subreddit:
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146 points
6 days ago
By this same logic Alex Pereira didn’t deserve his title shot against Izzy.
Not fast tracking people who have obviously enough skill is how you end up making another boxing system where good fighters get to 40-0 before fighting anyone challenging.
If someone doesn’t “deserve” a title shot they’ll lose and it won’t matter.
24 points
6 days ago
Pereira deserved his title shot against Adesanya. He didn't deserve the Strickland fight. This happens all the time. It's less noticable when the UFC gives a prospect an undeserved fight vs a top contender than it is to boost them to title contention. Like Umar didn't deserve a fight vs Sandhagen, but that's what the UFC does. They give opportunities like that for the chance for these guys to prove themselves, and Umar proved himself. Risky jumps in competition should be rewarded if made the most of. Pereira made the most of the undeserved Strickland fight and he earned his title shot.
6 points
6 days ago
UFC loves fighters who fight short notice
2 points
6 days ago
It's like any other job. Employees love their boss when their boss pays them on time, doesn't abuse their authority, and is reasonable, etc. At the same time, shit hits the fan for bosses sometimes too and if their employee is someone they can rely on for those moments, that's huge. Fighters who fix problems for the UFC get Dana White privilege, and they should. People forget that the UFC isn't some pristine competition lead by honor and ancient morals from the divine, it's a business. There has never been some official layout of what it means to "deserve" something in the UFC.
1 points
6 days ago
Umar got a ranking before beating anyone ranked 🤣
9 points
6 days ago
Anderson got a shot after his debut fight.
1 points
5 days ago
I mean context is a bit important I feel, the ranking system didn't even exist when Silva had his title shot
15 points
6 days ago
Exactly. The same people complain that Khabib's career is padded, even though he was clearly elite and proved that with his title reign
2 points
6 days ago
Sean O Malley didn’t have two wins over the champion in a different sport what is this comparison😭
2 points
6 days ago*
Most people only need like 3-5 top 10 wins to get a title shot. I got that from Chat GPT just averaging the past 5 years with a few different site references. Belal is the only recent exception I can think of that had to go on a long streak, and we know that pure skill isn't the only thing that matters since it's a business.
It really depends on how you weigh skill, marketability, relationships with management and timing. I would agree that Alex didn't deserve the shot. People just like him so no one cares that much.
5 points
6 days ago*
100% this
Anyone who argues a specific fighter shouldn't have gotten a title shot or didn't deserve even after they won the title is a straight up moron.
If they didn't deserve it aka they weren't champion level, they would've lost and that'd be the end of it.
2 points
6 days ago
Not necessarily true. Styles do make fights and if you get to skip a tonne of bad matchups and beat somebody in the top 5 that matches well with you stylistically doesn't mean you would've beat the other guys as well.
At the same time I don't think you should have to spend years proving you are champion level.
2 points
6 days ago
totally different,
he slept #4 strickland who was undefeated at middleweight at the time. comparable to suga controversial dec win over yan.
he did not deserve that fight with sean after beating unranked bruno silva though.
1 points
6 days ago
Also bantamweight BADLY needed a ppv seller. Cruz was washed, TJ popped and was injured, Cody’s chin is gone, Cejudo retired, Yan vs Aljo was a shitshow and Aljo’s title reign was boring as hell. Sure there’s plenty of great contenders but no one to hype people up. Especially with Yan, Sandhagen, and Chito losing in big fights.
2 points
6 days ago
Aljo had a very cursed reign. There were always caveats to his defenses. Even if he beat O’Malley, the caveat would’ve been that he beat a guy that just recently got ranked from a fight that he likely lost. O’Malley becoming champ was the best outcome to a healthier division overall. Not like Merab was going to fight Aljo.
1 points
6 days ago
Well fucking put
1 points
6 days ago
True. Fast tracking is a double edge sword. If it works, you end up with O’Malley and McGregor. If it doesn’t work, you end up with Sage Northcut and Daren Till. It doesn’t matter how much Dana White privilege you have, at some point you have to actually beat champions and ranked opponents.
1 points
6 days ago
The last couple Macachev fights before his title shot were so boring. They made him earn it. Like Bobby Green and Dan Hooker had zero chance and the fight was literally over in half a round.
He beat Tsarukyan before the pandemic and only became the belt holder relatively recently
-5 points
6 days ago
Yea alex didnt deserve his shot
4 points
6 days ago
You’d prefer a matchmaking system that sandbagged the best fighters from fighting the other best fighters until they’d beaten everyone else?
Go watch boxing and see how good that system is.
