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
What was the response?
That it's very bad for MMA, since it's still a sport and not an entertainment product at its core. If you let winners go because of a perception that a fighter isn't exciting, even though they still are winners by and large, it's harmful to the sport as a whole. If the best are fighting in the UFC, and you cut a co-main event fighter after an unexciting loss to a top 10/15 guy that breaks a three-fight win streak, it's a problem. Where Beatdowns took exception was that Ant heavily disparaged those that cheered for the fighter getting cut on the basis of Elias' lack of excitement.
 
That it's very bad for MMA, since it's still a sport and not an entertainment product at its core. If you let winners go because of a perception that a fighter isn't exciting, even though they still are winners by and large, it's harmful to the sport as a whole. If the best are fighting in the UFC, and you cut a co-main event fighter after an unexciting loss to a top 10/15 guy that breaks a three-fight win streak, it's a problem. Where Beatdowns took exception was that Ant heavily disparaged those that cheered for the fighter getting cut on the basis of Elias' lack of excitement.
Thanks

Unfortunately that's kind of what I assumed, and it's not a very interesting or insightful take to be honest. Like saying it harms the integrity of the sport of MMA doesn't really take into account what the UFC itself actually is as an entity. As far as I can tell they dont have any obligation to an abstract idea like "the integrity of the sport". And that's seems to me to be such an abstract idea that it's barely worth talking about.

Also I'm not sure where people get the idea that all professional leagues aren't entertainment products at their core, and the most successful of them (particularly American ones) clearly function as such.
 
It took Darren Elkins his 16th UFC fight to earn a post-fight bonus.
I feel like that's probably ufc bad decision making....or he was on a card with ridiculous fights when he otherwise get it


Not a Darren Elkins scholar off the top of my head though, just throwing some possibilities out there. Tonight I'll fire up fight pass and see.


Have yourself a like for providing an interesting factoid
 
Dana reigns by his whims like some kind of third world dictator. Not defending Theodorou but just saying I think that the UFC could be doing much better with the right person running it. I mean you've got BJ Penn on a record losing streak but you cut a guy who has won 3 out of 4?
 
This seems like a very obvious question.

He wasn't good enough at being a UFC fighter.
8-3 during his tenure, 4 of those wins are against guys that still have UFC contracts and hold lower winning percentages in the company. He was ranked in the company and has decent wins. Boring as all get out, and was never going to be a contender, but he was good enough to be there.
 
Personally wasn’t a fan of his style, but it hurts the legitimacy of the sport to cut guys based on how fan friendly they are. If they’re effective and they’re winning then they should be there by merit
 
He makes the fights look fake, or at least not as intense as they should be

Bad look for the UFC, he needed to go
 
Yet you got scrubs like BJ Penn who only has 1 win in like 10 or 11 fights who can't get cut. BJ isn't even exciting, unless you want to count the beat down that he will take. Elias may not be exciting, but he is at least winning and not getting raped in the cage like BJ Penn.
 
He was good enough for undercards, he probably banged a ring girl that Dana was trying to hit or Dana was tried of getting his sloppy seconds.
 
It's not only that Theodoru's fights weren't entertaining. His fighting style was not even effective in any combat sense. He was gaming the system. His fight with Brunson was a travesty.
 
UFC has to maintain an entertaining product in order to stay in business. Not only was Elias not entertaining and not selling, but he was also generating bad publicity. The unholy trinity of any entertainment company.
 
That it's very bad for MMA, since it's still a sport and not an entertainment product at its core. If you let winners go because of a perception that a fighter isn't exciting, even though they still are winners by and large, it's harmful to the sport as a whole. If the best are fighting in the UFC, and you cut a co-main event fighter after an unexciting loss to a top 10/15 guy that breaks a three-fight win streak, it's a problem. Where Beatdowns took exception was that Ant heavily disparaged those that cheered for the fighter getting cut on the basis of Elias' lack of excitement.

My apologies if i got a bit over sensitive there. I do feel Ant could have gone about it in a different way but it is what it is. Overall it was a good show..
 
My apologies if i got a bit over sensitive there. I do feel Ant could have gone about it in a different way but it is what it is. Overall it was a good show..
It's all in good humor. Don't worry about it.
 
To quote Spice 1, "I don't g-ah-g-ah-g-ah, give a sh-a-sh-a shit."
 
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