Here is my opinion on the LHW title picture: When Alexander Gustaffson fought Jimi Manuwa earlier this year and beat him, many people wanted that rematch. And why not, there was no real established contender and fans were crying out for a rematch, and fairly so. There was not other REAL contender established yet, as Cormier had only beaten Pat Cummins, Anthony had yet to return, and Jones still needed to fight Glover. So of course at the time, it made complete sense, that Gustafsson was the next one in line for a title (again). And that fight got scheduled, at UFC 178. And here is where it all started, with Gus injury. This forced him to pull out, leading the UFC to find the next contender in line, which was Daniel Cormier. A man who is undefeated and had beaten many heavyweights, along with Pat Cummins (who lately has shown to be a much more impressive fighter than we gave him credit for) and (at the time ranked #6) Dan Henderson who he demolished more than any man had before him. So that replacement made sense, Gustafsson could fight the winner, and everyone was happy. Especially when the shit got real between Jones and DC, everyone was immediately excited for this fight even more so than before. But now Jones was injured and it has moved the fight to Jan. 3rd which is 4 months farther from the original date. So here is where my point is: 1st off, I obviously watched the 1st fight between Jones and Alexander and I scored that fight 3-2 for Jones. But Alexander became a contender at a time when no one else was established. Cormier came and wrecked a legend in Hendo, and Anthony Johnson has come in on a tear beating the only other guy to beat Gus, and obliterating Lil Nog in under a minute, Now whether you think those are great wins or not, amongst the rest of the fighters at Light Heavyweight, Johnson and Cormier are on the most impressive streaks in their division. Now that the fight has been pushed back, Gus has asked that DC step down from his title shot and be put back where he was. But lets look at how Gus got his rematch. He defeated and unranked guy with 3 wins (all 3 of which were by injury {2 of which werent because of something he did]). Obviously I dont think that should have earned him a fight right back at Jones, but with the circumstances that I explained earlier surrounding that win, no one complained, not even me. But Gus cannot sit around and act like the UFC should be doing his bidding here. He got injured, replaced and sometimes this shit happenes. It happened to Rashad Evans, it happened to Chuck Liddell. But now that is obvious that unless someone pulls out of that title fight again, Gus is looking at a possible 9-11 month layoff if he really does wait. Something Dana, the UFC, and myself doesnt think he should do. Now Dana has mentioned numourus times that he wishes to make Gustafsson vs. Johnson and that to me makes the most sense. Gus still needs to truly earn that title fight, now that the division has changed its landscape. I see where Gus is coming from claiming that its unfair, and I see that it is, but making it unfair for other fighters as well makes little sense. I say Gus should accept that or any other fight so that if he truly does fight for the title next year, he will have earned it. Thoughts? -Nick
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 23:04:07 +0000
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