The Trenches Poll: With a 3-1 record in his last 4, should Elias Theodorou have been cut by the UFC?

With a 3-1 record in his last 4, should Elias Theodorou have been cut from the UFC?


  • Total voters
    274
I know UFC has to balance entertainment value with legitimacy and I can't imagine any other scenario where I would agree with a guy with his record on paper getting cut like this, but fuck that I'm glad they kicked him to the curb. His fights were some of the most boring I've ever seen. I wonder if he knew that this was a possibility if he lost the Brunson fight.
 
He lost to gatekeepers like Brunson and Tavares, he can't be that big of a loss.
 
This is a tough one. Yes his record is good, but that last fight in his home country was bad news. UFC is a sport, but it is also entertainment. If nobody wants to watch a certain guy fight because he bores the crap out of you, what's the sense? Look at Diego Sanchez. He doesn't win very often anymore, but he brings it and fans love watching him. Fans pay the UFC bills, so you have to keep the fans happy. I vote yes to cutting him.
 
The biggest cheer in the arena was when he got dumped by Brunson.
 
I wonder why it is that people think that the UFC has some obligation to keep fighters on the roster as long as they are winning fights.

I guess it's because people see the UFC as THE league and not a private organization.
 


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With a 3-1 record in his last four, should Elias Theodorou have been cut from the UFC?


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He exploited the rules. There needs to be a clearer judging system where damage (see GPS fight) carries a bigger significance than point fighting. Elias's touch and run strategy needs to be penalized for not trying to fight. It's not fair to guys who actually show up and fight. Rogan got this one wrong. I hate to agree with Dana but I do here.
 
8-3 in the UFC, won TUF Nations, with only losses to Thiago Santos, Brad Tavares and Derek Brunson. Hard to say that when you compare his record to other fighters on the roster, he was a top-15 guy going into the Brunson fight if I remember correctly. Just a lot of decisions that weren't special.

He beat complete cans on TUF. That should be noted. And not in impressive fashion.

One of the lowest quality seasons ever, probably the lowest at least in the MW tournament.
 
He beat complete cans on TUF. That should be noted. And not in impressive fashion.

One of the lowest quality seasons ever.
Yeah I think he won some by majority decision, not a great look but still a TUF winner. TUF Nations wasn't great, but it was better than TUF ATT vs Blackzilians, that was the bottom of the barrel even if we got Usman out of it.
 
It took Darren Elkins his 16th UFC fight to earn a post-fight bonus.

Didn't know that but at least he tries to win fights..

Edit: I should say at least he tries to finish fights!
 
After all the sacrifices Elkins has made to JBG I am actually appalled right now by this revelation...
 
After all the sacrifices Elkins has made to JBG I am actually appalled right now by this revelation...
I remember reading a thing on Vice a few years ago that said it took Elkins longer to earn a post-fight bonus than any other UFC fighter ever. It stuck with me.
 
I think an overlooked factor of Elias getting cut is how it makes the UFC look.

The company prides itself on showcasing the sport's best talent and breaking it's perception of sloppy brawlers, so when you have someone so uncoordinated A) Ranked #13 and B) boasting one of the division's best records it doesn't make the company or the sport look very good.

A similar situation was with Cindy Dandois. Cindy entered the UFC with a good record and notable wins, and arguably won her fight with Alexis Davis, but because she looked so bad striking there was no way the company could keep her around.
 
I remember reading a thing on Vice a few years ago that said it took Elkins longer to earn a post-fight bonus than any other UFC fighter ever. It stuck with me.

Bonuses do tend to go to the main card most of the time and i imagine Elkins spent most of his early fights on the prelims. I know he has a grinding style but again at least he tries to finish people..
 
A similar situation was with Cindy Dandois. Cindy entered the UFC with a good record and notable wins, and arguably won her fight with Alexis Davis, but because she looked so bad striking there was no way the company could keep her around.
That was a rough look for everyone involved, that fight. To this day it boggles my mind that Dandois was able to finish Jorina Baars with strikes, even though the bout was in MMA.
 
8-3 in the UFC, won TUF Nations, with only losses to Thiago Santos, Brad Tavares and Derek Brunson. Hard to say that when you compare his record to other fighters on the roster, he was a top-15 guy going into the Brunson fight if I remember correctly. Just a lot of decisions that weren't special.

On the bright side, he can use this to go on a tear and build himself up on slightly lower pro competition and come back with the ability to negotiate a better contract.

Run a win streak in Bellator or One, come back at the UFC with a better agent.
 
Winning should be enough, i mean, not everyone is a draw but the sport its also a competition, he could be used to fill cards as long as he keeps winning, considering his last performance it cant go very far in the rankings, so they could afford to have him signed so they can have more fights on random cards.
 
Yeah I think he won some by majority decision, not a great look but still a TUF winner. TUF Nations wasn't great, but it was better than TUF ATT vs Blackzilians, that was the bottom of the barrel even if we got Usman out of it.
Come on now, ATT/Blackzilians was not as bad as TUF 19.
 
Not calling out the TS, but it's funny people always arbitrarily pick records. 3-1 in his last 4, but he was 3-2 in his last five. Not saying he had a bad record, it's just funny.

The UFC isn't obligated to have every fighter in the top 30 of every weight class. Theodorou isn't even in the top ten and fights like a silly bitch. There is no reason the ufc "has" to have him just because he won some decisions over other barely top 20 fighters. Having random guys who barely win more than they lose doesn't make or break the ufc's "legitimacy".
 
They should give guys like that super tough fights, and then cut them after losses. It's only going to make the fighters who beat the dull guys more popular and promotable.

Who wouldn't have enjoyed Theodorou vs Jacare etc?

Beat em off.

Dana-White-Beat-Em-Off-300x300.jpg
 
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