Although I generally don't appreciate the way some fighters seem content to win rounds on points, and Greg Jackson is one of the forefathers of that style, I think partial blame has to go to DW and Joe Silva for doing what they always do--announcing the winner of a fight will get a title shot and then expecting both guys will fight furiously rather than safely, or "not to lose". The problem with contender matches is that it puts everything on the line. How about just letting everyone fight and then picking the guys who are doing the best to fight for the title? Half the time the UFC seems to select title contenders out of nowhere yet they expect the guys to respect their secret ranking system.
Simple solution: announce that it is a #1 contender fight - but only if you win by KO/sub. If it goes to the judges, all promises are null and void.
Jackson's MMA -- latest results Marquardt -- decision loss Akiyama -- decision loss Condit -- knockout win Guillard -- decision win McSweeney -- knockout loss Schuab -- decision win St. Pierre -- decision win Evans -- decision win Sanchez -- decision win Florian -- decision loss Carwin -- submission loss Jardine -- decision loss Villasenor -- decision loss Jones -- knockout win Huerta -- TKO loss Loiseau -- TKO loss Cerrone -- decision win Garcia -- decision loss Stevenson -- decision loss Stann -- submission win Noke -- submission win MacDonald -- TKO loss Yoshida -- TKO loss Riley -- decision win Page -- submission loss Swanson -- decision win Parisyan -- submission win Guida -- TKO win Arlovski -- decision loss Watson -- decision win
^ Recent record: 15-16 10 decision wins 3 knockout wins 3 submission wins 10 decision losses 5 knockout losses 2 submission losses
I can't really comment cause I didn't hear all of the instruction, but at the end of the day I really think its up to the fighter and maybe Jackson was telling Marquardt a lot of things that wasn't carried out because maybe Marquardt didn't want to risk losing because he knew winner gets a title shot, who knows.
That's 16-17. I wasn't really watching the fights, but was Dana calling out Jackson himself or his camp? I mean, I can see someone like Trevor Wittman doing this, but not really Jackson himself.
Yeah, math fail. He was specifically calling out the cornermen for Jackson fighters, which usually includes Greg and some combination of Trevor Wittman, Jon Danaher, Phil Nurse, Firas Zahabi, Sean Williams, etc.
This is a potential solution but sometimes a decision fight can be just as exciting and convincing. You are potentially changing the way the fighters act in the cage if you are only rewarding finishes. I don't know if that constitutes tampering but when EliteXC told Seth Petruzelli not to kick Kimbo Slice, the community was up in arms, and I think this would be along similar lines. It seems like they either need to make their rankings public or they need to stop announcing contender matches, IMHO.
^ Just an addendum to this post, the UFC is well known for handing out undisclosed bonuses to fighters who put on good performances. As far as I know every fighter typically gets a bump for a good show and guys who have especially good performances and finish their fights tend to get five-six figure bonus cheques mailed to them a week or so after the show. I think that encourages fighters to finish but it doesn't force them to.
The problem with not announcing contender matches is that it could reduce hype for certain fights. I think they should make like top 3 or 5 contender rankings public.
I agree and disagree to a certain extent. He said for the JDS vs Roy Nelson fight that it was a number 1 contender fight, and it was a very entertaining fight. He said for the Bisping vs Henderson fight it would be a number one contender fight, and it was a very good fight. It all just depends on who he is dealing with really. When it comes to guys that might play it safe, like a Rashad Evans, like a Josh Koscheck, then yes don't tell them what it's for. Say what could be at stake with a good performance, like he did for the Machida/Jackson fight. But for guys he knows will go out and put on a good show, like a JDS or someone, then absolutely tell them it's for the number 1 contender spot. Plus, like Vanilla Gorilla so adequately pointed out, sometimes they have to announce a fight as a number one contenders fight for marketing purposes to sell PPV's. Some of the more casual fans want to know that the guys fighting are important before they go trying to buy a pay per view, or before they go to a bar to watch the PPV.
