UFC accused of ‘killing their credibility’ by reportedly booking title fight nobody wants to see

[Conan the K-9]

They are panicking after their two Russian champions have put absolutely lackluster performances in the past three months. They absolutely cannot afford to have a third one like that.
Decisiolaev should only blame those guys, not the fans, not the UFC.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

Dumb commenter A: “Murphy’s best win is a ranked 10 (Josh) Emmett or a debutant Pico, and Movsar hasn’t fought in ages. Neither deserve the title shot.”

Emmett was #8, not #10, and that made him like the 3rd ranked opponent Lerone beat, as opposed to Silva, the guy Diego beat, who actually was #10 when Diego beat him, and only had 1 ranked win to his name with #13 Mitchell.

That commenter needs to face facts that if he thinks Emmett wasn't a good enough win based on the rankings, Silva is a worse one.

Dumb commenter B: “Company is smart, they know Volk probably loses to each of the 3 contenders available. Lopes being the one to beat him is best for numbers.”

And this commenter is just straight up retarded. What the hell is up with the short term memory loss? Volk beat Diego this year, and didn't struggle to do it.

MMA doesn't have fans, man, it has dickriders, and not even of the athletic variety most of the time, just straight up corporate dickriders.

 

[The XL]

I've lost interest in the sport over the last few years due to their insanely stupid matchmaking.

 

[NicholasJBasile]

imo, the next shot should for sure either be Murphy or Evloev. Anything else is just rubbing, I feel.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

They actually did have credibility when Dana first took over the UFC. He was very much looked at as fighter friendly and liked by a lot of fans. The UFC went dark in the late 90s and was hard to find on Pay Per View so most of us thought it was pretty much going to end. This forum in the early 2000s was generally liking him because he was looked at as someone who saved the UFC along with the Fertettis.

It's funny because Dana not only seemed like a different person but looked like a different person back then. He had ridiculous bushels of hair on his head, massive gaps between his teeth, and had a normal build. Now he is bald, has had some much needed dental work done, is massively steroided out, and is a huge asshole. What a transformation.

They replaced that Dana with a fake Dana clone. Someone call BJ

 

[RockyLockridge]

MMA doesn't have fans, man, it has dickriders, and not even of the athletic variety most of the time, just straight up corporate dickriders.

Fucking BASED and true.

 

[Donutdude]

I mean, they made Jones vs. Miocic which nobody was asking for. They tossed Derick Lewis in against Cormier because they were desperate enough. They're more concerned with just filling an event quota than providing fights that make sense from a rankings or even performance perspective. I would much rather see Volkanovski vs. Murphy or Evloev. But the UFC is a business first, so whoever they can throw in there to fill the spot is what they'll end up doing. That being said, I'm not purchasing any PPV anytime soon so my opinion shouldn't count for much.

 

[Portland8242]

Basically confirms Lopes-Volk 2 and Paddy-Gaethje

This organization is becoming a circus.

 

[Staph infection]

With Islam/Usman on deck, and Khamzat and Topuria squatting on their belts, the UFC is a fucking disaster right now. Then we have Aspinall's plummeting stock & WMMA ruining cards.

Poatan, Pantoja, & Merab are only good things the UFC has going right now. Of course they arent dying and they'll continue to dominate the MMA landscape but for hardcores this shit sucks.

Merab is not a good thing for the UFC, while highly skilled he is boring to watch. He just spams takedowns and you know it is going to be a long fight that will go the idstance.

 

[Alpha_T83]

I've said it before: This is happening because the UFC are increasingly procrastinating on filling their events. There used to be a time with a more or less a mandatory UFC policy of naming the bouts on the main card 3 months before the event. I distinctly remember 10 years ago being able to fairly consistently look at upcoming UFC events more than 2 months out.

