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Since Aldo is campaigning for a rematch and there is quite a bit of debate over whether or not he should get one, I felt a thread that provides a bit of historic context would be in order.
Just to get this out of the way: I feel Edgar should probably get the next title shot since Dana promised him he would, but I'd be fine with Aldo getting a rematch too.
I'll only go back as far as Chuck Liddell's title 2007 loss to Rampage and Hughes loss to BJ Penn in 2004, if you want to go back further be my guest, but I feel 8 - 11 years back is far enough to get some context, plus nobody would read this if I went all the way back to UFC 1. I will only use a few cases here because if I went over every title loss that would also take too long.
Here we go:
Chuck Liddell: Not granted immediate rematch
Chuck won the title in 2005 and held it until 2007, so he had a reign of 3 years and was the #1 star in the UFC (and perhaps the sport of MMA). He was not granted an immediate rematch against Jackson, perhaps because it was his second loss to Rampage? In any case, he was forced to work his way back up to a match against Rampage. He never did get a 3rd chance at Rampage. :icon_sad:
Matt Hughes - Not granted immediate rematch:
Lost the title in 2004 to BJ Penn after reigning as champion for about 4 years, rattling off 5 title defenses. He was NOT granted an immediate rematch for the title - part of the problem was the BJ Penn decided to leave the UFC, however, even to get to a shot for the vacant WW title, Hughes had to win a contender fight, then he fought GSP for the vacant strap and won it.
Hughes later lost the title (after holding it for another 3 years and rattling off 4 title defenses, making him the winning-est champ in UFC history at the time) to GSP and had to defeat Chris Lytle before fighting for the title again. I suppose his losses to Penn and GSP were too brutal to be granted rematches?
George Saint Pierre - Not granted immediate rematch:
George lost his title to Matt Serra in 2007 convincingly by KO and had to defeat Koscheck before being given an interm title shot against Hughes, he had to defeat Hughes and Kos to get back to Serra. I suppose GSP's loss was convincing enough to force him to work his way back up.
Brock Lesnar: Not granted immediate rematch
This one is sort of an outlier because Lesnar was a strange case. He was a huge draw on PPV and was a giant star in the sport but had very few matches and lost to Cain convincingly. He was made to work his way back to a title shot and failed to do so.
Matt Serra - Not granted immediate rematch:
The reasons for this are obvious.
Rampage Jackson - Not granted immediate rematch
he lost a very close decision to Forrest after defeating Chuck for the 2nd time and beating Hendo to unify the Pride and UFC LHW championships. It's actually kind of strange they picked Rashad for Forrest's first title defense, all things considered.
Rashad Evans - not granted immediate rematch:
Even though Rashad had been an undefeated champion and pfp kingpin before his loss to Machida, he was not given an immediate rematch, because basically the 'Shadface became a thing.
Lyoto Machida - not granted immediate rematch:
Machida, like Rashad before him, was an undefeated champion and he even had a (questionable) win over Shogun Rua. Shogun flattened Machida so he was not granted a rematch and instead had to fight Rampage Jackson.
Junior Dos Santos - Not granted immediate rematch
Junior lost a UD to Cain and had to beat Mark Hunt to get his rematch.
Randy Couture: Granted immediate rematch vs Vitor Belfort
Randy won and lost world titles many times during his career, and only 1 time was given an immediate rematch, which was when he lost the LHW belt to Vitor Belfort via a 1st round eye-cut that resulted in a doctors stoppage. Vitor's glove caught Randy's eye in a weird way during a punch and opened up a bad gash. Randy won his rematch. Randy could also be in the middle because out of 5 career title loses, he was only ever granted 1 immediate rematch.
Andrei Arlovsk: Granted immediate rematch vs Tim Syliva
Andrei lost to big Tim in round 1, after defeating Tim convincingly in the first round of their first encounter. People clamored for a third fight and rubber match so it happened. There was some controversy at the time of Arlovski and Tim's feud, as Frank Mir was actually the title holder but got into a motorcycle accident and created a bit of a mess. Tim and Andrei sorted it out between themselves. Andre lost his immediate rematch. They were both 1 - 1 and each guy had a first round finish over the other when the immediate rematch/rubber match happened.
BJ Penn: Granted immediate rematch against Frankie Edgar
It was believed by many that Penn could have won his first decision against Edgar. I personally believe Penn lost fairly but many people questioned the judging, Penn was also a top star in the UFC and the consensus GOAT at LW when he lost to Edgar. Penn unfortunately lost.
Anderson Silva: Granted immediate rematch against Chris Weidman
Anderson Silva was considered the GOAT of MMA and still holds the record for the most consecutive finishes and the most finishes in title fights. When he lost to Weidman, he was clowning around and acting bizarre then got caught with a clean shot to the face and went down. Anderson lost his rematch.
