Worst manager/match making decision of all time

[toasty]

So Bryce getting convulsed by Josh didn't come as a surprise to me as people love to say, styles make fights. (side note glad Bryce seems to be ok that was nasty) I think a vastly overlooked part of success or failure in this sport is the fighter and his team choosing particular fights. I know nobody wants to duck and pride and fearlessness are a huge part of what makes these guys willing to get in the cage in the first place...But somebody on Bryce's team should have said, this is a very dangerous fight for us and there are other fights that will gain us as much in the rankings with less risk.....

So the question goes what was the worst management/fighter decision regarding taking a fight that was clearly a horrible matchup for them BEFORE the fight result...no 20 20 hindsight here please.

My pick would be The Gustafsson team taking Anthony Rumble Johnson after the Manuwa fight. He's coming off the razor thin decision loss to Jones, he beats a big time contender with dangerous power, and when I look at fight finder seems to have been undefeated at that point and instead of waiting for Jones 2 you accept a fight with a guy who might be the pound for pound hardest puncher in UFC history? No offense to the Mauler, but he was hittable, and when Rumble hit you, you wake up hours latter. Did they think home field advantage mattered in the cage, because losing in Stockholm probably made it worse to come back from. That was a fight that his team should have passed on for sure.....

Thoughts on others?

 

[Xoleth]

Bryce is #10
If he wants better rankings, he needs to fight better ranked fighters.
What top 10 fighters would have been a better choice?
Josh (older) and Giga (lack of wrestling) seem the most beatable from the top 10.

 

[tomjones]

Anything that comes out of John Kavanaghs mouth.

 

[toasty]

Bryce is #10
If he wants better rankings, he needs to fight better ranked fighters.
What top 10 fighters would have been a better choice?
Josh (older) and Giga (lack of wrestling) seem the most beatable from the top 10.

Kattar, Ortega and Allen stylewise and in my opinion....there would have been more opportunities for Bryce to implement his game with less danger of the one punch collapse

 

[PhilMcCavity]

Bryce has absolutely 0 stand up skills and a glass chin. Anyone who follows the sport new he was going to get switched off like that

 

[toasty]

Kattar, Ortega and Allen stylewise and in my opinion....there would have been more opportunities for Bryce to implement his game with less danger of the one punch collapse

actually thinking about that a couple of those guys are out for extended periods now aren't they.

but the real question is bad matchmaking decisions in past fights (edited)..

 

[don't ask]

I'm never going to fault someone for fighting a dangerous opponent instead of fucking around and trying to game the very-gameable UFC system.

 

[toasty]

I'm never going to fault someone for fighting a dangerous opponent instead of fucking around and trying to game the very-gameable UFC system.

to be clear I'm not deingrating Bryce, I'm saying his team could've looked for a better matchup.

When a top QB steps out of bounds instead of lowering the shoulder it is called "making a business decision" when a basketball star takes time off it is called "load management". fighters don't have that mentality but their teams need to make some business decisions for them.... Just like anybody that tells Tony he should take another fight is harming him, decisions like putting Gustafsson in with Johnson can ruin careers....and I'm pretty sure some of the UFC historians at this site can sight other examples better than mine

 

[don't ask]

to be clear I'm not deingrating Bryce, I'm saying his team could've looked for a better matchup.

When a top QB steps out of bounds instead of lowering the shoulder it is called "making a business decision" when a basketball star takes time off it is called "load management". fighters don't have that mentality but their teams need to make some business decisions for them.... Just like anybody that tells Tony he should take another fight is harming him, decisions like putting Gustafsson in with Johnson can ruin careers....and I'm pretty sure some of the UFC historians at this site can sight other examples better than mine

I agree with you, but would like to pretend the UFC's system isn't dog shit and want to give Bryce credit for taking this fight, even though I don't like him at all.

 

[jeff7b9]

He gets paid to fight and he just banked a lot of brownie points with a company that traditionally tends to reward that kind of shit.

Notice how guys like Cowboy or Kevin Holland don't get cut on 3+ fight losing streaks.

Emmett has been made to look old recently, it was arguably Bryces best shot to catapult up the rankings into higher profile fights with bigger paydays. A worthwhile risk that didn't pan out because fighting is dangerous.

 

[richardjohnson]

He really should have never taken the fight, even with a full camp Emmett is just a bad matchup for him.

Also like most fans I'm pretty desensitized to brutal KO's but for whatever reason watching that one made me uncomfortable. I hope Bryce is all good.

 

[MRT]

I'm sure there are worse 'all-time' mismatches...but a high profile miss comes to mind.

Thankfully didn't happen, but Nate-Khamzat was pretty terrible despite the circumstances on why it got made.

Good thing Khamzat is a clown and the fight fell through...instead we got blessed with a Nate sub over Tony, and he walked into a money boxing match with Jake Paul.

 

[killakillakilla]

This is one of those fights that it’s easy to say this stuff in hindsight but there’s a reason Bryce was the favorite going in. It was tougher to call before the bell rang. If it was obvious that Bryce was going to lose, we would all be rich now from betting the house on Emmett.

 

[g*r*b]

Even though he was famously durable, and even though his opponent had more of a volume-puncher reputation at the time....Fabio Maldonado should NEVER have agreed to sub in against Stipe Miocic.

 

[toasty]

This is one of those fights that it’s easy to say this stuff in hindsight but there’s a reason Bryce was the favorite going in. It was tougher to call before the bell rang. If it was obvious that Bryce was going to lose, we would all be rich now from betting the house on Emmett.

credit goes to those who do it before the fight,,,@DjolexMTL and others

 

[Kenny Powerth]

Tony taking a fight on a ridiculous win streak and next for the title

 

[JKS]

I think after how it turned out, you gotta put Volk/Islam 2 up there.

 

[Xoleth]

Kattar, Ortega and Allen stylewise and in my opinion....there would have been more opportunities for Bryce to implement his game with less danger of the one punch collapse

Just my two cents
Allen seems like a better wrester and striker than him.
Ortega probably wouldn't take that fight.
Kattar... yeah, I agree, maybe Kattar.

 

[toasty]

Just my two cents
Allen seems like a better wrester and striker than him.
Ortega probably wouldn't take that fight.
Kattar... yeah, I agree, maybe Kattar.

two cents doubles my net worth.....I'm not saying he beats Allen or any of them really, I'm saying they are the better "play" as far as the UFC ranking game goes. Every poker player has lost with a great hand to some fool that keeps making the wrong calls but getting the right cards.....but mostly playing the game right pays off.

@JKS call on Volk Islam @Kenny Powerth and @g*r*b have all given examples of fighters teams making the wrong call on an opponent though I image Volk pretty much called for that one himself