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Nick Newell, the one-armed man, was just named the next fighter to fight for the WSOF lightweight title. So I checked the Lightweight Rankings filtered to WSOF and found, not surprisingly, that Newell is ranked #12 in WSOF, which means there are quite a few fighters more deserving of a title shot than him.
It’s an obvious publicity trick by WSOF, trying to get attention through Newell’s uniqueness, and not his fighting record. I’m just disappointed with the MMA media which didn’t see fit to call this, and for the most part just reported the news as if it was just another MMA title fight.
Posted on March 28, 2014 by Ked Becker
MMA Ranks, Upcoming Events | Comments (5)
Newel is 2-0, he has the second best record in the WSOF, most are 1-1, and comming off losses. These statistical rankings are nice but they take into account fights outside WSOF, when deciding title shots the only thing that counts are your WSOf record.
So, they need somebody comming off a win, check, out of those comming off wins who has more than one win and no losses, Newell, check, and who is a draw, Newell, check.
I.m perfectly ok with this.
Good analysis bj, thanks.
but I think it’s obvious the title shot should be given to Luiz Firmino or Lewis Gonzales, who beat good, ranked fighters, as opposed to Newell’s cans.
same goes for the comparison with Dillashaw who beat really good fighters, although I agree that there might be better candidates than him for a title shot.
Ultimately, this is a 2nd or 3rd tier title though…
To play devil’s advocate, of the 11 in front of him, one is the champ and six are coming off losses. That leaves four fighters: 1. Luiz Firmino, who beat Volkmann but in an extremely boring fight. 2. Lewis Gonzalez, who’s 9-0 (last two decisions) compared to Newell’s 11-0 (last two submissions). 3. JZ Cavalcante, who lost two fights ago, to Gaethje. 4. Luis Palomino, who lost two fights ago.
To compare, Dillashaw got the shot against Barao, and he’s #8 among UFC Bantamweights. Above him is the champ and two coming off losses. That also leaves four fighters: 1. Raphael Assuncao (maybe dealing with injuries?), 2. Eddie Wineland, who lost two fights ago, to Barao, 3. Takeya Mizugaki, 4. Iuri Alcantara, who lost two fights ago.
Of course Dillashaw lost two fights ago too, while Newell’s undefeated. I think you could make the case that Newell’s title shot is more deserving than Dillashaw’s.
Not the first time that a fighter has been gifted a title shot they don’t deserve… but this situation makes it too easy for people to overlook rankings for the sake of a good story.