The UFC 151 fiasco, which caused the collapse of a UFC event for the first time in the promotion’s history, has thrown up some surprising developments in its aftermath.
First, there was the prospect of Chael Sonnen stepping up to replace the injured Dan Henderson to face Jon Jones and challenge for the light heavyweight title. With Jones putting the kibosh on that idea, Lyoto Machida, in mid-flight to Brazil, was asked to rescue the event, but declined.
Next we heard news, from Dana White himself, that Anderson Silva offered to fight in the main event at 205 against another light heavyweight opponent—the first time the middleweight champion has fought at that weight class since KO’ing Forrest Griffin in 2009. But that offer was also turned down.
Amid the madness, however, perhaps the most curious development, and the one that makes least sense, is Vitor Belfort being given the chance to fight for the light heavyweight title.
It’s Belfort who, as Dana White told MMAFighting.com, will fight at the rescheduled event on 22 September.
Belfort hasn’t fought at 205 since 2007, back when he was struggling with a 4-5 record as a light heavyweight. He has since rejuvenated his career as a UFC middleweight, and stacked a 7-1 record with his only loss to Anderson Silva.
The 35-year-old Belfort has spent most of his career fighting the big guys. At only 19, he won the UFC 12 Heavyweight Tournament, and went on to capture the light heavyweight title against Randy Couture in 2004.
But even with such an illustrious history, it makes no sense to give him a title shot in his first fight at 205 in five years.
Given that the UFC has now another month to prepare for the event, there are much more salient choices. If Machida refused to take the fight, then how about Mauricio “Shogun” Rua?
Only three weeks ago, Rua fought what was supposed to be a title eliminator against Brandon Vera. The fact that Machida scored a more emphatic win against Ryan Bader was the only reason why he was given the shot over Rua.
But that should not discount Rua’s achievements in the division in the last year where he beat Forrest Griffin by first-round KO, lost a narrow decision to Dan Henderson in an epic battle which earned Hendo a title shot, and his latest stoppage of Vera.
Rua is scheduled to fight Alexander Gustafsson in December, and there’s another name that should have been “in the mix” when considering who to pit against Jones.
Gustafsson is an outstanding light heavyweight, and has racked up five straight wins in the UFC, defeating tough opponents such as Matt Hamill, Vladimir Matyushenko and Thiago Silva. Even if, as many consider, that record does not make him quite ready for a title shot, he is still more ready than Belfort.
The fact is, the light heavyweight division does not have the paucity of talent as many would believe and there are several fights that could, and should be made ahead of Belfort.
Even Chael Sonnen, considering the level of competition he’s had compared to Belfort at the same weight division, should be considered ahead of the Brazilian. If eight days notice was too soon for Jones, and Sonnen was the organisation’s first point-of-call, then why wasn’t he reconsidered for a match four weeks away?
Sonnen would have hyped the fight and created far more fan attention than Belfort ever can.
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