UFC Gives Too Many Title Shots to Newcomers

“The Natural” is Back!
Recently, UFC legend Randy “The Natural” Couture announced that he was ending his 11-month retirement to return to the Octagon—only this time he was going after the Heavyweight title (currently held by Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia), rather than the Light Heavyweight belt (held by Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell, who was Couture’s final loss before retirement, back in February 2006).

Couture has held both belts at one time or another, so he’s no stranger to the Heavyweight division, which, some have argued, currently lacks a true #1 Contender and by all accounts should welcome Couture’s return. After all, since regaining his title over the seemingly unbeatable Andrei “The Pit Bull” Arlovski, Sylvia has beaten Arlovski again, followed by outlasting Jeff “The Snowman” Monson in five rounds. Additionally, Sylvia holds a recent victory over Assuerio Silva, and his only un-avenged loss is to Frank Mir in June 2004—a fighter who has not yet proven he can stand with the big boys, following a less-than-stellar re-emergence into the MMA world after a near-career-ending motorcycle accident. When it comes to fresh competition, the Heavyweights could always benefit.

Indeed, Couture’s announcement to return on January 11th’s “Inside the UFC” with Joe Rogan sent shockwaves through the MMA world based on its potential to make the Heavyweight division once again as competitive with the other four divisions. That night, Couture announced he had signed a two-year, four-fight deal and would have his debut at UFC 68 on March 3. It was also announced that Couture’s debut would be against the champ himself, Sylvia. No easing into this division, no lead up for Couture to first take on one of the top 10 contenders, his first fight back is a title shot.

Couture’s Title Shot Too Early?
Now it should be noted that Couture is one of only four fighters who have the honor of being named to the UFC’s Hall of Fame. He is the only fighter to have held the title in two different divisions in his career. At 14-8 (11-5 in the UFC), Couture has consistently been at the forefront of both the divisions he’s fought in, and remarkably, all but four of his 16 UFC fights have been for or in defense of the title. No other UFC fighter comes close to this level of stakes-per-fight. This man is no stranger to pressure.

But what happens if Couture loses on March 3? Is he really going to want to stick around for his remaining three fights, knowing that he probably doesn’t deserve another title shot? Wouldn’t it therefore make more sense to throw the guy an easier opponent to serve as a stepping stone while proving he belongs in the division? After all, the guy is 1-2 in his last three fights.

Promising Early Shots at Title—A Growing Trend
Moreover, the Couture vs. Sylvia announcement follows a growing trend of decisions by UFC President Dana White to grant title shots to fighters who have not proven themselves in the UFC—or at the very least, have not proven themselves recently. Oftentimes, these fights are given to fighters who hold wins over a current champion from much earlier in their careers, and are used as a means to avenge those losses. However, in the fastest growing sport in the world, beating someone several years ago definitely does not guarantee that you can beat them again today, as has been proven time and time again, most recently by the Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Hughes fight at UFC 65. While 11 months is not several years, 11 months of not fighting is a lifetime in this sport.

Other examples* of this precedent include:
1.) Anderson “The Spider” Silva was given a Middleweight title shot after only one UFC fight. Granted, in that debut, he destroyed up-and-comer Chris “The Crippler” Leben and then went on to destroy then-Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin. Silva is also generally considered to be one of the top fighters at 185 lbs. in MMA, and his decision to sign with the UFC was a coup felt round the MMA world. Following his victory over Leben, the UFC briefly posted a poll on its website, asking fans to select Silva’s next opponent, and the majority of voters chose Middleweight Champ Franklin. However, it is unknown what bearing that poll had on White’s decision to give Silva the title shot and is generally assumed to have had only marginal influence at best.
2.) Another Silva, Assuerio Silva, came thisclose to a title bout after only one UFC fight. His UFC debut was against Tim Sylvia, and the winner was to face then-Heavyweight champ Arlovski. Sylvia won, and Silva has since followed up his debut loss with another loss to Brandon “The Truth” Vera, making a chance at a title shot any time soon rather slim.
3.) Yet another Silva, Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva, also came thisclose to a title bout after an absence from the UFC for more than six years. At UFC 61 on July 8, White announced that Silva would face off against Liddell in “a UFC event in November,” assuming Liddell beat his next opponent, Renato “Babalu” Sobral, which he did with ease. However, since then, there has been barely a blip on the UFC radar regarding Silva’s return. Silva is just 1-2 in the Octagon, but has made quite a name for himself in Japan’s PRIDE Fighting Championships, UFC’s largest competitor, where he is the current PRIDE Middleweight Champ. The most obvious reason that negotiations for Silva’s return have dwindled is because Silva was knocked out during PRIDE’s Open Weight Grand Prix semifinals on September 10 by Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović, who went on to win the tournament. In fact, White cited this loss as the reason Liddell will not be fighting Silva anytime soon in the PRIDE ring—a challenge offered by Silva to Liddell on October 21.

