Whilst the Diaz condit fight was close and could have gone either way, he still tested positive for weed so there's no way he'd be interim champ as he'd still be on suspension. That shit would have been a no contest and condit prob would have fought and beat someone else for interim title.
I thought Frankie won the first fight right after it happened. Afterwards, I reconciled myself with the fact that it was a close, but clear win for Henderson. Frankie clearly won the second, IMO.
With Diaz, it's impossible to deny the controversy. People of good faith and good intelligence on both sides think it's a clear win for both guys. (I think 1-2-5 is by far the most compelling argument).
i think the concept of losing a well fought fight and a close battle against a decidely tough competitor being viewed as a display of ability rather than a lack of it should be respected.
I think both Hendricks and Diaz deserve shots. Diaz vs Condit wasn't a blow out in either direction and Condit did more legitimate damage to GSP than any contender in a long time.
Hendricks is riding a bigger high right now but Diaz was slated for the fight earlier, and yeah he messed it up...but the fans still want that fight more than they do the Hendricks one.
When you have two legitimate courses of action as a business, and it's a matter of sequence not either/or, and one of them is guaranteed to make headlines and money while also helping to put the ego of an emerging talent in check...well...the decision is easy.
The funny thing is the only challenger for the top belts with a win streak is Cain Velasquez and he only had to win one fight before getting his rematch after being KO'd in 64 seconds.