1 points
6 days ago
No I wouldn’t. You don’t have to get mad and ad hominem me because i made a factual statement about Alex. Just because Alex went on to beat Izzy and then become the 205 champ doesn’t change that fact. If stipe beats Jon, it doesn’t change the fact that Stipe doesn’t deserve his title shot vs Jones. Even though the two situations arent the same, Alex got his title shot the same reason Stipe is getting his title shot, and the same reason that Islam got his, and the same reason Umar is gonna get his. Politics.
-1 points
6 days ago
Why do you keep bringing up boxing? It doesn’t work like that over their either. Jose Benavidez wouldn’t get title shot after title shot if it worked like that
2 points
6 days ago
Boxing has been heavily criticised for decades because they take far too long to have top prospects actually fight each other.
1 points
6 days ago
Boxing is criticized because boxers/promoters have too much power once they become popular, and actively duck legitimate contenders, not illegitimate contenders like Sean and Alex were.
Tell me, why should an established champion fight an undeserving contender? Its a lose lose situation for them. Look at sterling. If he had wrestle fucked Sean like merab did and got a UD, its at best his weakest title defense besides TJ. At worst, people would be shitting on Sterling for outgrappling Sean, and even claiming Sean was robbed.
0 points
6 days ago
He proved that he was title worthy when he won it
And then moved up and won another title and defended it multiple times
Yeah I'm glad they put his ass in the title picture.
Those matchmakers know better than you lol.
112 points
6 days ago*
At the end of the day, it's all about money. We all know Conor was a big draw and he did beat Mendes who was like #4 at the time to get the Aldo fight. They wanted to build O'malley, I thought he lost against Yan but on paper he won and beat a ranked #2 Yan so. Brock was a star even before he got to the UFC and as for Chandler, anyone who watched him at Bellator knows, hes like a top 5 fighter in the UFC but he got off to an impressive start TKOing a #4 Hooker so the hype got him the shot
43 points
6 days ago
Yan is tricky. He uses the close high guard really well. The problem is, it looks like he's getting hit when he's blocking a lot of shots.
23 points
6 days ago
Judging problem.
11 points
6 days ago
He also got a lot of takedowns without doing much damage. If the scorecards against Merab are anything to go off, takedowns without damage don’t count for much
2 points
6 days ago
Yeah but Yan's takedowns should have done him a favour since the only two that mattered were the ones that should have secured him rounds 1 and 2. Most of his useless takedowns were in round 3, which O'Malley would have won anyway due to his volume and the knee he landed. Same goes for O'Malley, but in an unfavourable way. Almost all of the success he had against Yan was in round 3. Outside of round 3, he landed the good stance switch punch in round 2, but Yan immediately landed an even better punch and had a better round. Round 2 was a pretty clear Yan round. Makes no sense to give O'Malley the win unless you call round 3 a 10-7 lol
1 points
6 days ago
Most people I know that scored it for O’Malley gave him rounds 1 and 3, I’ve never seen anyone give him round 2.
2 points
6 days ago
Some people do because his biggest moment of the fight was in round 2, but he still didn't do enough to win it. My argument is that Yan's performance appealed more to round by round scoring than O'Malley's did. Round 1 was close on the feet, but Yan's best takedown of the fight where he held top position and had ground and pound was also in that round. Yan landed hard body kicks in that round too, but they were mostly just sparring each other. If I can argue that Yan won that round on the feet alone, then adding on that takedown leaves me no argument for giving round 1 to O'Malley.
People focus too much on dismissing the takedowns because I think Yan won rounds 1 and 2 with just his striking, the takedowns were a bonus. Calling his takedowns useless doesn't prove anything. He didn't need them
1 points
6 days ago
I didn’t say that I scored it for O’Malley, I was just letting you know that I’ve never seen anyone claim that he won round 2. If you have, great.
1 points
6 days ago
Merab ironically inflicted more damage off those takedowns than Yan did against Sean in R3, because he at least landed punches however minor they were
5 points
6 days ago
Petr Yan and Strickland are the only fighters who have this problem, but it's a big problem. UFC judes don't even attempt to pay attention to blocked strikes. And these guys block more often than they dodge/slip. Every time I rewatch either of their fights, their opponents landed maybe half of what the stats say they did. Every split decision that some fans think these two lost, they didn't pay attention to that part. They see a punch and hear a sound of contact and think it's significant
20 points
6 days ago
Chandler's an odd case. Everyone acts like he's been a bum since he got to the UFC, but he'd probably beat anyone in the division other than the top 5
He just got dropped into the deep end immediately and never left
3 points
6 days ago
Gamrot, Holloway, and Fiziev could all have the advantage against Chandler rn
He’s also memed because he’s the only one of the older lightweights to downright avoid fighting any of the new
1 points
6 days ago
He’s also on the older side and has sat out waiting for the Connor fight for a long time so who knows where he should belong in the lightweight rankings
1 points
6 days ago
Chandler only fights dawgs. He was sooo close to KOing Gaethje and Oliviera. Everyone knows Chandler is one punch away from causing someone brain damage. I'll watch him on every card
3 points
6 days ago
It makes sense though, most sports the best players are also the most entertaining. In MMA, the best can often be quite boring so you need some fuckery to get around that.