*It should be noted that this writer assumes this trend is not limited to UFC newcomers with the last name of “Silva” and that these examples are merely coincidental. I also do not believe any of these men are related to one another, but that “Silva” is Brazil’s “Smith.”

Certainly not every title bout is between a reigning UFC champion and a virtual UFC newcomer, but in the race to capitalize on UFC’s new-found worldwide fame and to set it apart from competitors like PRIDE and the upstart International Fight League, White has seemingly made many offers to give famous fighters who are in high demand by most leagues a quick rise to the top of the UFC, assuming they win their debut.

Identifying Next #1 Contender is Anybody’s (or just White’s) Guess
Clearly such promises are needed in order to secure the best talent and make the UFC the most competitive MMA league out there. But with recent announcements by White that the UFC has signed such names in the world of MMA as Jason Reinhardt (17-0), Chad “The Grinder” Reiner (13-1), Sean Salmon (9-1), Heath “The Texas Crazy Horse” Herring (26-11-1), Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (25-6) and now Mirko Cro Cop Filipović (21-4-2), one wonders when UFC loyalists like Brandon “The Truth” Vera, Rashad Evans, Mike “Quick” Swick, Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez or Hermes Franca will get their well-deserved title shots in their respective divisions.

The signing of Jackson—a Light Heavyweight and the only un-avenged loss on Chuck Liddell’s record, occurring in November 2003—and Cro Cop—a Heavyweight and arguably the UFC’s biggest signing coup thus far—alone signal two definite title shots in the first half of 2007, assuming they win their debuts. Both are making their UFC debuts at UFC 67 on February 3, and Liddell has already called out Jackson as his preferred next opponent. Cro Cop, at 218 lbs. is easily the lightest Heavyweight in the UFC, making a drop to the Light Heavyweight division anticipated, assuming Sylvia defends his title against Couture. Such a move would draw even more fans to the UFC, as MMA fanatics have been calling for a Cro Cop/Liddell match up for years.

Who Really Deserves the Title Shot—A Look at Each Division
All this is exciting for the UFC, yes, but at what cost to those UFC fighters who have been eagerly anticipating their own title shots, as well as to the UFC fans who follow them. While no one can deny Randy Couture’s amazing talent, nor his ability to draw a crowd, his unchallenged rise to the #1 Contender in the Heavyweight division begs the question: What of Brandon “The Truth” Vera? At 9-0 (4-0 in the UFC), he has destroyed his last three UFC opponents, the longest lasting 2:39 of the very first round, and none of which were pushovers (Justin Eilers, former #1 Contender Assuerio Silva, and former Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir).

And should “Rampage” win his debut, or Salmon his, do they get title shots against Liddell, despite the already thick competition in the Light Heavyweight division made up of the likes of Rashad Evans (9-0, 4-0 in the UFC), Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine (12-2-1, 4-1 in the UFC), Forrest Griffin (13-4, 4-2 in the UFC) or Michael “The Count” Bisping (12-0, 2-0 in the UFC)?

Or in the Middleweight division, in winning The Ultimate Fighter Season 4 reality series, Travis Lutter earned a promised title shot against Anderson Silva, even though everyone knows it will be no contest, and despite Lutter’s 2-2 UFC record. Why not give that shot to Mike “Quick” Swick (11-1, 5-0 in the UFC), who actually earned that spot by beating #1 Contender David “The Crow” Loiseau and by dominating respected fighters like Joe “Diesel” Riggs? Or if not Swick, then why not former Middleweight Champion Evan Tanner (36-7, 11-4 in the UFC)?

Similarly, in the Welterweight division, Matt “The Terra” Serra was promised a title shot after winning his weight class of The Ultimate Fighter Season 4, which means he’ll face Georges St. Pierre whenever the champ can stay healthy for more than six weeks at a time. Serra has a dismal 5-4 UFC record (13-4 overall), and no one expects him to win. Why make these promises when the Middleweight division is absolutely stacked with talented contenders? Why not instead give that title shot to Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez (18-0, 6-0 in the UFC), Karo “The Heat” Parisyan (24-3, 6-2 in the UFC) or Josh “Kos” Koscheck (9-1, 6-1 in the UFC)? The overwhelming majority of UFC fans would rather see any of these contenders get that title shot—not Serra.

And finally, in the newly re-introduced Lightweight division, where White could actually do the most good by introducing more talent, will recently signed UFC newcomers Jason Reinhardt (17-0), Leonard “Bad Boy” Garcia (9-1) and Gabe “Godzilla” Ruediger (10-2) earn faster title shots than UFC veterans Hermes Franca (16-6, 4-2 in the UFC), Spencer “King” Fisher (19-2, 4-1 in the UFC) or Joe “Daddy” Stevenson (30-7, 3-1 in the UFC)?

The practice of giving UFC newcomers—no matter their talent—instant title shots alienates UFC’s existing talent, which in turn could force them to leave the UFC altogether. There is a price you pay to be the best; exercising respect for loyalty will surely do as much for the UFC as recruiting fighters with non-avenged losses to what is already the best, most exciting MMA league in the world.