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- Dec 31, 2017
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Well Aldo beat Maciano before KZ did and Volk beat Aldo so Volk definitely deserved it more....Putting it as plainly as "Yair finished him in a competitive fight" lacks zero context. You admit that the finishing elbow was a fluke, which it was, but the time he landed it was just as flukey, if not flukier. For one, Yair and KZ had simultaneously stopped fighting seconds from the end in a moment of sportsmanship, and only resumed their engagement when the ref told them to continue fighting. Left to their own devices, the fight would've ended in a decision. Because they weren't, KZ got knocked out with one measly second left. KZ was in fact officially up on the scorecards, so idk how the specific strikes Yair landed up to that point, i.e. the five spinning elbows, are relevant. My point is that this loss detracts much less, if anything, from his resume compared to what a normal one would, given the fact that a fight he was about to win ending like this is beyond, both in method and time, an aberration.
Detroying Moicano and Edgar, who were ranked higher they are now, carries significantly more weight than anything anybody else in the division has done recently. KZ was also scheduled to fight Ortega too before Brian pulled out. No idea how the guy isn't in the #2 contender slot rn. With his only significant win being a decision over Aldo, I'd argue that Volkanovski had done less to earn his shot than what KZ has done now.
Yair won on short notice in a 5 round fight, that's what happened and with a full camp would be very possible to happen again.
I know KZ has a big following on here but to dismiss Yair for being down on the score cards in a fight he won is weird.
I'd be happy as a Yair fan for KZ vs Yair 2 to see who gets next shot at the belt. Both guys can have a proper training camp