The Obsession With Giving Title Fights Losers Rematches/Second Chances

UFCIsNOTRigged

UFCIsNOTRigged

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A new standard has emerged in which once a fighter loses in a title bout they are then always a single win away from another title shot.

In many cases they are just given immediate rematches/second chances even if they were in uncompetitive fights and finished.

What ever happened to a fighter needing to string together a few wins before earning their way back to a title shot. This new standard is responsible for the lack of upward mobility for new UFC fighters who now need to wait for fighters to age out of the divisional rankings.

Occurring in 2020/2021:

Joseph Benavidez (Flyweight): Given an immediate rematch after being finished by Figgy in the second round. Proceeded to be finished in the first round of the rematch in what can only be described as a one sided beatdown

Brandon Moreno (Flyweight): Draws with Figgy due to a point deduction; rematch coming in June 2021

Max Holloway (Featherweight): Loses his FW title to Alexander Volkanovski via unanimous decision in 2019. Loses the rematch in 2020 via split decision. We are told a third fight is coming.

Jorge Masvidal (Welterweight): Given a title shot on short notice in June 2020, only manages to win a single round on one judges scorecard. Does not fight again until his rematch in April 2021 during which he is knocked out in the second round.

Dominick Reyes (Light Heavyweight): Has a very competitive title fight with Jon Jones in February 2020 which he loses via unanimous decision. Is immediately given another title shot in September 2020 for the vacant LHW belt and proceeds to be knocked out in the third round of an uncompetitive title fight.

Daniel Cormier (Heavyweight): Given an immediate rematch after being knocked out in his second title defense; loses the rematch via unanimous decision.

TBD:

Justin Gaethje (Lightweight): Has not fought since he was finished in the second round of his October 2020 title fight and appears to be holding out for another title shot or number one contenders bout.

Michael Chandler (Lightweight): Stated immediately after losing that he would be back within 12 months and UFC color commentator Jon Anik suggested today Chandler may deserve an immediate rematch.

Zhang Weili (Strawweight): Is calling for an immediate rematch at a 'neutral' site after being finished in the first round of her second title defense. Was the most inactive champion of 2020.

Stipe Miocic: Is apparently "beefing up" for another title shot since he believes he was knocked out in his very uncompetitive fight with Francis Ngannou because he came in too small.
 
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I agree with you that fighters need to earn their shot again, though on the list above, the only truly egregious one is Jorge getting an immediate rematch after losing a lopsided first fight.

- Benevidez got eye poked and knocked out in the first fight, so there were some controversy to the finish

- Moreno earned that title rematch because of a very competitive draw

- Holloway and Cormier were both established champions. Max had a close fight, and in Cormier's case, a trilogy where it's 1-1 is worth the matchmaking

- Reyes is a little iffy, but a lot of people thought he beat Jones, and there really weren't a lot of suitable fighters at that time to fight for the title

Don't think Weili and Chandler should get another immediate title shot. Their divisions are full of other interesting challengers.
 
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Couture, Liddell, Ronda, and many more have always gotten free title shots coming off losses. UFC has always been a circus freak show that is all about selling and it has never been about being the best. That's why they always claimed to have the best fighters when they clearly didn't. It's zero integrity and all about making money. Been going on for a long time. It's not a sport. It's entertainment for the UFC.
 
Get To Da Choppa said:
I agree with you that fighters need to earn their shot again, though on the list above, the only truly egregious one is Jorge getting an immediate rematch after losing a lopsided first fight.

- Benevidez got eye poked and knocked out in the first fight, so there were some controversy to the finish

- Moreno earned that title rematch because of a very competitive draw

- Holloway and Cormier were both established champions. Max had a close fight, and in Cormier's case, a trilogy where it's 1-1 is worth the matchmaking

- Reyes is a little iffy, but a lot of people thought he beat Jones, and there really weren't a lot of suitable fighters at that time to fight for the title

Don't think Weili and Chandler should get another immediate title shot. Their divisions are full of other interesting challengers.
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The problem is too many fighters are getting second shots without earning them. Every single point you made is an excuse, some excuses hold validity, but in the end they are not justification for fighters in uncompetitive fights demanding second chances; which nearly every title fight loser is starting to demand.
 
I agree about immediate rematches

But obviously we know someone like Justin Gaethje is elite, he doesn't need to go on a 7 fight win streak to get another shot

These guys can only fight a limited number of times
 
Benavidez and Masvidal were definitely gratuitous. Moreno - it was a draw and very exciting 5 rounds, so eh, okay. Holloway I believe will fight again before another shot since Volk-Ortega is scheduled for end of summer or later. I don't object to Reyes and Gaethje getting b2b title shots off of losses to champs that then vacated the belt. Cormier - they went the trilogy route, so eh.... Chandler and Weili are unwarranted.
 
SHAZAM said:
Couture, Liddell, Ronda, and many more have always gotten free title shots coming off losses. UFC has always been a circus freak show that is all about selling and it has never been about being the best. That's why they always claimed to have the best fighters when they clearly didn't. It's zero integrity and all about making money. Been going on for a long time. It's not a sport. It's entertainment for the UFC.
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7/14 mens title fights since February 2020 have been immediate rematches or losers getting an immediate second chance for a vacant belt.

So half the mens title fights now are rematches, that was never the standard.
 
Its actually stipulated in some contracts

Rematch clause

Look into it..
 
Your examples aren't great, many of them involve vacant belts, draws or controversial endings.
Expediency of a rematch is also based on how much the UFC is behind the loser of a title fight. For ex, Cody got an immediate rematch despite losing in his first title defense. Weili might get a rematch because of her popularity in the important China market.
Andrade did not get a rematch. Title challengers who lose rarely get an immediate rematch unless there is controversy, a draw or a great competitive fight.

