Should there be manditory contenders in MMA?

[boranbkk]

Not having rankings isn't good for the grassroots. Without rankings the top looks futher away and more out of reach than in reality it probably is to most grassroots fighters. Very discouraging if you're a young ambitous fighter.

Remember the fight game is all about the grassroots!!!!!

As an MMA outsider it looks to me like the UFC has a stangle hold on the sport with only their fighters and cards considered the elite which isn't good, it strangles the sport and can lock quality fighters out of the top tier of the sport where maybe they belong for unjust reasons such as personality conflicts.

You really need a rival organisation based in the east like OneFC but much bigger to counter balance the supremacy of the UFC. Long term it will benefit the UFC, keep it on its toes and ensure its survival other wise it will be in danger of stagnating and becoing fat, lazy and complacent.

In Muay Thai you have two sets of rankings that ensure only the cream rise to the top. You have the Lumpinee & Rajadamnern stadium belts and thier top ten rankings in all weights up to about 72kgs. These belts & rankings are considered the real world class rankings and belts in the sport. Both stadiums have different promotors showcasing different fighters from different camps that ensure if your good enough you'll get seen and will have your chance to crack the top tier only if you're good enough. Sure some famous and more wealthy gyms get more oppurtunity than others but on the whole if you're good enough you'll get your crack. They counter balance each other and create exciting super fights between Lumpinee and Raja champs.

Before I get pummled into a bloody mess by the UFC fanboyz, I'm not dissing the UFC just pointing out the obvious flaw in the sports organisation. I recognise if it wasn't for the UFC MMA would probably be nothing but a distant memory in the west by now.

[Ne5ville14]

Originally Posted by BobDigi5060

Nah bro that's how you sell a super fight. Chael Sonnen is a solid competitor, and an even better shit talker.

....Cheal hasn't fought at 205 in years. He hasn't done shit, he doesn't deserve to fight the 205 champ and shit talking doesn't have anything to do with fighting. This ain't supposed to be WWE FFS....but it's obvious with you previous commentary that's what you want to watch...

[Scorpion]

I got to disagree and say yes they should.
Simply because a sport's best athletes and the ones to deserve to challenge them should be based of skill and not talk or flash.

In not doing so, they base their sport more around personalities (ala WWE) instead of true practitioners of the sport.

[macp1]

Shouldn't an athlete in an athletic sport be judged and rewarded on his athletic achievements, not on his charisma?

[Beekeeper]

Shinya Aoki

[Primate]

Who?

[Johnstown]

what would the rating system even mean? would it be for all mma fighters? both inside and outside the ufc? how do they than "make" the ufc fight those guys.

anyhow, the way the WBA and WBC "ranks" fighters isnt really based on who is the best fighter either....

[Koa]

Originally Posted by Ne5ville14

Ranking is required...I thought this was supposed to be a sport ?

This.

Without ranking the whole thing turns into a slippery slope.

You don't even know if your champion is necessarily the best fighter without a ranking system.

The UFC could set up any number of rational systems that would be pretty difficult to manipulate for the sake of making good television. Problem is, that doesn't guarantee good championship matchups, but at least the most deserving fighter would get his shot, and him being the most deserving would be justified.

He's right.. It's not really more like WWE with real fights, not really a sport in the same way boxing pretends to be.

[BobDigi5060]

Originally Posted by Ne5ville14

....Cheal hasn't fought at 205 in years. He hasn't done shit, he doesn't deserve to fight the 205 champ and shit talking doesn't have anything to do with fighting. This ain't supposed to be WWE FFS....but it's obvious with you previous commentary that's what you want to watch...

The talking is all about selling fights, Anderson Silva and JJ is atop everyone's wishlist. I wouldn't say Chael Sonnen earned or deserves another Title Fight, but no other LHW is that deserving either. JJ beat the piss outta the top 4 LHWs over a year, as Anderson Silva has for years. Producing that superfight is better for the Sport and the best thing for MMA right now. The reason Glover, Alexander G and Gegard Mousasi aren't getting Title Fights is because they haven't earned it either... One fighter does not stand above the other, so they are fighting each other. I'd love to see someone rank the UFC LHW roster because it won't be easy! Each division and situation is different, but I'm with Haggis in that "The door was be kicked down".

[Haggis McJackass]

If you make yourself into the guy that fans want to see in a title fight, you'll get your shot.

If you step up when the company needs someone to step up, you'll reap the rewards. Without offering to fight Jones on eight days' notice, I really doubt that Chael would have gotten this shot.