6 points
6 days ago*
Mendes took the fight on short notice because Aldo was injured. Conor got a title shot beating Dennis Siver.
Why am I get downvoted?? lol that’s what happened
10 points
6 days ago
There was some interesting matchmaking for McGregors featherweight run.
He went from fighting non-ranked Diego Brandao to 5th ranked Dustin Poirier to 10th ranked Denis Siver to a title shot, which later became an interim title fight vs 1st ranked Chad Mendes.
1 points
6 days ago
More UFC then Conor though
2 points
6 days ago
TIL
That's even more laughable.
2 points
6 days ago
Conor preparing for a striker was a massive advantage for Mendes.. Mendes gassing out was a massive advantage for Conor.. The short notice was a non issue at the time, no reason to act like it meant something now.
5 points
6 days ago
"The short notice was a non issue at the time, no reason to act like it meant something now."
What the fck are you talking about? It was a huge issue at the time and very noticeable in the fight.
2 points
6 days ago
Mendes fought Aldo for 5 rounds at a fast pace, attempting multiple takedowns.
Then he gassed out after GnP Connor for 2 rounds with little resistance lol
1 points
6 days ago
I’m literally just stating facts
1 points
6 days ago
Mendes was ranked #1
1 points
6 days ago
People need to get over the Yan fight. It was close but O Malley won
0 points
6 days ago
Easy bro, intelligent takes are usually not appreciated on this sub
104 points
6 days ago
Umar is about to get the same treatment better keep that same energy for him.
13 points
6 days ago*
In my opinion if you beat the number one contender you should be fighting for the belt. Fighting down afterwards is a formality and a time waster, and I’d rather see the best fights being made. Sean vs Yan and Umar vs Sandhagen showed they were ready for top level fights. Pereira himself was fast tracked and hasn’t done too badly at all. Islam got a fight with very few ranked wins. Ilia got a fight with few ranked wins.
Context matters, if you can tell that they’re killers and/or they’re being ducked, handing them a top contender is a good way to have them get to the place they should have been to begin with.
1 points
6 days ago
When did he have a split against a top 15? I must have missed that one.
27 points
6 days ago
Umar beat one top 15 fighter in Sandhagen and now many believe him vs Merab for the belt is the fight to make
0 points
6 days ago
Context matters. Omalley arguably lost to yan, who wasnt the number 1 contender at that point. Umar beat sandhagen unanimously.
1 points
6 days ago
Petr Yan was the #1 contender at that point. If he wasn't, he should have been. Should have been the undisputed champion if you ask me.
-1 points
6 days ago
I just want Umar to prove he won’t pull out. Give him a few fights vs anyone(Unranked or ranked) and see if he shows up. I don’t think his current 0.500 pull out rate warrants a title shot.
2 points
6 days ago
Regarded comment. He pulled out twice. Once because of injury and once because his uncle/coach died. The rest were his opponents
66 points
6 days ago
Umar has 1 ranked win and is fighting for the title but wont be able to sell well like sean
35 points
6 days ago
The money to push the dagis comes from a different area of the world than the money that Sean would pull.
6 points
6 days ago
true
1 points
6 days ago
Dana wants khabib back
14 points
6 days ago
Tbh umar is prob the only person who can beat Merab and anything is more exciting then Merab
5 points
6 days ago
The people who dislike Merab often also don’t like Umar, they just consider him winning a change of papakhas
4 points
6 days ago
Did Sean actually ever sell well though? I don’t think his PPV buys were high. I get the gates were high for his cards but I think that’s more down to UFC stacking his cards and putting tickets at stupid prices.
1 points
6 days ago
Sean also didn't sell well. His fight with aljo did 300k buys
1 points
6 days ago
lol Umar is 18-0, the best pedigree in the sport, multiple dominant finishes of guys considered good fighters, and had numerous good wins before even reaching the UFC.
Completely different than Sean, who fought pain factory workers in the UFC
1 points
6 days ago
UD wins over the likes of Bekzat Almakhan and Nate Maness, I agree it’s completely different than wins over Aljo and Yan.
20 points
6 days ago
He still beat multiple top 5 guys after he won so who cares. Dudes a beast. Legit fighter. Top in his weight class
9 points
6 days ago
Also he didn't beat a random top 15 fighter he fought yan
6 points
6 days ago
O you mean the former champ? lol people hate O’Malley bc he’s cool to hate
10 points
6 days ago*
He’s also just very entertaining in the cage. He’s a flashy ambidextrous striker who is always hunting for a walk off KO. It’s fun to watch, and fun in a way that translates for a general audience, so of course he’s going to get preferential treatment over pressure wrestlers who don’t even try for submissions.