Frankie Edgar: Granted an immediate rematch against Benson Henderson
Many people believed Frankie could have edged out a decision in their first match and found Benson's won unconvincing. Regardless of your opinion on their first fight, most people believed that it was a close enough fight to warrant a rematch. Edgar had just come off his fantastic finish of Maynard, completing their trilogy of epic fights, so Edgar was quite popular. The rematch between Benson and Edgar was even closer than their first fight; however, Frankie lost and failed to regain his LW title belt.
Renan Barão: Granted an immediate rematch but had to pull out of his fight due to a bad weight cut.
He was given an immediate rematch but was unable to make weight and was hospitalized. His rematch was justified on the grounds that his previous fight had gone 5 rounds, he was a top p4p fighter and finisher, and he was the clear cut #2 man in his division behind the champion.
Ronda Rousey: Slated to be granted an immediate rematch against Holly Holm
Ronda is the face of WMMA. Her loss was spectacular and convincing, but she is one of the biggest stars in the history of the sport and kept the UFC going in the mainstream after it's PPV-King champions GSP and Anderson lost their belts.
Immediate rematches are given out sporadically and seem to have little to do with merit or star power, and do genuinely have a history of being given to fighters based on the context of their loss, except in the case of Ronda Rousey. GSP, Lesnar and Chuck were the 3 highest grossing PPV kings in MMA history and none of those three were given immediate rematches based on their star power, unlike Rousey. She seems to be the only fighter in history to fit that bill regardless of the fact that she lost cleanly, convincingly and spectacularly.
If we use history as our guide, Aldo will not get an instant rematch against McGregor. It just ain't gonna happen because he is not a star at the level of Rousey and lost convincingly: AND THAT COULD BE A GOOD THING for Aldo fans, because in most instances when an immediate rematch was given to a fighter, that fighter actually lost their rematch. Fighting contenders and working their way back up seems to help former champions more than it hurts them. Randy is an exception but that was a very odd situation.
Just to get this out of the way: I feel Edgar should probably get the next title shot since Dana promised him he would, but I'd be fine with Aldo getting a rematch too.
I'll only go back as far as Chuck Liddell's title 2007 loss to Rampage and Hughes loss to BJ Penn in 2004, if you want to go back further be my guest, but I feel 8 - 11 years back is far enough to get some context, plus nobody would read this if I went all the way back to UFC 1. I will only use a few cases here because if I went over every title loss that would also take too long.
Here we go:
No Rematch
Chuck Liddell: Not granted immediate rematch
Chuck won the title in 2005 and held it until 2007, so he had a reign of 3 years and was the #1 star in the UFC (and perhaps the sport of MMA). He was not granted an immediate rematch against Jackson, perhaps because it was his second loss to Rampage? In any case, he was forced to work his way back up to a match against Rampage. He never did get a 3rd chance at Rampage. :icon_sad:
Matt Hughes - Not granted immediate rematch:
Lost the title in 2004 to BJ Penn after reigning as champion for about 4 years, rattling off 5 title defenses. He was NOT granted an immediate rematch for the title - part of the problem was the BJ Penn decided to leave the UFC, however, even to get to a shot for the vacant WW title, Hughes had to win a contender fight, then he fought GSP for the vacant strap and won it.
Hughes later lost the title (after holding it for another 3 years and rattling off 4 title defenses, making him the winning-est champ in UFC history at the time) to GSP and had to defeat Chris Lytle before fighting for the title again. I suppose his losses to Penn and GSP were too brutal to be granted rematches?
George Saint Pierre - Not granted immediate rematch:
George lost his title to Matt Serra in 2007 convincingly by KO and had to defeat Koscheck before being given an interm title shot against Hughes, he had to defeat Hughes and Kos to get back to Serra. I suppose GSP's loss was convincing enough to force him to work his way back up.
Brock Lesnar: Not granted immediate rematch
This one is sort of an outlier because Lesnar was a strange case. He was a huge draw on PPV and was a giant star in the sport but had very few matches and lost to Cain convincingly. He was made to work his way back to a title shot and failed to do so.
Matt Serra - Not granted immediate rematch:
The reasons for this are obvious.
Rampage Jackson - Not granted immediate rematch
he lost a very close decision to Forrest after defeating Chuck for the 2nd time and beating Hendo to unify the Pride and UFC LHW championships. It's actually kind of strange they picked Rashad for Forrest's first title defense, all things considered.
Rashad Evans - not granted immediate rematch:
Even though Rashad had been an undefeated champion and pfp kingpin before his loss to Machida, he was not given an immediate rematch, because basically the 'Shadface became a thing.
Lyoto Machida - not granted immediate rematch:
Machida, like Rashad before him, was an undefeated champion and he even had a (questionable) win over Shogun Rua. Shogun flattened Machida so he was not granted a rematch and instead had to fight Rampage Jackson.
