TJ has several viable contenders in his own division, he shouldn't be moving weight classes. Moraes, Cruz II, Assucao III to name a few. If the fight was for the Bantamweight title, it would even make more sense since they're dissolving the Flyweight division. Makes sense to give that champion a chance at the other belt.
UFC has been making lots of bizarre decisions lately, I wish it would go back to how it used to be. Champions fight the top contenders and only when they've cleaned out a division should they give a chance at a second belt. Nowadays, everybody is going to be a double champion, ruining the value of it. Before recently, there had only ever been one champion vs. champion fight. Now we'll have had 4 more in just over 2 years. I like a champion vs. champion match, but only if it makes sense. None of the recent ones really have.
How is this a gift to hardcore fans ? Cejudo has very little chance, non of us are clamouring for the fightIt's respect for the Flyweight division and allows the UFC to end it with a bang, rather than unceremoniously. Big gift from Dana to the fighters and the hardcore fans.
That's what it looks like but it's weird after they made him fight Cody again, they can't seem to make up their mind if they don't like TJ or they do.
He looked great in that fight but he hasn't performed like that before or since and TJ is way better than Wilson Reis and TJ fights nothing like Reis who Cejudo was a terrible match up for considering Reis is a grappler that doesn't have very good striking or speed.
True, but Joseph Benavidez is a great striker.
If you think this fight is pointless, look whom Cruz is fighting.
But....but....but........sherdoggers wanted a champ vs champ fight when DJ was the champ. Shertards claimed it made perfect sense for TJ to get an instant title shot outside his division with only 1 title defense.
How is it any different now?
Challenging for a 2nd belt has become a gimmick. Before it was challenging the toughest guy since you already beat the best at your weight, or even if a champ had no real top contenders waiting, like with Penn/Hughes, Penn/GSP and Randy moving up and down to take on the best, when they could've had easier fights at other weights.
While a lot of fans wanted dominant champs facing each other, like Anderson vs GSP/Jones, and those were lost.
So we get this shitty unforeseen middle deal with non-dominant champs facing each other. This was never the point.
Yep, Cejudo fucked everything up for the UFC winning that fight.I get that champion vs champion fights might sell more than the same fight but with only one being champion but why not promote an exciting BW like Moraes?
High level strikers that deliver brutal KOs have always sold well all the way back to the early days of the UFC and Moraes has been on a head kick KO streak yet he's not being promoted, and Cejudo is mostly a decision fighter that isn't very entertaining.(they don't seem to have learned from their failures to promote contenders at FLY).
TJ vs Cejudo seems like a one sided beatdown in TJ's favor and the fact that the UFC is dropping the flyweight division and they traded the best drawing Flyweight discredits the whole champion vs champoin thing if the UFC doesn't even think it's worth keeping the division Cejudo is champion of. Lastly many people thought Cejudo lost to MM the second time and he just became champion.
TJ vs Cejudo doesn't interest me, I expect TJ to dominate him till he gets the TKO. TJ vs Moraes is the best fight that can be made at BW.