There are so many fresh matchups to make that rematches should really be very rare. These are my rematches past/future/potential that we don't need (or at least not yet)
1. Chito vs O'Malley 2 - Guy got clowned by Sandhagen, lost to Song Yadong, lost to Jose Aldo, doesn't deserve a title shot
2. Yair vs Ortega 2 - Ortega's shoulder popped out, yeah preexisting shoulder joint injury probably had a lot to do with it, but Yair put up an impressive armbar and Ortega's joints blew out. Time to move on and face new opposition, maybe Arnold Allen, Josh Emmett, or Movsar Evloev
3. Islam vs Oliveira 2 - Oliveira got outstruck, outgrappled, subbed, it's a wrap. One win over Dariush isn't enough, and what makes it worse is he got taken down early by Dariush - if he showed greatly improved TDD and wrestling like if Gamrot failed to take him down a single time, that might be a different story but even then, still should take at least 2 wins especially after pulling out of his attempt due to the forehead cut
4. Usman vs Masvidal 2 - This one was just egregious, Usman was such a talented champion and we could've seen Khamzat or Shavkat instead of Masvidal who already showed he had nothing for Usman in their first fight
5. Jan vs Rakic 2 - Unfortunate knee injury but it wouldn't have happened if Jan weren't in the cage, and if Jan were replaced with a lesser opponent, Rakic would've won long before the injury happened. That's not a draw, it's a Jan win, and plenty of fresh matchups with Ankalaev, Walker, Krylov, etc
6. Ankalaev vs Walker 2 - Ankalaev was lucky he didn't get DQ'd over that knee, he got gifted a NC but from a matchmaking perspective it should be treated more like an L
7. Zhang vs Rose 2 - The head kick knockout in the first fight was decisive. Zhang only had one title defense at the time too so the "in a long title reign anyone could get a lucky shot" argument for a rematch doesn't really apply. After losing again, Zhang then climbed the ladder properly and regained the title
What are your least favorite rematches?
1. Chito vs O'Malley 2 - Guy got clowned by Sandhagen, lost to Song Yadong, lost to Jose Aldo, doesn't deserve a title shot
2. Yair vs Ortega 2 - Ortega's shoulder popped out, yeah preexisting shoulder joint injury probably had a lot to do with it, but Yair put up an impressive armbar and Ortega's joints blew out. Time to move on and face new opposition, maybe Arnold Allen, Josh Emmett, or Movsar Evloev
3. Islam vs Oliveira 2 - Oliveira got outstruck, outgrappled, subbed, it's a wrap. One win over Dariush isn't enough, and what makes it worse is he got taken down early by Dariush - if he showed greatly improved TDD and wrestling like if Gamrot failed to take him down a single time, that might be a different story but even then, still should take at least 2 wins especially after pulling out of his attempt due to the forehead cut
4. Usman vs Masvidal 2 - This one was just egregious, Usman was such a talented champion and we could've seen Khamzat or Shavkat instead of Masvidal who already showed he had nothing for Usman in their first fight
5. Jan vs Rakic 2 - Unfortunate knee injury but it wouldn't have happened if Jan weren't in the cage, and if Jan were replaced with a lesser opponent, Rakic would've won long before the injury happened. That's not a draw, it's a Jan win, and plenty of fresh matchups with Ankalaev, Walker, Krylov, etc
6. Ankalaev vs Walker 2 - Ankalaev was lucky he didn't get DQ'd over that knee, he got gifted a NC but from a matchmaking perspective it should be treated more like an L
7. Zhang vs Rose 2 - The head kick knockout in the first fight was decisive. Zhang only had one title defense at the time too so the "in a long title reign anyone could get a lucky shot" argument for a rematch doesn't really apply. After losing again, Zhang then climbed the ladder properly and regained the title
What are your least favorite rematches?