McGregor VS Nate Diaz II, Jose Aldo vs Frankie Edgar II. These fights sound sexy as hell. But this is almost RIDICULOUS! Are Jose and Frankie fighting for a toy belt while McGregor gets EVERYTHING HE WANTS?
UFC 200 is all about VENGEANCE! Two epic rematches are on the line as UFC Featherweight Champ Conor McGregor takes on Nate Diaz for a second time, looking to avenge his (arguably) embarrassing loss to Stockton’s own; while two ex-champs Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar square off, ALSO, for the second time, to get a crack at the Featherweight title held by Conor McGregor.
While all this sounds great, and quite entertaining, it’s also HIGHLY unfair, and a bit complicated.
First off. McGregor should be forced to defend his title at least once, before even thinking of jumping around in weight or avenging irrelevant losses. While rematching Nate Diaz is an entertaining prospect, a great money fight for both martial artists, and something the fans would LOVE to see; it’s an irrelevant fight, it does nothing for McGregor’s legacy. At this point it’s all about his ego, ‘obsession’, and revenge. In the meanwhile two featherweight greats fight for an interim toy belt in Conor’s absence.
Why should contenders and entire weight-classes have to suffer because ‘one’ Conor can’t swallow his loss from an impractical fight he was never supposed to win in the first place. If he’s going to put an entire division on hold for an irrelevant fight, he should at least fight at a weight-class that makes sense; light weight? Catch weight? Meet Nate Diaz somewhere in the middle where neither fighter has the advantage? Maybe this way if Conor loses he can pull the ‘I fought TWO weight-classes higher’ excuse again.
UFC President Dana White told ESPN SportsCenter in a recent interview that he and UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta encouraged McGregor not to fight at 170 pounds (Welterweight), 25 pounds higher than his natural usual featherweight limit.
“He was obsessed — obsessed with fighting Nate Diaz again”. Obviously, Lorenzo and I tried to argue with him and said, ‘Let’s go back to 145 and defend your title. Or if you really want the Diaz fight that bad, do it at 155.’ He wants the fight at 170.
“Even his coach tried to get him to get off the rematch and off the 170-pound fight … but it’s what he wanted.”
- Dana White
We all saw what a natural Welterweight did to a Featherweight with just 2 weeks of preparation. How will Conor fare against a Nate Diaz with an entire training camp? To be fair, Conor didn’t do an entirely terrible job jumping from lightweight to welterweight. Maybe a full camp will make all the difference for McGregor this time around. But the fact still remains – this is an irrelevant fight.
His indigestion of the bitter truth is affecting a roster of fighters, namely two who deserve it the most. If there were two warriors that deserved to get the Conor fight – it was Frankie Edgar and Jose Aldo – instead, the UFC had other plans for them.
Frankie Edgar is coming off an impressive 5-win streak beating top contenders in impressive fashion one after the other and solidifying himself as an undoubted contender. Jose Aldo on the other hand, is the only ex-Featherweight champion who had dominated the division for over ** years – he TOO makes a great case for a rematch (but not more than Frankie, in my humble opinion).
So the UFC decided – ‘let’s make BOTH these guys fight for the #1 contender instead!’.
Wait, both these fighters have already fought once before, and Frankie came short off a close decision, losing to Jose Aldo for the Featherweight title. Is it ‘fair’ for both these guys to square off again like this? Is the UFC playing some sort of twisted game from the shadows, the not so invisible hand of the puppeteer?
Frankie IS the answer to McGregor’s style, Aldo is the answer to Frankie’s, and McGregor the answer to Aldo’s – Nate doesn’t even belong in the equation, he’s two weight-classes apart. Does the UFC want to derail McGregor just yet? Because Frankie has all the tools needed to completely expose and obliterate McGregor. But if he loses to Aldo, the UFC gets to set up an epic rematch of the ages, McGregor VS Jose Aldo II. There’s just too much money to be made, now is not the time to be fair.
All the while McGregor will be playing ‘touch butt’ in the park – if he loses to Diaz again, he’ll just go back to fight the ‘interim (read: FAKE) champion’ in another sold-out event. It’s all dollar signs for the Irishman and the UFC. McGregor loses nothing in these next few developments – he’ll just constantly come out looking like a hero.
This all sounds kind of disgusting if you think about it. Fighter’s lives are being toyed around with for ZUFFA’s monetary gain. I didn’t want to buy into the conspiracy theories but the UFC ought to rename themselves UF’Conor’ – because by the looks of it, it is only one fighter they seem to care about, the one that brings in the money.
What happened to skill, honour and the martial art? What happened to earning your fights and greatness with your bare hands?
What will it be folks? Are these rantings warranted? Sound off and lemme know!