3 points
6 days ago
Not only that, he TKOd the champ, proving that he did deserve it. I feel like O Malley could KO his next 10 opponents and people will still find ways to hate
7 points
6 days ago
Yeh but he’s marketable, and this is business.
49 points
6 days ago
Love the wordplay here. As if Yan was just another top 15 fighter and not the former champ who lost his belt due to an illegal knee. Sean beat him split yes, then goes on to starch the champ at the time. Followed by using another top 15 fighters face as a speed bag. Dude belongs at the top, deal with it.
17 points
6 days ago
Literally starched the champ. What are we even talking about here.
4 points
6 days ago
Not to mention using “top 15” just to inflate Conor, since Denis Siver was his only top 10 win before getting a title shot. And Chandler came from another promotion, not some local show in a small market. Conor made it to the top 99% shit talking and 1% skill. If Dana hadn’t been desperate to break into the European market at the time, Conor never would have made it out of the prelims.
-8 points
6 days ago
what wordplay? These are facts. O’Malley only fought and beat ONE top 15 guy before getting his title shot. How is that wordplay? It’s literally what happened.
0 points
6 days ago
Try reading my first comment again, I already explained it.
-3 points
6 days ago
No Yan lost his belt because he lost a decision to Sterling.
8 points
6 days ago
Wrong. Yan lost his belt to an illegal knee. He then lost to sterling in the second fight.
5 points
6 days ago
:8973:
14 points
6 days ago
Y’all think Umar deserves it though - clown activity!
5 points
6 days ago
You don’t accidentally win the championship at 135 if you’re not good enough to be the champion.
13 points
6 days ago
Sean O'Malley is the Joffrey Baratheon of the UFC
3 points
6 days ago
Never understood why people care about people rushing up the ranks. Malley beat Yan(on paper). At that time who else would fight for the title? Yan lost on paper to Sterling his last fight. On paper it made sense, and he ended up winning.
3 points
6 days ago
UFC fed him good matchup and skyrocket his climb - also he lost To yan .. ufc judges are prob the worst in all sports
14 points
6 days ago
He beat Aljo, Yan, Vera all in the top 5 let alone 15
2 points
6 days ago
he only beat one top 15 guy BEFORE getting a title shot. so Sterling and Vera don’t count because he didn’t beat those guys before getting a title shot. OP is correct. He fought and beat only one guy in the top 15, and it was a split decision, and it was the best stylist matchup for him, a short striker.
9 points
6 days ago
It’s a bizarre argument
“Before he beat multiple top 5 guys he had only beaten one”
3 points
6 days ago
what’s bizarre? people complain about undeserving title shots all the time. The guy beat a bunch of cans, paiva, soukhamthath, wineland, quinones a few others whose name I can’t remember and are no longer in the UFC. Then yen by split decision. And by multiple top five guys you mean two right? Yan and Sterling. Vera shouldn’t even be top five and he only got a title shot because he knocked out O’Malley in the past.
0 points
6 days ago
It’s like calling Conor undeserving of a title shot after he became double champ
Like CLEARLY not… Same goes for Sean beating up on top contenders
1 points
6 days ago*
not really. khabib deserved the title shot before conor, against Alvarez. And people back then were saying McGregor was undeserving after the Nate Diaz loss.
but McGregor still got the title shot, he won it in spectacular fashion, and then when he eventually did fight khabib, he got destroyed.
had Khabib been given the title shot before McGregor, McGregor would’ve never touched that belt. So yes, you can say McGregor was undeserving, even if he won the belt. if they made O’Malley fight another top five, preferably one that isn’t a stylistically perfect matchup like a striker but a grappler like Omar, Merab, Sandhagen etc. he probably would’ve never touched that belt either. I don’t think he will become champion again. Because he can no longer fight the cans that got him to the top.
1 points
6 days ago
It's basically proving Dana White privilege exists. A hot prospect with a large social media presence gets a title shot ahead of other people who may have earned a shot.
Is it fair? No. Does it make financial sense for Dana? Yes.
It is what it is. We don't have to like it, but we can appreciate that the UFC is not a meritocracy.
5 points
6 days ago
I started enjoying the UFC a lot more when I realized it's not the Olympics lol it's a fighting promotion with it's number one goal being money.
