MMA On Point - Podcast

Generally speaking, when a fighter gets to the UFC, just like everybody else, they gotta work their way up the ranks, fight the best and hopefully make it through to their shot at gold. With these champions, whether they were intentionally shoved into the title picture due to popularity, done so to be sacrificed to their new star champion or well... no one was around, these guys all skipped the line of contenders, got their shot for the title and to their credit, won the belt.

Does it seem like the UFC is holding on to fighters longer than they ever have these days? Why are so many fighters being kept on the roster with insane losing streaks?

People love to put other is boxes and attach labels and this is doubly true of rivals who want to use these methods to mental defeat their opponent before they step into the cage. In some cases, like that of Justin Gaethje be labeled the Homer Simpson of MMA, well you could say that nickname has aged like milk, especially as he's achieved championship status. It's also true that fighter learn more from their losses, so you combine that with a humiliating nickname and it can see fighters like Sergei Pavolich crumble or others like "Decision Dan Henderson", well his name couldn't be any further from the KO artist he became.

Islam Machkhachev just broken some major records at UFC 330 against Ian Garry, but it was difficult, he didn't pull of much damage and at the end of the day, it's certainly impressive, but it also was lacking in a lot of ways. Can Islam keep this up against some of the giants at 170?

Sometimes a fighter appears to be unbeatable one moment and the next well, it's as if they've fallen off a cliff. There is no great example of this than when fighters have completely gassed out and have essentially become totally useless in the cage.