Junior Dos Santos - Not granted immediate rematch
Junior lost a UD to Cain and had to beat Mark Hunt to get his rematch.
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Cain Velazquez - Not granted immediate rematch after his first title loss. BUT Probably will be getting a rematch after his 2nd title loss.
Cain lost via KO in the first round and had to beat Bigfoot Silva to get his rematch. He is slated to get an instant rematch vs Werdum however, so I put him in the middle. His rematch vs Werdum seems to be a result of the lack of effort the UFC puts into marketing their HW division, and the fact that the HW division is very thin at the moment, as there was no controversy in the way he lost to Werdum.
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Yes Rematch
Cain Velazquez - Not granted immediate rematch after his first title loss. BUT Probably will be getting a rematch after his 2nd title loss.
Cain lost via KO in the first round and had to beat Bigfoot Silva to get his rematch. He is slated to get an instant rematch vs Werdum however, so I put him in the middle. His rematch vs Werdum seems to be a result of the lack of effort the UFC puts into marketing their HW division, and the fact that the HW division is very thin at the moment, as there was no controversy in the way he lost to Werdum.
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Yes Rematch
Randy Couture: Granted immediate rematch vs Vitor Belfort
Randy won and lost world titles many times during his career, and only 1 time was given an immediate rematch, which was when he lost the LHW belt to Vitor Belfort via a 1st round eye-cut that resulted in a doctors stoppage. Vitor's glove caught Randy's eye in a weird way during a punch and opened up a bad gash. Randy won his rematch. Randy could also be in the middle because out of 5 career title loses, he was only ever granted 1 immediate rematch.
Andrei Arlovsk: Granted immediate rematch vs Tim Syliva
Andrei lost to big Tim in round 1, after defeating Tim convincingly in the first round of their first encounter. People clamored for a third fight and rubber match so it happened. There was some controversy at the time of Arlovski and Tim's feud, as Frank Mir was actually the title holder but got into a motorcycle accident and created a bit of a mess. Tim and Andrei sorted it out between themselves. Andre lost his immediate rematch. They were both 1 - 1 and each guy had a first round finish over the other when the immediate rematch/rubber match happened.
BJ Penn: Granted immediate rematch against Frankie Edgar
It was believed by many that Penn could have won his first decision against Edgar. I personally believe Penn lost fairly but many people questioned the judging, Penn was also a top star in the UFC and the consensus GOAT at LW when he lost to Edgar. Penn unfortunately lost.
Anderson Silva: Granted immediate rematch against Chris Weidman
Anderson Silva was considered the GOAT of MMA and still holds the record for the most consecutive finishes and the most finishes in title fights. When he lost to Weidman, he was clowning around and acting bizarre then got caught with a clean shot to the face and went down. Anderson lost his rematch.
Frankie Edgar: Granted an immediate rematch against Benson Henderson
Many people believed Frankie could have edged out a decision in their first match and found Benson's won unconvincing. Regardless of your opinion on their first fight, most people believed that it was a close enough fight to warrant a rematch. Edgar had just come off his fantastic finish of Maynard, completing their trilogy of epic fights, so Edgar was quite popular. The rematch between Benson and Edgar was even closer than their first fight; however, Frankie lost and failed to regain his LW title belt.
Renan Barão: Granted an immediate rematch but had to pull out of his fight due to a bad weight cut.
He was given an immediate rematch but was unable to make weight and was hospitalized. His rematch was justified on the grounds that his previous fight had gone 5 rounds, he was a top p4p fighter and finisher, and he was the clear cut #2 man in his division behind the champion.
Ronda Rousey: Slated to be granted an immediate rematch against Holly Holm
Ronda is the face of WMMA. Her loss was spectacular and convincing, but she is one of the biggest stars in the history of the sport and kept the UFC going in the mainstream after it's PPV-King champions GSP and Anderson lost their belts.
The conclusions we can draw from history
Immediate rematches are given out sporadically and seem to have little to do with merit or star power, and do genuinely have a history of being given to fighters based on the context of their loss, except in the case of Ronda Rousey. GSP, Lesnar and Chuck were the 3 highest grossing PPV kings in MMA history and none of those three were given immediate rematches based on their star power, unlike Rousey. She seems to be the only fighter in history to fit that bill regardless of the fact that she lost cleanly, convincingly and spectacularly.
If we use history as our guide, Aldo will not get an instant rematch against McGregor. It just ain't gonna happen because he is not a star at the level of Rousey and lost convincingly: AND THAT COULD BE A GOOD THING for Aldo fans, because in most instances when an immediate rematch was given to a fighter, that fighter actually lost their rematch. Fighting contenders and working their way back up seems to help former champions more than it hurts them. Randy is an exception but that was a very odd situation.
