Title politics... Aldo, Conor, DC...

Aldo wanted to but was not allowed to compete for the LW title while he was FW champ.

Pitbull was denied a crack at the LW title while FW champ. Bader is allowed to go after a second title though.

Conor was allowed to compete for the LW belt while FW champ but was then stripped of his FW belt.

DC might be allowed to keep the HW title and wait for Lesnar in Jan and defend his LHW title in Nov.

Look at guys like Elkins who win and win and never get anywhere and guys like Faber who get title shots every weekend. Or how Ngannou was fast tracked to the title and guys like Maia had to wait and wait for their shot.

Look at how thousands and thousands of LW and WW men fight for a crack at two titles while a few handfuls of women get to compete for four titles.

Thats the thing about prizefighting in a situation where the promoters control the titles. It gets ugly sometimes and competitive sport part gets trashed for the prizefighting component.

Promoters controlling the recognized world titles can suck at times.

Lesnar has not won a fight in eight years and he gets a shot at the biggest title while Minakov is 24-0 and as complete a fighter as any HW ever.

Minakov has wrestling, judo/sambo, power in his hands, kickboxing skills, conditioning.

I’m confident on his best day he is right up there with Fedor, DC, Stipe, Werdum etc… and would trade wins and losses with them.

Despite likely being one of the best HWs to ever compete in MMA he can’t compete for the recognized world title and guys like Ngannou and Lesnar get the shots. What a joke.

I'm not even much of a DC fan, but HOLY SHIT that KO was unreal!

UFC President Dana White immediately sets up their new HW & LHW Champion Daniel Cormier with the disgraced cheater and proven steroid abuser, Brock Lesnar for his first HW title defense. 

I get it, the UFC is all about making money now.  The fact that they're also making a complete mockery of the sport of MMA in the process is difficult to stomach though.  Especially knowing how hard the people at Zuffa worked to help build legitimacy and bring acceptance to MMA.  Unfortunately, it's become little more than a watered-down freakshow since the UFC was sold to WME.

Meanwhile, the self described "jacked-up white boy" Brock Lesnar is is still serving out his USADA suspension for failing a drug-test for his last MMA fight, which was against Mark Hunt - TWO YEARS AGO!  The results of that fight were overturned to a "no-contest" due to Brock getting busted by USADA, but he's still fighting for the HW title in his very first fight back anyway, so what's the point of testing fighters?

Oh!  You missed weight, but you still won?  You'll likely receive a slap on the wrist, but you'll still move up in the rankings, and maybe you'll even get a title shot.

Oh!  You failed a USADA drug test, but you still won?  You'll likely receive a slap on the wrist, but you'll still be eligible to fight for the title immediately after you complete your suspension.

The UFC's process regarding their punishment of cheaters has become a complete joke.  

Someone from Yoel Romero's team openly admitted to having him miss weight on purpose, so that they would have more time.(+2 hours) to help him with cutting weight.

I can't even imagine what Mark Hunt or any of the top HW's in the UFC must be thinking right now.  Brock hasn't legitimately won a fight since July 3, 2010!

THE UFC - IT'S  REAL AS IT GETS!  LMAO!

I’m pretty sure aldo was allowed to go for the lw title and keep his FW title at one point but when he became a pull out king that was taken away. It’s tough to blame the ufc for not allowing it when he was bailing on every other fight so often. 

da Vinci 81 - 

I’m pretty sure aldo was allowed to go for the lw title and keep his FW title at one point but when he became a pull out king that was taken away. It’s tough to blame the ufc for not allowing it when he was bailing on every other fight so often. 

Incorrect.

Rory is getting the chance to be a double champ as well.

Crazy Pitbull has been one of the most exciting, successful and recognized names in Bellator for a decade and he gets denied while Rory and Bader show up and instantly get the chance to do it.

BJ Penn Forever - Rory is getting the chance to be a double champ as well.

Crazy Pitbull has been one of the most exciting, successful and recognized names in Bellator for a decade and he gets denied while Rory and Bader show up and instantly get the chance to do it.

Just shows how much impact the organization has on career paths. Its huge.

Aldo by any other measure gets his rematch with Connor. Any other fighter than Connor would be iffy to get a title shot in the weight above without a defense in the weight below and by only avenging a 2nd round sub loss by razor close decision in rematch.

Sure money is crucial but we should at least never forget the difference in roadblocks/streamlines that certain fighters get. What does Assuncao have to do to get a shot? I don’t really have as much problem with DC as its the twilight of his career so he’s earned his $ fight esp as there isn’t exactly a long list of big contenders at HW. Complete opposite for someone like Connor at LW…althought now that he’s stripped, he should be free to do whaterver the fuck he wants.

It's not a meritocracy anymore. It's who brings the biggest stack of greenbacks.

Even if there is a steaming pile of shit at the end of the rainbow. 

Wasa-B - 
BJ Penn Forever - Rory is getting the chance to be a double champ as well.

Crazy Pitbull has been one of the most exciting, successful and recognized names in Bellator for a decade and he gets denied while Rory and Bader show up and instantly get the chance to do it.

Just shows how much impact the organization has on career paths. Its huge.

Aldo by any other measure gets his rematch with Connor. Any other fighter than Connor would be iffy to get a title shot in the weight above without a defense in the weight below and by only avenging a 2nd round sub loss by razor close decision in rematch.

Sure money is crucial but we should at least never forget the difference in roadblocks/streamlines that certain fighters get. What does Assuncao have to do to get a shot? I don’t really have as much problem with DC as its the twilight of his career so he’s earned his $ fight esp as there isn’t exactly a long list of big contenders at HW. Complete opposite for someone like Connor at LW…althought now that he’s stripped, he should be free to do whaterver the fuck he wants.

At the time it really surprised me Aldo did not get his rematch. It surprised a lot of people. UFC to some degree built its brand on being very merit based prizefighting.

Forgot all about Assuncao’s situation. He lost his UFC debut to FW/LW Eric Kock and is 11-1 since then with a win and a loss to TJ.

He is 5-1 vs current top 15 ranked BWs and also has recent wins vs unranked Caraway, Lopez, and Eduardo who were previously ranked in the UFC top 15. That makes him 8-1 in the UFC vs fighters who have been ranked in the BW top 15. Classic example of a fighter kept from a title shot by the promotion.

Sidenote- Before BW was really established outside Japan, Assuncao beat Jorge Masvidal in 2005 via UD and submitted Joe Lauzon via armbar in 2006. Just learned that, thought the UG would find it interesting.

Patricio Pitbull is a real warrior. Stepping up to give a dangerous guy in Weichel a rematch while Bellator has stopped him from getting champ vs champ fights done with Caldwell or Chandler.

When they did let Pitbull go up to LW he was well on his way to beating Benson Henderson before the injury.

Weichel has only lost one fight in six years and that was to Pitbull. Has beat Pat Curran, Matt Bessette, Desmond Green, Georgi Karakhanyan, Emmanuel Sanchez, and John Teixeira among others in that time.

Well Patricio showed once again why he is tied with Chandler as the most successful fighter in Bellator history.

They are actually tied for most wins in Bellator.

Pitbull vs Caldwell or Chandler is the best possible fight hardcore fans would enjoy.