Cariaso was coming off a loss in a title fight. Cejudo is someone they brought in a pushed toward mighty mouse because he had cleared his division out much like poatan to izzy.
no, cariaso was the “someone they brought in,” with his modest 3-fight win streak over unranked fighters, and he never won another fight in the ufc after fighting for the title. perhaps they rushed cejudo because dj had beaten everyone with name recognition, but you can’t overlook the fact that cejudo had name recognition for being a gold medalist. in other words, he the ufc decided to give him special treatment because they saw him as a marketable prospect—a decision he ultimately vindicated.
Bizzare anomoly, And I dont defend it, it shouldn't happen.
you would be forgiven for defending it, since jon jones is, well… jon jones. he was another hyped prospect that panned out. there’s a reason he fought stephen bonnar in his 2nd fight—ufc was trying to put him over fast and and easy. all of that was justified from ufc’s perspective.
Well of course he did, Bader and Jones were both the clear cut next guys who were both undefeated.
the flip side of that is “but he was protected up until the title eliminator, he didn’t have to fight up through the ranks.” that is kinda true—they fed him the easiest fights with the most name recognition up until bader. but nobody would complain about that now because he justified the decision.
bo was on the main card of UFC 300 and headlined over several former champs, Ranked fighters, and fan favorites. You pointed out jones and Cejudo, But jones and Cejudo weren't on a block buster biggest card of the year. They didn't make the main card over Several former champions.
jones was on the ufc 100 prelims over fighters who were much more established and arguably more deserving. im sure if you could find other examples like this as well. ufc is a business that relies on big names and hype to promote fights. some fighters are gonna get pushed harder.
Im not saying he's not a top prospect, and im not saying they should throw him to the wolves, but he should face appropriate competition (which he has so far). Nothing against bo but he should not be on the main card of a card like UFC 300. over a guy like Diego Lopez or Jiri Prochazka. Henry and Jon were fighting people more credited then themselves in those opportunities, Bo was getting a showcase fight against a Tin can.
if it were up to me or you, maybe bo’s career would look very different. it’s not though. it appears to me that giving bo main card at ufc 300 was more about promoting him rather than rewarding him. it was an investment in a future contender. thus, the question whether he deserved it over jiri, et al, is kind of irrelevant.
i really don’t know what bo’s career will look like. he could be a total bust. i just don’t think the “special treatment” he gets is all that special based on ufc’s history of putting prospects on the main card.
