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December - 2014
SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
38
Hendricks, and Chris Weidman
are all great examples of this
troubling fact. Not long ago,
the talk of the town was su-
per fights. It seems that those
opportunities are gone and
the UFC has been struggling
to put on the quality of fight
cards that they have in the past
due to the injuries sustained by
their top stars.
On the other hand, some things
have remained quite the same.
There is a handful of fighters
that have gotten to the top of
their division and fallen to the
champions, but have contin-
ued to devastate their oppo-
nents otherwise. What do you
do with these athletes? They
are great draws, but the op-
tions are getting slimmer and
slimmer. Fighters such as Ju-
nior Dos Santos, Renan Barao,
Urijah Faber, Joesph Benavidez,
and Frankie Edgar come to
mind. From a business stand-
point, how can you make the
most money possible and put
on the most exciting fights giv-
en the landscape within their
respective divisions? In a word,
superfights.
Though the definition of a su-
perfight typically involves two
reigning champions, it may be
worth the UFC’s time to con-
sider applying the method to
these stronghold contenders.
For the long time fan, the days
of wondering who would win
in a fight between a Pride su-
perstar and a UFC superstar
are gone. Most major orga-
nizations have been acquired
by Zuffa, LLC so fans tend to
be able to see the match ups
that they have always dreamed
of. One fight that would draw
big numbers and give the
fans what they want to see is
Frankie Edgar vs. Urijah Faber.
After this past weekend’s Fight
Night, Edgar earned a domi-
nant win over Cub Swanson in
what may have been a num-
ber one contender-ship bout.
With Conor McGregor’s star
rising and Edgar losing to Aldo
last year, things may not play
into Edgar’s wishes of getting
another crack at the title. If he
doesn’t, Edgar vs. Faber would
be the next best thing. Faber
is in a tough position, as he
has lost to the former champi-
ons Dominick Cruz and Renan
Barao of his current bantam-
wieght division and also Jose
Aldo of his prior weight class
of featherweight. Even more
troubling for Faber is his team-
mate and friend T.J. Dillashaw
holds the title now after domi-
nating Barao. They have both
said they would fight each
other, but it would certainly stir
things up at Team Alpha Male
and would be best left alone if
possible.
Considering that both men
are the same height (5’6″) and
they have both been champi-
ons in the past, it’s surprising
this hasn’t come up. Many peo-
ple see Edgar as a big feather-
weight because he dropped
down from lightweight, but
the truth is he was a very small
light weight and could con-
ceivably drop to bantamweight
if he chose to. The fight could
take place at a catch weight of
140lbs and both men would
still be comfortable. If one of
them loses, it doesn’t tarnish
their standing in their respec-
tive division either. One more
win after a defeat in a catch
weight fight, and they are back
in contender-ship. Ultimately,
this is a win for both men fi-
nancially and keeps them busy
against top level talent in the
mean time. More than any-
thing, it’s a win for the fans
in a year that has had many
shortcomings in terms of qual-
ity, top level fights.