But when the UFC President has a title fight fall apart at the last minute, and he calls all the contenders and says "Do you want a title shot next week? We need somebody to take the fight or the card is going to collapse", well, why should the guys who say "No, I don't want a title shot, here is my list of conditions to fight for the belt" be rewarded over the guy who says "I'll fight anyone at any time. What can I do to help promote the fight?"

[Haggis McJackass]

Originally Posted by Ne5ville14

Yes but we have joke of a fighter getting title for popularity reason, wich is total BS IMO

Making money is the name of the game. It's BS to have a champion that can't sell tickets and nobody gets excited to see him fight.

And Chael Sonnen is far from being a joke of a fighter.



As a side note, how do you guys think Chael will go at LHW? The Bisping and Silva 2 fights, I thought he looked drawn and drained as fuck at the weigh-ins. He seems like he was pushing a little hard for middleweight. I reckon at his age, he's more of a natural LHW than he is a natural MW.

[Haggis McJackass]

Personally, I like it when they stack a card with fighters from one division, like the WW matchups in the GSP/Diaz fight.

If you have a title fight and then have four or six other contenders in the same division in two or three fights on the same card, that has a couple of benefits.

1) You get cover for main-event injuries - a top contender in the division was training to fight on that night anyway.

2) You get clearer options for the next title challenger - whoever impresses the most on the night can fight for the belt next time out.

3) Everyone is on the same schedule - you don't have to wait 3 months between the #1 contender winning his title eliminator, and the champion defending his belt against the last contender.

[Haggis McJackass]

Originally Posted by Thracian

That way, Dan Henderson, Johny Hendricks or Weidman would get title shots within a year?

Or is the current system fine?

Does Henderson even deserve a title shot?

He didn't fight last year - his last fight was an epic war with Shogun in 2011, in which he spent the last two rounds face-down on the canvas, totally exhausted.

Since that fight, Shogun has been in a war with Brandon Vera, and then been steamrolled by Gustafsson, who beat him much easier than Hendo did.

Whereas all Henderson has done since November 2011 is get injured, have no fights, and turn 42 years old.

[Johnstown]

Originally Posted by Haggis McJackass

If you make yourself into the guy that fans want to see in a title fight, you'll get your shot.

If you step up when the company needs someone to step up, you'll reap the rewards. Without offering to fight Jones on eight days' notice, I really doubt that Chael would have gotten this shot.

But when the UFC President has a title fight fall apart at the last minute, and he calls all the contenders and says "Do you want a title shot next week? We need somebody to take the fight or the card is going to collapse", well, why should the guys who say "No, I don't want a title shot, here is my list of conditions to fight for the belt" be rewarded over the guy who says "I'll fight anyone at any time. What can I do to help promote the fight?"

your logic is fair, but kind of disingenuous. Thats fine for that case, sure a fight falls through, you still want the card to do through, give the guy who will take it regardless of if he is the best. However the UFC also schedules those same kind of guys well in advance.

[boranbkk]

Originally Posted by Haggis McJackass

If you make yourself into the guy that fans want to see in a title fight, you'll get your shot.

Originally Posted by Haggis McJackass

Making money is the name of the game. It's BS to have a champion that can't sell tickets and nobody gets excited to see him fight.

Originally Posted by Haggis McJackass

Personally, I have no problem with the lack of a mandatory contender. As far as I'm concerned, if you want a shot at the title - kick the door down. Fight harder. Generate more excitement and interest. Turn yourself into the guy that the fans want to see have a crack at the champion. Or turn yourself into the guy that the fans want to see get destroyed by the champion. It's a business and I have no issue with popular, entertaining fighters getting precedence over lesser-known, less dynamic fighters.

Not sure I agree with that, it wouldn't be a positive situation for the future of the sport if only the exciting types vied for the top honours. As we all know more often than not exciting fighters are the brawling types where quality technique and style fly out the window in favour of crowd pleasing macho bravado. Where would the technical advancement of the sport go, imagine all those aspiring grass roots fighters spending less time on technique and over doing it on conditioning, where would that leave the future of MMA? Not to mention the gradual decline in any education of casuals for a long term developing fan base....

Look at the the current P4P Kings in MMAs closest cousins, both boxing and Muay Thai. Boxing's P4P king Money May Jr and Muay Thai's P4P king and possibly GOAT Seanchai Sor Kingstar are both pretty boring to watch but technical masters of their trade, both leagues ahead of the pack. They don't have trouble selling tickets and that's because they are the very best at what they do and the reason they are the best is they are technical wizards who don't take unnessacary chances in their quests to be the best.