flassasin24
Nov 20, 2008 Apr 29, 2012 2 129
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Top 10 Closest UFC Title Fights
by flassasin24 on Apr 16, 2010 1:50 PM EDT
on Bloody Elbow
The Edgar-Penn fight this weekend--and to a greater extent, the divided opinion of esteemed MMA journalists, bloggers, and well-informed fans (e.g. BE followers) that followed--inspired me to research (I use that word liberally; I really just spent about 10-15 min on the Sherdog FightFinder) the last 10 UFC title fights that went to the judges' scorecards (it would certainly change the rankings to peer back further, but to be honest, my memory for how these earlier fights were perceived is much less strong). I wanted to see how many other title fights were viewed as being perhaps closest to a draw. Here are my rankings according to how I perceived the MMA world as perceiving it, not necessarily how I perceived it (although I won't claim to have eliminated any bias, it was my intention to be objective).
| 1 | Frank Edgar def. B.J. Penn | UFC 112 | 4/10/2010 | ||
| 2 | Lyota Machida def. Mauricio Rua | UFC 104 | 10/24/2009 | ||
| 3 | Forrest Griffin def. Quinton Jackson | UFC 86 | 7/5/2008 | ||
| 4 | Tim Sylvia def. Andrei Arlovski | UFC 61 | 7/8/2006 | ||
| 5 | Quinton Jackson def. Dan Henderson | UFC 75 | 9/8/2007 | ||
| 6 | Randy Couture def. Tim Sylvia | UFC 68 | 3/3/2007 | ||
| 7 | Tim Sylvia def. Jeff Monson | UFC 65 | 11/18/2006 | ||
| 8 | Georges St. Pierre def. Jon Fitch | UFC 87 | 8/9/2008 | ||
| 9 | Anderson Silva def. Thales Leites | UFC 97 | 4/18/2009 | ||
| 10 | Sean Sherk def. Kenny Florian | UFC 64 | 10/14/2006 |
*I haven't watched either of the two Sylvia victories since they originally aired, nor have I heard many references to these fights in some time. Consequently, my ranking for these two fights certainly deserves the most scrutiny.
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Why Title Shot for Rampage Jackson Is Justified
by flassasin24 on Dec 30, 2008 2:11 PM EST
on Bloody Elbow
I've noticed a lot of tension between MMA fans concerning the granting of title fights for former champions. Certainly no one is arguing that former champs don't deserve the chance to win back their belt. The controversy exists rather in the amount of wins required to gain back that opportunity.
I don't believe there is any certain formula - each situation is unique and ought to be treated as such. However, here are a few guidelines which I believe justify either an immediate title shot rematch or a "one-win and fight for the title again" scenario:
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