Why is Rashad Evans being considered for a title shot?

[pjswmkj]

it's if he beats bader

 

[freaky]

Because he was a contender before the hiatus and with a win proving that he still got it should set him up for the title. Also you can think of it the other way around. Maybe Rashad is the test for Bader. Maybe they are giving Bader an easy chance at the title if you think so poorly of Rashad.

 

[BROWNPRIDE]

If Bader gets a finish he should get the next crack at dc or gus for the belt, but if its a zzzz fight then no.

 

[Great Angus]

They really screwed up the division by not giving Bader the title shot, tbh.

What should have happened was:

- Cormier/Bader - Bader has the best winning streak in the division and was mathematically the next contender
- Gus/Glover - both were coming off two recent losses but as top 5 fighters should be fighting to maintain relevancy in the division, and potentially fight the winner of OSP/Manuwa
- OSP/Manuwa - the two best 'prospects' of the division coming off wins should have fought it out to see who continues surging towards a title shot
- Rumble/Blachowicz - both coming off losses but clearly the UFC wants to keep Rumble in the picture so this would have been a good tune-up for him
- Evans/Jackson II - Jackson is barely back into the UFC and Evans hasn't fought in a long time, both talk a big enough game to sell a fight though so albeit a complete lack of relevance, it could have been at the very least worthy of a co-main

I had no issues with Shogun/Nogueira, and the Evans/Jackson winner would have been ideal to fight Shogun who ultimately won. Also didn't have any issue with Cummins/Feijao.

Unfortunately, we have now killed off an interesting, if flawed, prospect in OSP, and Glover is now in the title picture even with two very recent back-to-back losses. Evans is also undeserving in his title contention after an extended period on the bench, and it is highly likely that Manuwa is going to be knocked out of the equation as a prospect if he gets belted by Rumble.

Manuwa and OSP will fade from contention by being thrown to the wolves too early, a decent contender like Bader could very well lose his shot, Gus is getting a title shot on the back of a convincing loss, and Evans and Glover are somehow in very close contention. All of these reshuffles simply to cater for the fact that the UFC didn't want Bader to fight for a shot. I don't even like Bader at all, but honestly he was the most deserving contender and having him fight for the title would have been a decent placeholder while the rest of the division sorts itself out (e.g. Gus/Glover winner fights OSP/Manuwa winner, Rumble/Blachowicz winner fights Cummins/Feijao winner, Evans/Jackson winner fights Shogun/Nogueira winner).

I agree with your fights. Same crap is happening in the HW division with Cain getting the shot over Arlovski.

 

[ChoJinn]

@the mack: well reasoned.

I wonder if, had Jones not run over the pregnant lady, the LHW situation would have been much different. He needed to move up anyway, imho, but it seems as though we have the same pool of ok/old fighters fighting over nothing; everyone knows Bones beats all of them.

Look forward to OSP/Rumble/Jimi Manuwa keeping things mildly interesting. With OSP/Rumble, the problem seems more psychological than physical.

 

[Paradigm]

They really screwed up the division by not giving Bader the title shot, tbh.

What should have happened was:

- Cormier/Bader - Bader has the best winning streak in the division and was mathematically the next contender
- Gus/Glover - both were coming off two recent losses but as top 5 fighters should be fighting to maintain relevancy in the division, and potentially fight the winner of OSP/Manuwa
- OSP/Manuwa - the two best 'prospects' of the division coming off wins should have fought it out to see who continues surging towards a title shot
- Rumble/Blachowicz - both coming off losses but clearly the UFC wants to keep Rumble in the picture so this would have been a good tune-up for him
- Evans/Jackson II - Jackson is barely back into the UFC and Evans hasn't fought in a long time, both talk a big enough game to sell a fight though so albeit a complete lack of relevance, it could have been at the very least worthy of a co-main

I had no issues with Shogun/Nogueira, and the Evans/Jackson winner would have been ideal to fight Shogun who ultimately won. Also didn't have any issue with Cummins/Feijao.

Unfortunately, we have now killed off an interesting, if flawed, prospect in OSP, and Glover is now in the title picture even with two very recent back-to-back losses. Evans is also undeserving in his title contention after an extended period on the bench, and it is highly likely that Manuwa is going to be knocked out of the equation as a prospect if he gets belted by Rumble.

Manuwa and OSP will fade from contention by being thrown to the wolves too early, a decent contender like Bader could very well lose his shot, Gus is getting a title shot on the back of a convincing loss, and Evans and Glover are somehow in very close contention. All of these reshuffles simply to cater for the fact that the UFC didn't want Bader to fight for a shot. I don't even like Bader at all, but honestly he was the most deserving contender and having him fight for the title would have been a decent placeholder while the rest of the division sorts itself out (e.g. Gus/Glover winner fights OSP/Manuwa winner, Rumble/Blachowicz winner fights Cummins/Feijao winner, Evans/Jackson winner fights Shogun/Nogueira winner).

great post...rare on sherdog nowadays.