So, we have it laid before us: Chael Sonnen will coach opposite Jon Jones on the next season of TUF, then will fight the champ for the title, because according to Dana White ,“it makes sense.”
Granted, White has guided the ship very far through some very turbulent waters and has done so by going with his gut. But no one is flawless, and this decision by White was clearly done with an eye to saving The Ultimate Fighter franchise rather than seeing due process served in the light heavyweight division.
No amount of fan uproar will change any of this: White believes he is right and anyone who disagrees with him is wrong or a moron, as he so eloquently put it when he addressed the issue of booing fans at the title fight between Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez.
This is White’s ship, and we’re just along for the ride, so we should shut up and enjoy the view, or so it might seem. However, there is an interesting hangnail in all of this: If White is so pleased with his decision to have Sonnen leapfrog everyone in the light heavyweight division for a shot at the champ, then perhaps there will be other fights in the future that can benefit from the same philosophy of dollars and cents making enough sense to throw divisional ramifications to the wind.
There are some good fights out there that could be made using the same, or close to the same, argument that saw Sonnen win the light heavyweight lottery because he bought a ticket by saying “I will” instead of “I can’t” or “I won’t.”
Granted, none of the fights in this list have much divisional significance; they don’t follow any true form of due process (well, most of them don’t). They are just really good fights that could fit into the same mold as Jones vs. Sonnen.
So, if Jones vs. Sonnen “makes sense,” then why not these fights?