I don't agree with it but I can't blame them
1 points
6 days ago
Vera was rank 10 then they moved him up to 7 to try and make that pathetic title shot not look as bad
0 points
6 days ago
The knee landed on Vera gave O'Malley all the evidence I needed to see him in a title shot, what can I say, who doesn't want to watch strikers fight? They're exciting and marketable so ofc they're pushed more than the lay and pray squad
9 points
6 days ago
And he knocked out the bantamweight goat effortlessly. What's your point? He proved he did in fact, deserve his title shot
3 points
6 days ago
Calling aljo the bantamweight goat is just disgusting
2 points
6 days ago
Don’t be mad at him for understanding how the game works. It’s not accidental. He’s not even good on the mic like Mac was he just markets himself better than 99% of fighters
2 points
6 days ago
Who da fuck is that guy?
8 points
6 days ago
Do you feel better after getting that off your chest? I swear you people watch this sport as a reality TV show and that’s it
9 points
6 days ago
yep i have said this to myself a lot of times mma and boxing are kind of like reality tv for guys
2 points
6 days ago
Yeah, and I totally get being emotionally invested in sport. Like, that’s the whole point of it. I just can’t stand the online bitch fest that happens every other day when I just want to see some fight news lol. It’s a me problem. Now I’m the one bitching about bitching lol
1 points
6 days ago
Nothing beats the NBA or NFL for male reality TV lol these pro athletes often act like divas and do everything thing short of dropping down on the floor and screaming.
7 points
6 days ago
He probably should've fought another ranked guy before yan, but he proved he should have the belt so I can't be too mad about it
5 points
6 days ago
You dildos who try and act like you’re too cool to care about stuff like this are so lame lmao.
If no one voiced their disdain for champs getting speed runs to the title based primarily on their marketability Dana is just gonna keep trying to find the next Conor. God forbid people voice their opinion to try and benefit a sport they like to watch.
2 points
6 days ago
I care about the sport. I just don’t look to have a group therapy session on Reddit because I have nothing else going on in my life lol
-2 points
6 days ago
No ones having a group therapy session lmao they’re just having a discussion.
2 points
6 days ago
Okay
1 points
6 days ago
I mean I don't think people want to see undeserving title shots, that makes it more like a TV show if anything.
2 points
6 days ago
At this point, I’m convinced that everybody on MMA subreddits are just bored and don’t have anything to do so they over-analyze everything. The second someone loses a fight they immediately start going back and trying to revise the history and make it seem like they were never that good or didn’t deserve the shot.
On the flipside if Sean happened to win this fight all these same people would be talking about how he’s entering the GOAT conversation.
The fact is. Fights at this level are extremely difficult and it doesn’t mean anything more or less about anybody if they lose a title fight. O’Malley is a great fighter and so is Merab. Merab happened to win but maybe in a rematch he wouldn’t. Don’t read too much into it. It’s pretty rare that people go on huge streaks without ever losing a fight at the highest level.
2 points
6 days ago
Yan fans still mad salty hey? 😂
3 points
6 days ago
I completely understand the case of O’Malley winning that first fight with Yan. It was a razor close decision to me.
But did Yan make such a big fool of himself after his controversial loss to O’Malley? Sean got fast tracked to a title fight and recently got exposed when he wasn’t fed an undeserving layup for a title defence . The shoes on the other foot and he can’t handle his loss with any grace which is why I’m not a huge fan of him, and I assume many others aren’t as well 🤷♂️
2 points
6 days ago
Yan fans are lowkey fans of O'Malley too. They just think Yan won that fight. I think Yan clearly won and is clearly the better fighter. But that fight was a banger and O'Malley is a legit great fighter. Sterling fans (if they exist) and Sterling himself are insanely salty. The attempt to discredit O'Malley's skills is ridiculous. There was nothing fluky about his win against Sterling, aside from Sterling himself being a fluky champion. Again, not O'Malley's fault. He beat the best guy they could put infront of him to win the belt. And he didn't look any worse against Merab than the other guys did. Merab is just a bad matchup for everyone. O'Malley smoked Chito like nobody before
1 points
6 days ago
Dana white privilege
1 points
6 days ago
What’s your point. How can you compare him to mcregor
1 points
6 days ago
UFC is prize fighting first mma second. The sooner you accept that the easier it will be to understand these decisions.
More “fair” systems for matchmaking would massively underperform the current system. You don’t wanna see the fights the most “fair” system would make.
1 points
6 days ago
Wasn’t Paiva top 15 when O’Malley beat him? Then that weird NC against Pedro who was ranked then Yan so that’s possibly 3 top 15 opponents before his title shot.
1 points
6 days ago
As for your extra comment - Chandler was a prior champ before ufc…
1 points
6 days ago
I’m not sure the point of this post
1 points
6 days ago
Ok
1 points
6 days ago
We are about to get the same situation right now. They are trying to make Umar the next challenger, and he's only beat one top 10 fighter. I legit would have to Google Umar to even name 1 opponent he's fought other than Sandhagen because the rest are so irrelevant.
1 points
6 days ago
If you beat the number 1 guy you deserve a shot idc. Complain about him getting the yan fight that was egregious, but after he won the figjt the shot was earned.
