Masvidal recently made a little push in the media to get a title shot vs Edwards. Masvidal has not won a fight since 2019 and he is 2-5 vs real WW’s since 2017.
Stipe has said he wants the Jones vs Gane winner in July. By July it will be 3 years since Stipe has won a fight in the UFC and he has only gone 0-1 since then.
At least Fedor went out there and KOed Rampage and Tim Johnson before he got his title shot booked vs Bader.
Its like with the Dillashaw situation. As soon as they booked him for a title shot a lot of us were saying how fucked it was that Aldo was very active and winning and getting skipped over for his last title shot so TJ could get the shot after all TJ did was sit out for years after cheating and return with one little split decision win. TJ of course then showed up injured and had a horrific performance in a title shot that Aldo deserved. Meanwhile Aldo got a terrible matchup and barely lost a boring fight but he would have likely had a way, way better performance vs Sterling than TJ did.
I’m tired of these sorts of title shots that TJ got and don’t have any interest in seeing fighters like TJ, Stipe and Masvidal get the type of title shots they are campaigning for.
Blaydes has a three fight win streak going and I’d much rather see Blaydes or Pavlovich get the next shot.
If Stipe wants to go out there and beat Blaydes or Pavlovich then I’m all for him getting a title shot after that but the whole reason fans like title fights in the UFC and Bellator is because they are generally not given to fighters like Stipe who are 0-1 in the past two years and avoiding fights with the Blaydes and Pavlovich of their division in hopes of getting title shots based on what they did three and four years ago in their career.
The Jones situation is a little different because Jones has never lost and never been finished, that grants him the right to be booked in the title shot in the eyes of the fans and the media but nobody really wanted to see TJ get that shot, nobody really wanted to see Masvidal get his 2nd title shot off losing his 1st title shot and I can’t imagine many people want to see Stipe skip over Blaydes and Pavlovich and get the title shot they have been active and winning to earn.
Arlovski, Overeem, JDS and Fedor are not getting any younger either.
I still don’t want them getting UFC HW title shots right now though because they are not the guys out there fighting and winning in 2022 and 2023 vs the top 10. The guys out there doing that are Blaydes and Pavlovich.
People like title fights most of the time the involve guys who are out there doing something in the same year of their title shot or at least the year prior.
If Stipe is so great in 2022/2023 then let him beat Blaydes or Pavlovich to prove it.
Last time we saw Stipe fight, Ngannou destroyed him. Historically you got to go win a fight to get a title shot after that.
After Ngannou lost to Stipe he had to go beat Blaydes, Cain, JDS and Rozenstruik to get another shot at Stipe.
What makes Stipe so special that he don’t got to go win a couple fights to get a rematch vs Ngannou?
In all of Stipe’s big wins of his entire career, he was always the younger man who was closer to his prime. Thats how it was in the Hunt, Arlovski, Werdum, Overeem, JDS II and DC fights. His one win over Ngannou is the only time he did not have the age/prime advantage but we saw what happened in the rematch.
If the biggest current promotion ran GP’s like Bellator is doing with the champ competing in them, how could you not have loved this HW GP?
Fight 1:(C) Ngannou vs Jones
Fight 2 Blaydes vs Pavlovich
Fight 3: Stipe vs Aspinall
Fight 4: Volkov vs Gane
Something like that would have the next three title shots set up based on recent fighter performance and the quarter finals create natural demand for the fights to come in the semis and then the semis of course create huge demand for the finals.
Impossible to do with fighters in the situations Ngannou, Jones and Stipe have been in over the past 2-3 years but it would be the best case scenario for the fans and for fighters like Blaydes, Gane, Pavlovich and Aspinall who want to be active and advance based on recent performance.
Of course I’ve now heard Jones say he is going to beat Gane and then Stipe.
Jones knows very well that Stipe is 40 and heading towards three years without a win in MMA.
This is a pretty clear message to Blaydes and Pavlovich that they won’t be getting a title shot in 2023.
If Jones beats Gane and Stipe this year I can’t imagine he would take a 3rd fight in 2023 unless he wanted to make it his last fight in December and ride off into the sunset.
“Obviously, Francis had the belt. Taking it from him would’ve been nice. … I think the fight that meant the most to me was fighting Stipe Miocic. That’s the fight that actually means the most to me, because Stipe is the greatest heavyweight of all time. I’m not looking past Ciryl Gane at all.”
Jones admits it was a let down to not get a fight with Ngannou, but will have to deal with the reality of challenges that lie ahead.
Considering his UFC light heavyweight run that began in 2008 and his recent time away from the sport, there are questions about how long he will hang around at heavyweight. “Bones” provided some clarity about his career outlook in the form of a guarantee.
“My immediate goal is to beat Ciryl Gane and to beat Stipe Miocic,” Jones said. “After that, it’ll be conversations with the UFC to see what makes sense. But I am guaranteeing the fans at least two more fights out of me.”