All that said, I sympathize your feeling, between Max and Volk, DC and Stipe, Joe B and Fig, Moreno and Fig and Usman and Masvidal, we all have rematch fatigue I think after the last year. The rematches mostly made sense to me, but it's still monotonous.
 
It's the ufc trying to create the illusion that the top 5 are elite and beyond anyone else in the world.
 
You can't throw Chandler and Weili's name into the pot just because they are hoping for another shot, it's not the same as getting the title shot. Titles are big business in the UFC, most of the time they are what make up their PPV's and unlike the NFL, NBA, NHL, or MLB yes.. MMA has the luxury of setting up who it wants in its championship fight. I believe what could fix this so called immediate rematch problem is by making mandatory challengers where you either vacate the belt or fight the guy/girl that earned their own right at a title shot. This is however an unpredictable sport, and I imagine the scheduling is very hard to setup right since any small thing can go wrong and screw everything up, which is why this differs from other sports, it takes months to prepare and get ready and if a challenger goes down all hell breaks loose. This is also the way it has been for a long time, so it's not like this is some kind of new trend. Wonderboy got an immediate rematch after his draw against Woodley, but Woodley.. he didn't get no immediate rematch, so it's not like it always happens.

I do believe if a champion has been dominant enough for a long time they warrant the immediate rematch, for instance if schevenko or Nunes goes down... guess what.. they'll be getting an immediate rematch, Ronda Rousey was the dominant woman in WMMA for a long time, she got knocked out.. but when she was ready boom immediate title shot. As much as you would like fighters to earn their way back to the top, one thing that you truly have to consider, is this sport doesn't have a lot of two times or multi champions, yes they do exist, but it's very very hard once a fighter loses their belt to even earn it back when they fall off the high horse, so it also make sense for the UFC to keep their top tier most popular fighters relevant for their own financial reasons. Cody Garbrandt got a rematch as well, but then someone like Rose she didn't and earned her way back up, and now is the only two time champion for WMMA.

I see your point but I definitely don't think that it should just be the normal thing to make all champions who lose their belt have to string along 3 top 5 wins in order to earn their title shot back. At the same time I do think that it maybe a large reason why it's hard for new fighters to crack into the top 15 and become champion, thats why you get guys like Oliveira who finally get a shot at a belt after 28 matches... so something needs to be more structured and change, but there's no easy solution.
 
UFCIsNOTRigged said:
A new standard has emerged in which once a fighter loses in a title bout they are then always a single win away from another title shot.

In many cases they are just given immediate rematches/second chances even if they were in uncompetitive fights and finished.

What ever happened to a fighter needing to string together a few wins before earning their way back to a title shot. This new standard is responsible for the lack of upward mobility for new UFC fighters who now need to wait for fighters to age out of the divisional rankings.

Occurring in 2020/2021:

Joseph Benavidez (Flyweight): Given an immediate rematch after being finished by Figgy in the second round. Proceeded to be finished in the first round of the rematch in what can only be described as a one sided beatdown

Brandon Moreno (Flyweight): Draws with Figgy due to a point deduction; rematch coming in June 2021

Max Holloway (Featherweight): Loses his FW title to Alexander Volkanovski via unanimous decision in 2019. Loses the rematch in 2020 via split decision. We are told a third fight is coming.

Jorge Masvidal (Welterweight): Given a title shot on short notice in June 2020, only manages to win a single round on one judges scorecard. Does not fight again until his rematch in April 2021 during which he is knocked out in the second round.

Dominick Reyes (Light Heavyweight): Has a very competitive title fight with Jon Jones in February 2020 which he loses via unanimous decision. Is immediately given another title shot in September 2020 for the vacant LHW belt and proceeds to be knocked out in the third round of an uncompetitive title fight.

Daniel Cormier (Heavyweight): Given an immediate rematch after being knocked out in his second title defense; loses the rematch via unanimous decision.

TBD:

Justin Gaethje (Lightweight): Has not fought since he was finished in the second round of his October 2020 title fight and appears to be holding out for another title shot or number one contenders bout.

Michael Chandler (Lightweight): Stated immediately after losing that he would be back within 12 months and UFC color commentator Jon Anik suggested today Chandler may deserve an immediate rematch.

Zhang Weili (Strawweight): Is calling for an immediate rematch at a 'neutral' site after being finished in the first round of her second title defense. Was the most inactive champion of 2020.

Stipe Miocic: Is apparently "beefing up" for another title shot since he believes he was knocked out in his very uncompetitive fight with Francis Ngannou because he came in too small.
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It's bs. I was arguing with someone on reddit, I got downvoted to death at first because I suggested Stipe should go back to the end of the line, he doesn't deserve a rematch because he got shUt out. The replies why he deserved a rematch were illogical. He deserves the rematch because he's Stipe, best UFC hw of all time.

Believeing the ufc PR bullshit I see. First off, past accolades don't mean that much. Once you lose, your timer restarts. It is what it is.

Stipe was 1-1 in title defenses. 2-1 total when he regained the title from DC.

He shouldn't get an immediate rematch off one successful title defense lol. You should not be eligible to get an immediate title if you got shut out for a fight. No fluke, just shut out. Trilogies aren't needed all the damn time. We don't need a rubber match.
 
I agree that title fight rematches are handed out far too easily.

However, the Benavidez one made sense to me. They didn't give Benavidez a rematch; they gave Figueiredo one.
 
UFCIsNOTRigged said:
oseph Benavidez (Flyweight): Given an immediate rematch after being finished by Figgy in the second round. Proceeded to be finished in the first round of the rematch in what can only be described as a one sided beatdown
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Well, in this instance Figueiredo missed weight the first time, so he wasn’t champ despite beating Benavides in the first match.
 
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