Paid Members Carbomb Posted March 9, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted March 9, 2021 2 hours ago, jimufctna24 said: If a champion knows there is a chance they can keep their belt by getting disqualified, then surely some will commit a professional foul if a fight is not going their way. The challenger should also win the championship if the champion gets themselves disqualified. If the fight had been going Sterling's way on Saturday evening before the DQ, this probably wouldn't even be a debate. It's really only because Sterling won the belt after getting outclassed for 2 straight rounds that him winning the championship is an issue for some.  That's why I put forward a nuanced approach in my post. It shouldn't just be a blanket thing, whereby they say point-blank, cut-and-dried, that a DQ automatically results in a championship staying on or being stripped from a champion. When it comes to situations like Yan's, just like there are fight judges, there should be internal reviews of a fighter's sportsmanship and behaviour. Bear in mind that my post was primarily in reaction to the point about what Sterling must be feeling right now - as mentioned, it should be the greatest day of his life, and it's been sullied. And now a bunch of oh-so-funny wags online are piling on. To my mind, it suggests that there should be a procedure for dealing with situations like this, whereby there can be shades of grey when talking about a fighter's motivation, and preventing what happened to Aljo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted March 9, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted March 9, 2021 Its a weird grey area that we've never really had to deal with before. I have no issue with them awarding Aljo the belt, the foul was a shocker, and if Aljo was genuinely unable to continue, or was coherent enough to see it as a way out with the belt, you cant really blame him for doing it. They just need to run it back next and get it sorted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted March 9, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted March 9, 2021 28 minutes ago, Egg Shen said: Its a weird grey area that we've never really had to deal with before. I have no issue with them awarding Aljo the belt, the foul was a shocker, and if Aljo was genuinely unable to continue, or was coherent enough to see it as a way out with the belt, you cant really blame him for doing it. They just need to run it back next and get it sorted. I don't blame him at all - quite the opposite. I just think awarding him the belt that way hurts him rather than helps him, and we're seeing the effects of that now. It doesn't help him or the UFC for him to be seen as a paper champion, as he doesn't deserve that at all; he's an elite athlete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted March 9, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted March 9, 2021 it definitely harms him in terms of credibility with a vocal segment of idiots in the fanbase, but Aljo isn't gonna mind that when he negotiates himself a champions contract and gets himself some PPV points in the rematch. Ideally though i bet he wishes he could fight someone else other than Yan again though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted March 9, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 9, 2021 The only other title fight example I can think of that’s sort of close to this, and it wasn’t in the UFC, is the first Varner vs Cerrone fight back in WEC. Cerrone landed the illegal knee (although it didn’t look anywhere near as deliberate and premeditated as Yan’s) and they went to the scorecards and Varner won by ‘technical decision’. Not saying that’s what should’ve happened here, it’s just the closest example I can think of as some kind of reference. Given how blatant and bad this one was though, I think the DQ was the right call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted March 9, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted March 9, 2021 Oh, I'm not disputing the DQ, merely what happens to the title. If we were making it a "one rule to fit all", I'd say suspend the belt and have a rematch, so that the challenger has a fair opportunity to win it, and the former champion has a chance to prove he's deserving enough to hold it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted March 9, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 9, 2021 That wasn’t in response to any particular post @Carbomb just throwing it out there as I was trying to think of similar things happening in past fights and mostly drawing a blank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted March 9, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted March 9, 2021 27 minutes ago, Carbomb said: Oh, I'm not disputing the DQ, merely what happens to the title. If we were making it a "one rule to fit all", I'd say suspend the belt and have a rematch, so that the challenger has a fair opportunity to win it, and the former champion has a chance to prove he's deserving enough to hold it. but what happens if the Champion committing the foul is losing the fight? Is it then wrong to not award the title the challenger? If Sterling was clearly up on the card Saturday at the time of the foul i dont