Who deserves the next MW title shot?

[Osiris3657]

Costa and Till pulling out of their fights over the next 7 days really fucked up the title picture

The most impressive win among the those two original MW fights (Till/Vettori and Whittaker/Costa) would make for an easy decision

Now Vettori fights the #10 in Holland, who just lost a one sided decision to Brunson.
Whittaker fights the #7 Gastelum, who last won an inspired decision against Heinisch and had lost 3 in a row prior to that

Assuming the two favorites win, Vettori will be on a 5 fight win streak with a decision over Jack Hermansson being the most impressive. Whittaker will be on a 3 fight win streak with decisions over Cannonier and Till (think either of those results will be better than whatever fashion he beats Kelvin)

Adesanya is 2-0 against both guys though. A split decision over Vettori in 2018 and a 2nd round KO over Whittaker in 2019. Maybe Izzy doesn’t want to fight either guy this soon again and would rather have a fresh matchup against someone ranked lower

 

[GangGangGang]

Jake Paul

 

[Straatblaffer]

Whittaker is my first pick, followed by Vettori

 

[Osiris3657]

Jake Paul

Welcome to my ignore list, troll

 

[Straatblaffer]

Jake Paul

It's not even funny

 

[You Will Vote For Dreyga]

Obviously Robert. Is this even up for debate?

 

[richardjohnson]

I think it has to be Whittaker assuming he wins, although as a fan of his that fight still worries me.

 

[LouisBolanos]

Obviously Robert. Is this even up for debate?

It absolutely is. He already got KTFO twice by Izzy in one fight and is a two-time championship pullout merchant who didn't manage a single title defense in the 2+ years he held the belt. The dude cannot be relied upon in championship matches at all.

 

[LetThemBleed]

Jake Paul

 

[LetThemBleed]

It absolutely is. He already got KTFO twice by Izzy in one fight and is a two-time championship pullout merchant who didn't manage a single title defense in the 2+ years he held the belt. The dude cannot be relied upon in championship matches at all.

Blame Romero's fat ass for him not technically defending, still beat the man. Clearly Whittaker's earned the rematch, you're not one of those weirdos who think Darren Till should get a shot whenever he gets another win at MW are you?

 

[Ingjr]

Vettori, split decision on the first bout was awfully close. I'd say he should get the shot.

 

[LouisBolanos]

Blame Romero's fat ass for him not technically defending, still beat the man. Clearly Whittaker's earned the rematch, you're not one of those weirdos who think Darren Till should get a shot whenever he gets another win at MW are you?

Was Romero responsible for Whittaker pulling out against Rockhold and Gastelum? Was Romero responsible for him getting KTFO twice by Izzy?

UFC tried to put on 3 major PPVs on his home turf with him as defending champion, he pulled out of two of them last minute and got mollywhopped in the third. Just from a pure business POV he doesn't deserve a title shot anytime soon.

And no, Darren Till doesn't deserve a title shot either, dude is 1-3 in his last 4, a total headcase and another pullout merchant.

 

[LetThemBleed]

Was Romero responsible for Whittaker pulling out against Rockhold and Gastelum? Was Romero responsible for him getting KTFO twice by Izzy?

UFC tried to put on 3 major PPVs on his home turf with him as defending champion, he pulled out of two of them last minute and got mollywhopped in the third. Just from a pure business POV he doesn't deserve a title shot anytime soon.

And no, Darren Till doesn't deserve a title shot either, dude is 1-3 in his last 4, a total headcase and another pullout merchant.

Literally only one other guy who is fighting today has any kind of claim to a title shot and it's a weak one given Whittaker's beaten 2 guys who otherwise would have gotten title shots should he have lost to them. Vettori has 1 impressive win, short of him dominating and stopping Holland coupled with Whittaker losing next week to Gastelum, Whittaker absolutely unequivocally will have earned his rematch. Whether the UFC will give it to him, well that's another question entirely, but given the thread says who deserves it next, there's only one correct answer.

 

[Hitman]

Vettori ( if he beats Holland tonight )

 

[Kvothe_the_kingkiller]

Obviously Robert. Is this even up for debate?

Agreed.

I ask those who question you, if taking on 3 top 5 guys - beating two of them and a top 10 who replaced the 3rd - isn’t enough for a rematch, what is? Assuming he beats Gastelum of course (far from a sure thing).

Seriously. In this day and age of holding out, what should one expect from Whittaker to get a title shot? 6 top 5 victories? 4?

No one else has even 2, do they?

Edit: ah, I see that one poster isn’t basing it on contemporary merit at all, just how Whittaker performed from 2017-2019. I suppose if you don’t judge title shots based on what a fighter has accomplished in the prior 16 months, his conclusions may make more sense .

 

[LouisBolanos]

Whether the UFC will give it to him, well that's another question entirely, but given the thread says who deserves it next, there's only one correct answer.

No there isn't. Performance isn't the only factor that determines whether you deserve something in prize fighting or not, that's like saying your pay in prize fighting should be based solely on your performance, which is delusional thinking detached from reality. The reality is Whittaker has the double whammy of having demonstrated a high level of unreliability in championship matches and gotten completely destroyed by the reigning champ, and he needs to do a lot of extra work compared to others to earn another title shot given his particular situation.

 

[rawknob]

Jake Paul

His stance against Kaitlin Bennett alone gives him cred in my book

 

[SuperAlly]

It absolutely is. He already got KTFO twice by Izzy in one fight and is a two-time championship pullout merchant who didn't manage a single title defense in the 2+ years he held the belt. The dude cannot be relied upon in championship matches at all.

Well considering Izzy wanted Cannonier if he won and RW beat him easy....

 

[LouisBolanos]

Well considering Izzy wanted Cannonier if he won and RW beat him easy....

Cannonier never pulled out of 2 championship matches last minute and held the belt for 2 years without a single successful defense.
Cannonier also never got KTFO by Izzy twice in one fight.

Not remotely the same situation.

 

[LetThemBleed]

No there isn't. Performance isn't the only factor that determines whether you deserve something in prize fighting or not, that's like saying your pay in prize fighting should be based solely on your performance, which is delusional thinking detached from reality. The reality is Whittaker has the double whammy of having demonstrated a high level of unreliability in championship matches and gotten completely destroyed by the reigning champ, and he needs to do a lot of extra work compared to others to earn another title shot given his particular situation.

He's done the extra work by rebounding after the loss to Adesanya by beating two guys who otherwise would have gotten title shots with wins over him. His best wins trump any wins Vettori has. Vettori who is the only other viable contender has one quality win in his entire streak. Whittaker beating Gastelum, the guy who gave Adesanya his toughest fight at MW will simply solidify that. I never remotely said performance was the sole factor, of course there are other factors like reliability, the ability to draw etc, but I will say performance should the the most significant factor. And if there's such a worry about Whittaker's reliability let Vettori fight on the same card against Till with a win to confirm he's next in line, and can act as a back up should anything happen.