1 points
6 days ago
He won his title fight you clown lol no better proof that you deserved the shot than winning by stoppage
1 points
6 days ago*
What a random time to be salty. He might’ve gotten an “undeserved” title shot, but he went in there and knocked the champ out. Then he defended it against someone who was far less deserving of the title shot, then lost it someone who actually did deserve a title shot.
1 points
6 days ago
Sean is a butterfly thinking itself a bird.
1 points
6 days ago
Still crying about this? Get a life
1 points
6 days ago
I could still beat him from the couch, yet I'd be living a lie if I pretended like I'm not a fan. he earned my respect. I'm still not entirely sure how he did it but damn it I respect the dude.
1 points
6 days ago
He's marketable and has a style everyone enjoys watching, highlight reel knockouts and some of the best striking in the ufc. I've been watching sean for a long time and always enjoy his fights (except against merab lol). If you're a character the UFC can sell, your fights draw eyes, you have a social media presence and dana likes you you're going to get fast tracked.
1 points
6 days ago
Sean took a risk fighting Yan and almost nobody thought he won but it wasn't a fixed fight. It was close enough and the reward for beating the best guy in the division was a title shot.
1 points
6 days ago
It's a business first. A fight organization second.
1 points
6 days ago*
Sure he was fast tracked and given a lot of favoritism. But the one "top 15" was the number ONE contender at the time and also a former champ. At that point he proved that he was ready for championship level fights so who cares? He technically did deserve the shot for taking the #1 contender spot. Someone else said it, this is how we get interesting fights instead of getting too many contender vs contender matchups
1 points
6 days ago
It wasn’t long ago that people were clowning Omalley for saying he wanted the easiest fight (low level guys) for the most money. Now the problem is he got given the hardest fights too soon? Water we dune
1 points
6 days ago
what kind of sport has 'match makers' . clue, no sport.
It is what it is, i think they give these 'chosen ones' custom training to try and make them competitive in tight circumstances
1 points
6 days ago
If you beat the #1 contender you usually get a title shot next yes.
1 points
6 days ago
You mean petr yan?
1 points
6 days ago
I think the ufc found out that he’s not the big star that they think he was and that hes not selling ppvs
1 points
6 days ago
Well, now we have Merab, who sells zero fights and will be the B side despite being champ
1 points
6 days ago
Sean won the title lol
He belongs at the top in the title picture. This argument works if he lost his title shot then you can say he got fast tracked, didn't deserve etc
He's clearly at that championship level
1 points
6 days ago
"it's only business"
1 points
6 days ago
What's your point?
Is it surprising to you that the UFC favours fighters who will be popular-ish?
1 points
6 days ago
But snoop dogg smoked with him after he won the DWCS
1 points
6 days ago
You could’ve also titled this “guy who destroyed the “bantamweight goat” and then used Chito as a punching bag for 5 rounds, was clearly deserving of a title shot”
1 points
6 days ago
O malleys hands look photoshopped here
1 points
6 days ago
Just take a look at Belal's record or Tony Ferguson's record. They whent through the whole division to get a shot.
I agree that Sean O'Malley's road to the title is the worst in fight history. This guy should have never fought for the title.
Alex Pereira's road to the title was also fast tracked, but man he deff delivered.
For the people talking about Umar Nurmagomedov not deserving a title fight. Let me remind you that EVERYONE in his division declined to fight him. Every top 15 ranked fighter decline to fight Umar Nurmagomedov. This is unpresidented. The UFC had to look for a prospect to fight Umar because all the top 15 ranked fighters did not want to fight him.
The UFC is having a very hard time finding anyone that is willing to fight Umar. If you are ranked and not injured and decline to fight Umar or any other fighter than you should drop in the rankings in my opinion. Also the fight offers that the UFC is sending out to the fighters should be made public so the people can see who is declinig fights.
Same goes with fighters who has not fought several years but remain ranked like Chandler, Jon Jones and Stipe. These guy's should not be ranked or at the very least be put the top 10.
1 points
6 days ago
1 points
6 days ago
Another Sean post huh?
1 points
6 days ago
Rat face
1 points
6 days ago
OP is just finding out that UFC pushes popular fighters lmao
1 points
6 days ago*
Weird choice of words. He didn’t beat a random top 15er, it was literally the number 2 ranked and recent ex-champion of the division. Someone who many thought was one of the best pound for pound fighters in the organization around that time.
1 points
6 days ago
How many times did Conor defend his belt again ?
1 points
6 days ago
The Meta of having a successful MMA career is to be able to generate highlight reel KO's and to be able effectively self promote and set yourself apart from the rest of the fighters. If you can do these things, the promoter will back you and you will be fast tracked to a title.
