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With a Robbie Lawler-Tyron Woodley main event ticketed for UFC 201, it is clear the Ultimate Fighting Championship decided to move away from the immediate title fight rematch in favor of bringing in new blood to challenge for the belt. The reasons why some fights are made again and others aren’t granted that same opportunity are quite cloudy, and I don’t know how to feel about it.
Although we’re getting a second installment of Luke Rockhold-Chris Weidman, the UFC nixed a Lawler-Carlos Condit rematch and shut down the idea of Miesha Tate giving Holly Holm the opportunity to reclaim the women’s bantamweight title. I wouldn’t have had a problem with either of those fights being made again because the alternatives simply aren’t as interesting.
Of the three potential rematches to be made -- Rockhold-Weidman, Tate-Holm and Lawler-Condit -- the one that was actually secured was the lowest on the totem poll of fights deserving a rematch. Don’t get me wrong: I’m excited to see Rockhold and Weidman throw down again, but I was a bit more interested to see Lawler and Condit square off in yet another intriguing scrap; and as close as Holm was to defending her UFC women’s bantamweight title, I would like to think she’s more deserving of facing Tate than a fight against Valentina Shevchenko. No discredit to Amanda Nunes, but I’m not really all that excited about Tate facing her at UFC 200.
Trying to figure out a formula for how some rematches get made while others do not is a fruitless affair, but that doesn’t mean I won’t try.
With Stephen Thompson and Rory MacDonald tied up in their June 18 fight, the next highest ranked welterweight is Woodley. Although Woodley has won two fights in a row, he hasn’t been in the cage since January 2015. That’s not his fault. He was set to fight Johny Hendricks at UFC 192 in October, but Hendricks’ issues with his waistline rose to the forefront, as he failed to make weight and the fight was scratched 24 hours before the event. Apparently, the UFC figures it should go with the next best thing, but doesn’t it feel like Woodley should be fighting someone else before stepping into the Octagon with the walking “Fight of the Year” candidate? Who would really complain about a Lawler-Condit rematch? Not me.
It’ll never make sense to me why Tate-Holm 2 wasn’t booked for UFC 200. The women’s bantamweight division still has a new car scent attached to it and contenders need a little time to breath because the rankings shift drastically when one of the top-ranked female fighters take a loss. Tate eliminating Nunes does absolutely nothing for the division, especially when you toss in how she beat Holm with a Hail Mary takedown that resulted in a fifth-round rear-naked choke. Why wouldn’t they make that fight again? Holm-Shevchenko is a decent fight between a pair of women who love to strike, but wouldn’t it make more sense if Shevchenko re-established herself as a legitimate threat to the top of the division? All the Tate-Nunes and Holm-Shevchenko fights do is re-shuffle the deck or ruin a contender too soon. Neither option is appealing.
With Ronda Rousey on the mend -- her ego has been on the disabled list -- and nearing a return, it would be easier to have Tate and Holm fight, with the winner facing Rousey; or have Tate take on Cat Zingano if she beats Julianna Pena, leaving Rousey to face Holm. Nunes kind of messes up this whole thing, doesn’t she? It’s not that Nunez doesn’t deserve a title shot, but I just think Holm deserves it more; and it’s a perfectly justifiable rematch.
Whatever complicated algorithmic formula is used to decide who gets an immediate rematch and who doesn’t will not ever make sense to me. Even though there are fans who think immediate rematches clog up the division -- blame Frankie Edgar -- there is usually a justifiable reason to make those rematches happen. Meanwhile, the rest of the division can shake itself out and create a pecking order.
Alas, it appears we’re going to get Lawler-Woodley and Tate-Nunes and have to enjoy them. Hopefully these fights turn out to be better in practice than on paper because, as of right now, the immediate rematches sound so much more intriguing.
Andreas Hale is the editorial content director of 2DopeBoyz.com, co-host of the boxing, MMA and pro wrestling podcast “The Corner” and a regular columnist for Sherdog.com. You can follow on Twitter for his random yet educated thoughts on combat sports, music, film and popular culture.