Commentaries about Serra situation

http://www.mmatorch.com/artman/publish/article_806.shtml



Well, you knew this was coming, didn't you?



Let's review the UFC champions at the moment:



Lightweight - Sean Sherk - Suspended

Welterweight - Matt Serra - Out indefinitely due to injury

Middleweight - Anderson Silva - Active

Light Heavyweight - Quinton Jackson - Uncertain return due to hand injury

Heavyweight - Randy Couture - Resigned vs. contract renegotiation and a broken arm to boot. Clearly no definite return date set.



Now, I'm not very good at math, but that's four of your five champions unable to perform in the cage at any point in the next few months. So, what does that mean for you and me, the fans? It means more low wattage PPVs. It means you'll probably see Silva defend his title again before anybody else. And, it means that we might see the creation of a few more "interim" titiles in 2008.



Let's push the envelope further. How many times were the titles defended in 2007? Take away Silva and the other four belts were only fought over SIX times in the entire year. And, can you honestly say, it looks any better for 2008? Are we really counting Penn-Stevenson as a championship bout? What about the welterweight title? Back injuries suck. Serra could be on the shelf for another 4 MONTHS. Are you telling me we won't see Hughes-Serra until next summer?! What is this, a movie premiere? You can't fault Serra for getting hurt. It's a physicial sport. Stuff happens. The fault lies with the UFC for letting this thing drag on like a bad WWE script. Title fights sell PPVs. Especially now, when much of the UFC fanbase (and in the MMA world, that is a sketchy subject) is getting a little tired of forking over $40 for non-title three round fights.



So, UFC 79 won't have a title fight. Neither will UFC 80. I don't care what Dana White says. If Sherk is the champion and he's not fighting, it's not a title fight. So, we're waiting until UFC 81 in early February when we might get... who exactly? The only bout I can see would be Silva - Henderson. Sherk will still be suspended. Serra will still be rehabbing. Nobody knows who's next for Jackson yet, so how you answer when if you still don't have a who? (Dr. Seuss reference. I have little kids...) And Couture? Well, who knows what will happen there?



So, MAYBE Silva goes at UFC 81. What about UFC 82 in March? Will Serra be ready by then? Doubtful. Jackson? Maybe. See what I'm getting at here?



If Silva fights at 81, that would be nearly FOUR months (and 3 PPVs) without ANY UFC belt being contested. That's awful.



The decision to postpone the welterweight title fight for a reality TV show premise is really looking good now isn't it?

http://www.mmaringreport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6464&Itemid=29



This is one of the major problems inherent in having the UFC title holder compete as a coach on the Ultimate Fighter T.V. show. It does potentially create a rivalry and make the fight more interesting for viewers of the show, but it can also put the title on the shelf for a very long time. The title is on the shelf for the duration of the show, and one injury can throw the division into disarray like we are seeing now. No one knows at this point how long Serra will be out for but if he is out for a long time the title could be out of circulation for longer then a year. 

This injury will have an important trickle down effect on title contenders such as Georges St. Pierre who was scheduled to be the first in line to get a title shot. He was already waiting in the sidelines for at least 6 months as it was. Now that the Hughes fight is put off it could mean that he will be on the shelf for almost a year if he waits for his title shot. Most fighters won’t want to inactive for such a long time so a fight between contenders might make sense at this point. BUT if a contender chooses to fight that could potentially cost him a title shot if he loses.


This injury also effects Jon Fitch and Karo Parisyan, both of whom seem to be right in the mix for a title shot as well right behind St. Pierre. It is unclear if Hughes will still be fighting on the card but a month out from the fight it is unknown if anyone will want to step in on short notice. One of the big three of St. Pierre, Fitch, or Parisyan could step in but will they get a chance? Will they even want to take the chance? Will someone else step in? With 4 contenders including Hughes it might make sense to have them fight each other. One thing is for certain, this injury has major repercussions on this division, probably the deepest in the UFC and the champion will not have defended it for a long time. This is all speculation at this point but depending on the severity of the injury, an interim title may even make it’s way to the welterweight division.

IMO

They need to bring back the superfight belt so we can have the 5 rd main events

I like the idea of all main events being 5 rounds, even if they are absolute shite like Bisping/Evans.

Hate to say it, but GSP should probably fight Fitch in the interim. Suck that it would put his title shot in jeopardy, but I doubt he wants to sit around for a year waiting.

"Neither will UFC 80. I don't care what Dana White says. If Sherk is the champion and he's not fighting, it's not a title fight."

If Sherk's suspension is upheld (and it will be), he will not be champion -- he will be stripped of the belt.

I actually like watching TUF occasionally, but the UFC has to stop putting championships on hold because of it. Especially deep divisions like WW.

We could be watching so many great fights at ww, but now we're on hold indefinitely.

This is probably my only beef with them.

The problem is that with only 5 champions the risk is high that some or even all of them will be out of commission for whatever reason. The time has come to introduce 2 new weightclasses.