(Wait, now I’m fighting who?)
Maybe it’s because we’ve been burned many, many times before, but we’re not exactly sold on Dana White’s recent claims that the upcoming TUF 15 Finale headlining match between Martin Kampmann and Jake Ellenberger will be for the next title shot. You see, “number one contender” is a term that is so loosely used and abused by the Zuffa brass these days that it might as well be Rampage Jackson.
But be that as it may, a press release sent out by the UFC this morning, quoting the almighty DW nonetheless, has stated that the victor of Kampmann/Ellenberger will indeed get the winner of Condit/GSP, whenever the hell that happens:
The welterweight division is stacked and Jake Ellenberger and Martin Kampmann are going to fight for the chance to earn a title shot. They will headline the season finale of TUF Live on FX to crown the next Ultimate Fighter. There’s a lot at stake for the guys competing on this card at the Palms.
You see how they did that? “For the chance to earn a title shot,” is about as brilliant a non-commitment as we’ve ever seen. Dan Henderson would be impressed by such a classic Dana White misdirection, and would undoubtedly have a better response than the one you are about to read. But if you feel tricked, hoodwinked, or even bamboozled by such a statement, then you’re not alone. We’re not going to take it anymore, and are calling shenanigans on this right now before things get out of hand. Here’s why.
Truth be told, by the time George St. Pierre and Carlos Condit face off, which has been rumored for UFC 154 at the earliest, who knows whether or not Kampmann or Ellenberger will still be a thought in DW’s head. We’re talking about an event that barely even exists at the moment, plus whatever time it takes for the winner to recover. That’s a long wait.
And if Nick Diaz returns, we can pretty much put this notion to bed.
In fact, we’d be willing to bet that, granted he decides against the whole “retirement” thing, Diaz will serve his time and still be ahead of either Kampmann or Ellenberger in line. GSP will fake another injury ala Anderson Silva and Diaz will begin to carry a replica belt everywhere he goes, knowing that it is of more value than his Strikeforce ones, so we can be treated to Diaz vs. St. Pierre in Canada’s biggest soccer hockey stadium. Meanwhile, either Kampmann or Ellenberger will be served mid-tier fighters until they eventually drop a fluke and are forced out of the picture. Because that’s how money/politics/business works, folks. It’s why the current state of boxing sucks, why Steve Jobs is dead, and why capitalism is a false prophecy created by Ronald Reagan in the eighties to lull our country into a sense of false security before he and the army of the undead rise to take back the earth from our severely emasculated society. These are facts.
Is anyone buying any of this, be it our pandering attempts at humor (seriously, capitalism is awesome and you know it) or DW’s well documented deception?
In fight booking news that will actually happen…
After a successful UFC debut saw him steamroll Luis Ramos at UFC 134, Brazilian phenom Erick Silva dropped a controversial DQ by way of illegal strikes to Carlos Prater in his sophomore match at UFC 142. Much was made about Mario Yamasaki’s call, as well as Joe Rogan’s subsequent calling out of Yamasaki in his post fight interview. But now that all the apologies have been made and blah blah blah it looks like Silva will return to the octagon at UFC on FX 3 against “The Spaniard” Charlie Brenneman.
After making perhaps the worst call of my career, professional or otherwise, and picking Brenneman to upset Anthony Johnson at UFC Live 6, the Pros vs. Joes winner was able to bounce back with a plodding unanimous decision over Daniel Roberts at UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller that I completely forgot about until two minutes ago. He will likely be a huge underdog going into this one.
Will Brenneman be able to harness the same magic that helped him pull out an upset over Rick Story, or will he simply wilt under Silva’s power? In either case, I sure ain’t betting on it.
UFC on FX 3 goes down from the TBA Center in East Bumfuck on June 8th.
-J. Jones