Should the UFC strip Dominick Cruz of his title?

[Vashgun]

there's already an interim title, who cares if its defended 5 times? if they have to they could hold a mini 4 man tourney while barao defends it and then if dom isn't going to come back they could make the second interim title defense into the real belt.

but by then dom will be back. JUST MAKE BARAO DEFEND THE STUPID TITLE!!!!

 

[bubkusjones]

he hasn't fought since October 2011. he has to have another surgery, he's going to be out until maybe August/September of 2013. this will be nearly 2 years of not defending your belt.

the UFC failed to do this with GSP. People complained it wasn't right "because he held the title for 3 years", I really don't give a damn how long you have been the champion, the show must go on. you can't keep holding the division back with injuries. I know injuries happen in this sport, but if your going to be out an extended period of time; strip the fighter of the belt!

Nobody likes interim titles, I for one think it's pointless. when Cruz gets back he can fight for his title, it just doesn't make any sense to keep hindering the rest of the bantamweight division anymore. it's not fair to the fighters, it's not fair to Renan Barao, who said he would wait for Cruz to get back.

Just set up McDonald vs Barao for the new bantamweight championship. when Cruz gets back he can fight whoever wins this fight.

No, the UFC didn't fail anything. Whether they stripped GSP or not, Carlos was waiting for GSP to come back as that was the big money fight for him. We knew GSP was coming back, we knew pretty much when, and we knew that he'd be getting an immediate title fight. So, why strip him? The only thing that would be different today is that GSP would be on his third title reign and his record-setting (for 170lb) defense streak would be over. That's it. A couple of ultimately meaningless statistics. He'd still be the champion.


Interim titles are fine. They serve their purpose when a champion is going to be sidelined for a significant period of time, but with an expected return date. The key, that most of these guys seem to be forgetting or ignoring, is that just like the undisputed title, these interim titles need to be defended.

That being said, the fact that Cruz is going to be out for even longer thanks to his graft rejection should be enough to have him stripped. He can have an immediate title shot upon his return (or maybe a tuneup fight to make sure everything's working right).

As it is, Barao seems to be interested in defending against McDonald. So that might be a good thing.

 

[td82394]

Of the interim champ actually defended the damn belt, I wouldn't have a problem with it, but if you got a guy like Carlos Condit who refuses to fight anybody, then that's when you have a problem.

 

[AxeMurderer94]

Of the interim champ actually defended the damn belt, I wouldn't have a problem with it, but if you got a guy like Carlos Condit who refuses to fight anybody, then that's when you have a problem.

Did Condit actually refuse to fight??
I thought he accepted a rematch with Diaz until Diaz got suspended for a year

 

[MadMaxPowers]

I said in a thread earlier today, strip the fucker already. He's going to be out of the octagon till 2014, Aug/Sept is the best case scenario. For all we know he may get injured again while in training and then he'll be sideline til 2015.

 

[peppo]

That's what interim titles are for.

 

[gripssl]

Absolutely, a year is way to long to hold a belt hostage. He should have been stripped of it missing 2 fights. The UFC belts don't really mean much because title holders fight less than the average fighter. Only belt I respect is LHW...Jones is stringing together fights.

 

[Kneeuinthenutz]

I said in a thread earlier today, strip the fucker already.

What's going on here?

 

[PabloZed]

Nah, let him keep it. I don't think fighters should be stripped due to injury.

 

[ABC]

What's going on here?

it appears as if some people wants the UFC to strip Cruz of his belt and give it to Barao.

 

[Dyson]

Barao should be promoted to full time champion. He might not fight until 2014, that's too long. Cruz should get a title shot on his return if he wants one however

 

[Texan6533]

I think so. The belt [whether interim or legitimate] should be defended at least twice a year. I say give the champ 18 months MAX before stripping the title and making him come back as a title challenger...

 

[ufcfan4]

barao vs. mcdonald, ftw. have barao be the first ever active interim champion and if hes still holding the belt, he unifies it with cruz- if someone else wins the belt, that person unifies it with cruz.

 

[AP_RESURRECTION]

i tend to agree

 

[Ozymandias]

nope, Barao hasn't even defended his interim title yet, why should be be the undisputed champ

plus, Cruz may come back in 6 months, which isn't so bad

did I say he should be the undisputed champion? No, I said Barao should fight McDonald to be the new champion.

 

[Ozymandias]

whats the point of having champions then? You can lose your belt without losing a fight? This idea is absurd

a champion defends his belt. Cruz can't defend his title, he's going to be out 6-9 months, who knows if that includes a training camp for a new fight.

like I said, he will get an immediate title shot at whoever the champion is when he can fight again.

 

[Ozymandias]

No. Barao should keep the interim title moving. Cruz' first return fight should be against the interim BW champion.

why should Barao defend a fake belt, if Condit didn't want to? it's too much of a risk, because these fighters think "this is my opportunity at a world title and I don't want to throw it away taking a fight that isn't against the champion."

 

[Ozymandias]

it appears as if some people wants the UFC to strip Cruz of his belt and give it to Barao.

No. No. No. did some of you even read the damn topic? I said Barao should fight McDonald to be declared the new undisputed UFC BW champion. Barao/McDonald are the two best candidates.

 

[Kenro199x]

Don't strip him of the title. He's earned it and defended it multiple times. Barao is the recognized interim title so he's the man for the moment. He's not going to sit out until Cruz gets better because he's not going to get paid if he does and I'm pretty sure he's not swimming in Anderson Silva money at the moment which can afford him such a luxury. He's going to fight on and defend the interim title. Defending it two or three times is a possibility. That also sets up a future unification title main event when Cruz comes back against whoever the champion is at the time.

 

[ABC]

No. No. No. did some of you even read the damn topic? I said Barao should fight McDonald to be declared the new undisputed UFC BW champion. Barao/McDonald are the two best candidates.

I was responding a comment made in response to somebody who started another thread earlier who wanted Cruz stripped and Barao made the champion.