Brydon on MMA: Who’s the boss?
Posted March 7, 2012 1:44 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
For anyone who was under the impression that what Dana White wants, Dana White gets, Frankie Edgar proved that wrong on Tuesday.
Very wrong.
In the 10-day staredown between the UFC president and the former UFC lightweight champion since the latter lost his crown to Benson Henderson at UFC 144, it was the fighter — not his boss — who emerged the winner.
White had been adamant that he wanted Edgar to drop down to 145 pounds, which he considers to be Edgar’s natural weight, and immediately challenge Jose Aldo for the featherweight title.
But Edgar, who had not said anything publicly other than to suggest that after giving immediate rematches to B.J. Penn and Gray Maynard it was “right” for him to get an immediate rematch with Henderson, clearly did not want to make the move.
We don’t know why, but we’re quite certain that’s the case because of how many times White said he was “going to talk to Edgar,” including at a press conference Tuesday to promote a UFC on FOX 3 show headlined by lightweight contenders Jim Miller and Nate Diaz.
Many, including myself, assumed it would just be a matter of time before White would convince him — or simply put his foot down as the one who is running the show.
Nope. Edgar got his way, and White tweeted Tuesday that the two will rematch this summer.
This is a bad move by the UFC in my opinion, for a few reasons.
I’ve made it clear in my past blogs that I thought Henderson’s unanimous decision victory was a clear win, despite many who scored it for Edgar. Seeing as it was close though, many argued it would be fair to have a rematch, just as was done in the case of Penn and Edgar following UFC 112.
The difference is most of those who scored it for Edgar admit it was close and could have gone either way. But many who scored it for Henderson think it was clear-cut and in some cases are honestly baffled that anyone would score it for Edgar.
Worse than that, they are wholly uninterested in seeing the rematch.
Some were already tweeting White saying they would not pay to see it. His response, a typical one from him, was “don’t buy it.”
Of course, the UFC is a marketing machine and they will promote the heck out of Henderson-Edgar II and get their buys.
But this sets a bad precedent. Sure, fighters have talked their way into big fights before — look at Ronda Rousey in Strikeforce last weekend. But now fighters know they can do it even when the organization seems very much against the idea.
Next time I hear a fighter say in response to who they want to fight next, “I don’t make the decisions, that’s up to the UFC matchmaking team,” I’ll scoff.
The fact is, there were three reasons for White and the UFC to want Edgar to move to featherweight:
1. Edgar belongs at the lower weight, since he’s smaller than most lightweights.
2. It would free up the 155-pound division for more contenders.
3. There is a lack of contenders able to really challenge Aldo.
Tuesday’s move addresses none of the above.
I also think it will backfire, because I expect Henderson to beat Edgar even more soundly the second time around. If you thought Edgar’s face looked rough after the fight in Japan, just wait. Henderson might even do the unthinkable and knock Edgar out.
Of course, all of this is just my opinion. I’m not the boss.
On Tuesday, it appeared White wasn’t either.
DÉJÀ VU FOR SHOWTIME
Many have said that it’s only fair that Edgar get the rematch because he gave it to another fighter twice before. If we want to talk about what’s fair, let’s talk about Anthony Pettis. He has already had an expected title shot postponed once because of a rematch involving Edgar. Now it’s happening again.
Yes this is different than last year, when he entered the UFC as the reigning WEC champ and was promised a shot at unifying the belts, only to lose a fight to Clay Guida while he waited. This time he wasn’t promised anything. But with his impressive knockout of Joe Lauzon on the same UFC 144 main card, it seemed things were aligning for a rematch with Henderson, whom he beat to become the WEC’s last lightweight title-holder.
Yet now he’ll have to wait again, and perhaps even longer. White said Tuesday that the winner of Miller-Diaz on May 5 had in fact been promised the next title shot. Will Pettis have to get in line behind the winner, or fight him to determine the next title shot? That will depend on the timing of Henderson-Edgar, but either way it’s going to be a while before Pettis gets his long-anticipated shot at UFC gold.
Miller, who was soundly beaten by Henderson when they met last year, said he didn’t think Pettis’s two-fight win streak constituted a title run and that even Diaz is more deserving of a shot at the belt.
Really? Diaz is just 3-3 in his last six fights at lightweight since the beginning of 2009 and he’s 5-5 overall in that span. Pettis is 7-2 since 2009 (when he joined the WEC) and has won six of his past seven fights, including the victory over Henderson and two highlight-reel kicks. What does a guy have to do to get some respect?
Or, in Pettis’ case, a UFC title shot?
