Torch Flashbacks
FLASHBACK (4 YRS AGO): ENNIS: - GSP-Hughes-Serra situation prompts questions about how title shots should be granted
Nov 28, 2011 - 1:30:27 PM FLASHBACK (4 YRS AGO): ENNIS: - GSP-Hughes-Serra situation prompts questions about how title shots should be granted

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Jason Amadi just addressed the various ways UFC fighters earn title shots in a recent Ask the Torch feature this weekend. It was four years ago that MMATorch senior columnist Shawn Ennis addressed this topic, stemming from Georges St. Pierre stepping in to face Matt Hughes when Matt Serra had to pull out of his Welterweight Title defense at the last second. How did Hughes get the title shot in the first place instead of GSP? Ennis looks at UFC's challenge of balancing marketable fights with giving deserving contenders (including an ex-champion) deserved title shots on a timely basis. This was published four years ago this week on MMATorch.com...

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BY SHAWN ENNIS, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

When it was announced recently that UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Serra would be forced to pull out of his much-anticipated fight with former champ Matt Hughes, MMA fans everywhere held their breath in anticipation of what would happen next. Would Hughes still fight on the card? Whom would he face? Jon Fitch? Diego Sanchez? Karo Parisyan? The answer would come quickly in the form of another former champion, and the man who last bested Hughes for the title: Georges St. Pierre.

The fact that St. Pierre is (a) in fighting shape, and (b) willing to fight Hughes on short notice has to be a huge relief to Dana White and the UFC. After a dull UFC 78 card that never had a title fight, we could have gone into the end-of-year spectacular (UFC 79) with diminished anticipation due to the lack of yet another title fight in the main event, Liddell-Silva be damned. There are a few things to think about with this announcement; some could have been brought up before, and others are relevant in different situations, so let’s take a closer look at a situation that could have been disastrous, but is turning out to be what should have happened in the first place. Mostly.

Back in April, when Matt Serra shocked the world by besting Georges St. Pierre in the first round by TKO, the deepest division in all of MMA lay in front of him, ripe with contenders. Who would get the first crack at Serra? Was he a one-fight wonder? These questions and others stood to be answered, and the welterweight division had just gotten that much more interesting. The air was let out of the proverbial balloon, however, when it was announced shortly thereafter that Serra would coach opposite Matt Hughes on the sixth season of The Ultimate Fighter, and the belt would be defended thereafter. This would leave a nine-month gap between welterweight title defenses, with no injury to blame. The merits of this decision have been beaten to death in other areas, so let’s just leave it at that. The big question, outside of whether it was wise to delay a title scrap so long, is whether Hughes deserved the first title shot.

It’s a tough question to answer, and the logic is almost impossible to decipher because of the lack of precedent concerning when former champions get title rematches. The topic of title rematches itself is relatively new due to the frequency with which title holders in the UFC have left the promotion during or shortly after their reigns.

There have been a couple of instances in the past few years, though, that stick out. Remember when Andrei Arlovski used to fight? Before he was being punished for not signing a contract extension right now? Well, when he lost his belt to Tim Sylvia, he was granted an immediate rematch. He was the big man’s first title defense. Rich Franklin went through two contenders who hadn’t yet lost in the UFC (Jason MacDonald and Yushin Okami) before he was given a rematch against the man who took his strap away. Chuck Liddell will fight at least twice before he’s given a rematch with Rampage Jackson (if he’s given a rematch…he’ll have to go through Wanderlei Silva, but that’s another story). Frank Mir was stripped of his title before he ever defended it, due to inactivity after a motorcycle accident. He still hasn’t fought for the title (of course, 2-2 record probably has a little something to do with that).

So what’s the message here? If the former champ asks for a title shot, does he get it? That was obviously the case with Arlovski, but Tim Sylvia was essentially ignored when he declared that he deserved an immediate rematch with Randy Couture (after Sylvia would recover from back surgery). Rich Franklin wanted a couple of fights in between his loss to Anderson Silva and their rematch, and he got that, followed by a title shot in his hometown.

Georges St. Pierre went through blazing hot (at the time) Josh Koscheck before being given a number and told to wait for Hughes’s shot to happen. Hughes, meanwhile, had to go through Chris Lytle (UFC record at the time: 2-5), who had just lost to Serra, and he did so in unspectacular fashion. Granted, Lytle is not an easy foe, and he often makes his opponent look unspectacular, even en route to decision losses. But the fact of the matter is that Lytle was hardly top-tier competition. So did that victory warrant the promotional machine that is TUF, and the first shot at Matt Serra?

An argument can be made that it did, since Hughes had been dominant for so long in the division, but shouldn’t he at least have to have gone through the guy who beat him for the title before getting a shot at Serra? And shouldn’t Serra have been allowed to defend his belt against another contender (perhaps Karo Parisyan, whose deservedness as title contender is well-documented, and who holds a victory over Serra) before having to defend against Hughes? It’s yet another case of easy marketing winning out over what’s best for competition and for business in the UFC.

You could have easily marketed a fight between Hughes and Serra down the road, be it for a title or not, given the conflict they had on the fourth season of TUF (it wasn’t much of a conflict really, as Serra just didn’t like Hughes and was vocal about it). But instead the decision was made, and now we deal with the consequences. (Even though we’re not forgetting that UFC 76 and 78 were without title fights, which didn’t have to be the case…I’m just sayin’ here).

So what happens in the meantime? In the “interim”, if you will? Well, we’ll get GSP and Hughes fighting for one of at least two interim titles that will soon be held in the UFC. Now, I’m not one of the interim title bashers. I think it’s fine to have a belt that someone holds on to when the champ is out of commission. We don’t know how long Serra is going to be out, so why leave the title situation in limbo for longer than it needs to be? Andrei Arlovski was an interim champion. So was Randy Couture. Nothing to be ashamed of. There are some interesting scenarios that could play out over the next few months, depending on when Serra comes back.

Obviously what the UFC wants is for Hughes to win against St. Pierre, and for Serra and Hughes to fight a unification bout in a few months, with Serra fully healed. That gives them the fight they wanted in the first place, and a new twist to the puzzle as well. The more likely case in my mind is that St. Pierre beats Hughes again and fights Serra himself when “The Terror” makes his return. But the fact remains that we’ll likely see Hughes-Serra at some point, and if you want my prediction, it won’t be for the title. I think St. Pierre is simply too good right now, and he’s with Greg Jackson, which is only going to make him more and more dangerous.

What we’ll probably see is GSP-Hughes, GSP-Serra, and Hughes-Serra after they’re both beaten by the French-Canadian. The only question is whether St. Pierre will have a title defense in between Hughes and Serra. My first assumption would be that he will not if Serra is out six months or less. If Serra is out longer, we could see a defense against another interesting competitor (Fitch? Parisyan?) in the meantime. Time will tell, but one thing remains certain: the decision to deal with the welterweight title the way the UFC has done is coming back to bite them.

The fact that St. Pierre is fighting in Serra’s stead softens the blow, but all the animosity and the shots that Serra and Hughes take at each other on the last few weeks of this season of TUF are pretty much meaningless, and make no mistake: this season was built around those two way more than it was built around the fighters. It’s the danger of promotion getting in the way of competition.

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Shawn Ennis is the MMATorch Senior Columnist.