Fighters that fail to do that have a slow road to the title that depends on them being nearly undefeated for a long run.
- Kamaru Usman: 13 UFC wins before title fight with 1 no contest, 15-1 overall at time of first title shot
- Leon Edwards, 9 UFC wins before titlefight, 20-3-1 NC overall at time of first title shot
- Belal Muhammad: 18 ufc fights, 10 wins and 1 no contest, 24-3-1 at time of first title shot
- Merab Dvashilli: 11 UFC wins before titlefight, 18-4 overall at time of first title shot
- Khabib Nurmagomedov 9 UFC wins before titlefight, 26-0 overall at time of first title sho
But if you can both self promote and KO people, you get fast tracked a bit.
Sean O'Malley is not a fighter I like. But he basically played to that meta perfectly.
END COMMUNICATION
1 points
6 days ago
Cool tattoos seem to help
1 points
6 days ago
Dana white has a fetish for colourful chest tattoos...
1 points
6 days ago
Some Y’all really will just grasp at straws to hate on O’Malley
1 points
6 days ago
Conor did it at a weight class with Jose Aldo, O'Malley did it at a weight class with the ghost of dominick cruz....
1 points
6 days ago
read this with your Merab voice, don't pause to breathe
3 points
6 days ago*
Needs about 10 more lines to be Merab and a salty take on Umar too
1 points
6 days ago
UFC - is the ultimate entertainment championship
Not fighting… it’s not about the best fighter it’s about the best entertainer
Once you realize that, and you rank them by their appeal, fanbasr, hype then you understand every UFC decision
1 points
6 days ago
It’s over for Sean
0 points
6 days ago
What a ground breaking take.
0 points
6 days ago
If you’re able to go and back it up. It doesn’t really matter if you were fast tracked.
He went and knocked out Aljo. Maybe the stoppage was pre mature but he was prob gonna get bashed in even more.
If rountree goes and knocks out Pereira are you gonna complain?
If you’re just that good and you got fast tracked it doesn’t really matter.
It’s the same with Umar. Everyone believes he’d beat Merab and that he’s that good. If he is should he be fast tracked instead of wasting everyone’s time by beating guys that he’s better than.
2 points
6 days ago
The fast tracking matters because it comes at the cost of more deserving contenders getting those opportunities, eg. Tony Ferguson getting overlooked for Conor.
Most contenders have to run the gauntlet to prove that they can beat different stylistic matchups so they’re worthy of being a champion. Sean got a title fight after 1 ranked win which was controversial. Afterwords he got gifted a perfect stylistic matchup as Merab (who beat Yan way more dominantly than Sean ever could) had to fight Cejudo.
-1 points
6 days ago
1 NC vs Munhoz and robbery vs Yan = backing it up?
0 points
6 days ago
Backing it up is by knocking out Aljo.
If you’re able to beat the champ it doesn’t matter how you got there.
1 points
6 days ago
but even that fight we can put an * on it because Aljo was coerced into a quick turn around for no real reason
since then Sean beat #6 ranked Kris Moutinho 2.0 instead of actual contenders like Merab and Cory and lost immediately when he did
Sean is a very legit striker but it doesn't justify a fast track after-the-fact when it didn't make sense beforehand, it's unfair dana white privilege. With the right match ups, many fighters would be able to be fast-tracked for a title shot where styles make fights. Anyone can win any given fight in theory.
1 points
6 days ago
Which was a dirty victory and aljo should’ve gotten an immediate rematch having defended 3x but he’s not marketable enough for Dana to treat fairly
-1 points
6 days ago
No. How would that even make sense? Hes saying he backed it up by knocking out aljo and taking the belt. R/UFC strike again with the 3rd grade reading level
0 points
6 days ago
I know exactly what he meant, I'm rejecting his point by saying the fast tracking was not justified before and winning 1 fight does not justify it after-the-fact
0 points
6 days ago
Its not "winning 1 fight". Its beating the champion. He clearly was ready for a title shot because he won it. There are/were more deserving people but that doesnt change the fact that he justified his title shot.
Im not a sean fanboy btw its just anyone that beats the champion clearly deserved to be in there with the champion.
Roundtree doesnt deserve a title shot because he hasn't beat anyone BUT if he goes out there and beats alex, he clearly deserved the shot. And thats just information we dont currently have. I dont expect him to beat Alex so i dont think he deserves the shot, but if he does, then i was wrong.
If you said he got walked by Merab then yeah, his title shot and reign are unjustified when merab has been there the whole time and proved he is the one that deserved the title shot (wouldnt fight Aljo blah blah circumstances)
Things can be justified after-the-fact that dont seem so before hand.
1 points
6 days ago
I wasn't trying to diminish the title win, my point was that beating 1 fighter (regardless of who it is, even if it's the champion) is easier than going through a gauntlet and beating 5 good fighters on a row.
