"Apparently we now have guys turning down fights."
That was Dana White's commentary regarding today's announcement that Lyoto Machida has now refused a title shot against UFC World Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones.
Thankfully, plenty of fighters are willing to take their shot at a champion, as Vitor Belfort is moving back up to 205 pounds to be the replacement.
I'm not really sold on Belfort having a great shot here, especially since his fight with Anderson Silva for the middleweight title wound up ending with one swift front snap kick.
That said, he has a wealth of experience, is a devastating striker and possesses a complete MMA game.
This refusing of fights is an irritation and White needs to make sure his contracts have a "You will fight whatever opponent Joe Silva puts in front of you clause." Now, I am willing to make allowances this time because the fights are on eight days' notice in the first case, and Machida just fought this past month.
All that said, it is a shame that this is happening. It may be that UFC will have to stick to one PPV per month and just load up on free TV cards with mid- to low-level guys. In that circumstance, you'll have every title defended twice at least and every PPV and Fox card could have a title shot.
I'll be watching the next card, but mostly for the first Flyweight title bout. Hopefully the UFC can figure a way around this madness.
-- 'Like' the blog's Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/#!/SeanNetworkBlogs
-- Follow my Twitter at twitter.com/seantherebel
No comments:
Post a Comment