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Diego moving down to 155 according to Dana

1K views 25 replies 17 participants last post by  gdog43 
#1 ·
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#2 ·
Fantastic move on Diego's part imo. He was a beast at 170 and will be even more so at 155. Cannot wait for his LW debut!!!

Now my sig is out of date though b/c I have two Elite LW's and no Elite WW :thumb02:
 
#3 ·
Diego vs. Florian would be a great fight. I think Florian could take it in a rematch... although it may be that Diego has a style that stops Florian.

Diego.. I find it hard to say anything bad about him. It seems that he never really lost it.
 
#7 ·
oh no joke. even if florian was comfortable taking this, he shouldnt. if he loses to sanchez which is a good chance hes back at the beginning and he doesnt gain anything from the win except a loss avenged.
 
#5 ·
Yea but he has big time name value and that would help Kenny.

I mean what can Kenny do if BJ wins the WW title or gets hurt against GSP?

A match up with Diego would really help him.
 
#9 ·
Good to see more information on this. It would be awesome if he was given a fight with Florian and the winner got a title shot while waiting on Penn to return.
Dana clearly stated in an interview that Alves will be the first fighter GSP or BJ will be facing. He also said that Kenny definitely earned his shot and will be fighting for the belt in his next fight.

Considering that lazy ass BJ fights every 6 months, it means if GSP wins to BJ, Kenny is getting his shot around July. However if Penn wins, Kenny will get it end of 09...
 
#8 ·
The last thing Kenny wants is a fight with Diego. It does NOTHING for him! He already has his title shot and he is at the top of the divsion.

But Diego at 155 is awesome!! Tyson Griffin vs Diego, lets do it NOW!!!
 
#10 ·
Yea but lets say BJ beats GSP. With BJ not wanting to fight too much in one year that means late 09 at the earliest for his title shot.

Do you really think Kenny wants to sit out for a year?
 
#11 ·
That's why everybody's against GSP/BJ being a title fight. If Penn wins and keep winning it would screw up both LW and WW divisions as each LW and WW contender will have to wait 1 year to get their shot...

It's surely frustrating to wait almost a year to finally get the shot but If I was Kenny, I wouldn't take the risk of loosing a fight and having to build my way back up again. But hopefully this won't happen, BJ will get his arsh kicked by GSP, Thiago will get his shot late spring and Kenny summer of 09.
 
#12 ·
I'm don't like it either but it is what it is. So unless he faces Sherk or BJ nothing else would help him selling PPV's so his fight can be a main event.
 
#14 ·
Well, whenever Kenny fought another "big name" in the division, like Sherk, Lauzon, Joe Daddy, etc. he's always been main event or at least co-main event on the card (except when he fought Huerta, because GSP and Lesnar were fighting too). If he fights BJ for the title, it will definitely be main event, unless there'll be another title fight on the card at a heavier weight class. (casual fans would pay more to see "heavier" people fighting each other, that's how it is)
 
#21 ·
Sherk isn't a PPV guy either. That was Joe and Sherks biggest problem no casual fans care about them.

BJ is facing GSP and his name value should sky rocket Kenny isn't a main event name not even close right now.

You can blame it on size but it IMO has to do with the fact Sherk and Joe aren't popular LW's. They don't have very big fan bases.
 
#25 · (Edited)
BJ is a big draw in the UFC and he's the only big draw in the LW division agreed. However you can't just avoid making title fights at LW just because there are no other big draws in the division. This title has to be fought for right, and it has be with the other contenders which aren't big draws like BJ, but are the 2nd, 3rd, 4th most popular fighters in the division. That would be Sherk, Kenny, Diego etc, not sure about the order but judging by their salaries and how much PPV they can bring in, I see them all pretty close to each other.

Sherk isn't a big draw but he's one of the most popular fighter in the LW division because he held the belt for quite some time and he's been fighting for almost 10 years now. He's a veteran in the sport.
His roid story really hurt his popularity among the fans though, he lost lots of them because of this s***... But he still remains one of the biggest names in the LW division.

BJ - Joe Daddy was in England as well which always kills PPV sales in the US cos of the time difference, I think it would have done a bit better but TBH BJ's the only draw at LW in the UFC. Small fighters just don't mean big PPV sales, they don't appeal to the casual fan due to their lack of KO power.
Yeah I forgot the event was held in England and that's a good reason why they didn't do well. But they've done better than that overseas and another big reason they haven't this time is because the card wasn't appealing enough among the casual fans (eventhough it ended up being a great show for the fans with lots of KOs and a great RNA in the main event).

We both agree that LW fights sell less than bigger weight class fights and we both know why. But TBH, I find LW fights to be the most exiting ones in the UFC because LW fighters can just stand and bang with each other for 3 rounds whereas in general LHWs for example are way more cautious and don't go toe to toe as much because they know one shot could end the fight anytime. The UFC should educate the casual fans, market LW fights as being the most exiting ones and make them more appealing but instead they follow the trend and I feel like they put this division on the side a little bit. Look at Sherk/Griffin at UFC 90, it was only fight #5 on the card (could almost be on the undercard..) when it could have been fight #2 or easily fight #3 on the card. Amazingly there was no hype around this fight, AT ALL! Did you hear any hype around this fight from the UFC management? Anybody talked about it on this forum before or after the fight? Answer is no.
Yet on paper it was a great fight and you know what, it happened to be FOTN. I even posted a thread about that prior to the fight, asking why there is so little promotion for this fight: http://www.mmaforum.com/ufc/45263-sherk-vs-griffin-ufc-90-why-so-little-promotion-fight.html

My point is LW fights often make great shows, are very exiting and the UFC should market them as such so they could sell more. And last but not least, the fans need to understand that a fight ending via decision (happens a lot @ LW and WW) is NOT necessarily a boring fight, many time they happen to be the most competitive and the best fights on the card.
 
#26 ·
If Diego is cutting weight for the 1st time to get to 155 then i wouldnt rush him into someone like Sherk straight away - give him someone who isnt top 5.
I hope Florian waits and fights BJ Penn - he deserves a title shot now and hopefully GSP wins and then BJ goes back to 155 and defends his title.
If BJ wins - then its Alves and i dont know what happens then - it just puts the divisions on hold which sucks
 
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