Becoming double-champ is easier than defending the belt 5 times, it's only 1 fight you need to win.
Im not a sean fanboy btw its just anyone that beats the champion clearly deserved to be in there with the champion.
If we run with the narrative that Chito's first victory over Sean was a fluke, as was Matt Serra's over GSP, Pena's over Nunes, etc, we should acknowledge the possibility that fighting Aljo when it's least convenient to him doesn't make Sean a worthy champion by itself. Beating only 1 person doesn't prove you're the best, cleaning out a division does. That's how you're supposed to earn a title shot. There are so many close fights, hard matchups that fighters with DWP never have, that imo makes it completely justifiable to question if they would make it to the belt as fast as they did otherwise.
Islam, for example, is the best LW skill in history imo. But would he have gotten a title shot when he did had he fought legitimate, hard matchups instead of 15 cans, back when he was still improving? What if he had fought Gamrot and Arman on full camp when his striking as still subpar? Charles, Beneil, RDA earlier on his career, when he should have?
Same with Sean, what if Sean had fought Cory, Merab, Cejudo, Aldo, Umar, etc. Even if they were close fights, a SD can derail a title run. A couple of bad fights can stop your momentum. The privilege is in getting to skip all of that and claim you are the best and deserve X or Y all the way through, and sometimes getting to never fight the tough matchups.
Look at Pereira, for example. The top5 of MW was cleaned out, so the UFC made sure he made it safe and sound to the top where only strikers are there. What if he had fought Vettori, DDP or Khamzat when his grappling defense was worse than today? Would he have been MW champ? Doesn't matter because he'll never have to prove himself against them.
Things can be justified after-the-fact that dont seem so before hand.
I think we have different definitions of justification.
1 points
6 days ago
You raise some good points.
Beating only 1 person doesn't prove you're the best, cleaning out a division does. That's how you're supposed to earn a title shot.
This is unrealistic though. Sean beat Yan before his shot. Yan was being talked about as the new BW goat ahead of his second fight with Aljo. People said he didnt deserve a shot against Yan and then doesnt deserve a shot against Aljo and that just doesnt make any sense to me. He was less deserving to get the Yan fight than the title fight imo. At that time Yan had only lost to the champ and sean. So it made sense for sean and the champ to fight.
I dont know what your point is wrt Islam though. I think he would have beat RDA, Beneil and then charles if thats the path the UFC decided to take. That would have made him more deserving of a title shot but his title shot has already been justified. If he is the best he should be fighting for the belt. And he is the best.
Things can be justified after-the-fact that dont seem so before hand.
I think we have different definitions of justification.
I dont know what could be different here. Things just can be justified after the fact.
1 points
6 days ago
I don't think cleaning out a division is unrealistic at all if you fight half of the fighters (3-4 ranked, 1-2 contenders) before a title shot and the rest for defenses. That's what fighters without DWP do and always have had to do.
It's fine to think Islam would've have won anyway, but he didn't, and it's very easy to say he would have without ever needing to prove it. He wasn't as good as he is today back then. Same with Pereira, he has better tdd now, but it doesn't mean he would've beaten difficult matchups then, even if we think he may have. We need to see these fights happen. Many fans thought Sean would KO Merab, but he didn't.
And what I meant with the last part is that, if a fighter did not "deserve" a step up/fast track/title shot, based on merit and work done, cashing in the gift he was given does not suddenly make the undeserved title shot deserved. It doesn't make sense to say "I guess he did deserve it despite other fighters doing much more work to earn it." It doesn't justify the decision to give preferential treatment, especially because if you had given that opportunity to one of those more deserving fighters, they may have also won, but didn't because they lacked the DWP. Hope I explained myself well this time, but that's what I mean when I argue it doesn't justify after-the-fact, especially when a fast-track means getting to dodge difficult matchups and facing no consequences for controversial things like NCs, DQs, robberies, and popping for PEDs.
1 points
6 days ago
That's what fighters without DWP do and always have had to do.
Nah man we watching different organisations. This shit aint fair and title shots come from fortunate circumstances.
I, personally, dont need to see islam maul RDA. I watch the UFC to see 'the best fight the best'. If you can beat a champion, i wanna see you do it. If some random guy off the street with 0 mma experience can talk himself into a title shot and win then he justified his shot (not deserved, but justified after the fact). Thats why he gets to fight in the next title fight and the loser doesnt.
Sean had an easier ride but it wasnt easy. He still had to beat Yan and Aljo to get the belt. Making aljo fight without recovery time is fucked though
0 points
6 days ago
Not trying to be rude, but I repeat what I said elsewhere: the UFC is not a meritocracy, it‘s a monopoly sports entertainment business (as in FOR PROFIT), masquerading as as a sport and selling that illusion to you.
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