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Unpopular Opinion: Rountree title shot is fine

I almost dont care if he deserves it or not simply because the matchup is fire and KR has the best chance of taking Poatan out outside of DDP
 
It's retarded. But I am used to being surrounded by retardstion, so I'm not getting worked up about it. I have been saying Alex is being protected for the longest time, so this was actually expected.

It's also a very exciting match up, which helps.
 
Flower2dPeople said:
So... he still failed a drug test, right?
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facepalm-really.gif
 
Dana's Conscience said:
Hear me out

Ankalaev had a title shot and didn't get the belt. Since then, he has a NC and a KO win over Walker, whose stock is at an all-time low. That's it. I'm not saying Rountree's resume is amazing, but what differentiates the two is that Rountree signed on to fight Hill, which clearly would've made him worthy of a shot if he had won. Hill was the one who dropped out though. That's not Khalil's fault. It's like Edwards signing up to fight Khamzat and lucking out with Nate instead when Khamzat couldn't go. It's not ideal, but the idea that Ankalaev is clearly the #1 contender is iffy. I think this is about people seeing Ankalaev as better (which he is) and a tougher fight for Alex (which it is), but based on recent work, it's not like he's separated himself in a meaningful way. Oezdemir just knocked out Walker too. There's just nobody else. Jiri's done against Alex. Hill got ran through. Rakic is coming off a loss.

We also don't know the context behind the matchmaking. Maybe the UFC wanted Ank to fight sooner than he's scheduled to and he declined.

With all that being said, Alex by knockout within 2. Unless he fights really stupid or Khalil pulls some crazy fluke move out of his ass, we're simply talking about different levels of standup.
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Failing PEDs doesn't warrant a title shot.
 
Of course Ank should get the shot next.
Ank is also the most interesting fight left at 205 for Alex by a lot. He's on a very long no-lose streak, and the only remaining fighter in the top 5 Alex hasn't beaten. Ank's a good grappler and big. It would be interesting to see if AP can stop him, because if he can't, then he's got no shot of stopping Jones, Aspniall, or Blaydes from wrestling him at heavyweight.
The odds will be pretty close to even if they fought I would guess.

Instead he's fighting the #8 guy who is a striker, and Alex will be like a -500 favorite.

The odds alone tell you all you need to know. But, nevertheless, I laid out the rest of the case. This is ridiculous and the UFC is fucking it up. But they are just protecting Alex here for HW plans it appears... protecting champs is weak sauce though.
 
legedema said:
but first he need to fight him right ? let them bang and let see the outcome.

and don't tell me that you are fine with Rountree
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Im honestly not that invested. Dana hates Ank for shitting the bed against Jan in a title fight and doesn't want to give him another shot. Ank vs Jiri will be next
 
I'm about 95% sure that Ankalaev turned down the UFC 307 title shot. I made a thread about EXACTLY this happening before the fight, that the UFC could probably allow Pereira to avoid Ankalaev by just offering him the UFC 307 title shot. I'm not some genius that somehow predicted this -- there were strong rumors that Ankalaev only wanted to fight @ UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi and was demanding he get his title shot at the UFC 308 event.

Sadly we won't know the truth. Dana doesn't reveal these secret contract negotiations most of the time. Ankalaev already signed to fight at UFC 308. He made a vague Twitter post about it, but at no point did he actually say he wasn't offered the UFC 307 title shot.

Anyhow, if Ankalaev turned down the title shot, then Roundtree getting it makes perfect sense to me.
 
Pereira wants to be active. This is a timing issue of an active champ which is a good problem to have. We haven't seen this in a long time because most champs fight 1 or 2x a year. Not only that it's a good matchup and Rountree is coming off a 5 fight win streak at LHW.

If you're a purist and only want guys with a resume to earn it, you might be waiting half the year for Ankalaev to get the time right, just because you can't let it go that they have to earn it. LHW isn't WW where there is a line out the door of guys who deserve a title right now, so this isn't a Colby title shot.
 
