As the UFC continues to improve each year and tackle down barriers such as boundaries in both geography and sexual worlds. They still can’t hide from the ongoing problems of drugs and injuries that force so many fights to be canceled, especially main events.
As stated in my earlier blog 13 main events in the last year alone, have been scrapped due to injuries. These are just the main events getting canceled or switched because of injuries, there have been countless undercard and main card fights also scrapped because of the injury bug.
There were also two main events canceled because of Doping Violations. One of which was the gigantic and long awaited rematch between Jon Bones Jones and Daniel Cormier at UFC 200.
The UFC must find a way to stop all of this from occurring, or at least limit it. The problem is they can’t control training camps where 99% of the injuries occur. With that being the case, maybe a penalty system can be put into place for fighters who get hurt the week of, or even two weeks before the fight?
Sounds barbaric, doesn’t it? But why not, some of these guys are only asked to fight twice a year in certain cases. However, there needs to be checks and balances for all of this and they need to stop with the useless “interim” belts that no one cares about or takes seriously.
Case in point, let’s stay with Cormier for a second. Now, it wasn’t his fault at UFC 200 because it was Jones who got popped for PED’s. But, when you take a step back and look at it all, Cormier only fought once all year, and it wasn’t even a title defense of his belt, yet, the UFC does nothing to penalize him? He pulled out of two fights because of injury.
While I admire his willingness to fight Silva at 200, he had nothing to lose by doing it. I admire the sole fact however that he lived up to his word and appeared on the card the fans paid so much money to see, because of that, Cormier remains tops in my book despite the pullouts, he did something to make it up.
He was supposed to fight in April and pulled out of a title defense against Jones. Then again tonight at UFC 206 and pulled out of a fight with Anthony Rumble Johnson because of injury. Yet, the UFC has done nothing to penalize him.
Meanwhile, Conor McGregor has fought for the promotion three times in 2016, and once in the final month of 2015, so basically 4 times in a year, and he gets his Featherweight title stripped. The man fought in three different weight classes too, winning belts in two of them. Yet, the UFC punishes him?
The UFC needs to get some set rules in place on things of this nature and quickly. There is no reason a champion can’t defend his title 4 times a year. Roughly, once every 3 months. They have nearly 50 shows a year, it shouldn’t be an issue.
Not only that, but a champion should be stripped of his title for turning for down a fight if healthy when his opponent cancels at the last second. This happened in March when Werdumn refused to fight Stipe Miocic after Cain pulled out.
Same goes to a challenger, he should get penalized. My example, is tonight when Johnson turned down a replacement fight in Gegard Mousasi. The fans paid to see Johnson, despite the Cormier injury, he should have fought Mousasi as again, the fans paid to see him.
Let me make this clear, I’M NOT SAYING FIGHTERS SHOULD EVER FIGHT HURT, I’m just saying, they need to fight more frequently if they are carrying titles.
Agree or Disagree? Let me know in the comment section of this very article.
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