Do these fights make sense to you?

[Harry Evans]

I'm confused about 2 new match-ups, which I can't seem to make any sense out of. First, you have George Sotiropoulos vs. Joe Lauzon. I am a huge fan of both fighters, but they are both getting screwed in this one. From Lauzon's point of view, he is facing a guy who is better than him in every aspect, except for one: name power. Sotiropoulos' name doesn't yet have the draw for mainstream fans that it deserves, so an upset win won't even earn Joe the credibility that it should. For George, Lauzon is certainly no step up, if not a step down. Joe is great, but George has earned either a #1 contender's fight or something damn close, and Joe Lauzon just doesn't make that cut. The news release saying that he would face either Florian or BJ made perfect sense, and this is a let down next those. Finally, win streaks. George has 7, and Joe has ... 1.

Number 2 is even worse: Demian Maia vs. Kendall Grove. Demian Maia is an elite MW with a 13-2 record. Both losses were recent, but came at the hands of Nate Marquardt (supposedly #1 contender at the time) and Anderson Silva - not exactly catastrophic for anyone. His wrestling in the last fight looked worlds better, as did his aggression. Grove, on the other hand, is 12-7, having lost in the last 3 years to Mark Munoz, Ricardo Almeida, Jorge Rivera and Patrick Cote. He is inconsistent, and has always showed large holes in his game. Worst of all, his sloppy striking, comfort in the clinch, and lanky frame usually land him on his back eventually, where he relies on his strong submission game. The problem is, can anyone see him surviving on his back against Maia for more than 3 minutes? Mario Miranda was better in every aspect than Grove, and the next fight should have been to place Maia back in contention. This one does nothing for Maia's career, and may end Grove's. It will make the main card (probably), but at best it will take the 4th or 5th spot, while Demian really deserves a Co-Main or 3rd spot.

Am I missing something?

[Daniel Valdez]

I have had these thoughts about previous UFC fights before and in the end I usually have to tip my hat to Joe Silva for being such a bad ass match maker.
I wish we could see hits notes on some fight matchups and the reasoning.

[NelsonLucca]

It's Dana White, nothing ever makes sense. I think George is maybe one fight away from a fight with Frankie Edgar but Lauzon is not it. Maynard vs Sotiropoulos makes more sense. The winner gets Frankie, the loser gets BJ.

[Nate Hollyfield]

yeah, but like DW said at the press conference after the fight, they have screwed Maynard before on a title shot for a contention shot, and he deserves it, so I agree, how many times do you have to win before you get a title shot?
I think Soto should have to fight someone like Kenny or BJ. J-Lau isnt on his level.

[MikeSnowdon]

I personally think Soti vs Lauzon should make for a cracking fight, regardless of its relevance in the greater scheme of things (ie: the path to a title shot).

Regarding the other matchup, I can't make my mind up about Grove, because as you say, he is so inconsistent.

[Harry Evans]

I agree that Soti Lauzon will be awesome to watch, and I expect a finish. For Joe, that is enough to be worthwhile, but George has put in the work, and won enough fights that he deserves to be past the "exciting fight" criteria and on to the "LW Ladder / Title" criteria. As far as Grove Maia, though, sure Grove could win - he's a solid enough striker and has a huge reach advantage. But if he does, did he deserve the chance in the first place? You make enough 10-1 fights, there will be an upset eventually (about every 11 fights), but that doesn't mean the guy is better, or should have been there. It just means shit happens in MMA, and a puncher's chance really does exist. Think about Serra v GSP. He won, but what happened in the rematch? What would happen if they fought 10 times? Probably, GSP takes 8 or 9. Point is, the matchup was dumb in the first place. At the end of the day, Maia has been working his ass off to prove how good he is, and if he were a Muay-Thai guy, he'd be getting 1-2 tune up fights and then a title rematch.

[MikeSnowdon]

You make a good point about Soti being past the "exciting fight" stage in his UFC career; can't disagree with you on that one. Perhaps try and think of it in a different way, maybe Lauzon launched himself back into the title mix by performing so well in his last fight (he looked sensational, admittedly against limited opposition. No offense to Gabe Ruediger).

So it's not so much that Soti is being kept away from the title mix, but more that Lauzon has launched himself up the "ladder" on the back of a single, explosive victory.

[Ryan Cook]

Lauzon had a pretty sick fight last time... if you check out joelauzon.com it says champions are made in the off-season. I wonder what he was doing while he was out with the knee injury and then after the Sam Stout fight?

[Harry Evans]

Alright Mike, very solid point. I was ignoring that because Gabe doesn't seem to be high enough on the totem pole to pump someone up that far (no offense, I'm talking status in UFC, not skills). But I guess when you do that to someone who is a ground specialist, you get to fight a near contender, which is exactly how I'd describe George. OK, so, now I'm just pissed about the Maia fight

[Brent Smith]

Maybe they're looking to get rid of Grove?