Dana's Conscience said:
Hear me out

Ankalaev had a title shot and didn't get the belt. Since then, he has a NC and a KO win over Walker, whose stock is at an all-time low. That's it. I'm not saying Rountree's resume is amazing, but what differentiates the two is that Rountree signed on to fight Hill, which clearly would've made him worthy of a shot if he had won. Hill was the one who dropped out though. That's not Khalil's fault. It's like Edwards signing up to fight Khamzat and lucking out with Nate instead when Khamzat couldn't go. It's not ideal, but the idea that Ankalaev is clearly the #1 contender is iffy. I think this is about people seeing Ankalaev as better (which he is) and a tougher fight for Alex (which it is), but based on recent work, it's not like he's separated himself in a meaningful way. Oezdemir just knocked out Walker too. There's just nobody else. Jiri's done against Alex. Hill got ran through. Rakic is coming off a loss.

We also don't know the context behind the matchmaking. Maybe the UFC wanted Ank to fight sooner than he's scheduled to and he declined.

With all that being said, Alex by knockout within 2. Unless he fights really stupid or Khalil pulls some crazy fluke move out of his ass, we're simply talking about different levels of standup.
Click to expand...
Jiri got 2 shots at Alex and got finished in both. What sense did it make for him to get the second?

Hill got a shot against Glover despite being ranked 7th.

Ankalaev having a razor close draw with Jan, many thinking he won, and swiftly dispatching Walker sounds very reasonable compared to the above title shots imo
 
Travis Alexander said:
The fight is an absolute fucking banger and I’m fine with it.
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There is literally zero intrigue to this fight, everyone and their mom knows Poatan will KO Rountree in probably the 2nd round. The anticipation of the outcome is half the fun in MMA, it's totally wasted on this matchup.

The reason Ank should've been the one isn't so much his ranking, it's that we genuinely don't know how that fight would play out. He's a real danger to Poatan. Thats what makes MMA exciting!
 
Alpha_T83 said:
I'm about 95% sure that Ankalaev turned down the UFC 307 title shot. I made a thread about EXACTLY this happening before the fight, that the UFC could probably allow Pereira to avoid Ankalaev by just offering him the UFC 307 title shot. I'm not some genius that somehow predicted this -- there were strong rumors that Ankalaev only wanted to fight @ UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi and was demanding he get his title shot at the UFC 308 event.

Sadly we won't know the truth. Dana doesn't reveal these secret contract negotiations most of the time. Ankalaev already signed to fight at UFC 308. He made a vague Twitter post about it, but at no point did he actually say he wasn't offered the UFC 307 title shot.

Anyhow, if Ankalaev turned down the title shot, then Roundtree getting it makes perfect sense to me.
Click to expand...
Those "rumors" were nothing more than fake news based on a false perception that the Dagi fighters only want to fight in Abu Dhabi. Ankalaev literally just fought in the US and he's repeatedly said he'll fight for the title anywhere.
 
Dana's Conscience said:
Hear me out

Ankalaev had a title shot and didn't get the belt. Since then, he has a NC and a KO win over Walker, whose stock is at an all-time low. That's it. I'm not saying Rountree's resume is amazing, but what differentiates the two is that Rountree signed on to fight Hill, which clearly would've made him worthy of a shot if he had won. Hill was the one who dropped out though. That's not Khalil's fault. It's like Edwards signing up to fight Khamzat and lucking out with Nate instead when Khamzat couldn't go. It's not ideal, but the idea that Ankalaev is clearly the #1 contender is iffy. I think this is about people seeing Ankalaev as better (which he is) and a tougher fight for Alex (which it is), but based on recent work, it's not like he's separated himself in a meaningful way. Oezdemir just knocked out Walker too. There's just nobody else. Jiri's done against Alex. Hill got ran through. Rakic is coming off a loss.

We also don't know the context behind the matchmaking. Maybe the UFC wanted Ank to fight sooner than he's scheduled to and he declined.

With all that being said, Alex by knockout within 2. Unless he fights really stupid or Khalil pulls some crazy fluke move out of his ass, we're simply talking about different levels of standup.
Click to expand...
Rounder will knee stomp the mess out of poatan
 
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