a knockout.

 

When it comes to the top 5-20 they do pretty well. But when it's the top 5 it's all about the money, and who's headlining the card.

 

I think they should but nothing is sure. Lets say GSP loses belt against anyone. He will get a rematch which could hold up top contenders. Or if a fighter is injured could be months before actually fighting again holding up. To many mights or coulds. I really dont like the mandatory full camp prep. Get in there & fight. 1 month should be enough time. IMO. This is holding up the belts

 

No, Hendricks is the #1 contender for knocking the snot out of everyone in his path.
That DOES follow.

 

The problem is in an individual sport, if a #1 contender gets injured someone has to jump in and it might not always be the #2 contender so we're back where we started.

 

Wait. You say Hendricks won "two ultra tight split decisions" but you neglect to mention Hendricks getting two uncontroversial first round knockout against top ten opponents. Stop letting your bias show, it's clear to anyone that is objective that Diaz isn't anywhere near as deserving of a title shot as Hendricks is.


Edgar got the title shot over Maynard because BJ requested Edgar as he anticipated a boring fight against Maynard.

 

so wrong.

 

So should number two always get it? In that case we will get endless re matches. If they can pick a top five fighter then gsp would fight diaz anyway. And then we can't have fighters move up and down and get big fights that we want.

Rankings are subjective so it is stupid for the ufc to do them.

 

Combat sports will never stick to real rankings. It closes up matchmaking far too much. If fighters had published rankings, you would see guys turning down fights a hell of a lot more than they do now. Guess who wants to take a fight with someone declared below their level?

 

I agree the #1 contender always gets to fight for the belt. It might be after a couple of rematches or superfights but they eventually get the shot. Gotta make the money fights happen to keep people watching

 

Its all about the Benjamins baby!

 

There has been a recent string of undeserved title shots for promotional reasons, but this has been happening for years.

The key is that the champions still end up defending against the best guys in their divisions; we just have a lot of dominant champions and cleaned out divisions at the moment. There are no paper champions in the UFC and we all know that Hendricks is eventually getting his shot, so that's good enough for me. Let the UFC be a business when it has to be, just so long as what I just said about UFC champions and contenders continues to remain true.