I’m sure they’re coached well before the fight
Maybe? But in that case, giving Romero round 2 when Romero would need just 1 more round was exceptionally dangerous. So much safer to give Izzy round 2, which would allow way more wiggle room and plausible deniability over the rest of the contest.
Seems like more of a last-second, panic move, as they didn't expect Romero to win at all, and certainly not in that fashion.
ill800 said:
Jj wasn’t winning a close fight.
ufc stands to gain far more with zhang winning with China where they’ve installed a ufc pi. Huge untapped market potential
Sure, but what difference is there in terms of the China market between Zhang being UFC champion or an ex-UFC champion and one of their biggest female stars? Nevermind that JJ is significant in the Euro market.
We're also ignoring that this is the Red Retard himself, Dana White, we're talking about.
His decisions aren't based purely on financials. If they were, it would make no sense to rig a fight so hard for Adesanya.
Contrary to all the UFC bullshit, Izzy is not a star. Not even fucking close. He is nowhere near the level of Jon Jones. Hell, he isn't even nearly as big of a star as Daniel Cormier.
He doesn't sell PPVs and the live-gates for the cards he headlines are modest at best, all factors considered. For instance, UFC 248 had a live-gate of $2.7 million. That's pretty shit for a PPV card in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
By contrast, Jones vs. Reyes did $3.5 million in freaking Texas, McGregor did over $11 million in the same arena (huge outlier), and UFC 245, which was a strong card and had 3 championship fights but no real stars, did over $4.0 million in the same arena during the holiday season.
Point being, Dana Retard White makes a lot of decisions because he personally LIKES or DISLIKES fighters.
He loves Adesanya. Over the years, there are few female fighters he has loved more than JJ.