Should we discourage fighters from taking short notice fights?

[The Chosen]

I’m not on the fighter’s side, I’m on entertainments side. I love it. Best interest or not, save that card and make me (the consumer) feel better about my investment. These guys are pros making dough, you should stop looking at them like they’re your personal pets.

More like the exact opposite, you’re the one viewing them as your personal entertainment, I want the fighters to perform to the best of their ability. Short notice fights are for journeymen and cans

 

[heavyarms21]

Yes, you absolutely can.

You might not be able to be in absolute peak fighting shape all year round, but you can be close enough to it (and close enough to your fighting weight) so that taking a fight at short notice isn’t a huge handicap.

I I think fighters should be read year round but when they look at a short notice fight they need to be honest if they can peak at the right time , of if the opponent and risk are worth the reward, realistically there are going to be match ups that will not favour a fighter even if they had a full camp.

 

[The Chosen]

“We”?

Their teams and managers already own that position. You aren’t needed or wanted there.

They are all aware of the +s and -s. When Jones turned down - who was it, Chael? - he paid no price. He is one of the few that could ever get away with that of course.

When Nate accepted Conor 1 or changed his life.

And there are scores of examples in between.

When Conor accepted Nate 1 it derailed his career and momentum to an extent. I’m not saying I have power I’m saying stop cheering on fighters for being dumb.

 

[kflo]

A lot of old school guys admire fighters like Cowboy for always being ready to save fights from falling out and being incredibly active, but like GSP said the “anytime anywhere” slogan is used to slander fighters (a la Dana White repeatedly saying to media outlets every time he has a dispute with a fighter “they don’t want to fight”) and push them into taking bad career decisions. If Tony Ferguson never took that Gaethje fight he would have headlined the most anticipated UFC fight of all time, had the biggest payday of his life, but he wanted to “save the card”... Instead of applauding fighters for stepping in when others pull out we should be saying “hold on a minute, be smarter with your career.”

instead we should let the fighter who trained for the fight and his ready sit and we should lose the fight from the card. definitely we should push for that.

 

[BabyBlue_Bomber]

They know their bodies better than we do, so if they feel they can handle it, then more power to them…

That being said, we shouldn’t shit on a fighter for turning them down.

 

[kflo]

When Conor accepted Nate 1 it derailed his career and momentum to an extent. I’m not saying I have power I’m saying stop cheering on fighters for being dumb.

was it dumb for nate?

 

[marvinparsons]

I think people overestimate how much better a "camp" makes a fighter unless they are totally out of shape.

Look at Madvidal - Usman, Nate - Connor.

Tony Ferguson didn't rematch Gathje but it was clear he was physically past it and would have lost regardless most likely.

The real question is if you are a young guy and get a chance to take a fight against a higher ranked fighter than you'd otherwise get. Risk/Reward.

You have to be able to accurately forecast where you are at, likelihood of winning, likelihood of getting brutally KO'd vs. barely losing etc.

If I'm a young guy and get a short notice fight against Demian Maia, why not? Big name, you win you move up, lose you tap out to a BJJ wizard. No shame there or injury.

Now if I am 23 and they offer me Rumble or prime Tony Ferguson...that's a physically/mentally/career altering beat down. No thanks.

The worst IMO is fighters that won't fight much lower ranked guys taking a short notice fight. Jon Jones vs Chael for example was just stupid. He was winning that fight 10/10.

Unless the lower ranked guy is a stud that is artificially low, just win the fight and move on.

 

[Thesnake101]

They're big boys who can make their own decisions. I only care about watching fights, I'm not their nanny or friend, just some fuck.

 

[The Chosen]

No I never said that, it's up to him how he chooses to manage his career. Holland can still take time to work on his TDD if he wants to, but now he has a lot of extra money in the bank and the financial security to be able to go away and work on things should he choose to do so.

I guess it’s just how you view short term gains and long term rewards

 

[SeattleFightFan]

When Conor accepted Nate 1 it derailed his career and momentum to an extent. I’m not saying I have power I’m saying stop cheering on fighters for being dumb.

Do what you must. I applaud fighters for not only accepting win-win fights and holding up everything seeking them out. We need guys who will just fight. I love guys who will just fight.

They aren’t the problem. Fans who only base fighters with no context other than the win-loss column are the problem.

Fans used to be able to walk, chew gum, and understand and appreciate context. Not so much anymore.

 

[JJCc]

Short notice fights rarely swing the odds makers though. And honestly, I don't think a short notice fight decreases your chances that much, as long as you have been fit and training on a fairly regular basis when you took the fight.

Holland would have lost to Brunson and Vettori whether that was full camp or short notice. He wasn't going to improve his wrestling that much if he had 6 extra weeks for a full camp. Maybe if he took a year off to work on his wrestling but that's not a short notice or regular notice problem, that's just taking time off to improve yourself.

 

[The Chosen]

Do what you must. I applaud fighters for not only accepting win-win fights and holding up everything seeking them out. We need guys who will just fight. I love guys who will just fight.

They aren’t the problem. Fans who only base fighters with no context other than the win-loss column are the problem.

Fans used to be able to walk, chew gum, and understand and appreciate context. Not so much anymore.

When you talk about legacy the only thing you have is that win-loss column. If you’re talking about purely money it may be a different story, you could probably be slightly richer taking a few beat downs, like Maywrather said “my kids can’t eat legacy”

 

[Spiderbite]

It really depends on how confident and comfortable each fighter is. For example it worked out well for Cabo Nate against Conor

It's funny how Nate sees himself as a sort of business savant because of this fight, but the reality is, his career would have taken a drastically different direction had he lost.

 

[moreorless87]

Yeah but idiots applaud them for doing it and Dana sings their praise in the media. Why did Kevin Holland fight Vettori after getting ragdolled by Brunson? Why is Kelvin Gastelum facing yet another killer and becoming MW’s eternal punching bag?

Fighters looking for a quick "bounce back" win does seem to be quite common but honestly you look at results and its very rarely a good idea unless its against a lower level opponent,.

Others like Kelvin or Cowboy I think they end up accepting a position as the go to guy for short notice or card saving fights and hope this means there favoured in terms of contracts or future booking.

Part of the issue is I would say back in the day there was much more of a "fight anyone anytime" culture, espeically in Pride but the difference was I'd say that pretty much everyone was in that boat, losing didnt automatically hurt your career as much, weight cutting was less extreme and gameplanning was less common.

 

[Bowel-forged Stool]

More like the exact opposite, you’re the one viewing them as your personal entertainment, I want the fighters to perform to the best of their ability. Short notice fights are for journeymen and cans

If you want that, then quit caving to the divas.

 

[The Chosen]

If you want that, then quit caving to the divas.

Alright so you’re a moron

 

[Bowel-forged Stool]

Alright so you’re a moron

I’m a moron for thinking these guys are already paid fairly? Not everyone can have a mansion, dude. These dudes are not fighting much, making damn good money for it. You don’t just throw money at stuff and make it better.

 

[GrantB13]

No. I think we need more of it. Training months and months and months for one opponent is crap. Does it mean you're a good fighter at a moment's notice or are you just good at gameplanning?

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Yes, let's keep these fighters away from opportunities to get paid

 

[The Chosen]

No. I think we need more of it. Training months and months and months for one opponent is crap. Does it mean you're a good fighter at a moment's notice or are you just good at gameplanning?

This is sport, gameplanning should be a huge factor in MMA especially with so many ways to win and fight