think we'd be having this discussion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebra Kid Mark Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 A DQ should absolutely result in the title changing hands, as Egg Shen points out, if Sterling was up on the cards then no one would be debating this. This is a rule that does not need to be changed or looked into. Reading everyones thoughts on the fight I think I am in the minority in saying that I think Aljo wins the rematch. Round 1 was all Sterling, Yan was on the back foot and he couldn't quite work out how to attack or defend, Sterling was dictating the pace and getting the better of him. The problem for Aljo arose when that pace became too much for him to keep up with and he completely gassed himself out. His legs were gone with out taking any punishment and he kept throwing ridiculous spinning elbows that came no where close to landing. He has a lot of things he can take away from this fight and work on and if he manages to pace himself better and cut out the mistakes, I fancy his chances.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted March 9, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 9, 2021 The thing is though, it was his frantic pace early that seemed to throw Yan off. I think Yan was as taken aback as everyone just how aggressive and relentless Sterling was at the start of the fight. If he paces himself next time then Yan’s under less pressure and able to work more of his game earlier and get into the fight sooner. It’s kind of a catch 22 for Sterling. There’s a balance in there somewhere but unless he can get his cardio to an insane level to where he can keep that pace for 5 rounds, I can’t say I’m confident he wins. Maybe more of a grappling attack would help but, even then, it seems Yan’s not going to be easy to force any game on. Beyond all the controversy on Saturday, I think it’s been mostly lost that Yan actually put in a hell of a performance before that knee. I’ve been high on him as a fighter since his UFC debut but what he showed in this fight, I think he’s going to be harder to beat than even I thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 (edited) 27 minutes ago, Zebra Kid Mark said: A DQ should absolutely result in the title changing hands, as Egg Shen points out, if Sterling was up on the cards then no one would be debating this. This is a rule that does not need to be changed or looked into. Reading everyones thoughts on the fight I think I am in the minority in saying that I think Aljo wins the rematch. Round 1 was all Sterling, Yan was on the back foot and he couldn't quite work out how to attack or defend, Sterling was dictating the pace and getting the better of him. The problem for Aljo arose when that pace became too much for him to keep up with and he completely gassed himself out. His legs were gone with out taking any punishment and he kept throwing ridiculous spinning elbows that came no where close to landing. He has a lot of things he can take away from this fight and work on and if he manages to pace himself better and cut out the mistakes, I fancy his chances.  I felt round 1 was quite even. It was round 2 that Sterling clearly won. A few pundits predicted before the fight that Sterling would look good in the early stages, but fade as the fight progressed. That is exactly what occurred. I just don't think Sterling can pace himself for 25 minutes straight while at the same time manage to keep Yan at bay. Thus, if Sterling is to beat Yan, then he needs to stop him early on, perhaps via submission. But I don't see him being able to do that either. Yan is just the better MMA fighter IMO. Edited March 9, 2021 by jimufctna24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted March 9, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 9, 2021 Yeah I think it’d have to just go perfectly for him early on like the Sandhagen fight did. It’s unlikely you roll over Yan like that though. Regardless, it should be another really good fight. Hopefully minus any controversy next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 Even though I have a fetish for Russian MMA fighters, I really hope I am wrong and Sterling wins the rematch. Yan is a bit of a knob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted March 9, 2021 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 9, 2021 Agreed. I was a big fan of him initially and I still enjoy watching him fight but as time’s gone on he’s come across as a cock a few times on social media. And that video he put out of the homeless guy was too much for me. A Billy Joe Saunders move. Plus I like Sterling and the shit he’s been getting from Twitter twats since Saturday night makes me want to see him win the rematch even more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted March 10, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted March 10, 2021 8 hours ago, jimufctna24 said: I felt round 1 was quite even. It was round 2 that Sterling clearly won.  😳 really? id have to watch it again, but i thought rounds 2 & 3 were clearly Yan's. I gave Sterling round 1 and couldnt quite believe a judge managed to give Sterling 2 or the 3 completed rounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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