Now, it's regular practice for the UFC to book these events on shorter notice, in terms of actually getting the contracts signed and announcing the fights. That means UFC 324 and UFC 325 don't have main events yet, and they are two months away. Topuria has reported pulled out, because UFC procrastination failed to secure a fight contract for him. Now they are pressuring Pereira to save UFC 324, and trying to rush Volk vs Lopes 2 onto the UFC 325 card.

 

[RockyLockridge]

I would much rather see Volkanovski vs. Murphy or Evloev.

it could be as simple as Murphy didnt want to fight in austrailia, and evloev is injured.

We just dont know.

 

[RockyLockridge]

Merab is not a good thing for the UFC, while highly skilled he is boring to watch. He just spams takedowns and you know it is going to be a long fight that will go the idstance.

Be reasonable, He had a finish against sean 2 fights ago

 

[Kwic]

The bald goof and company are killing my love for the UFC honestly. Steadily.

Lopes is one of my favorite fighters on the roster, same with Volk, but this is horrendous matchmaking.

I hope they just leaked it to see the public reaction and they will wrap the idea quickly.

 

[JoeRowe]

Merab is not a good thing for the UFC, while highly skilled he is boring to watch. He just spams takedowns and you know it is going to be a long fight that will go the idstance.

His fight with Umar was top 5 FOTY, he finished O'Malley and nearly KO'd Sandhagen. Ive enjoyed his 2025 very much. To each their own

 

[maximus__]

IF this happens my guess is that Murphy wouldn't fight in Aus or within the UFC timeline.

Evelov is being punished and atleast Lopes has a recent win in Jean.

I wouyld have rathered Evleov vs Lopes and Murphy get the shot.

 

[maximus__]

Think that was the night the app wasn't working so no one could actually buy the ppv

This.

I remember a heap of tweets from fighters who couldn't even get it to connect. It was a huge fail and likely cost a heap of money for the UFC>

 

[RockyLockridge]

Matchmakers have done an overall horrible job when it comes to title fights the last couple of years.

this is why, and I keep having to say this, we cannot rank fighters greatness purely on title fights anymore. The UFC has a monopoly on who gets them and when.

I look at merab as an example. Despite him CLEARLY being number 1 after Aljo lost the belt, He didn't get first crack at the title, Vera did. Merab may have amassed 3 more title wins in that period of time. But instead he has non title wins against cejudo and yan as a result.

We have to look only at top wins. Title defenses against fighters who aren't top fighters simply CANT weight the same because there was a title in the backdrop of the fight. We need to divorce ourselves from the idea that a title fight means it's the two best fighters fighting.

 

[RockyLockridge]

Yes sir. There’s an example.

I know there’s a lot of newer fans who don’t know or remember this, but it was worse in context. Chael was coming off a lose to Anderson for the MW title and in his next fight he stepped up to challenge Jones (on short notice) for the LHW title.

Yes, yes, I know the scenario, but it’s still more egregious than Diego (who’s at least coming off a win) challenging Volk who already recked him once.

But here's the REAL scoop on this.....

We dont know WHY they are picking Diego. there could actually be a good reason, could be that evloev is injured and murphy is __________ we dont know.

but when they made that sonnen match up we KNEW there was better options and they still did it anyway. It's FAR FAR FAR more egregious and Volk vs Lopes 2

 

[Koya]

First of all, Fuck fans and what they want. Fuck what they think is sensible.

"In order to conduct a grand orchestra, you must first turn your back to the audience."

Second, None of this is offical. We do not know that this is true, Nor do we know if Evloev/murphy is healthy so MAYBE save the knee jerk reactions for when we know something.

Giving vibes of "corporate is right to cut out the number of annual paid vacation days of us employees !!"

 

[RockyLockridge]

Giving vibes of "corporate is right to cut out the number of annual paid vacation days of us employees !!"

You don't think I saw you vote for Usman on that poll earlier?

Behavior like that justifies my stance. Opinions like yours, "the fans" if you will, Should absolutely be ignored.