As an augmentation to Jason Amadi's column this week, name your choices for the worst instances of a fighter who didn't deserve a title shot getting one because they were "more exciting" or more likely to draw? Who lost out as a result, and might it have changed the course of MMA?
ALEX WILLIAMS, MMATORCH COLUMNIST
Brock Lesnar had not earned a shot at the UFC heavyweight title when he fought Randy Couture. He had all of two wins in MMA, the most significant coming against Heath Herring, who was not Top 10 at the time. Based on in-cage accomplishments, Couture's opponent should have been Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. The same night Lesnar lost his UFC debut to Frank Mir, "Minotauro" submitted Tim Sylvia to win the interim heavyweight championship (Couture was on the sidelines over much publicized contractual issues).
If Lesnar had had to earn a championship fight on merit alone, he would have faced a few Gabriel Gonzaga or Cheick Kongo types, perhaps even Shane Carwin. He would have prevailed and ultimately beaten either Couture or "Mino," but it would have taken longer for him to become champ.
TOBEN SHELBY, AUDIO CHOKE CO-HOST
At risk of keeping things short and simple on this topic, I’ll go with the recent decision to have Vitor Belfort challenge Anderson Silva for the middleweight belt in the UFC as an example of an “exciting” fighter getting a shot without really earning it. Belfort had cache with old school fans and was coming of some quick and brutal wins over Rick Franklin and Matt Lindland…but hadn’t actually fought in the 185 weight class yet. Since Belfort had to pull out of the fight we won’t know what could’ve been, but the historical impact was unlikely to be that great, since Silva seemed to be the heavy favorite. For a fight that actually happened, I’d probably go with Nate Quarry getting a shot at Rich Franklin at UFC 56. I’m not sure Franklin was the next rationale step for Quarry after beating Pete Sell, Shonie Carter and Lodune Sincaid. It seemed more like an attempt to cash in on the popularity of The Ultimate Fighter and ended very badly for Quarry. Historically, there wasn’t much impact…other than providing one of the most jarring knockouts for the UFC to run on Franklin highlight reels forever. Quarry winning clearly would have been a huge deal at the time, but Anderson Silva would still be dominating the division today.
JASON AMADI, MMATORCH COLUMNIST
I don’t think there’s any doubt that Brock Lesnar got the least deserved title shot in MMA history. He was 2-1 as a professional, and 1-1 in the UFC, yet still earned a shot at the UFC Heavyweight Championship based on his drawing power, and Couture’s desire for big fights. However, if people choose to remember this one correctly, no one lost out. Fabricio Werdum was already scheduled to fight at UFC 90 against Junior Dos Santos, Mir and Nogueira already filmed a season of TUF and were locked into a fight at UFC 92, so Couture needed a dance partner in between and Brock Lesnar was selected. There was really no other choice unless Randy Couture wanted to take an even longer lay off and wait until that whole thing was settled and face the Nogueira/Mir winner in the summer of the following year. Since then Brock Lesnar smashed Couture and Mir, both in the second round in dominant fashion, so I don’t think there’s any doubt about who actually deserves to be champion.
ERIC HOBAUGH, MMATORCH SPECIALIST
I think that Dan Hardy does not deserve a title shot, yet. I have no problem with him being a top five fighter, but John Fitch has earned his shot at Georges St. Pierre. He as had three wins in a row against top competition. Dan Hardy has had five UFC wins in a row, but they have been against lesser fighters. John Fitch is the only fighter that could realistically defeat GSP. It also is the most exciting welterweight fight out there in MY opinion. Making title fights like this hurts the validity of our sport.
[Brock Lesnar art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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