Yeah, and the formula for that is so well known, it's basically tired at this point, and I sit here confused as to how people don't get it. The fighters who need to build back up fight down, and the people who surge fight up. It's incredibly standard.
Fighting down cuz your last win was close is pretty dumb. It should only slow your momentum, not throw it in reverse. And fighting down from his own ranking is one thing, but what's being demanded here is that he fight someone below the ranking of the guy he just beat, which is incredibly inarguable from any point of view not swimming in bias. Why on Earth is that even a consideration? We just treat it like he lost anyway?
MVP is a name, but not one because he's great, he's a name because he's exciting. Like I said earlier in this thread:
I'm not sure why everyone's acting like this is the same thing as Chandler, a guy who was Bellator champ twice and had a victory over a guy who went to become a UFC champ, something that was already better than the first few wins he got in the UFC. That's proven stock. MVP beating Holland just now is arguably his biggest win, especially considering he couldn't beat Lima without the judges help.
And a foreign card is almost always better served having each of their fighters fighting someone else so you can better fill the card out. Putting them together on a local card takes that away